Project underway on ocean temperature, salinity

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, JULY 26. An ambitious project for collecting data on temperature, salinity and velocity of currents in the world's oceans, 1,000 to 2,000 metres deep, is underway with endorsement from the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Known as the ARGO programme, it consists of 3,000 free floating sensors spread over the global oceans, which will record data on these three variables and transmit them in `quasi-real time'. The data will be freely available to anyone who requires it, with no period of exclusive use, on the Global Telecommunications System within 24 hours of its collection.

A two-day Indian Ocean ARGO Implementation Planning meeting is being held here on Thursday and Friday, attended by 65 delegates from 22 countries. Organised jointly by the IOC, the WMO, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S., and the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), Government of India, it has Prof. Dean Roemmich, Chairman, International ARGO science team, Dr. Harsh K. Gupta, Secretary, DOD, Dr. R.R. Kelkar, Director-General, Indian Meteorological Department, Dr. Stanley Wilson, Director International Ocean Programme, NOAA, and Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), among its prominent participants.

In his keynote address, Prof. Roemmich said these floats would provide more than one lakh individual profiles of temperature, salinity and velocity which will enable oceanographers and meteorologists to gain knowledge of the only area which is at present out of bounds for them - the sub-surface conditions. The ARGO programme would be a major contributor to the ongoing Climate Variability and Predictability Programme.

Oceans are, by far, the biggest reservoir of global heat and water. These two, in combination with each other and other factors, determine climatic features like evaporation, ocean currents, precipitation, wind and cyclones. They also influence fishing and other sea-based occupations and have indirect influence on a host of other human activities. With satellite data available for practically the entire ocean and land surface and the atmosphere, scientists hope that seasonal and inter- annual climatic predictions will become more dependable. This data will also enable better ecosystem modelling and forecasting of monsoons and cyclones.

India is one of the 14 countries contributing scientists to the ARGO scientific team and has agreed to deploy 150 of the 450 floats planned for the Indian Ocean between 2001 and 2005. Each float, costing $15,000 and with a life of four years, is at present available only from three companies. India plans to acquire the technology for its production and has planned centres for the reception and dissemination of data. INCOIS, based in Hyderabad, is responsible for implementation of the national programme.

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