Ocean Science
www.ocean-sci.net
1812-0784
1812-0792
3
3
2007
10.5194/os-3-379-2007
http://www.ocean-sci.net/3/379/2007/
http://www.ocean-sci.net/3/379/2007/os-3-379-2007.html
http://www.ocean-sci.net/3/379/2007/os-3-379-2007.pdf
379
395
2007-08-08
MedArgo: a drifting profiler program in the Mediterranean Sea
P.-M. Poulain
ppoulain@ogs.trieste.it
R. Barbanti
J. Font
A. Cruzado
C. Millot
I. Gertman
A. Griffa
A. Molcard
V. Rupolo
S. Le Bras
L. Petit de la Villeon
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), Trieste, Italy
Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain
Laboratoire d'Océanographie et de Biogéochimie (LOB-CNRS), La Seyne, France
Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR), Haifa, Israel
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), La Spezia, Italy
Université de Toulon et du Var, La Garde, France
Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente (ENEA), Roma, Italy
Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Brest, France
In the framework of the EU-funded MFSTEP project, autonomous drifting
profilers were deployed throughout the Mediterranean Sea to collect
temperature and salinity profile data and to measure subsurface currents.
The realization of this profiler program in the Mediterranean, referred to
as MedArgo, is described and assessed using data collected between June 2004
and December 2006 (including more than 2000 profiles). Recommendations are
provided for the permanent future implementation of MedArgo in support of
operational oceanography in the Mediterranean Sea.
<br><br>
More than twenty drifting profilers were deployed from research vessels and
ships-of-opportunity in most areas of the Mediterranean. They were all
programmed to execute 5-day cycles with a drift at a parking depth of
350 m and CTD profiles from either 700 or 2000 m up to the surface. They
stayed at the sea surface for about 6 h to be localised by, and transmit
the data to, the Argos satellite system. The temperature and salinity data
obtained with pumped Sea-Bird CTD instruments were processed and made
available to the scientific community and to operational users in near-real
time using standard Argo protocols, and were assimilated into Mediterranean
numerical forecasting models.
<br><br>
In general, the cycling and sampling characteristics chosen for the MedArgo
profilers were found to be adequate for the Mediterranean. However, it is
strongly advised to use GPS and global cellular phone telemetry or the
future Argos bi-directional satellite system in order to avoid data
compression and losses, for the continuation of the Mediterranean drifting
profiler program.
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