The North Atlantic Aerosol and Marine Ecosystem Study (NAAMES): Science Motive and Mission Overview

• Published in: Frontiers in Marine Science
• Main Authors: Michael J. Behrenfeld, Richard H. Moore, Chris A. Hostetler, Jason Graff, Peter Gaube, Lynn M. Russell, Gao Chen, Scott C. Doney, Stephen Giovannoni, Hongyu Liu, Christopher Proctor, Luis M. Bolaños, Nicholas Baetge, Cleo Davie-Martin, Toby K. Westberry, Timothy S. Bates, Thomas G. Bell, Kay D. Bidle, Emmanuel S. Boss, Sarah D. Brooks, Brian Cairns, Craig Carlson, Kimberly Halsey, Elizabeth L. Harvey, Chuanmin Hu, Lee Karp-Boss, Mary Kleb, Susanne Menden-Deuer, Françoise Morison, Patricia K. Quinn, Amy Jo Scarino, Bruce Anderson, Jacek Chowdhary, Ewan Crosbie, Richard Ferrare, Johnathan W. Hair, Yongxiang Hu, Scott Janz, Jens Redemann, Eric Saltzman, Michael Shook, David A. Siegel, Armin Wisthaler, Melissa Yang Martin, Luke Ziemba
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019
• Subjects: North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study; plankton blooms and annual cycle; marine aerosols; clouds; field campaigns; Science; Q; General. Including nature conservation; geographical distribution; QH1-199.5; North Atlantic; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00122; https://doaj.org/article/452d3dbe518a4f5fa9bd1036d43575f5

The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) is an interdisciplinary investigation to improve understanding of Earth's ocean ecosystem-aerosol-cloud system. Specific overarching science objectives for NAAMES are to (1) characterize plankton ecosystem properties during primary phases of the annual cycle and their dependence on environmental forcings, (2) determine how these phases interact to recreate each year the conditions for an annual plankton bloom, and (3) resolve how remote marine aerosols and boundary layer clouds are influenced by plankton ecosystems. Four NAAMES field campaigns were conducted in the western subarctic Atlantic between November 2015 and April 2018, with each campaign targeting specific seasonal events in the annual plankton cycle. A broad diversity of measurements were collected during each campaign, including ship, aircraft, autonomous float and drifter, and satellite observations. Here, we present an overview of NAAMES science motives, experimental design, and measurements. We then briefly describe conditions and accomplishments during each of the four field campaigns and provide information on how to access NAAMES data. The intent of this manuscript is to familiarize the broad scientific community with NAAMES and to provide a common reference overview of the project for upcoming publications.