A major multidisciplinary oceanographic program in the North Atlantic is
being put together by the French oceanographic community, and scientists
who would like to participate are being asked to submit proposals
immediately. Field work will begin in September 2000. Known as Programme
Océanographique Multidisciplinaire Méso-Echelle (POMME), the Meso-scale
Multidisciplinary Oceanographic Program, it is supported by several
French scientific agencies and will take place between the Azores and
the Iberian Peninsula.

The program will focus on subduction of mode water in the region, its
effect on biological production and the carbon budget in the area, and
the fate of organic matter after subduction.
More detailed information on the program's framework, rationale, and
organization can be found on the Web (http://www.insu.cnrs-dir.fr).

Supporting agencies are the Department of Earth Science at the Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique/Institut National des Sciences de
l'Univers (INSU); the Institut  Français de Recherche pour l'Exloitation
de la Mer (IFREMER); the French Meteorological Office; and the Service Hydrographique
de la Marine (SHOM). Funding has already begun, and committees have started work
on planning and implementation.

Researchers who want to participate, either in the experimental array or
with ship time, or whose projects might complement what is currently
planned, should submit their proposals, including curriculum vitae and a
statement of interest, to either Laurent Memery or Gilles Reverdin,
coordinators of the POMME scientific committee, with a copy to Martine
Revillon at INSU. The scientific committee might be enlarged to better
accommodate new participants from other countries. Two proposals have
already been received from research groups in the United Kingdom.

After review by the scientific committee, proposals will be forwarded to
the POMME project committee. The two committees will discuss the
complementarity of the proposals with POMME and suggest ways cooperation
might be implemented. Since some activities have to be planned long in
advance and since the POMME committees must have time to put together
the different contributions into a coherent experiment, proposals should
be transmitted as soon as possible (preferably before August 31).

Addresses are:

Laurent Mémery
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Dynamique et de Climatologie
UMR 7617 CNRS/IRD/UPMC
Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Case 100
4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 5,
France
(E-mail: lm@lodyc.jussieu.fr  ; lmlod@ipsl.jussieu.fr)

Gilles Reverdin,
Laboratoire d'Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales
Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées
14 Ave. Edouard Belin
31400 Toulouse
France
(E-mail: Gilles.reverdin@cnes.fr)

Martine Révillon
INSU/DSU
3 rue Michel Ange,
75766 Paris Cedex 16
France
(E-mail: martine.revillon@cnrs-dir.fr).

Author
Jean-François Minster
Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers, Paris, France.