IMOS - Argo Australia Facility

Argo Australia aims to undertake real time monitoring of the broad ocean state around Australia by maintaining an array of profiling (Argo) floats that measure temperature and salinity down to 2000m every 10 days in real time. This provides the essential and dominant in situ data stream for ocean and climate research and prediction/re-analyses.

The primary goal of the Argo program is to maintain a global array of autonomous profiling floats integrated with other elements of the climate observing system. The specific aims are to: - detect climate variability over seasonal to decadal time-scales including changes in the large-scale distribution of temperature and salinity and in the transport of these properties by large-scale ocean circulation. - provide information needed for the calibration of satellite measurements. - deliver data for the initialization and constraint of climate models.

Argo Australia is the third largest contributer to the global array (in terms of instrument numbers) after the Us and Japan.

To ensure 50% of the minimum design coverage of 1 float every 3 x3 degrees of latitude/longitude in the Australian region (i.e. between 90oE to 18oE, equator to Antarctic) requires deployment of 60 floats per year with the balance derived from international partners. The NCRIS investment along with currently identified Australian partners will provide for ~ 75 % of this requirement with further opportunities for co-investment.

Work is underway to equip 30 floats per annum with oxygen sensors to address carbon cycle and biogeochemical cycling (BGC) variability in the Southern Ocean which is a significant component of the world climate and carbon cycling system. Additional investment would be required for this to occur.