The objectives of the BELMER project are: - to validate the MERIS water products for Belgian coastal waters and neighbouring French, UK and Dutch waters - to provide a quantitative statement of product accuracy and recommendations for improvements in the scientific algorithms, where appropriate. In particular the problems reported by the MERIS validation and user communities of turbid water atmospheric correction, case 2 water chlorophyll retrieval, adjacency effects (straylight), moderate sunglint, spatio-temporal variability of specific inherent optical properties and bottom reflectance will be addressed. This project is funded by the "PROgramme for the Development of scientific Experiments" (PRODEX) of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Campaign GENESIS 2 "Pen Duick/Melilla", the second of three ROV campaigns, will focus on "Pen Duick Escarpment" in the Gulf of Cadiz or on the recently discovered "Melilla mounds" in the South-East Alboran Sea (Mediterranean Sea). The final choice of the study area will depend on the results of the TTR17 cruise with R/V Logachev (June-July 2008) and the R/V Marion Dufresne cruise (June 2008). One of these study areas will be surveyed using multibeam, side-scan sonar and high resolution seismics. Based on this site survey, the ROV Genesis will be deployed to carry out detailed mapping. Also the hydrography and sediment dynamics of the area will be studied with respect to the steering of the present ecosystems. GENESIS 2 takes place in the framework of the European projects HERMES (EC FP6), MiCROSYSTEMS (ESF) and HERMIONE (EC FP7).

Acoustic measurements.

The objective of this project is the investigation of the structure and functioning of different CWC successional habitats (living, dead and buried corals), in order to understand the response of the CWC to a changing ocean. Therefore, we identified 4 specific objectives which will allow us to get insight in the distribution of these CWC habitats (objective 1), the responsible environmental drivers (objective 2), the associated (molecular and morphological) biodiversity (objective 3) and the connectivity between distinct CWC habitats at different spatial scales (objective 4). We will concentrate our study on the Bay of Biscay by providing multiple-scale analysis of habitat mapping, environmental characterisation, biodiversity patterns and processes of interconnectivity. However, comparisons will be made through European-US collaboration with other regions at both sides of the Atlantic in order to understand amphi- and trans-Atlantic distribution patterns and processes. This project is part of the 7th EC Framework Programme Hermione (Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man's Impact On European Seas) (2011-2013).This monitoring project aims to execute a continuous research on the effects of the exploitation of non-living resources of the territorial sea and the continental shelf on the sedimentary movements and the marine environment (Law of 13 June 1969 on the exploration and exploitation of non-living resources of the territorial sea and the continental shelf). Belgian national research program.

<p>MOOSE-GE aims at 1) ensuring the maintenance of offshore French Mediterranean moorings and 2) carrying out an annual mapping of hydrological, biogeochemical and biological characteristics of the whole north-western basin. The related project are MERMEX, HYMEX, MISTRALS and MOOSE.</p>

This cruise is part of the UK science contribution to the international SOLAS project (Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study www.uea.ac.uk/env/solas/) which aims to advance our understanding of environmentally important interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere. Data collected during the cruise will help to determine the influence of coastal/shelf regions (20-200 km offshore) on microbiological activity in the ocean and chemical interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere. Deep water containing high concentrations of nutrients such as nitrate, and gases such as nitrous oxide and methane, rises to the surface (upwells) at the Mauritanian shelf edge and moves offshore. These nutrients can be chemically altered by sunlight and used by bacteria and microscopic plants to grow. The gases escape to the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. This cruise will sample the upwelled water as it moves offshore measuring its temperature, salinity, nutrient and gas content and the impact this water has on microbiological growth and atmospheric composition in order to improve international global climate models. The cruise has three scientific objectives: 1. To determine the role of upwelling on the supply, loss and air-sea exchange of climatically important gases produced by plankton 2. To determine the role of light in breaking down upwelled and recently produced dissolved organic matter and in producing climatically important trace gases 3. To determine the impact of nutrient enriched upwelled water on the spatial and temporal variability of plankton community structure and activity and resultant influence on biogenic gas flux

Assessment of small pelagic species resources in the Gulf of Lion. This falls under the MEDIAS project.

<p>Understanding the ecosystems of hydrothermal sites and their surrounding areas in the Atlantic: mapping and characterization of the geological and geochemical context, characterization of habitats, inventory of biodiversity in hydrothermal ecosystems and surrounding areas and geobiological connectivity and interaction.</p>

The cruise is a component of RAPID-WATCH, whose objectives are: to deliver a decade-long time series of calibrated and quality-controlled measurements of the Atlantic MOC from the RAPID-WATCH array and; to exploit the data from the RAPID-WATCH array and elsewhere to determine and interpret recent changes in the Atlantic MOC, assess the risk of rapid climate change, and investigate the potential for predictions of the MOC and its impacts on climate. Objectives of this cruise: to recover, calibrate and redeploy moorings from the eastern boundary and mid-Atlantic ridge subarrays of the 26.5N line of RAPID moorings.