Launching the Argo Armada

An array of profiling floats to observe the global oceans

….in real time

A presentation to the Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology

June 25, 2001 by Stan Wilson, NOAA, <stan.wilson@noaa.gov>

We are entering a new era in ocean observations.

• 1870 - 1970 The Century of Undersampling

• 1970 - 2000 Transition to Large Programs

-- MODE, NORPAX, WOCE, TOGA…

-- Satellites as an observational tool

-- Modeling as an observational complement

-- Recognition of El Niño as a global issue

We are entering a new era in ocean observations.

• 1870 - 1970 The Century of Undersampling

• 1970 - 2000 Transition to Large Programs

• 2000 - Global & Operational Programs

-- WCRP/CLIVAR, GODAE, Argo….

-- GCOS, GOOS….

-- WMO/IOC JCOMM

-- Ocean.US

We have a capability to observe the sea surface--globally & ~synoptically.

We have a capability to observe the sea surface--globally & ~synoptically.

Courtesy of Rosanna Sumagaysay-Aouda, JPL

and NASA, NOAA, PO.DAAC, RSMAS

We have a capability to

observe the sea surface--

globally & ~synoptically.

We do not have a corresponding capability to observe beneath the surface of the ocean.

Ship tracks for ~20,000 WOCE Stations taken from 1990 to 1998.

We do not have a corresponding capability to observe beneath the surface of the ocean.

6,316 BATHY & TESAC reports collected

in real time during

December, 2000.

Argo will cover the global oceans with 3,000 profiling floats.

An Argo float can be thought of as an ‘oceanographic radiosonde’.

Courtesy of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Argo will supply the following properties globally, in real-time, and without restriction.

• Temperature and salinity profiles.

Argo will supply temperature & salinity profiles every 10 days.

Argo will supply the following properties globally, in real-time, and without restriction.

• Temperature and salinity profiles.

• Velocity estimates.

Argo will supply drift information, hence velocity estimates.

Float parking depth ~800m; tails are 50 days in length.

Courtesy of Howard Freeland.

While some floats may ground on shoaling topography, some skip over it.

Float parking depth ~1,000 m; sill depth in Tsugaru Strait ~140m.

Courtesy of Howard Freeland and Kuh Kim.

Argo will supply the following properties globally, in real-time, and without restriction.

• Temperature and salinity profiles.

• Velocity estimates.

• From these, the time-varying ocean circulation--at the broad scale, not mesoscale--can be determined.

• In effect, Argo will be a Real-Time Upper-Ocean WOCE.

Argo will have many applications.

• Improved seasonal/interannual forecasts.

We routinely observe the Tropical Pacific to

produce El Niño/La Niña-based forecasts

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation

1947-1976

1977-1997

Courtesy of the National Geographic Magazine

Courtesy of the National Geographic Magazine

North Atlantic Oscillation(or the North Atlantic expression of the Arctic Oscillation)

Tropical Atlantic Variability

Courtesy of the

National Geographic Magazine

Correlation of dominant modes of variability

of SST and Precipitation in & around Australia

(Based on the analysis of a 40-year record)

Courtesy of Warren White, Scripps

Courtesy of Toshio Yamagata, U of Tokyo

Correlation between Rainfall and the Indian Ocean Dipole Index

Argo will have many applications.

• Improved seasonal/interannual forecasts.

• Understanding the influence of the oceans on hurricanes

Blue = 0 m/s, Orange = 12 m/s; Courtesy of Tim Liu, Hua Hu, and Wenqing Tang, JPL

Sea Surface Temperature (SST)

Courtesy of Frank Wentz and Chelle Gentemann, RSS

Argo will have many applications.

• Understanding climate change in the oceans.

• Improved seasonal/interannual forecasts.

• Understanding the influence of the oceans on hurricanes.

Warming of the World Ocean

Courtesy of: Sydney Levitus,

National Oceanographic

Data Center, NOAA

When can we achieve the 3,000-float array?

• Assuming 90% of the floats live four years (the other 10% fail early), it is necessary to provide floats at a sustained rate of 825 per year.

• Funding for Argo floats by year:

FY99 -- 55 FY00 -- 255 FY01 -- 535 FY02 -- 703 (proposed)

• We could achieve global coverage by the end of 2005.

International Commitments for Argo Floats.

Number of Argo Float Argo Float Argo Float Proposed Prop FloatFloats by Country Funded Equiv's Funded Equiv's Funded Equiv's over next Equiv's

FY99 FY99 FY00 FY00 FY01 FY01 3 years over 3 yrsAustralia 10 10 90Canada 10 42 90China 10 80Denmark 5 30European Commission 80France 8 70 65 200Germany 18 22 100 35India 6 150Japan 20 90 300New Zealand 2 10Republic of Korea 20 90Spain 24United Kingdom 13 50 5 150 40U.S.A. 55 132 51 150 40 825 60TOTALS 55 8 255 69 525 72 2109 165

TOTALS BY YEAR FY99 = 63 FY00 = 324 FY01 = 597 Ave/Yr = 758

What does Argo cost?

• Each float costs approximately $25 K over a 4-yr life (including hardware, deployment & data management)

• Cost per profile ~ $25K / (36 profiles/yr x 4 yrs) ~ $170 (similar XBT cost per profile ~ $100)

• Cost of the 3,000-float array ~ $20 M / year

WMO & IOC have endorsed/accepted Argo...

• As an important component of the operational observing system of GOOS and GCOS.

• As a major contribution to CLIVAR and other research programs.

• Assuming that the data and derived products from Argo floats are...

“freely available in real-time and delayed mode”

How will we co-ordinate deployments?

• Argo Information Centre established under JCOMM

• Mathieu Belbéoch hired as full-time Technical Coordinator to provide services for Argo, just as they are for DBCP & SOOP

• AIC to provide notification for, and assist with, float deployments

• http://argo-forum.jcommops.org

What are the Argo Implementation Planning Meetings?

• Pacific Ocean -- Tokyo, April 13-14, 2000

• Atlantic Ocean -- Paris, July 10-11, 2000

• Indian Ocean -- Hyderabad, July 26-27, 2001

Deployment plans for 2001 compared with EEZ coverage in the western Pacific.

Consensus Approach for Deployment in the Central & Western Pacific

The Float-Providing Countries will:

• Provide advance notice of plans for ships & aircraft coming into the collective EEZ of the Pacific Island Region for float deployment

• Provide assistance identifying and linking with operational forecast centers which will generate forecasts using Argo data.

The Pacific Island Nations will:

• Concur with plans for ships & aircraft coming into the collective EEZ of the Pacific Island Region for float deployment.

135 Argo floats are already in the water.

CA-46

US-16JP-19

JP-13

RoK-10

JP-4

PRC-10US/CORC-55US-78

RoK-10

US-12US-5

NZ-2

US-15

UK-15

IN-6 JP-10

AU-20

GE-10

US-50

CA-6

US-16 EU-15

FR-10

GE-10

US-10GE-7

EU-15

UK-13UK-5

DK-5

Funded Argo floats to be deployed in 2001.

Planned deployments in 2002.

CA-46,12

US-16JP-19,15

JP-13,50

RoK-10,10

JP-4,35

PRC-10,25

PRC-5

US-15

US/CORC-55US-78,65

RoK-10, 10

US-12US-5,5

NZ-2,3

US-15,15

UK-15

IN-6,25 JP-10,15

UK-25AU-20,10

US-40 GE-10

US-20

UK-10

FR-35

GE-10

US-50,30

FR-10

CA-6,8

US-16,20 EU-15,25

FR-10,20

GE-10,5

US-10GE-7

EU-15,20

UK-13UK-5

DK-5

GE-20

How will we deploy in remote areas?

Floats can be packaged for lowering

over the side of a vessel

while underway.

Courtesy of Steve Riser, U. of Washington.

Courtesy of Sylvie Pouliquen,

IFREMER

Floats can also be launched over the side

using a protective cover.

How will we deploy in remote areas?

Or they can simply be lowered into the water …weather permitting.

How will we deploy in remote areas?

Courtesy of Howard

Freeland, DFO

How will we deploy in remote areas?

Courtesy of Jon Turton, UK Met Office.

The “burial at sea” approach to float deployment while a ship is underway.

How will we deploy in remote areas?

Movie courtesy of Webb Research, Falmouth, Mass.

Floats have been certified for

deployment from C-130 aircraft.

What have we learned from WOCE floats?

Indian Ocean Trajectories from Non-Profiling

Floats

@ 1000-m depth

25-day steps

Jan 95 - Dec 98

Courtesy ofBreck Owens,

WHOI &Russ Davis,

SIO

What have we learned from WOCE floats?

Labrador SeaTrajectories from

Temperature-Profiling Floats

@ 600 & 1400 m

10-day steps

Jan 97 - Dec 98

Courtesy ofBreck Owens,

WHOI &Russ Davis,

SIO

What have we learned from WOCE floats?

Mixed Layer Depth

Deepest Blue 1,000 m or more

600 & 1400 m

10-day steps

Jan 97 - Dec 98

Courtesy ofBreck Owens,

WHOI &Russ Davis,

SIO

How we get the data back.

Real-time data via GTS within 24 hours

Scientific data via Internet within 3 months

Argo and Jason are two elements of a broader concept.

GODAE

Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment

Jason will be launched in mid-September from

Vandenberg AFB

In addition to existing systems, we will need complementary in-situ observations

from fixed Time-Series Observatories.

Courtesy of Uwe Send, IfM Kiel.

Where are we headed?

GODAE

The

Global

Ocean Data

Assimilation

Experiment

Images courtesy of Detleff Stammer, Scripps Inst. of Oceanography

From From Mark TrailMark Trail, , September 26, 1999September 26, 1999