The Global Drifter Program

The Global Drifter Program (GDP) at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates a network of mixed-layer drifting buoys that provide sea-surface temperature (SST), currents and surface meteorological data for initialization of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forecasts, retrospective studies of ENSO, and hurricane predictions, among other applications. For example, all of the strategies for ENSO prediction that rely on SST observations or the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) SST product for initialization benefit from in situ SST data from the GDP array. These data are relied upon to tune the satellite retrieval algorithm as well as to provide the bias correction of the satellite product. The GDP includes the Drifter Data Assembly Center at AOML, which provides complete quality-controlled SST and surface current data suitable for research. These data are archived at the Marine Environmental Data Service of Canada, where the current holdings extend through 1998. Scientific analysis of this processed data has resulted in over 140 reports and peer-reviewed papers since 1985.

As of June 1, 1999, the Global Drifter Array included nearly 800 operational buoys, of which nearly 600 are directly operated by the GDP. The remainder are contributed by numerous international and US collaborators who participate as an action group under the sponsorship of the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel of the World Meteorological Organization. Plans for the next 2-3 years include growth of the array to about 1000 buoys, with 780 being operated directly by the GDP at AOML. Some of the projects in the GDP are subject to funding vagaries, but we have a core of projects that have stable funding for the next 3 years. For these projects, the Tropics and the Southern Hemisphere are targeted for the majority of deployments, with stable arrays of 170, 75, 130 in the tropical Pacific, Indian and Atlantic, envisioned, respectively. The vast Southern Oceans (south of 20S) will be covered more sparsely with an array of 120.