The EPOC project aims to understand the role of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) in the Earth system and its impacts on weather and climate. A specific focus of the EPOC project is to re-evaluate the conceptual idea of the AMOC as a 'great ocean conveyor', and to that end, assesses AMOC coherence and variability as a function of timescale and latitude. Within EPOC, we have targeted one known location where AMOC coherence is expected to breakdown (a "transition area"), at 47°N in the Atlantic in a region of strong convex topography. In EPOC-Hopon, we will target a second transition area across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge (GSR). The GSR is an area of shallow topography which separates the North Atlantic from the Nordic Seas and Arctic, where the GSR presents a barrier to connectivity between dense waters formed in the Nordic Seas or Arctic and the dense waters which make up the southward flowing limb of the AMOC in the wider North Atlantic. Here, we propose to extend observational records of the transports across the ridge, including the dense overflows and the northward flow of warm salty Atlantic water towards the Arctic, by re-analysing historical observations and making new ones across a long-standing gap in observations across the ridge (specifically, the Iceland-Faroe Ridge). These records will be used to help connect and validate transport estimates generated within EPOC using multi-observational approaches, while the new observations will be used to test and improve new methods to observe the AMOC across this key transition area and in a region where climate models struggle to represent observed oceanic processes. The EPOC-Hopon project addresses a key region in AMOC science, strengthens the connection between EPOC work and the Arctic, and improves knowledge circulation between the EPOC partners in Europe, the UK, USA, and Canada with the new partner in the Faroe Islands.

The overarching objective of AtlantOS is to achieve a transition from a loosely-coordinated set of existing ocean observing activities to a sustainable, efficient, and fit-for-purpose Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System (IAOOS), by defining requirements and systems design, improving the readiness of observing networks and data systems, and engaging stakeholders around the Atlantic; and leaving a legacy and strengthened contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). AtlantOS will fill existing in-situ observing system gaps and will ensure that data are readily accessible and useable. AtlantOS will demonstrate the utility of integrating in-situ and Earth observing satellite based observations towards informing a wide range of sectors using the Copernicus Marine Monitoring Services and the European Marine Observation and Data Network and connect them with similar activities around the Atlantic. AtlantOS will support activities to share,

Blue-Action will provide fundamental and empirically-grounded, executable science that quantifies and explains the role of a changing Arctic in increasing predictive capability of weather and climate of the Northern Hemisphere.To achieve this Blue-Action will take a transdisciplinary approach, bridging scientific understanding within Arctic climate, weather and risk management research, with key stakeholder knowledge of the impacts of climatic weather extremes and hazardous events; leading to the co-design of better services.This bridge will build on innovative statistical and dynamical approaches to predict weather and climate extremes. In dialogue with users, Blue-Arctic will take stock in existing knowledge about cross-sectoral impacts and vulnerabilities with respect to the occurrence of these events when associated to weather and climate predictions. Modeling and prediction capabilities will be enhanced by targeting firstly, lower latitude oceanic and atmospheric drivers of regional Arctic changes and secondly, Arctic impacts on Northern Hemisphere climate and weather extremes. Coordinated multi-model experiments will be key to test new higher resolution model configurations, innovative methods to reduce forecast error, and advanced methods to improve uptake of new Earth observations assets are planned. Blue-Action thereby demonstrates how such an uptake may assist in creating better optimized observation system for various modelling applications. The improved robust and reliable forecasting can help meteorological and climate services to better deliver tailored predictions and advice, including sub-seasonal to seasonal time scales, will take Arctic climate prediction beyond seasons and to teleconnections over the Northern Hemisphere. Blue-Action will through its concerted efforts therefore contribute to the improvement of climate models to represent Arctic warming realistically and address its impact on regional and global atmospheric and oceanic circulation.