FY1995: Basic buoy design and construction of a prototype buoy. Open sea trials of the prototype buoy.
FY1996: "International Workshop on Ocean Climate Variations from Seasons to Decades with Special Emphasis on Pacific Ocean Buoy Network', in May 1996 in Mutsu, Aomori prefecture. Construction of a buoy maintenance building in Mutsu, Aomori.
FY1997: Launching a large oceanographic research vessel "Mirai" in October 1997. Begin buoy deployment at four sites in the western tropical Pacific.
FY1998: Six buoys in operation.*
FY1999: Fifteen buoys in operation. Begin buoy deployment in the mid-latitudes in the Pacific.*
FY2000: Twenty buoys in operation. Begin buoy deployment in the Indian Ocean.*
(Note: Japanese fiscal year starts in April.)
*The timing of the buoy deployment depends on financial situation of JAMSTEC.
Further extension of buoy network will be considered after the first-phase implementation be evaluated.
3.2 Deployment plan in the first phase (see Fig. 1)
In the first phase starting FY1997, the buoy network will be established mainly in the western tropical Pacific. Subsurface current meter buoys will be simultaneously deployed along the equator and the warm pool region. After establishing the network in the western tropical Pacific, two of buoys manufactured will be deployed in the Indian ocean in year 2000. The development for mid- and high-latitude buoys will also be started during the first phase with the deployment starting in year 1999 in the north Pacific. At the same time buoy technology for the rough sea will also be established. Pilot studies will also be started on the relationship between ENSO and the variability in the subpolar gyre and that in the subtropical gyre including the Kuroshio and/or Kuroshio Extension. Those four buoys in the mid-/high-latitude and in the Indian Ocean will be utilized for process oriented studies and be shifted the locations in order to derive the optimal scientific results.
3.3 Rationale for selected buoy locations
(1)Buoy array along the equator, 1000 km across from east to the west.
