Supplementary VOS Programs & Projects

The VOS Climate Project is an ongoing project within the JCOMM Voluntary Observing Ship Scheme, and is coordinated by the Ship Observations Team (SOT) Task Team on VOSClim.

The aim of the VOSClim is to provide a high-quality subset of marine meteorological data, supplemented by an extensive array of metadata, to be available in real-time and also in delayed mode to support global climate studies. This is a follow-up to the VOS Special Observing Project North Atlantic (VSOP-NA) that was conducted on behalf of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) from 1988 to 1990.

Data from the VOSClim will be invaluable for climate change studies and research. In particular it will be used to:

• Input directly into air-sea flux computations, as part of coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models;
• Provide ground truth for calibrating satellite observations; and
• Provide a high quality reference data set for possible re-calibration of observations from the entire VOS Fleet (VOF).

» Visit the VOSClim website or view the VOSClim brochure (PDF,1086 kb).

The Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme commenced in the mid-1980s to provide vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction from the vast data-sparse ocean areas.

The ASAP uses radiosondes tethered to gas-filled balloons to sample the atmosphere from the surface to a height of about 30km. It operates mostly on ships participating in the VOS Scheme, but also on some research and Navy vessels. The principal reporting areas are the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea operated as E-ASAP, an observing Programme of EUMETNET.

The ASAP is a core observing programme of the SOT in the Observations Programme Area of JCOMM. International coordination of the ASAP is through the SOT Task Team on ASAP.

» Visit the ASAP website or view the ASAP brochure (PDF, 831 kb).

The Ship-of-Opportunity Programme (SOOP) collects a range of predominantly oceanographic data, most notably Upper Ocean Thermal (UOT) data, but also atmospheric & ocean carbon, ocean fluorescence & pigments, sub-surface temperature & salinity data.

The UOT data are collected in the top 1000m of the oceans by expendable probes, known commonly as XBTs. The probes are deployed at regular intervals along repeat XBT SOOP sampling lines from ships participating in the VOS Scheme, as well as other merchant, research and Navy ships.

The SOOP is a core observing programme of the SOT in the Observations Programme Area of JCOMM. International coordination of the SOOP is through the SOOP Implementation Panel (SOOPIP), a sub-panel of the SOT.

The UOT data collected by the SOOP support a range of operational and research applications, including:

• ENSO prediction;
• Tropical ocean variability and prediction;
• Global and regional heat storage;
• Ocean transport and circulation;
• Mid-high latitude variability;
• Ocean state estimation and model evaluation; and
• Climate change.

» Visit the SOOP website.

The Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System initiative aims to improve the quality of meteorological and near-surface oceanographic observations collected in-situ on research vessels and selected VOS.

The scientific objectives of SAMOS include:

• Creating quality estimates of the heat, moisture, momentum, and radiation fluxes at the air-sea interface;
• Improving our understanding of the biases and uncertainties in global air-sea fluxes;
• Benchmarking new satellite and model products;
• Providing high quality observations to support modeling activities (e.g. reanalysis) and global climate programs.

» Visit the SAMOS website.