Operational Uses of Argo Data

Many centers around the world now use Argo data to produce global and regional analyses of subsurface properties because Argo is the most abundant source of subsurface information, (temperature, salinity, velocity) for the global ocean. The availability of these data in real time lends them to use by operational centers involved in the analysis and forecasting of the state of the ocean and of climate.

The following table summarizes the uses that are presently being made of Argo data by these centers.

Country
Center
Project Website
Project Example
Type
Region
T and S
Australia
CSIRO/BRAN/BoM
Ocean forecast
Australian waters
T + S
Australia
BoM/CSIRO
Climate analysis and forecast
Global, but focus on tropics
T
France
Mercator Ocean
Ocean analysis + forecast
N + Trop Atlantic, Med Sea, Global
T + S
France
Coriolis
Ocean analysis
N + Trop Atlantic, Global
T + S
EU(Italy)
INGV
Ocean analysis + forecast
Mediterranean
T only. MedArgo used to check forecasts
EU(Norway)
NERSC
Ocean analysis + forecast
(+ ecosystem)
Atlantic/Nordic/ Arctic
T+S used to check forecasts
EU(UK)
ECMWF
Seasonal ocean analysis forecasts
Global
T + S
Japan
JMA
Ocean analysis (currents, subsurface temperatures)
NW Pacific
T + S
Japan
JMA
Ocean analysis + ENSO forecasts
Global but focus on Eq Pacific
T + S
UK
Met Office
Seasonal climate forecasts
Global
T + S
UK
Met Office
Ocean forecasting
Global nested model
T + S
USA
ECCO: JPL and SIO/MIT
Ocean analysis
Global
T + S
USA
FNMOC Monterey
Ocean forecast
Global
T only
USA
NCEP
Seasonal to interannual forecast
Global
T only
USA
NASA
Seasonal/Interannual climate
Global
T + S
USA
NAVOCEANO
Ocean forecast
Global
T + S

Not all of these sytems yet make full use of Argo's temperature and salinity profiles for assimilation into analysis and prediction models. However the operational users of Argo data cite the data's abundance, its uniform spatial distribution, the greater depth penetration (than XBTs), the data quality and the availability of salinity information as being beneficial.

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