The Observing System in the Atlantic Sector

CLIVAR activities in the Atlantic will greatly benefit from co-ordination among the various countries and investigators interested in working there. Key to the success of the efforts to co-ordinate plans will be a timely exchange of information.

This web page aims to give the most comprehensive inventory of ongoing and planned observational efforts in the Atlantic (sustained and part of process studies) which will provide the means for people to learn about potential collaborations and pursue those collaborations.

If you are presently making CLIVAR-related observations in the Atlantic (please interpret this broadly, as most oceanic and atmospheric observations can in fact help better understand the coupled system in the Atlantic), whether for operational or research purposes, or if you are planning future observational efforts could you please send to the Roberta Boscolo (International CLIVAR Project Office) the following information :


For an overview of the status of the implementation of CLIVAR's major projects and national programmes consult CLIVAR DATA.

Fixed Point Time Series

Positions of moorings arrays and cable for transport measurements, observatories long-time series and PIRATA array. Also in the map the sites of planned transport array and observatories time-series. Additional info can be found at OceanTimeseries

Transport Sites

P.I. contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status of the observation
E. Fahrbach & S. Osterhus Direct measurements of heat and freshwater fluxes through Fram Strait.
ASOF-EC(N)		 The array for measuring the heat flow is the continuation of the same array started within EC-VEINS (1997-2000) and maintained by AWI (2000-2002). The 11 moorings are equipped with current meters at selected layers of the water column and Doppler current meter.
The ice thickness through Fram Strait has been monitored from upward looking sonars (ULS) for the period 1990-2002. Since 1996 a couple of Doppler Current Profilers have been deployed for measuring directly the ice and water velocities. The ASOF array will consist of 4 moorings equipped with current meters, Doppler current meter and upward looking sonar.		 ONGOING
Started: 1996
Part of ASOF-EC(N) from 2003
Funded till 2006. Planned to continue beyond (within EC-FW6).
H. Loeng Fluxes Across the western Barent slope
ASOF-EC(N)		 This array is the continuation of the EC-VEINS (1997-2000) array, maintained by IMR (Norway) during 2000-2002. ASOF-EC(N) deployed 4 current meter moorings and 2 bottom mounted ADCP to determine transport time series, spatial structure and temporal variability. ONGOING
Started: 1996
Part of ASOF-EC(N) from 2003
Funded till 2006. Planned to continue beyond (within EC-FW6).
B. Hansen & S. Osterhus Meridional Overturning Exchanges with the Nordic Sea (MOEN)
ASOF-EC(E) 		The 3 Atlantic inflow branches have been monitored since EC-VEINS (1997-2000). with current meters and ADCPs. Within ASOF-EC(E) a total of 13 moorings have been deployed in three arrays crossing the three inflow branches. They will be serviced at least once a year. Regular CTD cruises will be conducted along the moored arrays. In the Faroe Bank Channel, the overflow has been monitored since 1995 (EC-VEINS (1997-2000).) with an ADCP moored at the sill. This mooring will be maintained while two moorings will be deployed south of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge covering the two south easternmost branches of the overflow. They will be serviced at least once a year. Regular CTD cruises will be conducted along the moored arrays. ONGOING
Start: 1995-7
Part of ASOF since 2003
funded till 2006.

Planned to continue beyond (within EC-FW6).
S. Jonsson & U. Send Moorings in the Denmark Strait As a continuation of long-term measurements of the DSOW transport started as part of EC-VEINS (1997-2000) in 1997, two Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), one Inverted Echo Sounder with Pressure Sensor (PIES) and a thermistor chain were deployed in autumn 1999 as part of German SfB460. In July 2000 three ADCP and two PIES were deployed. ONGOING
Start Feb 1997
Continued as part of part of SFB 460
Funded by till 2005.
R. Dickson ASOF-EC (W)
Freshwater and Dense fluxes SE Greenland		 The measurements are a continuation of the ones carried out as part of EC-VEINS (1997-2000) project, with the horizontal and the vertical coverage of the slope slightly extended. The time-series information from the slope array will be complemented by a long-term moored ADCP, which monitors the upstream fluctuations on the sill of the Denmark Strait. A new array has been designed to provide freshwater flux measurements under the ice of the SE Greenland shelf. In its fully-developed form, the new array will consist of a total of 5 moorings of three types. Two “Tube” moorings each with 4 Micro-cats, 1 Aanderaa RCM8 and 1 acoustic release. These would be alternated with 2 “Homer” Undulating CTD packages. The array would be completed with a further mooring in which a bottom frame fitted with a 150khz ADCP (plus two acoustic releases) would relate the spot measurements of current speed to the velocity distribution throughout the watercolumn, and an upward looking sonar would add information on the flux of ice.
 ONGOING
Started: 1997
Part of ASOF from 2003
funded till 2006

Planned to continue beyond (within EC-FW6).
S. Bacon Cape Farewell and Eirik Ridge: Interannual to Millennial Thermohaline Circulation Variability Part of UK RAPID programme, this project will deploy a mooring array in the vicinity of Cape Farewell to determine EGC property (temperature and salinity) FUNDED
Start: 2005 funded till 2007
H. Mercier and P. Lherminier OVIDE 5 moorings deployed on the east Greenland with classical and Doppler currentmeters. They are placed on the isobath lines : 160m, 500m,1000m,1700m and 1900m. The shallow one (which is actually a bottom-mounted ADCP) is planned for 1 year only. ONGOING
Start: 2004
funded till 2006
C. Lee ASOF-West As part of the Freshwater Initiative sponsored by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, six subsurface moorings, one off-axis sound source, eight bottom landers, and two Seagldiers were deployed slightly north of the Davis Strait sill in order to investigate freshwater exchange through Davis Strait. This 300-km-wide strait sits between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland and acts as the gateway for waters passing between the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the subpolar North Atlantic. The moored array will be recovered, serviced, and redeployed annually for a period of at least three years. ONGOING
Start: 2004
funded till 2007
F. Schott Labrador Sea Export In order to quatify the LSW export from the source region and its impact on the large scale circulation, a current meter array has been deployed at the exit of the Labrador Sea since 1997. For the first period (1997-99) 5 moorings were deployed. From 1999 to present the array consits of 3 moorings ONGOING
Start: 1997
funded till 2005
F. Schott NADW export, Grand Banks Boundary Current. To observe the intraseasonal to interannual variability of the southward export of the different species of North Atantic Deep Water (NADW) along the western boundary near 42N (western end of WOCE A2 line) from the subpolar toward the subtropical North Atlantic, as well as the associated water mass property variations . Moored observations are being complimented by shipboard sections and release of APEX floats in DWBC.
4 moored stations (current meters, Seacats; no telemetry) were deployed since 7/1999, exchanged for 2 more years in 2001 withing the German SfB460 programme.		 ONGOING
Start: 1999
funded till 2003
planned to continue beyond 2005
J. Loder Halifax and Flemish Cap Lines To describe structure and variability of traditional Labrador Current along Newfoundland and Scotian Slopes. To provide improved quantitative description of currents and circulation variability in deep-water hydrocarbon exploration areas on Scotian Slope and in Flemish Pass and to obtain time series of temporal variability in slope hydrography and currents on the Halifax and Flemish Cap lines, for use in interpreting hydrographic and biological section data from DFO Atlantic Zonal Monitoring Program (AZMP). ONGOING
Started: 2000/2001 (Halifax) and 2002 (Flemish Cap).
Funded till 2005.
J.-C. Therriaul & A. Clarke Atlantic Zone Monitoring Programme Series of sections across the Atlantic Canadian shelves nominally twice each year (spring and fall). These sections extend out over the continental slope to the 3000 m isobath and are sampled to full depth. Continuing programme, sampling is full depth CTDs, nutrients and biology. Start 1999
OPERATIONAL
C. Hughes, D. Marshall & R. Williams A Monitoring Array along the western margin of the North Atlantic Part of the UK RAPID programme, the project consists of an array of BPR, IES and profiling CTDs to detect thermohaline circulation anomalies as they propagate equatorward along the western margin of the North Atlantic. Deployment of three clusters along Jason altimeter tracks for 3-4 years. PLANNED FUNDED
Start 2004
funded till 2008
J. Toole Variability of Water Properties, stratification and circulation in the NW Atlantic.(Station W) Measurement program south of New England along a line from Woods Hole to Bermuda that coincides with a TOPEX/JASON altimeter satellite ground track. Moored observations will be made of temperature, salinity and velocity that resolve the DWBC on the continental slope. The slope array (that encompasses Station W) will quantify changes in DWBC water properties, stratification (potential vorticity) and transport. The Stream-bracketing moorings, together with altimetric-based sea level estimates, will index total geostrophic transport changes in the Gulf Stream. In similar spirit, combination of our southern mooring, BATS/S and the altimeter will index the southern recirculation. Spatially well resolved transport estimates will derive from the annual cruises, setting a context for the above indices. This array would contribute to the RAPID programmeA Monitoring Array along the western margin of the North Atlantic FUNDED
Start 2004
funded till 2008
T. Joyce and J. Marshall CLIMODE CLIMODE is a project to study the dynamics of 'Eighteen Degree Water' ( EDW ), the subtropical mode water of the North Atlantic. A moored array will be used to determine the mean properties and thickness of EDW at formation site. FUNDED
Start 2005
funded till 2007
S. Cunningham and J. Marotzke Monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N (UK RAPID) Continuesly monitoring full-depth density at eastern and western boundaries with 6 MMP and 2 conventional moorings. The western part will continue the ABACO timeseries (W. Johns, RMAS). In addition a MMP will be deployed on each side of MAR with a CTDs and BPR and CM mooring for continue observation at fixed depth. PLANNED FUNDED
Start: 2004
funded till 2008
M. Baringer Florida Current Transport from Voltage Measurements Transport variations in the Florida Current are being monitored by measuring the cross-stream voltages using an in-service under sea cable between Florida and Bahamas, and an abandoned cable between Florida, Bahamas and Cuba. Daily transport data are available from March 1982 to October 1998, and from March 2000 onward Start: 1982
OPERATIONAL
U. Send Gibraltar Transport to be part of an EU project proposal. Previous study with CANIGO Planned
The Meridional Overturning Variability Experiment (MOVE) is being conducted to monitor the THC in the subtropical Atlantic across 16 N. Since the THC is not confined to the boundary current regime, so-called end point techniques are especially suitable for efficiently obtaining large-scale integrals of deep circulation. The MOVE array employs three moorings with temperature/conductivity sensors for estimation of the baroclinic geostrophic transport and inverted echo sounders and bottom pressure sensors for determining the barotropic pressure gradients. Float deployments during shipboard transects provide absolute currents at the reference levels. The MOVE array has been integrated with moorings from the Guiana Abyssal Gyre Experiment (MOVE web page in german). ONGOING
Start: Jan 2000
Funded till early 2005
G. Rohardt Moorings Database at AWI Database from already recovered moored instruments in the arctic and antarctic areas.
F. Schott and J. Fischer Tropical-Subtropical Interactions in the Atlantic Moored current meter arrays (5 moorings) in the NBUC, near 11°S for obtaining multiyear records of transport and water mass variability . The moorings are equipped with ADCP, current meters, T/S-probes and IES. ONGOING
Start: March 2000
Funding till early 2005
D. Byrne Agulhas-South Atlantic Thermohaline Transport Experiment (ASTTEX) The experiment will provide a quantitative, multiyear Eulerian measurement of the strength and characteristic scales of the Agulhas-S. Atlantic mass and thermohaline fluxes. 16 moorings will monitor the transport for 24 months. The array will consist of 12 pressure inverted echo sounders (PIES), 3 near-bottom current meters (CM) and 1 mooring with six recording conductivity-temperature sensors (CT). ONGOING
Start: 2003
Funded till: 2005
C. Provost Malvinas Current Transport Array An array of 3 current meter moorings has been located since 1999 under the Jason track n.26, to evaluate the water mass transport associated with the Malvinas Current and the exchange of subantarctic waters between the Antarctic and Atlantic ocean. New deployment ( 3 CM moorings) were performed in Dec. 2002 and a yoyo profiler was be deployed in 2003. ONGOING
Start: dec. 2002
funded till 2004
Various
 WOCE Current Meter and Data Assembly Center. No data at the CMDAC in the Atlantic post Jan 1998. ENDED
Start: 1990
Stop: 1998

Observatory and Air-Sea Flux Reference Site

P.I. contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
O. Llinas and U. Send ESTOC is at about 100 km north of the Canary islands at 29 10'N, 20 30'W, and 3610 m water depth. Its intention is to create a long time series on an inter- and multidisciplinary basis in order to monitor and help understanding oceanic long-term variability in the North atlantic's subtropical gyre in conjunction with the Bermuda station BATS. Observational components are: (i) monthly ship-based casts: full depth CTD with samples, (ii) moored current meters (6 levels, 200 m to near bottom) and particle traps (JGOFS levels 700 m, 3000 m), (iv) from April 2002 on: daily telemetry of P, T, S from moored MicroCats in the upper 1200 m; near-surface moored sensors for pCO2, nutrient and fluorescence. OPERATIONAL
Since 1994
U. Send Atlantic Network of interdisciplinary Moorings and time series for Europe (ANIMATE) 3 Mooring sites have been selected to collect data for the North East Atlantic. CIS ,ESTOC , and PAP are all deep sites in over 3000m of water. The difficult conditons throughout the year make them ideal for proving the technology and systems required to record real-time and delayed-mode data. Sensors are mounted at depths of up to 1000m on the moorings to measure a wide range of physical, chemical and biological variables ONGOING
Start: 2001
Funded till : 2004
K276, Azores front/Madeira Abyss
 One mooring with 6 current meters ONGOING
Start: 1980
Funded till: ???
B. Bourles Sao Tome air-sea reference station As part of the EGEE project, a long-term meteorological station was installed in the Sao Tome island in the Gulf of Guinea enabling comparison with met. data obtained at sea. ONGOING
Start: Oct. 2003
U. Send Labrador Sea Deep Convection The project employes moored instrumentation and ship-boad observations for studing the convection in the Labrador Sea. the moored arrays consists of convection moorings with profiling ADCPs, current meters and acoustic tomography transceivers. Finished
Start: 1996 - Stop 2002.

continuation pending
OWS Bravo timeseries in the middle of Labrador Sea to observe the seasonal and interannual variability near the deep convection site. It doesn't have a continuous record. Starting in 1990, BIO has occupied the station once a year. Since June 2002 a high instrumented mooring was deployed in the site till June 2003. ONGOING
Start: 1960
Funded till: 2003

Pending for continuation

A. Clarke Labrador SLOPE Current mooring one mooring on the 1000m isobath on the Labrador Slope. Data are at the Current Meter DAC, there are no data in 1990-1995. ONGOING
Start: May 1977
Stop: 2003

continuation pending
J.-C. Therriaul & A. Clarke Atlantic Zone Monitoring Programme 6 fixed hydrographic stations part of the AZMP programme. CTD data, oxygen and nutrients collected on bimonthly bases Started 1999
OPERATIONAL
Ken Brink Ocean Research Interactive Observatory Network Planned station as observatory and air-sea flux reference in the North Atlantic Planned
W. Johns ABACO timeseries The western boundary current transport time series begun in 1986 within the framework of STACS (Subtropical Atlantic Climate Studies) and was supported by ACCP till 1997. The section has been also occupied from one to four times per year. The array has been funded to continue the measurements in connection to UK RAPID programme (Monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N, J. Marotzke) PLANNED FUNDED
Start 2004
funded till 2008
W. Zenk Long-term Observations of Bottom Water Flow through the VEMA Channel (31°S, 39°W) Post-WOCE mooring deployment by Germany and Russia include CM mooring at chocking sill in 1998-9 and 2002-3 respectively. From Dec. 2003 a new CM mooring will be deployed. Planned FUNDED
Start: Dec. 2003
Funded till 2005
planned to maintain it for longer
U. Send Meridional Overturning Variability Experiment Current meter mooring for monitoring NADW. ONGOING
Start: Jan 2000
Funded till early 2005
G. Budeus Deep Ventilation in the Greenland Sea Maintained by AWI, these moorings are part of a development project for the so called EP/CC Jojo CTD profiler (3600m depth every two days). They also intent to provide a continuos information of covection processes and modifocations in the Greenland Gyre. Currently there are three intruments deployed at 20 miles distance. The project is part of the EU funded project CONVECTION ONGOING
Started: 1999
funded till 2004
planned to maintain it for longer.
A. Watson Time Series of transient tracers in North Atlantic deep waters Part of UK RAPID programme, the project uses new sampling technologies and techniques to collect time-series of transient tracers penetrating the deep branch of the MOC in the northern North Atlantic and its marginal seas. Tracers will include CFCs, sulphur hexafluoride and Iodine-129, the last two of which have specific sources and rapidly changing signals. ONGOING
Started: 2004
funded till 2007
R. Pickart Irminger Sea Circulation and Convection Part of a project aiming at studying the LSW formation and variability in transport and mixing of ISOW and DSOW in the Irminger Basin, two profiling CTD mooring were deployed in the western boundary current and region where deep convection likely occurs. Since 2004 there is one ultramooring profiling. Deployment are coordinated within the ASOF Study ONGOING
Start August 2001
funded till: 2009.
Hendrik van Aken LOCO - Long-term Ocean Climate Observations LOCO is a Dutch funded project that contributes to ocean sustained measument for climate. In summer 2003 two profiling CTD will be deployed in the Irminger Sea. A third mooring will be deployed in 2004 on the continental rise of Greenland. This deployment will be coordinated with R. Pickart (WHOI). The timeseries is planned for 5 years. Planned Funded
Start: Sept 2003
funded till 2008
S. Osterhus Ocean weather Ship Station M Having performed daily oceanographic measurements in the deep Norwegian Sea since 1 October 1948, Ocean Weather Ship Station (OWS) M, can present the longest existing homogeneous time series from the deep ocean. Station M is operating above the eastern margin of the Norwegian Sea deep basin where a branch of the Atlantic current is entering the area. The location proved to be strategic both for studying the Atlantic inflow, and the Norwegian Sea Deep Water. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (DNMI) operates the OWS M. Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, is responsible for the hydrographic programme. A routine programme within physical oceanography, including serial observations of temperature, salinity, and (since 1953) oxygen weekly at standard depths to 2000 meters, and serial observations of temperature and salinity at standard depths down to 1000 meters 3 or 4 times a week. See the OWS M web page in Norwegian ONGOING
Start: 1948
Funded till:2004
A. Plueddemann Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station (NTAS) The NTAS mooring is funded through the NOAA/OGP CLIVAR Altantic Program. The first setting was in March 2001, turnarounds are at one year intervals. One-hour average Surface meteorological variables are available in near real-time via Argos telemetry. The NTAS mooring serves as a Flux Reference Site for the northwest tropical Atlantic and as a northwest extension of the PIRATA array. ONGOING
Start: March 2001
Funded till: 2007
J. Servain PIRATA Tropical Moored Buoy Array in the Atlantic. A multinational co-operation involved France, Brazil and USA ONGOING
Start: 1997
Funded till: 2005
P. Nobre SW PIRATA Extension Contribution to understanding the role of the western tropical Atlantic on regional and global climate. Proposed
M. Rouault SE PIRATA Extension Completed the feasibility study on the implementation of the extension. Submitted to funding agencies Proposed
Center for Integrated Ocean Observations
 Biweekly time series of pressure, temperature, salinity and oxygen. Start: 1954
OPERATIONAL

Drifters (drifting buoys)

Drifting Buoy inventory in the Atlantic Ocean. Figure on the left shows the drifters population as in June 2003. More are available for download:

The statistics of drifters population in the Atlantic is available.

P.I. contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
P. Niiler & S. Garzoli Tropical and S. Atlantic 5-year project consisting of deploying about 80 drifters per year in the Tropical Atlantic. Data collected up to now are in the process to be analysed. ONGOING
Start: 1997
Funded till 2007.
C. Engler GDC is responsible for scheduling the deployments of drifting buoys globally and in the Atlantic in the tropical area using VOS and US Navy aircraft. OPERATIONAL
2002 globally deployed 396 drifting buoys
2003: ????
P. Blouch European Group on Ocean Stations (TS) EGOS maintains a continuous operational network of drifting buoys, it operates in an area bounded by 30°N and 50°W and the European continent. All EGOS drifters report SLP and SST, most also air temperature and few wind speed and direction. Data are disseminated via GTS. OPERATIONAL
the number of drifting buoy averages 40-45 in 2002 with 52 deployments.
L. Vermaak International South Atlantic Buoy Programme ISABP operates in the South Atlantic Ocean between 20°N and 55°S. OPERATIONAL
over 100 drifters deployed yearly.
M. Pazos & C. Jodoin Drifting Buoy Data Assembly It assembles and provides uniform quality control SST and surface velocity measurements. Data product include: monthly drifter reports (since 1995), annual and seasonal mean velocity averages. ONGOING
.
MEDS acquires, processes, QCs, archives and distributes drifters data reporting over GTS. Surface velocity datasets are supplied by AOML on a 6-months basis. The data are interpolated to positions every 6 hours. ONGOING

Subsurface Floats

Subsurface floats deployed in the Atlantic from 2000 to end 2002. See table below for details. The map of Atlantic Launches during WOCE and data summary are available at the WOCE DIU.

On the right the ARGO Atlantic Network as Feb 2003.

P.I. contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
C. Wooding WOCE Subsurface Float DAC Data assembly Center and inventory of subsurface floats launched from 1989 to 2000. The Atlantic Ocean projects included are:
ACCE (USA), Labrador Sea (USA-Ger), EUROFLOAT (EU), CANIGO (EU), ARCANE (Fr), N. Atlantic Basin (UK-Ger), Deep Basin Ex. (USA-Ger), DRAKE (USA), KAPEX (USA), SAMBA (Fr).		 ONGOING
funded till: ???
Various ARGO- Global Profiling Floats

ARGO Information Centre

 ARGO consists of a broad-scale global array of temperature/salinity profiling floats. It plans to deploy a global array of about 3000 PALACE floats at a horizontal resolution of about 3°x3°. Data of all the active floats in the Atlantic are available. More detailed information on the Atlantic implementation is available. ARGO data are available at the Global Data Assembly Centers: CORIOLIS and GODAE. ONGOING
future plans:
Northern Subpolar: 20 in 2003 & 65 in 2004
Northern Subtropical: 31 in 2003 & 31 (or 11) in 2004
Topical: 15 in 2003 & 65 in 2004
Southern Subtropical: 21 in 2003 & 6 in 2004
Various GYROSCOPE A three-year EU funded project involving 9 european laboratories. GyroScope aims to contribute to the development of an European component of the the global observing system. 80 autonomous profiling floats will be deployed in the North Atlantic as contribution to ARGO. First deployment is schedule in june 2001. Data management is done at CORIOLIS ONGOING
Start: January 2001
Stop: December 2003
W. Zenk Integral Measurements of THC intensity Several RAFOS floats were deployed in 2001 and 2002 in the area off Guadeloupe. Drifting depth 780m the 1st year and 1400m the 2nd year. ONGOING
Start: 2000
Funded till early 2005
W. Zenk Water Mass Transformation in the Eastern Basin Aim of the project is the investigation and understanding of transformation rates of Labrador Sea Water (LSW) and Iceland Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) on their paths through the Iceland Basin. The project float observations followed the terminated Eurofloat initiative and were enhanced since 2001 by the new Gyroscope project. Most instruments were ballasted for depth of the Labrador Sea Water (1500 m), eight devices aimed at the Lower Deep Water level (2600 m). FINISHED
1999-2002
F. Schott and J. Fischer Tropical-Subtropical Interactions in the Atlantic Ocean 10 APEX-SBE floats were deployed in the western tropical Atlantic in March 2000. Drifting Pressure target is 200-400m and every 10 days the float goes to 1500m before transmitting its position and the profile data. ONGOING
Start: 2000
Stop: 2002. Funded requested for continuation till 2006
B. Molinari USA Argo Center Make real-time quality controlled data available to the operational community within 24 hours of collection.  A 24 hour, 7 day a week fully automated operation is provided. Achieve a higher level of quality control, including expert inspection of profiles, applied to the data within 3 months. Provide continuous open access to the data after the real-time quality control. Perform continuous evaluation of the network to ensure that design requirements are satisfied. Generate of data products to increase the usefulness of data and for further quality assessment. ONGOING
Start: 2001
S. Riser UW NOPP/ARGO The profiling drifter data shown on this site are sponsored by the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) in the US. These floats have been deployed as the beginning step in the US ARGO program ONGOING

Sea Level

Positions of Research Quality Stations and GLOSS network of sea-level measurements. Red dots are operational stations (latest data is 1998 or later), yellow dots are probably operational stations (latest data within the period 1988-1997), cyan dots indicate historical stations (latest data earlier than 1986) or no data available. Status as of October 2002

P.I. contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
P. Woodworth Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level and Global Sea level Observing System 287 sea level stations around the world for long term climate change and oceanographic sea level monitoring. OPERATIONAL
M. Merrifield University of Hawaii - Sea Level Center It provided three online databases: research quality data, WOCE fast delivery data, and the IGOSS Sea Level Program. OPERATIONAL
S. Narayanan MEDS- Tides & Waterlevels MEDS acquires, processes, quality controls, archives and distributes tide and water level (TWL) data reported on a daily to monthly basis from the DFO Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) water level gauging network.

XBT

The present SOOP network (left) is made of lines maintained in low-density mode with adequate coverage (green), frequently-repeated lines (yellow), oversampled (blue) and limited (dashed red) or partial (solid red) coverage. The red dot indicates the lines designated for high density mode. The proposed locations for future frequently repeated (red) and density (blue) lines are shown on the right.

P.I. contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
M. Baringer and R. Molinari High density XBT Lines AX10, AX08, AX7 and AX18 Several high density XBT section have been completed. AX07 started in 1995 and at the present it has completed 21 sections. AX10 started in 1997 and counts 15 completed sections at date. ONGOING
Start: 1995
Funded till: 2004-2006
Various NOAA SEAS XBT Observations NOAA's XBT program (Shipboard Environmental Acquisition System) currently supports about 80 voluntary observing ship (VOS). SEAS Vessels are responsible for more than 14,000 XBT observations/year ONGOING
Start: 1995
Funded till: ????
Alexander Sy AX03 Started in May 1988 it is now run in a bi-monthly mode, only west to east transect . ONGOING
G. Reverdin AX01 line (Nuka Arctica) Route between Shetlands and South Greenland along 60N. Funding for 200 probes per year comes from UK Hydrographic Office. 4 medium-resolution sections per year. The ship is also equiped with ADCP, TSG and will have a pCO2. Data collection started in 2000. ONGOING
Start: 1997
Funded till: 2004
A. Dessier IRD Ship of Opportunity Network (AX05, AX15 and AX20) Information on past and current activities of IRD/ORSTROM XBT network. Status of the Network for 2002 is AX05, AX15 and AX20 OPERATIONAL (??)
R. Bailey Ship of Opportunity Programme SOOP is directed primarily towards the continued operational maintenance and co-ordination of the low-density XBT network developed by TOGA and WOCE. Yearly XBT reports are available from 1998 at , here summarised for the Atlantic Ocean.
Data management is undertaken by GTSPP and MEDS		 ONGOING
SOOP Atlantic plans: 2001-2003

Repeat Hydrography

CLIVAR/Carbon committed Hydrography Sections planned/funded (red lines) and planned/forward look (yellow lines). See table below for details.

More information on the world-wide repeat hydrography plans are available here

Sections
Previous Occupations (P.I.)
 Future Occupations (P.I.) Frequency Status
17-30 April 2001 (Tereshchenkov/IORAN)
September 2002 (53°N - AR1W - 60°N Morozov/IORAN)		 one off
1-23 July 1990 (van Aken/NIOZ)
8 Apr - 1 May 1991 (van Aken/NIOZ)
1 Aug - 4 Sep 1991 (Gould/IPO)
2 - 26 Sep 1991 (Meincke/IfMUH)
12 Sep - 6 Oct 1992 (Sy/BSH)
21 May - 08 Jun 1994 (Bersch/IfMUH)
26 May - 23 Jun 1995 (Bersch/IfMUH)
19 Aug - 05 Sep 1996 (Bersch/IfMUH)
3 Oct - 18 Dec 1997 (Sovov/GOIN)
R/V Valdivia Jul/Aug 1998 (Schott et al./GER)
18 May - 4 Nov 1999 (Schott et al. /GER)
October 2000 (vanAken/NIOZ)
17 Jul - 12 Aug 2001 (Schott et al. /GER)
25 June - 23 Aug 2002 (Bersch/IfMUH)		 2004

(M. Bersch, IfM Hamburg, Germany)

2003 and 2005

(H. van Aken / NIOZ)

 2 years




2 years		 Funded till 2004
Forward Look after 2005
Scheduled and Planned
2 - 9 Jul 1990 (Lazier/BIO)
26 May - 4 Jun 1991 (Hendry/BIO)
27 May - 14 Jun 1992 (Lazier/BIO)
17 - 28 Jun 1993 (Lazier/BIO)
24 May - 12 Jun 1994 (Lazier/BIO)
7 Jun - 5 Jul 1995 (Lazier/ BIO)
12 May - 1 Jun 1996 (Lazier/BIO)
16 Oct - 20 Nov 1996 (Clarke/BIO)
9 May - 11 Jun 1997 (Clarke/BIO)
7 Jul - 8 Aug 1997 (Schott/IfM Kiel)
22 Jun - 9 Jul 1998 (Jones/BIO)
27 Jun - 13 Jul 1999 (Clarke/BIO)
20 May - 8 Jun 2000 (Harrison/BIO)
30 May-15 Jun 2001 (Clarke/BIO)
23 Jun-19 Jul 2002 (Clarke/BIO)
 December 2002 and May/June 2003

Funded by Canada Fisheries and Ocean Programme

(A. Clarke / BIO Canada)

Annual Funded to 2003
6-25 Jul 1993 (Sy/BSH)
5 Nov - 16 Dec 1993 (Clarke/BIO)
12 Oct - 12 Nov 1994 (Koltermann/BSH)
4 May - 9 Jun 1996 (Koltermann/BSH)
11 Jun - 3 Jul 1997 (Koltermann/BSH)
5 - 20 May 1998 (Koltermann/BSH)
13 Oct - 9 Nov 1999 (Shapovalov/IORAN)
6 May - 5 Jul 2000 (Koltermann/BSH)
7 - 31 May and 12 Jul - 12 Aug 2001 (Fischer&Zenk/IfM Kiel)
17 May - 13 Jul 2002 (Koltermann/BSH)		 2004
Part of the project AtTransVar

(P.Koltermann / BSH Germany)

2003

(M. Rhein/ U. Bremen Germany)

 2 years

one off

Committed

Planned

11 Sep - 21 Nov 1993 (Tereschenkov/IORAS) 2005

Proposal (R. Williams, UK)

 one off
 Proposed
1957
1982
14 Jul - 15 Aug 1992 (Parrilla / IEO)
8 Jan - 24 Feb 1998 (Molinari / AOML)		 2004

RAPID Climate Change Programme funded by NERC UK

(Cunningham SOC UK)

 ?????

Funded from 2002 till 2006
13 Feb - 19 Mar 1993 (Colin/ORSTOM)
8-23 Jul 2000 (Sokov / IORAS)		 Uncommitted Uncommitted
12 Dec 1992 - 31 Jan 1993 (Onken / IfM) 2003 Oct/Nov

(Y. Yoshikawa / JAMSTEC)

2010 US Repeat Hydrography

 one off

7 years

Funded

Planned

22 Dec 1992 - 1 Feb 1993 (Saunders / SOC) ?????

(B. King / SOC UK)

One - off Forward Look
18 Feb - 2 Mar 1995 (Arhan/LPO) 2010

US Repeat Hydrography

7 years Planned
23 Jul - 6 Aug / 11-27 Aug 1988 (McCartney / WHOI)
13 Mar - 19 Apr 1989 (Talley / SIO)
23 Jan - 8 Mar 1989 (Smethie / LDEO)
May 1997 (Smythe-Wright / SOC)		 ?????

(Smythe-Wright / SOC UK)

21 Apr - 4 June 2003 A16N (J. Bullister/PMEL)

austral summer 2005 A16S (J. Swift/SIO)

US Repeat Hydrography

2003 Oct/Nov (E. Morozov/SIO RU)

 One - off for the A16N


7 years

One off

 Forward Look



Planned Funded

Planned Funded
17 Jul - 10 Aug 1997 (Pickart / WHOI) 27 July - 23 Oct 2003 (J. Toole / WHOI)

2012

US Repeat Hydrography

8 years Planned Funded
15 Aug - 3 Sep 1997 (Joyce /WHOI) 26 Oct - 22 Nov 2003 (T. Joyce / WHOI)

US Repeat Hydrography

8 years Planned Funded
7 Aug - 17 Sep 1997 (Bacon / SOC)
10 Jun - 12 Jul 2002 (Mercier/IFREMER)		 2004

committed occupation within the French national programme OVIDE

(H. Mercier / IFREMER)

2 years Planned till 2010
23 Jan - 8 Mar 1990 (Roether / U. Bremen)
10 Aug - 23 Sep 1992 (Peterson / SIO)
11 Nov - 17 Dec 1992 (Turner / AMK)
2 Nov - 25 Dec 1993 (Cabezas / SHOA)
8 Nov - 8 Dec 1994 (Maturana / SHOA)
15 -20 Nov 1994 (King / SOC)
4 - 15 Dec 1995 (Rojas / SHOA)
28 Nov - 13 Dec 1996 (Jara / SHOA)
15 Nov - 20 Nov 1996 (King / SOC)
27 Dec 1997 - 7 Jan 1998 (King /SOC)
21 Nov - 14 Dec 2000 (Cunningham / SOC)
??-?? 2001 (King/SOC)		 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

(S. Cunningham / SOC)

2011

US Repeat Hydrography

 Annual





one off

 Funded

Planned
6 Sep - 8 Oct 1989 (Fahrbach / AWI)
17 Nov - 30 Dec 1990 (Fahrbach / AWI)
21 May - 5 Aug 1992 (Lemke / IfM Kiel)
3 Dec - 22 Jan 1993 (Fahrbach / AWI)
17 Mar - 20 May 1996 (Fahrbach /AWI)
ANT XV/4 Apr 1998
ANT XVl/2 Jan 1999
ANT XVlll/3 Jan 2001		 2003 AWI database.

(E. Fahrbach / AWI)

further occupation within the GOODHOPE project (S. Speich / LPO )

 Annual Planned
7 - 27 Jan 1996 (Edwards / UK)
October 1996 (Pollard / SOC)
September 1997
May 1998
1999
27 Jan - 20 Feb 2000 (Holliday/SOC)
May 2001		 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

(P. Holliday / SOC)

The Ellet Line

 Annual Funded
12 Jul - 22 Aug 1999 (Andrie/LODYC)
24 Jul - 21 Aug 2000 (Andrie/LODYC)
 2003, 2004 and 2005
part of the project EGEE

(C. Andrie and B. Bourles / LODYC)

Biannual Planned
5 Mar - 17 April 2001 (Rios / IIM)
 March 2002 and 2003
CTD measurements till 3000m within the Spanish national programme FICARAM

(A. Rios / IIM, Spain)

Annual

2 years (??)

Funded till 2003

Forward Look from 2003

2003

AMT Atlantic Meridional Transect

 Biannual Planned Funded

VOS Surface Marine Network

The map shows the number of reports per 1-deg area during the period Nov 1999 - Oct. 2000 from those ships that will be approached to participate in VOSclim

Contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
Sarah North Voluntary Observing Ship CLIMate Project VOSClim is an ongoing project within JCOMM's Voluntary Observing Ships' Scheme. It aims to provide a high-quality subset of marine meteorological data, with extensive associated metadata, to be available in both real-time and delayed mode to support global climate studies.
VOSClim is a follow-up to the earlier VOS Special Observing Project North Atlantic (VSOP-NA) which was conducted on behalf of the World Climate Research Project (WCRP) from 1988 to 1990. 		ONGOING
P. Dexter Marine meteorological observations are recorded on board most ships and collected by the Port Meteorological Officer of the recruiting country. The data are then sent, at approximately three-month intervals, to global collecting centres in Germany and the United Kingdom. These centres ensure that minimum quality control has been applied to the data, and then, every three months, supply data to eight Members, each with a specific area of responsibility for the preparation of climatological summaries. ONGOING
P. Dexter Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme The ASAP involves the generation of upper profile data from data sparse ocean areas using automated sounding systems carried on board of merchant ships on regular ocean routes. Most of the soundings are presently from the North Atlantic. However in 2001 saw the initiation of the Worldwide Recurring ASAP Project (WRAP) which extends the long established ASAP into the remote oceanic regions of the southern hemisphere. In addition to the normal surface weather reports, the vessel also provide two radiosonde soundings per day. ONGOING

Moored Buoy

Moored buoys in the Atlantic ocean(normally serviced every 6 months). See table below for details

Contact
Project name & Web site
Description Status
J. Servain PIRATA The Tropical Moored Buoy Array in the Atlantic consists of 12 ATLAS buoys that measure SST, upper ocean thermal structure and air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat and freshwater. The project is a multinational co-operation involving France, Brazil and USA ONGOING
Start: 1997
Funded till: 2005
A. Plueddemann Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station (NTAS) One ATLAS buoy for air-sea flux measurements. Located at the eastern edge of the GAGE/MOVE Experiment array it can be considered the westward extention of PIRATA. ONGOING
Start: March 2001
Funded till: 2004
P. Blouch EGOS is an action group of the Data Buoy Co-operation Panel and maintains 40 moored buoys in the North Eastern Atlantic. OPERATIONAL
M. McNeil Environment Canada Canada maintain about 12 moored buoy in the western north Atlantic OPERATIONAL
E. Meindl About 40 US Moored buoy in the western north Atlantic. OPERATIONAL

Global Climate Observing System Networks

GCOS Surface Network (left) is made of 981 stations. GCOS Upper Air Network (right) is made of 152 stations. See table below for details

Contact
Project name & Web site
Description
S. Roesner GCOS Surface Network Monitor Centre GCOS Upper-Air Network (GUAN) and the GCOS Surface Network (GSN) are established with the aim to provide high quality and reliable climate data. The GSN was based on a proposal of the WMO Commission for Climatology (CCl) Working Group on Climate Change Detection. An initial selection of a GSN was published in 1997 ( GCOS-34 , 1997). Ranking and selecting by use of an objective method led to about 1000 GSN stations to be included in the GSN . Based on results from the monitoring centres the GSN is beeing under review and some changes have been introduced meanwhile (deletion of stations, placement, new stations). The GSNMC together with GCOS and the World Weather Watch Department of WMO try to identify problems and find solutions to overcome deficiencies. Improvement of the performence of (GSN) CLIMAT network is also one of the goals of the GCOS Regional Workshop Programme.
M. McCarthy The principal aims of the GUAN project are to ensure a relatively homogenous distribution of upper air stations that meet specific record length and homogeneity requirements outlined by GCOS and to develop, and make available, their current and historical data. It is important to establish a network of stations with reliable prior records and which will continue to provide data in the future. The selection process considered the following guidelines, in order of importance :
  • The position of the station in its contribution to a spatially homogenous network ;
  • The performance of the site in producing consistently high quality data ;
  • The existence of a historical record of reasonable length.

 A total of 150 sites have been selected with a further 15 sites for use as a standby network, network upgrades, or furthering monitoring in the Indian and African regions. These are all currently operating as World Weather Watch, Global Observing System stations. The respective WMO members will soon receive a letter from WMO requesting them to provide data from these stations as a contribution to GCOS.

Data are available at NCDC

Sea Surface Temperature

Platform
Sensor
 Description Status
Polar Orbiting Satellites NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer The NOAA/NASA AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder SST data are available in different spatial/temporal resolutions from 1985-1999 at PO.DAAC. 2 different SST climatologies are also available at PO.DAAC for the period 1985-1997 and 1985-1999 Currently NOAA is operating 3 polar orbiters: -14, -15 and -16
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission TRMM Microwave Imager radiometer The important feature of TMI is that SST can be measured through clouds. The data are available from Dec. 1997 to present at RSS TRMM satellite was launched in Nov. 1997
Earth Remote Sensing - 2 Along Track Scanning Radiometer Gridded SST in 512x512 arrays at 1 km resolution and averaged SST products are available at ESA and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory from June 1995 to January 2001 ERS-2 was launched in April 1995
NASA Terra
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
 The SST data derived from MODIS are available globally at 4km resolution with daily and weekly time intervals at GDAAC Terra was launched on Dec. 18, 1999
ENVISAT Advance Along Track Scanning Radiometer The scientific objective is ensuring the production of SST data at a level of accuracy required for climate research. No data are available yet. ENVISAT was launched 1st March 2002
ADEOS-II Global Imager No data available yet Launch scheduled in 2002

Sea Surface Height

Platform
Sensor
 Description Status
Topex/Poseidon Altimeter PO.DAAC hosts T/P sea surface anomaly dataset. Ocean ESIP hosts SSH residuals (along-track grid 6.2 km 1992-2001 and uniform grid 1x1 deg. 5-day averages) and Sea Wave Heights (along-track grid 6.2 km 1992-2001) T/P satellite was launched in August 1992. Expected to operate till 1998, however T/P is currently in operation
Jason-1 Altimeter Jason has begun to generate its firsts maps of sea-level anomalies and significant wave height (28 Feb 2002) Jason was launched on 7th Dec. 2001
Earth Remote Sensing - 1/2 Radar Altimeter Digital data set consisting of a global set SSH point values with respect to a particular reference ellipsoid based on ERS1/2 altimeter data available at ESA ERS-1 coverage period 1991-1995 ERS-2 was launched in April 1995
ENVISAT Radar Altimeter-2 ENVISAT altimeter data will support the reserach of ocean circulation, topography and marine geoid ENVISAT was launched 1st March 2002
Jason-2 Altimeter Jason's 2 capability is being to resolve the millimeter per year rate of global mean sea level variation Launch scheduled in 2005

Winds at ocean surface

Platform
Sensor
 Description Status
NSCAT

QuickSCAT

 SeaWinds (specialised microwave) QuickSCAT mission is a recovery mission to fill the gap created by the loss of data from the NSCAT. Data available at PODAAC include gridded ocean wind vectors and ocean wind vectors in 25km NSCAT 1996-1997

QuickSCAT was lofted into space on June 1999

Earth Remote Sensing - 1/2 AMI Scatterometer mode CERSAT provides weekly and monthly wind fields on 1x1 deg from three satellites scatterometer data (ERS 1/2 and NSCAT) from 1991 to present ERS-1 coverage period 1991-1995 ERS-2 was launched in April 1995
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program SSM/I 1.0 and 2.5-deg. monthly mean near surface oceanic wind speed available at NCDC 5 DMSP satellites are orbiting: F10, F11, F12, F13 and F14
ADEOS-II SeaWinds (specialised microwave) The experiment is a follow-on mission and continues the data series initiated in 1996 by NSCAT. Launch scheduled in 2002
METOP ASCAT The MetOp will be developed by ESA and EUMETSAT as a polar-orbiting weather operational satellites. They aim to offer a better performance than current NOAA system. Launch scheduled in 2003

Sea Ice/Snow Cover

Platform
Sensor
 Description Status
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program SSM/I Microwave Imager Daily and monthly sea ice concentrations data gridded at a resolution of 25x25 km are available at NSIDC from June 1987 5 DMSP satellites are orbiting: F10, F11, F12, F13 and F14
RADARSAT-1

RADARSAT-2

 SAR Sea ice daily data are available at RSI above 75°N. Region between 65° to 70°N every second day and region between 45° to 55°N every three days RADARSAT-1 was launched in November 1995. RADARSAT-2 are planned to be launched in 2003
ENVISAT Advanced SAR data not available yet ENVISAT was launched 1st March 2002
Earth Remote Sensing - 1/2 SAR ???? Launch scheduled in 2002

Precipitation

Platform/Instrument
Observable
 Data Description Status
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
SSM/I		 Land Rainfall Estimates 1.0 and 2.5-deg. monthly gridded global rainfall statistics from July 1987 to present (except from Jul 90 to Dec 91) at NCDC 5 DMSP satellites are orbiting: F10, F11, F12, F13 and F14
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
SSM/I		 Total Precipitable Water 1.0 and 2.5-deg. monthly gridded global total precipitable water available at NCDC 5 DMSP satellites are orbiting: F10, F11, F12, F13 and F14
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
TRMM		 Rain Rate (+/-35°) Monthly mean from Jan 1986 to Dec 1995 gridded at 2.5 km. Data available at GSFC/DAAC ENVISAT was launched 1st March 2002

Salinity

Platform/Instrument
Observable
 Data Description Status
AQUARIUS Sea Surface Salinity Aquarius is a focused satellite mission to measure global Sea Surface Salinity (SSS). Scientific progress is limited because conventional in situ SSS sampling is too sparse to give the global view of salinity variability that only a satellite can provide. Aquarius will resolve missing physical processes that link the water cycle, the climate, and the ocean. Scheduled to be launched in 2006/7