Argo reaches its goal of 3000 active floats!
Rotating globe showing 3800 Argo floats
During the month of October 2007, over 100 floats were deployed by various Argo scientists around the world to reach 3000 active Argo floats. Since we cannot tell exactly which float was the 3000th, float deployers were invited to submit photos of “Argo_3000” float candidates. Below are the winning Argo_3000 photos (starting with the most recent).
Scroll down the page to see all the contributions.
Argo 3000 floats deployed from the RV Mirai
Fisheries and Oceans Canada deploys Argo 3000 floats
Argo 3000 floats deployed as part of STRATUS cruise
Argo 3000 float deployed from the RV Poseidon
Argo 3000 floats deployed from the RV Chofu Maru
Photo by: Guy Williams of the Australian Antarctic Division who deployed the Argo_3000 float just after the photo was taken in mid-October 2007
The photo to the left shows a University of Washington Argo_3000 float (equipped with ice-detection software) just before deployment in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean. The float was deployed near 100° E, 65° S during a cruise of the Australian icebreaker, Aurora Australis. The ship can be seen in the background of the photo. It is early spring, and the seasonal ice in the region has not yet melted. In order to deploy the float, a hole is drilled in the ice (approximately 1.5 meters thick) and the float is then lowered into the hole. 24 University of Washington floats were deployed in this fashion during the Aurora Australis cruise. The floats can store profiles collected while under the ice and transmit all of the data during austral summer, after the ice has melted. We hope to hear from this float and the others deployed on this cruise early in 2008. The University of Washington Argo float group extends its thanks to the officers, scientists and crew of the Aurora Australis for carrying out these challenging float deployments.
Written by Professor Steve Riser at the University of Washington
Argo 3000 celebration at NIWA and aboard the RV Kaharoa
Photo by: Adam Ü
The photo to the left shows an Argo_3000 float at the end of the rainbow. Taken (9/2007) from a small boat launched from the NOAA Ship McArthur II while on a SWFSC STAR-LITE 2007 cruise.
Series of photos taken in December 2006 at the Argo Capacity Building Workshop in Ghana, Africa.
Series of photos taken in 2004 for the first cruise in the GOODHOPE project to deploy one of the first Argo_3000 floats in the Southern Ocean. Photos courtesy of Sabrina Speich
G. Díaz del Rio, A. Lavin and J.M. Cabanas, from the Instituto Español de Oceanografía and MEyC VACLAN project, prior to launching the first Argo_3000-España float on board the R/V Cornide de Saavedra in September 2003 near 45°N, 9°W in the southern Bay of Biscay
Photo by: Joaquín Molinero of the Instituto Español de Oceanografía