Consistency of the current global ocean observing systems from an Argo perspective

Type Article
Date 2014
Language English
Author(s) von Schuckmann Karina1, Sallee Jean-Baptiste2, Chambers D.3, Le Traon Pierre-Yves4, 6, Cabanes CecileORCID5, Gaillard FabienneORCID6, Speich Sabrina7, Hamon Mathieu8
Affiliation(s) 1 : Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Toulon, CNRS, IRD,MIO UM 110, La Garde, France.
2 : Univ Paris 06, Univ Paris 04, LOCEAN, IRD CNRS MNHN, Paris, France.
3 : Univ S Florida, Coll Marine Sci, St Petersburg, FL 33701 USA.
4 : Mercator Ocean & Ifremer, St Agne, France.
5 : DT INSU, CNRS, Plouzane, France.
6 : Ifremer, Brest, France.
7 : UBO, Brest, France.
8 : Mercator Ocean, St Anne, France.
Source Ocean Science (1812-0784) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2014 , Vol. 10 , N. 3 , P. 547-557
DOI 10.5194/os-10-547-2014
WOS© Times Cited 39
Abstract Variations in the world's ocean heat storage and its associated volume changes are a key factor to gauge global warming and to assess the earth's energy and sea level budget. Estimating global ocean heat content (GOHC) and global steric sea level (GSSL) with temperature/salinity data from the Argo network reveals a positive change of 0.5 +/- 0.1 W m(-2) (applied to the surface area of the ocean) and 0.5 +/- 0.1 mm year(-1) during the years 2005 to 2012, averaged between 60 degrees S and 60 degrees N and the 10-1500m depth layer. In this study, we present an intercomparison of three global ocean observing systems: the Argo network, satellite gravimetry from GRACE and satellite altimetry. Their consistency is investigated from an Argo perspective at global and regional scales during the period 2005-2010. Although we can close the recent global ocean sea level budget within uncertainties, sampling inconsistencies need to be corrected for an accurate global budget due to systematic biases in GOHC and GSSL in the Tropical Ocean. Our findings show that the area around the Tropical Asian Archipelago (TAA) is important to closing the global sea level budget on interannual to decadal timescales, pointing out that the steric estimate from Argo is biased low, as the current mapping methods are insufficient to recover the steric signal in the TAA region. Both the large regional variability and the uncertainties in the current observing system prevent us from extracting indirect information regarding deep-ocean changes. This emphasizes the importance of continuing sustained effort in measuring the deep ocean from ship platforms and by beginning a much needed automated deep-Argo network.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 11 1 MB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

von Schuckmann Karina, Sallee Jean-Baptiste, Chambers D., Le Traon Pierre-Yves, Cabanes Cecile, Gaillard Fabienne, Speich Sabrina, Hamon Mathieu (2014). Consistency of the current global ocean observing systems from an Argo perspective. Ocean Science, 10(3), 547-557. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-547-2014 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00202/31365/