CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR SORP telecon took place in February

The second meeting in 2022 of the CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Region Panel (SORP) was organized on 2nd February.

With some of the activities being proceeded in parallel, SORP is now in several task forces and the telecon is mainly to communicate the progress of these task forces. The main outcome during the telecon is as follows:

1. The SORP proposed CLIVAR Exchanges “Physical and biogeochemical studies in the Southern Ocean by less-developed Antarctic programs” is waiting for the feedback of the online questionnaire, which will be closed on 10 March 2022. A widely distributed response from the world was received until the meeting day.

2. The freshwater release experiment initiative is carried out smoothly and has got interest from the broad community.

3. The fieldwork is one of the most important tasks in the research of the Southern Ocean. During the telecon, the members talked about the current situation of the field season in their country or institute. Although the negative effect of the pandemic, people are making efforts to make the fieldwork in continue.

4. The NORP-SORP joint workshop will most likely be in an online format and last for 3 half days during late spring.

5. Together with the other co-conveners, SORP convenes two sessions during the EGU General Assembly 2022: “The Southern Ocean in a changing climate: open-ocean physical and biogeochemical processes, and “Under cover: The Southern Ocean’s connection to sea ice and ice shelves”.

6. The co-chairs will prepare the presentation for SSG-27. The progress of current SORP activities and the link with the other Southern Ocean communities will be reported.