Voyage Number
IN2024_V01
Voyage Dates
Voyage Location
Chief Scientist
Dr Steve Rintoul (shore) / Dr Annie Foppert (sailing)
Institution
CSIRO
Voyage summary
Research voyage from Hobart to Antarctic waters (returning to Fremantle) to investigate how interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and biosphere control processes as diverse as cloud formation, iron supply to marine life, ocean carbon uptake, and the drivers of rapid change in the deep ocean. This knowledge will be used to improve modelling and our understanding of how the Southern Ocean region influences the Earth system.
The Southern Ocean and overlying atmosphere have a profound influence on regional and global climate, sea level, biogeochemical cycles, and marine productivity. However, present-day models used for climate projections have large and persistent biases in the region.
Researchers will undertake an intensive program of repeat observations to characterise the properties of aerosols, clouds, radiation, and precipitation over the Southern Ocean south of Australia and investigate how they are shaped by interactions between the ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere. This knowledge will be used to discover how and why the region is changing and the consequences of Southern Ocean change for climate, biogeochemical cycles, biological productivity, and the future of the Antarctic ice sheet. The observations and insights gained from the voyage will be used to develop, test, and implement new parameterisations for models used for weather forecasts and climate projections.
There are no other projects on this voyage.
MISO website
The MISO voyage is a key research activity of the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP). Further information and voyage blogs are available from the MISO website.
The voyage has 39 science participants from 8 institutions including the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and University of Tasmania (UTas), and international participants from University of Utah (USA), University of Southampton (UK) and University of British Columbia (Canada), and 20 ship crew from MMA Offshore Limited.
This project is being led by Dr Steve Rintoul, CSIRO, who will be on shore for the voyage. The sailing Chief Scientist will be Dr Annie Foppert, UTas.
This will be RV Investigator's longest voyage (duration) and the vessel is scheduled to be at sea for 60 days.
Voyage track (map)
COVID Protocols
To safeguard the health and well-being of participants, strict COVID protocols apply to all activities on this voyage. This includes PCR testing of all participants for COVID prior to boarding the vessel.
Voyage outcomes
This voyage, the longest ever delivered by RV Investigator with a total duration of 65 days, was an integrated multidisciplinary research approach that collected a comprehensive dataset to help us better understand the Southern Ocean and atmosphere’s role in the climate system. As a result of this voyage, we have collected the first comprehensive measurements of iron, and other trace elements essential for marine life, in this part of the ocean. Researchers also made new observations that extend the longest record of deep ocean change south of Australia and which will allow the tracking of how much carbon dioxide the Southern Ocean is removing from the atmosphere and storing in the deep ocean.
The Southern Ocean and overlying atmosphere have a profound influence on regional and global climate, sea level, biogeochemical cycles, and marine biological productivity. Data collected during MISO voyage will characterise the properties of aerosols, clouds, radiation, and precipitation over the Southern Ocean south of Australia and investigate how they are shaped by interactions between the ocean, atmosphere and biosphere. Repeat hydrographic observations will be used to discover how and why the region is changing, and the consequences of Southern Ocean change for climate, biogeochemical cycles, biological productivity, and the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The voyage also contributed to several ongoing ocean monitoring programs through deploying an array of novel deep floats, delivering snapshots of ocean conditions from the sea surface to the sea floor every ten days.