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Program Management
The SOOP is directed primarily towards the continued operational maintenance and co-ordination of the XBT ship of opportunity network but other types of measurements are being made (e.g. TSG, XCTD, CTD, ADCP, pCO2, phytoplankton concentration). This network in itself supports many other operational needs (such as for fisheries, shipping, defense, etc.) through the provision of upper ocean data for data assimilation in models and for various other ocean analysis schemes. One of the continuing challenges is to optimally combine upper ocean thermal data collected by XBTs from the SOO with data collected from other sources such as the TAO array, Argo, and satellites (eg. AVHRR, altimeter, etc.). However, it is considered most important to have the SOOP focused on supporting climate prediction in order to ensure the continued operation of the present network.
Approximately 100 dedicated SOO, operated by 7 members, report upper ocean temperature along specified routes at sampling intervals developed under the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) and WOCE programmes of WCRP. These sampling requirements have been designed for climate monitoring and prediction applications, and which have been endorsed by the WCRP Ocean Observing System Development Panel (OOSDP). Each vessel is equipped with a data acquisition system provided by the operating agency. These systems vary depending upon the agency, but generally meet agreed standards. Observations (such as the deployment of expendable bathythermographs - XBTs) are made normally by ships officers on a voluntary basis, though there is increasing automation in some underway systems such as used for measuring sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinity (SSS).
Users
The real time data are used for numerical weather prediction, short term forecasting of ocean conditions such as ENSO prediction, and other operational marine requirements. The delayed mode data set is used for scientific research including climatological studies.
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Data Collection and Management
The data management activities of the programme are integrated with the data collection activities, and handled with procedures and resources most of which are currently in place and used to support the Global Temperature and Salinity Programme (GTSPP), including regional upper ocean science centres established by WOCE. The Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) in Canada is the GTSPP centre responsible for collecting temperature and salinity data from the GTS in real-time on a daily basis. The data are passed through well documented quality control procedures as well as procedures to detect and remove duplicates. The GTSPP regularly monitors the volumes, timeliness and quality of data received in real-time.
The real time data are used for numerical weather prediction, short term forecasting of ocean conditions such as ENSO prediction, and other operational marine requirements. The delayed mode data set is used for scientific research including climatological studies.
Real time: The low resolution (inflection point) realisations of the observations are transmitted to shore in real time primarily via satellite (e.g. GOES, METEOSAT, Argos, and Inmarsat systems), as either BATHY or TESAC messages, and routed directly to a small number of major oceanographic and meteorological services. Transmission costs are borne by these services. The observations are compiled into bulletins and distributed globally via the GTS under Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM).
Delayed mode:
Full resolution realisations of the observations are recorded on diskette by the onboard data acquisition systems, and collected by the Ship Greeters and/or PMOs of the recruiting countries at the end of each voyage. The data are encoded in the international exchange format MEDSASCII, quality control standards applied by the operating agencies, and the data sent at 12-monthly intervals to the respective Regional National Oceanographic Data Centre (RNODC) for forwarding to the World Data Centres (WDCAs - USA, Russia). These centres undertake elementary quality control checks, compile global dat sets, and forward these at regular intervals to Science Centres (Indian Ocean - Joint Australian facility for Ocean Observing Systems (JAFOOS), Atlantic - AOML/NOAA, Pacific - SIO) for scientific quality control and analysis. The resultant value added, high quality data sets then replace the data in the global archives.
Contact Information
- Steven K. Cook - Oceanographer (SOOPIP Chairman)
NOAA - AOML - PHOD
Global Ocean Observing System Center
c/o NMFS
8604 La Jolla Shores Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
Tel: (+1) 858 546 7103
Fax: (+1) 858 546 7185
Email: cook@aoml.noaa.gov
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