Argo a year ago.
• 500 floats.• Regional coverage only.
Argo today.
• 1043 floats.• Rapid data availability on GTS and WWW.• Coverage approaching global, but major gaps.
Argo a year from now.
• 1700 floats?• Scientific quality data stream.• Global coverage.
Draft deployment plans for the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Argo data quality control elements
Data from floats
All good and questionable data
Delayed-mode (DM) data streamFunction: Provide secondary QC. Produce“best guess” range of adjustments if possibleby inspecting series of profiles (hence DM).Provide feedback to RT system.Users: All needing adjusted data with error ests.Timeframe: 6-12 months after transmission.Who/Where: Perform by PIs with DM Centres.
Regional AnalysisFunction: Provide basin-wide synthesis of all float data,float-float intercomparison, reanalysis, etc., so as toproduce datasets adequate to study decadal change.Timeframe: Lifespan of float.Who/Where: Perform by Regional Centres.
Real-time (RT) data streamFunction: Provide primary QC to raw float data.Assign quality flags. No adjustments.Users: Operational centres, data assimilation,researchers needing timely data.Timeframe: 24-48 hrs after transmission.Who/Where: Perform by National Data Centres.
FUTURE
* All data can be obtained from the two Argo Global Data Assembly Centres: Coriolis at IFREMER, and USGODAE at Monterey.
Inspect output
Argo delayed-mode salinity QC
Good + questionable data from RT stream
Climatological ests. from WJO
Float and climatologyagree. No adjustment
needed
Parameter adjustmentfine tuning etc.
PI/expert evaluation ofdivergence. Due to float or toinadequate climatology? Use
oceanographic knowledgeand supplementary float/
CTD info to decide.
Float data and climatology diverge
Climatology deficient. Float good within salinity spec.
No adjustment needed
Climatology good. Suspect sensor drift. Correct by WJOor other method. Issue best-
guess adjustment range. Record calibration details
Unclear whether divergenceDue to climatology or sensor.
Cannot correct. May needlater reanalysis at regional
centre.
Good QC’d dataWith changed calibration
Indian Argo Project1. Deployment of 150 floats
(NIOT)2. National Data Center
• Data Reception• Processing and Real time QC
3. Data Dissemination through GTS and Internet
4. Publish Products on WEB5. Data Analysis 6. Data Assimilation (CAOS)7. Indigenisation of Floats
(NIOT)8. Capacity Building
Indian Argo Project1. Deployment of 150 floats
(NIOT)2. National Data Center
• Data Reception• Processing and Real time QC
3. Data Dissemination through GTS and Internet
4. Publish Products on WEB5. Data Analysis 6. Data Assimilation (CAOS)7. Indigenisation of Floats
(NIOT)8. Capacity Building
International Argo1. Regional Co-ordination
(Indian Ocean)2. Regional Data Center
Development of North Indian Ocean Hydrology
Delayed mode QC
International Argo1. Regional Co-ordination
(Indian Ocean)2. Regional Data Center
Development of North Indian Ocean Hydrology
Delayed mode QC
Real-time Data Acquisition by INCOIS by 2004
The future of Argo:
What will the next generation of Argo look like?
How and when will Argo become “operational”?
Floats are complex devices that have great potential for revolutionizing our understanding of ocean circulation. This complexity will require the attention of the research community for many years to come.
New sensors:
• Optical sensors (fluorometers; backscatter; etc.) See Bishop et al. (Nature, 2002) for an example.
• Dissolved oxygen (at least 2 types)
• Acoustic sensors (wind, rainfall, etc.)
• Biological sensors (nutrients, etc)
• ?????
The main limitations to adding new sensors are weight and power requirements. Floats provide an excellent platform for measuring many variables.
ARGO and biogeochemical observing systems
New sensors: dissolved oxygen
In a SBE/UW collaboration, a dissolved oxygen sensor for use on profiling floats has been developed and tested. The sensor is a Clark polarographic-type sensor similar to the present generation of SBE oxygen sensors on shipboard systems.
Acoustic sensors on profiling floats:
Dr. Jeffrey Nystuen’s group at the UW Applied Physics Laboratory has designed and constructed an Acoustic Rain Gauge suitable for use on profilng floats.
First deployment: Eastern N. Pacific, along the N. American coast, from the TG Thompson in November 2003.
FLOAT ENDCAP AND CTD WITH BROADBAND HYDROPHONE
The acoustic rain gauge:
Rainfall and wind speed can be measured acoustically using the spectrum of ambient acoustic noise in the ocean. The results at right are from a TAO mooring in the equatorial Pacific (Nystuen, 1999).
At moderate wind speeds there is good agreement between wind measured from an anemometer and winds inferred acoustically.
[a float can make similar measurements while submerged]