Argo amasses 2 million profiles in as little as 18 years
Posted on 20 February 2019
The Argo program has successfully obtained 2 million profiles within the global oceans, though some regions remain under-sampled.
Argo floats generate a profile of pressure, temperature and salinity (some with additional bio-optic and dissolved oxygen sensors) every 10 days from 2000 m to the surface. In as little as 18 years, the Argo program has amassed 2 million profiles. A number four times greater than the last 100 years of ship-borne instrument casts to 1000 m or deeper. Additionally, Argo floats are free floating and cover the World’s oceans, yet some regions remain understudied. Discussed in this article further is the value of additional measurements in the Indian Ocean as one of these understudied regions and how these profiles are critical to understanding our changing climate.