The North South Atlantic Training Transect (NoSoAT) is a program that was developed by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the Strategic Marine Alliance for Research and Training (SMART), and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) in order to further the education and practical training of postgraduate students in climate and marine sciences. Each year, about 30 students are selected through a rigorous application process to join a voyage from Bremerhaven, Germany to Cape Town, South Africa aboard the RV Polarstern. The month-long course is designed to provide students with relevant lectures and projects, as well as provide them with hands-on training for the use of atmospheric and oceanographic equipment and the opportunity to learn about data processing and analysis.
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Results from Previous Cruises
Each cruise has a unique focus, varying as topics become more or less important. While the NoSoAT 2015 cruise had a strong focus in biological oceanography, the NoSoAT 2016 cruise will be more focused in physical and chemical oceanography. These different approaches to studying marine and climate sciences allow for groups of post-doctorate students to be specifically trained within their respective fields.
NoSoAT 2015 - Expeditions PS95.1 and PS95.2
The cruise track covers a broad range of habitats for various organisms and a broad range of characteristically different waters. Data collected during this cruise came from equipment such as a Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) Sonde, a Bongonet, a Ferrybox, and a Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR). Additionally, samples of phytoplankton and zooplankton were obtained and analyzed in conjunction with satellite data. Some preliminary results included the identification of three distinct water masses along the transect, discrepancies in the comparison of ship-board chlorophyll a measurements with satellite-derived chlorophyll a data, latitudinal variations in the depth of the chlorophyll a maximum, and variations in the impact of microzooplankton grazing on phytoplankton communities.