The 15^th Session of CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Region Panel (SORP-15) and 3^rd Session of CLIVAR/CliC Northern Ocean Region Panel (NORP-3) were successfully organized in Potsdam (July 10) and Berlin (July 11), Germany, alongside the 2023 IUGG General Assembly. It was the first time for both of the two panels to meet in person after almost three years virtual gathering only during the COVID pandemic.

There were both parallel sessions organized by NORP and SORP separately focusing on the panel-specific activities, and joint NORP/SORP and NORP/SORP/OMDP discussions for identifying common interests for future cooperative activities.

The major uptakes from NORP-3 and SORP-15 are:

NORP specific activities

• The panel revisited its Terms of References, and would like to: emphasize the educational components in panel activities. and put more effort in coordinating and feedback on Arctic datasets and data archiving by linking closely with data centres.
• Invite new members, as several members scheduled to step of in the next couple of years.
• Coordinate/facilitate a meeting with representatives from Arctic data centers to make recommendations on integrating and standardizing existing archives and report to the community.
• To compare Arctic Ocean reanalyses focusing on specific science questions.
• To engage with local northern communities to understand the local needs, interests and issues, considering ethics.
• An online Arctic heat budget workshop (and follow-on review papers) is being scheduled for Spring 2024.

SORP specific activities

• Enhancing visibility of SORP activities; as a start a quarterly online seminar series will be introduced: PROS4SORP (Presenting Recent Ocean Science for the Southern Ocean Regional Panel) with a first seminar to take place in October 2023
• To maintain and reinvigorate  collaboration with other organisations (SOOS, NORP, OMDP, WCRP LHAs, OOPC, ASPeCT, SCAR AntClimNow and INSTANT, UN SO decade group, etc.)
• Aiming to publish the CLIVAR Exchanges special issue on ‘Physical and biogeochemical studies in the Southern Ocean by emerging Antarctic programs’ by December 2023
• Continue the Southern Ocean Freshwater release model experiments InitiAtive (SOFIA); potentially expand this activity to a community MIP under CMIP7

NORP-SORP Joint Activities

• Based on the success of NORP-SORP workshop on polar fresh water: Sources, Pathways and ImpaCts of frEsh water in northern and soUthern Polar oceans and seas (SPICE UP), a NORP/SORP joint freshwater (polar processes) summer school and a 3-day workshop are being planned for 2024 at ICTP, Trieste, Italy. Representatives from SORP and NORP have been designated and a follow-up telecon will be organised shortly afterwards together with ICTP. The panels will seek additional funding from other sources (e.g. IASC).
• Freshwater forcing experiments: combining Antarctic and Greenland FW release (SOFIA + NAHosMIP/TiPES); reach out to NAHosMIP leaders.
• Joint sessions at conferences e.g. Ocean Sciences, EGU (long term planning for future conferences). Joint SORP-NORP telecon every six months in one of the regular sessions to exchange ideas.

NORP-SORP-OMDP Joint Activities

• NORP will explore potential collaboration with OMDP on evaluating Arctic water mass properties and Atlantification/Pacification in OMIP runs. In addition, the panel will also look into potential linkage and contribution to CMIP7 activities and reanalysis.
• SOFIA initiative of SORP could contribute to support a community consensus on boundary condition forcing in CMIP projections, in order to ensure that ice shelf-ocean interaction and meltwater be better represented in CMIP7 experiments. SORP will reach out to the CMIP forcing task team to further develop the idea.
• SORP will explore the possibility to develop a Southern Ocean Modelling Repository in collaboration with OMDP and in support of regional modelling efforts. This can be further discussed between SORP and OMDP members during 2024 OSM.