JCOMMOPS Deployment Opportunities

General information

There are a number of marine meteorology and oceanographic activities which require similar logistic support or can provide support for the deployment of drifting buoys and floats. For example:

- Drifting buoy deployments (by ship or aircraft).
These are coordinated through the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (http://www.jcommops.org/dbcp/) and its Action Groups

- Sub-surface float deployment (by ship or aircraft).
These are coordinated through the Argo programme ( http://www-argo.ucsd.edu/) and (Argo Information Centre)

Argo Deployment Planning (map)


Plans for future deployments of Argo Floats: see "Notification" section of the Argo Information Centre Website for details

- Moored buoy servicing
by ship, e.g. for US National Data Buoy Center / TAO , PIRATA, RAMA (US/Indonesia, India, France) & TRITON (USA/Japan) and View OceanSITES in Google Earth

- Volunteer Observing Ships (by ship).
These are coordinated through the WMO marine programme and make meteorological measurements from merchant ships.

- Deployment of XBTs (by ship).
These are coordinated through the WMO-IOC Ship Of Opportunity Programme SOOP.

- Radiosonde deployments (by ship).
These are coordinated through the Automatic Shipboard Aerological Programme (ASAP which deploys radiosondes from merchant ships.

The following list of potential buoy and float deployment opportunities is the responsibility of JCOMMOPS, http://www.jcommops.org/.

The list is useful for buoy operators to make contacts in specific countries in order to seek new deployment opportunities.For each country, information is available about:

1. National Contact Point(s):
   • National Focal Points for Logistics of Deployments
2. Potential deployment opportunities:
   1. Ship deployments (assuming deployment opportunity not charged)
      • Potential area of deployment or specific ship routes, Time period, regularity, Types of ship (e.g. VOS, research ship, navy ship), Availability of crew onboard (none, minimal, moderate, high), Whether technician(s) can embark the ship (needed for floats, XBTs, moored buoy servicing), Whether the ship can stop (needed for moored buoy servicing)
      
      
   2. Aircraft deployments (if any)
      • Area of deployment, Availability, Type of aircraft (e.g. C-130 for float depl.), Certification of buoy package needed, Formalities, Contact point

Up-to-date information is sought by JCOMMOPS, to ensure that these details are as useful as possible

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Ship Information

• Ship of Opportunity Programme (SOOP) Annual Report
  
  
• SOOP ship lines
• SOOP ships
• WMO Port Meteorological Officers (PMO)
• Research Ships Schedules
1. www.researchvessels.org
2. POGO Research Cruise database www.pogo-oceancruises.org
3. Past Cruises for TAO Maintenance
• The Scholarship Academic Programme
• Air Deployment Opportunities

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Ocean Basins