tion Experiment (WOCE) program completed a gloval ocean survey, collecting as many temperature and salinity profiles (20,000) as were taken over the previous 100 years. Argo will provide 3,000 profiles down to 2,000 meters depth every ten days.
Argo floats well be deployed from a variety of ships and aircraft (see next page). Hundred of commercial vessels that ply trading routes across the globe can deploy floats just as they now make meteorogical observations and drop instruments that give a single ocean profile. The remotest regions of the ocean can be seeded by air. The great advantage of the floats is that. After deployment, they will continue to operate unattended.
Once fully implemented, Argo will constitute an oceanic equivalent of the worldwide network of balloon borne radiosondes just as the radiosondes contribute to accurate three-to five-day weather fore-casts, Argo will contribute to accurate climate predictions.
The schematic above shows the Argo float cycle, with communications and position reporting by satellite At left, the principal components of an Argo Float.
