The TAO/TRITON array is part of a complex climate observation system. Central to describing, understanding, and predicting the Earth's climate system is observation. The mission of NOAA's Climate Observation Program is to build and sustain a global climate observing system that will respond to the long-term requirements of the operational forecast centers, international research programs, and major scientific assessments. The observational component of climate services has by far the greatest opportunity and necessity for international collaboration. A global observing system by definition crosses international boundaries and the potential exists for both benefits and burdens to be shared by many nations.

All of NOAA's contributions to the ocean component of the climate observing system are coordinated internationally. Perhaps none of the components is better-known than the TAO/TRITON array. Built over the past 15 years, through the efforts of many nations, the TAO/TRITON array is now maintained principally by the United States and Japan. Each of the 70 moored buoys that span the tropical Pacific must be visited twice-a-year for maintenance and instrument calibration. The servicing ship, the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana, deploys other elements of the ocean observing system en route to the array, such as drifting buoys and Argo floats, as well as carrying scientists participating in climate research programs such as EPIC.

By the end of April, scientists will know whether or not an El Niño is on the way. Five years after the onset of the most intense El Niño on record, the TAO-TRITON array is once again tracking conditions that could herald another event. Unusually warm sea surface temperatures are being recorded in the central tropical Pacific as a vast pool of warm water heads east. During the months of March and April, water off Peru and Ecuador should begin to warm if 2002 will be an El Niño year.

While most pronounced in the tropical Pacific and nearby regions, El Niño's impacts are felt worldwide. The ocean is second only to the sun in influencing climate variability and change. Thus scientists are watching carefully the measurements being reported by the TAO/TRITON array. The hope is that improved long-range forecasts, based on those measurements from the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, can help people in all regions around the world prepare for potential variations in this year's climate conditions.

This website is maintained and frequently updated by
NOAA's Office of Global Programs.
ogpwebmaster@noaa.gov

Some of the material on this website may require one of the following plug-ins
if not already installed on your system.