It is the role of instrumental circulation observations to suggest which climate models most accurately replicate the circulation of the oceans and
which models should be significantly improved.
Surface circulation data is an important aspect of
climate model testing and selection. This is because
surface circulation carries ocean thermal energy
over great ``distances from regions where it is
transferred into the oceans from the atmosphere to
regions where it is released back to the atmosphere. Modelling of the climate patterns of the
globe and the changes of these patterns depend
crucially on having realistic ocean surface currents
and their long-term changes reproduced in the
models to transport the thermal energy of the
ocean/atmosphere system in a realistic manner.
The Global Drifter Programme continues to play
a significant role in the acquisition of ocean and
marine atmosphere data from the remote oceans.
The DBCP encourages and organizes the additions
of barometers to these drifters (DBCP, 1999). The
British, Canadian, South African, French and US
meteorological agencies now make use of these
platforms to acquire sea-level pressure data from
the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans
for their operational weather prediction models. At
present, most of the in-situ SST data in the Southern Hemisphere are acquired from SST sensors
on the Global Drifter Programme drifters. These
in-situ SST observations are used together with
TIROS satellite infrared images of the ocean surface to make accurate global maps of SST for use
in climate research and long-range weather predictions (Reynolds and Smith, 1994). The ENSO
Ocean Observing System of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
will continue to place about 250 drifters into the
tropical and Southern Oceans each year. Operational science agencies and research programmes
deploy an additional 200–400 drifters. There continues to be a population of 800–1000 drifters in
the global ocean to date, with 920 drifters transmitting data to the GTS at the time of writing.
Acknowledgements
The following countries contributed drifters to
the observations of surface circulation of the
global oceans that were presented here: Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain,
Iceland, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan and
the USA. The principal scientists are too many to
be thanked individually here for continuing to provide accurate instrumental observations of ocean
currents, so the author truly thanks them collectively. The skills of Andy Sybrandy, Sharon Lukas,
Norman Barth and Myra Pazos in the preparation
and analysis of the data are gratefully acknowledged. During the preparation of this manuscript,
the author was sponsored by grants from NOAA/
OAR and NOAA/OGP through the Joint Institute
of Marine Observations at the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
SECTION 4 THE GLOBAL FLOW FIELD
204
which models should be significantly improved.
Surface circulation data is an important aspect of
climate model testing and selection. This is because
surface circulation carries ocean thermal energy
over great ``distances from regions where it is
transferred into the oceans from the atmosphere to
regions where it is released back to the atmosphere. Modelling of the climate patterns of the
globe and the changes of these patterns depend
crucially on having realistic ocean surface currents
and their long-term changes reproduced in the
models to transport the thermal energy of the
ocean/atmosphere system in a realistic manner.
The Global Drifter Programme continues to play
a significant role in the acquisition of ocean and
marine atmosphere data from the remote oceans.
The DBCP encourages and organizes the additions
of barometers to these drifters (DBCP, 1999). The
British, Canadian, South African, French and US
meteorological agencies now make use of these
platforms to acquire sea-level pressure data from
the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans
for their operational weather prediction models. At
present, most of the in-situ SST data in the Southern Hemisphere are acquired from SST sensors
on the Global Drifter Programme drifters. These
in-situ SST observations are used together with
TIROS satellite infrared images of the ocean surface to make accurate global maps of SST for use
in climate research and long-range weather predictions (Reynolds and Smith, 1994). The ENSO
Ocean Observing System of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
will continue to place about 250 drifters into the
tropical and Southern Oceans each year. Operational science agencies and research programmes
deploy an additional 200–400 drifters. There continues to be a population of 800–1000 drifters in
the global ocean to date, with 920 drifters transmitting data to the GTS at the time of writing.
Acknowledgements
The following countries contributed drifters to
the observations of surface circulation of the
global oceans that were presented here: Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Great Britain,
Iceland, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan and
the USA. The principal scientists are too many to
be thanked individually here for continuing to provide accurate instrumental observations of ocean
currents, so the author truly thanks them collectively. The skills of Andy Sybrandy, Sharon Lukas,
Norman Barth and Myra Pazos in the preparation
and analysis of the data are gratefully acknowledged. During the preparation of this manuscript,
the author was sponsored by grants from NOAA/
OAR and NOAA/OGP through the Joint Institute
of Marine Observations at the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
SECTION 4 THE GLOBAL FLOW FIELD
204