From HMS Challenger to Argo and beyond

From HMS Challenger to Argo and beyond

Ocean profile data; their history, uses and future prospects.

Wednesday 21 November 2018.

A one-day meeting jointly sponsored by the History Groups of

The Royal Meteorological Society and The Challenger Society for Marine Science.

Knowledge of the temperature and salinity of the oceans is fundamental to our understanding of their internal dynamics and is increasingly important to a wide range of ocean and climate applications. This meeting will show how our ability to collect, process and collate these observations has developed up to the present day with the information from about 3,800 Argo profilers provides global-scale, high-quality information throughout the year.

The meeting will then show how these individual profiles are assembled into products and how those products are used in a wide range of applications, including climate change studies. To conclude, the meeting will first explore the international framework within which these data are collected and co-ordinated. Finally it will look towards the future, discussing how the collection of ocean profile data is expected to expand to other parameters and using new observing systems.

We plan that there will be opportunities to see Argo floats being prepared for deployment, together with the wide range of NOC’s ocean gliders and autonomous vehicles that will be an integral part of the future of ocean profiling.

While focused on the scientific aspects of ocean profiles, the meeting will highlight key points in the development over the past 140 years of our present-day capabilities.

Programme

Time	Task	Lead
10.30 – 11.00	Tea and Coffee
11.00 – 11.10	Introduction	Prof. Chris Folland Met Office Fellow (retired)
11.10 – 11.40	From thermometers to robots - evolution and revolution	Dr John Gould Emeritus Fellow, NOC Southampton.
11.40 – 12.10	Argo - How it came about, how it works, what it delivers	Dr Brian King NOC, Southampton
12.10 – 12.40	How good are past and present ocean profile data?	Dr Victor Gouretski, Chinese Academy of Sciences
12.40 – 13.40	Lunch/exhibits/lab tour
13.40 – 14.10	Making a data product from ocean profiles – the EN4 experience.	Dr Rachel Killick Met Office
14.10 – 14.40	How ocean profile products are used – climate change applications.	Drs Matthew Palmer, Laura Jackson Met Office
14.40 – 15.10	How products are used – seasonal – decadal forecasts.	Dr Leon Hermanson Met Office
15.10 – 15.30	Refreshment Break
15.30 – 16.00	Global Coordination of Ocean Observations: Progress, challenges and opportunities	Dr Katy Hill WMO, Geneva
16.00 – 16.30	Beyond Argo: ocean gliders and sensors on seals	Prof. Karen Heywood University of East Anglia
16.30 – 17.00	Wrap-up discussion and time to explore what the Challenger Soc. and Roy. Met. Soc. might do to promote the coverage of marine science history.

To Register: Registration now closed.

Support for student participation

Applications for student bursaries have now closed

Directions to the NOC

For directions to the NOC please click here

Supported by

The National Oceanography Centre

European Way

Southampton, Hampshire

SO14 3ZH