32 Cruise Report, RV ATAIR, Cruise 067I033-1, Bremerhaven – Thybor?n – Aberdeen, 23 Jul – 15 Aug 2024 Bottom temperatures (Figure 6.4, left) are generally warmer south of 55°N, on the Dogger Bank and off the continental coasts compared to the central to northern North Sea due to shallower water depths. Bottom temperatures >18°C stretch along the Belgian, Dutch and Ger- man coast up to Denmark. The coldest bottom temperatures are located in the Norwegian Trench (< 7.5°C) and in larger bottom areas of the northeastern North Sea (near and north of ~58°N) Data from the northeastern North Sea along 59°N and 60°N is however not available. Bottom temperatures > 10°C stretch band-like along the eastern British coast from the Shet- land Islands to 56°N. Deviations from the long-term mean show a rather patchy pattern, with the western and eastern rims of the North Sea and its central part being warmer at the bottom than the long-term mean distribution at the bottom. Figure 6.5. CTD-derived spatial distribution for the salinity near the surface in summer 2024 (left) and respective salinity deviations (right) from a long-term summer mean, 20 years, comprising NSSS cruises of the years 2000-2020 (except 2019). In summer 2024, there was only one obvious path with near-surface salinities > 35 that was located southeast of Shetland. Due to missing data along 60°N (no station data at all) and 59°N (station data only west of 2°E) the eastward extension of this saline patch remains un- clear in this year (Figure 6.5, left). As in previous years, the isohaline 34.5 formed a horseshoe pattern from about 57°N off the British coast to 54°N south of the Dogger Bank to 56°N, 6°E and at least 58°N,5°E. Near-surface water inside this horse-shoe encompassed the high-sa- linity patch mentioned earlier but mostly showed spatially quasi-homogeneous salinities around 34.7-34.8. Coastal salinities off the eastern British coast fell well below 34.5 in a band- like pattern between ~57°N and the entrance of the English Channel near 52°N. Coastal sa- linities on the continental side of the North Sea reveal a local minimum north of the Rhine delta (S < 31) and off the North Frisian German and Danish coasts (S < 32 and S< 31, respectively). The Norwegian Trench shows the fresh Baltic outflow with a local minimum with S < 30 directly