How can I participate in the ISABP?
IntroductionParticipation in the ISABP, and thereby contributing to expanding or maintaining the data network in the Atlantic Ocean, need not be subject to a large budget outlay. There are ways to contribute to this programme and, as you will see, some of these proposals require the utilisation of structures which many national meteorological services or institutes already have at their disposal. Contribution of driftersThis is one of the capital intensive components of the ISABP. The type of drifter mostly deployed by participants is the SVP-B buoy (Surface Velocity Programme Barometer) or LCD (Low Cost Drifter). Most agencies supply drifters for deployment to other institutions, which may be more suitable located to accomplish deployments in a certain area. Logistical support for the deployment of driftersThe making available of deployment opportunities is a recource that is not currently being fully utilised. Frequently, research vessels, navy vessels and supply vessels criss-cross areasin the Atlantic Ocean where buoy deploy,ents are required. The potential deployment opportunities are not known to programme participants, and are thus not utilised. Experience has shown that many navay vessels, commercial vessels and most research vessels are willing to deploy drifters ate predetermined locations along their route. By liaising with the authorities in your country, you are bound to hear of many deployment opportunities. Should there be research vessels operating from the shores of your country, these are often willing to do drifter deployments during thei voyages. Navy vessels doing patrols along the shores of your country are ideal for such deployments. This is especially true along the west coast of Africa, the south-east coast of South America and the Caribbean. A contribution could alsoinvolve supplying starage space for drifter before their being token on board these ships of opportunity, for deployments. The making available of argos ptt-years for the relay of data from buoysSome agencies might be willing to supply the drifter at no cost, should the transmission cost of the drifter be paid for by an interested participant. Obviously the data need to be make available on the GTS for the benefit of all participants. This drifter could then provide data from an area that is of more specific importance to your institution. Quality control servicesBy checking the quality of data being transmitted by buoys onto the GTS and notifying the Buoy-QC bulleting board, you would be ensuring that poor quality data from drifters is rapidly removed from the GTS. Installation of fixed stationsSeveral fixed stations have already been installed on Atlantic Ocean Islands. Additional stations in the region could benefit the programme.
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