MAP-IO, an atmospheric and marine observatory program onboard Marion Dufresne over the Southern Ocean

Abstract

Abstract. This article is devoted to the presentation of the MAP-IO observation program. This program, launched in early 2021, has enabled the observation of nearly 700 days of measurements over the Indian and Southern Ocean thanks to the equipment of 17 meteorological and oceanographic scientific instruments on board the ship Marion Dufresne. Several observation techniques have been developed to respond to the difficulties of observations on board ships, in particular for passive remote sensing data, as well as quasi-autonomous data acquisition and transfer. The first measurements made it possible to draw up unprecedented climatological data of the Southern Ocean of the size distribution and optical thickness of aerosols, of the concentration of trace gases and greenhouse gases, of UV, and of integrated water vapor. High resolution observations of phytoplankton in surface waters have also shown a great variability in latitude, in terms of abundance and community structure (diversity). The operational success of this program and these unique scientific results all together establish a proof of concept and underline the need to transform this program into a permanent observatory.