Norwegian Ships of Opportunity Program for marine and atmospheric research

NorSOOP (Norwegian Ships of Opportunity Program) is a national research infrastructure which began in 2018 and is financed by the Research Council of Norway. Its main goal is to build a network of ships of opportunity capable of providing marine and atmospheric observations that are relevant for improving our understanding of coastal and oceanic ecosystems and also covers a subset of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) essential ocean variables. NorSOOP ships of opportunity are part of the European GOOS (EuroGOOS) FerryBox Task Team and have contributed to various projects focused on marine ecosystem change, carbon dioxide/ocean acidification, pollution/microplastics, and remote sensing – at the local/municipality, national, and European level (including Horizon 2020 JERICO-S3, NAUTILOS, MINKE, and EuroSea projects). The objectives of NorSOOP include: (1) upgrade existing FerryBox installations and establish new ships of opportunity in Norwegian waters and the Arctic and North Atlantic; (2) provide and support high-quality and cost-efficient basic and applied ocean and atmosphere research; (3) foster innovation and growth for maritime, environmental sensor, and aquaculture industries. This talk will provide the latest developments, installations, and results as well as updates of the past and future activities within the project.