Victoria, B.C. - An international initiative,
Argo, which aims to supply data from a global climate
observatory operating by the end of 2007 has now deployed
two-thirds of its planned robotic armada in oceans around the
world, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced today.
“Argo is an international, collaborative effort
that makes available the best possible data for forecasting a
wide array of weather and ocean conditions and phenomena,” said
Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. “I commend the
role DFO scientists have played in this important endeavour.”
DFO research scientist Howard Freeland, Canadian
chair of the Argo program and co-chair of the international Argo
program, noted there are now 2,000 Argo floats operating in the
Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans. “Data from the
floats produces 73,000 profiles per year, which are a mainstay
of both climate and ocean researchers and of operational weather
and climate centres around the world,” said Dr. Freeland.
In 1998 oceanographers dreamed of a global
network of robotic instruments that would deliver information
that would serve as a role model for global observations. Argo
is a collaborative effort by scientists in more than 23
countries who deploys floats and process their data. In 2000 the
first float was launched and the target of 3,000 floats is
expected to be reached by 2007.
Data are used in a variety of ways:
Monitoring how the oceans drive hurricanes
and typhoons.
Assessing impacts of ocean temperature,
salinity and currents on fisheries and other aspects of
regional ecosystems.
Studying the interaction between atmosphere
and ocean during monsoons.
Calculating heat storage by the ocean which
is important in verifying climate models of global warming.
Studying salinity changes due to changing
rainfall.
Predicting El Niño events.
Argo data are freely available to anyone wanting
to use them, and are typically used by meteorologists and
oceanographers. The data are made available as soon as initial
quality checks have been completed - usually within 24 hours.
The data are free of seasonal bias as most ship-based
observations are sparse in the winter at high latitudes where
important climate processes occur.
The data are distributed evenly throughout all
ice-free deep ocean areas. Argo floats measure salinity to
accuracy close to that achieved by research ships; salinity is
important as a means of monitoring changes in precipitation over
the oceans. Temperature measurements are accurate enough to
detect subtle climate-related changes over years and decades.
Argo floats are also uniquely able to measure subsurface
currents that can be used to calculate global-scale heat
transport by the oceans.
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For more information:
Diane Lake
Communications
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(604) 666-0939
Useful links:
U.S. Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment:
http://www.usgodae.org/cgi-bin/argo_select.pl
Coriolis Operational Oceanography:
http://www.coriolis.eu.org/
The Argo Information Centre:
http://w3.jcommops.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Argo
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/Story/chs_e.htm
The Argo Project Office:
http://www.Argo.ucsd.edu/
Canadian Argo:
http://www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/meds/Prog_Int/Argo/ArgoHome_e.html
or
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sci/osap/projects/Argo/default_e.htm
or
FreelandHj@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
