University of Hawaii
Argo Profiling Floats

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Reliability statistics
3. Argos Data Telemetry
4. GTS publication of float profiles
5. Contact Information

Introduction

The overall goal of KESS is to identify and quantify the dynamic and thermodynamic processes governing the variability of the interaction between the Kuroshio Extension and the recirculation gyre. By combining the Argo float data with in-situ measurements of other KESS components, we hope to monitor the temporal evolution of the temperature and salinity fields near the center of the recirculation gyre, both on the high-resolution scale (100-200 km) and, as they disperse, on the regional array scale, over two annual cycles. From the Argo measurements, we also aim to quantify the contributions of dynamic and thermodynamic processes that cause seasonal and year-to-year variations in the upper ocean heat budget and the associated SST in the recirculation gyre region. In addition, the salt budget in the upper ocean will also be analyzed because the formation and seasonal and interannual evolutions of STMW could be affected by the salinity.

The Kuroshio Extension Observatory (KEO) is an affiliated program for KESS, monitoring heat, moisture and momentum fluxes, and upper ocean temperature and salinity.

For more scientific background about KESS, see the KESS homepage in University of Rhode Island. For information about Argo floats, national and international programs, newsletter Argonautics, and more, please visit the Argo home page.

Reliability Statistics

Argos Data Telemetry

The table below contains several statistics designed to measure the quality of the telemetry connection between the float and the satellite. All of these statistics were computed on a per-satellite-pass basis.

• Argos Id: A unique 5 digit identifier assigned to each float.

• Start Time: The beginning of the analysis window.

• Stop Time: The end of the analysis window.

• Satellite Passes: The total number of times within the analysis window that a satellite passed overhead while the float was transmitting. All of the statistics are based on data from this ensemble of satellite passes.

• Duration: The average duration (in minutes) of the ensemble of the satellite passes. The duration is defined as the time interval between with the first and last messages as indicated by the time stamps received by a given satellite during a given pass. The quantity in parentheses is the standard deviation of the duration. For example, an entry of 8.8(3.5) indicates that the mean duration of the satellite passes was 8.8 minutes with a standard deviation 3.5 minutes.

• Telemetric Efficiency: This measures the average rate of successful transmission when satellites are overhead. It is the average ratio of the number of good messages to the number of messages expected.

• Messages Expected: This is the average number of messages that should have been received when satellites were overhead. If two or more satellites are overhead simultaneously then each transmission was multiply-counted. The number of messages expected for a given satellite pass is determined from the Argos data stream by counting the number of messages received and adding the number of messages missing. Due to averaging and rounding effects, these entries in the table below may not add up exactly.

• Messages Received: This is the average number of messages that were actually received by satellites (without regard to the CRC check). The accompanying percentage gives the average ratio of the messages received to the messages expected.

• Messages Missing: This is the average number of messages that were transmitted while a given satellite was overhead but that were not received by the satellite. These are detected in the Argos data stream by gaps in time and message number. The accompanying percentage gives the average ratio of the messages missing to the messages expected. (This statistic may not appear in the table below).

• Good Messages: This is the average number of messages received that passed the CRC check. The accompanying percentage gives the average ratio of the good messages to the messages received.

• Bad Messages: This is the average number of messages received that failed the CRC check. The accompanying percentage gives the average ratio of the bad messages to the messages received. (This statistic may not appear in the table below).

Public Distribution of Profiles through the Argo Data Systems

In addition to this web site, data from these floats is publicly distributed to the public in real-time via the Argo data systems. Each float is assigned a unique WMO identifer that can be found on our Present Status web page, and allows worldwide distribution and integration into the Argo data system. The official web site for information about the Argo program is the Argo Information Centre. These data are processed by the Argo global data centers GODAE and IFREMER as well as the U.S. Argo Data Center.

Acknowledgements:

This web site was developed by Dana Swift (School of Oceanography, University of Washington). The site was ported to the University of Hawaii in August 2004 and has been maintained by Dr. Shuiming Chen.