Tropical Ocean Observations for Weather and Climate: A Decadal Overview of the Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array

Type Article
Date 2023
Language English
Author(s) McPhaden MichaelORCID1, Connell Kenneth1, Foltz Gregory2, Perez Renellys2, Grissom Karen3
Affiliation(s) 1 : NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA
2 : NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL, USA.
3 : NOAA National Data Buoy Center, Stennis Space Center, MS, USA.
Source Oceanography (1042-8275) (The Oceanography Society), 2023 , Vol. 36 , N. 2-3 , P. 32-43
DOI 10.5670/oceanog.2023.211
Note SI Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory: 50 Years of Innovative Research in Oceanography
Abstract

This paper describes the evolution of the Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array (GTMBA) over the past decade since the last comprehensive and coordinated overview of the Pacific-Atlantic-Indian Ocean system in 2010. GTMBA provides sustained and systematic observations in real time for weather and climate research, forecasting, and assessments. It is maintained through multi-national consortia that support the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array and the Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) in the Pacific, the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA), and the Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) in the Indian Ocean. Phenomena of interest span a wide range of weather and climate timescales, including tropical cyclones, the Madden-Julian Oscillation, the seasonal cycle, monsoon circulations, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, climate variations on decadal timescales, and trends related to climate change. Recent scientific advances enabled by GTMBA are reviewed along with array design changes that respond to new scientific imperatives and operational exigencies, and future directions are discussed.

Licence CC-BY
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 12 2 MB Open access
Top of the page