Preparing the New Phase of Argo: Technological Developments on Profiling Floats in the NAOS Project
Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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Date | 2020-11 | ||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||
Author(s) | André Xavier![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Affiliation(s) | 1 : Ifremer, RDT, Plouzané, France 2 : Ifremer, ODE, Plouzané, France 3 : Mercator Ocean International, Ramonville-Saint-Agne, France 4 : Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, Metz, France 5 : Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France 6 : NKE Instrumentation, Hennebont, France 7 : Takuvik Joint International Laboratory, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada 8 : CNRS (France), Département de Biologie et Québec-Océan, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada 9 : IUEM-UMS 3113, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Plouzané, France 10 : CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, Univ Brest, Plouzané, France 11 : Recherche et développement pour la défense Canada – Centre de recherches de l’Atlantique, Dartmouth, NS, Canada 12 : Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine, Brest, France 13 : CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, Univ Brest, Plouzané, France |
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Source | Frontiers In Marine Science (2296-7745) (Frontiers Media SA), 2020-11 , Vol. 7 , P. 577446 (22p.) | ||||||||||||
DOI | 10.3389/fmars.2020.577446 | ||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 5 | ||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | ocean, Argo, global observing system, profiling float, deep, biogeochemistry, under-ice, float technology | ||||||||||||
Abstract | The international array of profiling floats known as Argo is a major component of the global ocean- and climate-observing system. In 2010, the NAOS (Novel Argo Observing System) project was selected as part of France’s Equipex “Investissement d’Avenir” program. The objectives of NAOS were to consolidate the French contribution to the Argo core mission (global temperature and salinity measurements down to 2,000 m) as well as to develop the future generation of French Argo profiling floats and prepare the next phase of the Argo program with an extension to the deep ocean (Deep-Argo), biogeochemistry (BGC-Argo) and polar seas. This paper summarizes the main technological advances and at-sea validations carried out as part of NAOS: development of a deep (4,000 m) float, a new BGC float for Research & Development (R&D) applications, and a BGC float for deployments in Arctic areas, assessment of a new density and Absolute Salinity optical sensor, improvement of the reliability of the standard Argo float, and upgraded satellite-transmission performance. French profiling floats developed in this way are now operational and among the most deployed worldwide, and the density sensor is the most promising of its kind for profiling floats applications. |
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