Concept information
Preferred term
TOGA
Definition
- In order to better understand the tropical ocean/atmosphere system and its effect on the climate at higher latitudes, the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Program was initiated in 1985 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with contributions from nations including the USA, UK, USSR, Japan, Australia, India and Chile. TOGA was a major component of the WMO's World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and was effective in bringing together the international scientific research community to work on problems of global significance. Scientific oversight was provided by the TOGA Scientific Steering Group who reports to the Joint Scientific Committee of WCRP. International coordination was organized through the International TOGA Project Office in Geneva and the 18-member Intergovernmental TOGA Board. The U.S. contribution to TOGA involved the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NOAA involvement includes the Climate Analysis Center (CAC), NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), and the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL), and the National Oceanographic Service (NOS). NSF support was funded through its Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Divisions and through NCAR. NASA's effort was funded to NASA centers and academic principal investigators while the Office of Naval Research (ONR) supports a number of university scientists. TOGA is a 10-year international program that began January 1, 1985 and continued through 1994. The major elements of the TOGA Praogram Plan are modeling, empirical studies, process studies and long-term observations. Three types of models are being used: (1) oceanographic models, in which the wind stress and heat flux at the air-sea interface are prescribed and the time-dependent response of the upper layers of the tropical ocean is simulated; (2) atmospheric models, in which the global circulation is simulated given various prescriptions of the tropical SST field; and (3) coupled atmosphere-ocean models, which are integrated forward in time from a prescribed set of initial conditions. Empirical studies are focusing on interannual and intraseasonal variability along with statistical analyses of lead-lag relationships that may have relevance to seasonal climate prediction. Long-term observations include interfacial measurements, and atmospheric and oceanographic observations. Science Objective: -To gain a description of the tropical oceans and the global atmosphere as a time-dependent system, in order to determine the extent to which this system is predictable on time scales of months to years, and to understand the mechanisms and processes underlying that predictability. -To study the feasibility of modeling the coupled ocean-atmosphere system for the purpose of predicting its variations on time scales of months to years. -To provide the scientific background for designing an observing and data transmission system for operational prediction if this capability is demonstrated by coupled ocean-atmosphere models. Data Used and Produced: Long-term monitoring is among the more focused of the program elements of TOGA. It is a prerequisite for numerical simulation and long-term prediction of the coupled climate system, and it supports process and empirical studies. Interfacial measurements such as wind stress, sea surface temperature (SST) and surface energy fluxes are most central to the ocean-atmosphere coupling and are attaining the highest priority. The major sources of surface wind data over the tropical oceans are moored buoys, ships of opportunity and island stations. The moored buoys transmit wind, air temperature, SST and subsurface temperature via the ARGOS/TIROS-N system. Wind observations from ships and island stations are transmitted via the Global Telecommunication System (GTS). The CAC has been producing monthly mean SST analyses with about 2 degree spatial resolution, based upon a blend of in situ (ship and buoy) data and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data, while also monitoring net energy flux monthly mean fields generated by one of the operational numerical weather prediction models at the National Meteorological Center (NMC). Observations of the global atmosphere in suapport of TOGA relied heavily on the World Weather Watch/Global Telecommunications System (WWW/GTS). The observing network consists of two polar-orbiting satellites and the full array of geostationary satellites, ships of opportunity, buoys, and surface and upper-air stations. The Global Precipitation Center at CAC has been supportive in producing preliminary estimates of tropical convective precipitation from 1986-1988 based on satellite imagery from the U.S., Japan and the European Space Agency (ESA) geostationary satellites. Ships of opportunity and approximately 50 drifting buoys are being used to measure sea level pressure, air temperature and SST over data-sparse regions of the equatorial and extratropical South Pacific. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and ERL have contributed some upper-air systems and Doppler profilers to the surface and upper-air network. The ocean observing system consisted of tidal gauges, satellite data, moored (ATLAS) and drifting (Langrangian) buoys and and ships of opportunity. The island tide gauge network along with altimetric range data obtained from military satellites provided sea level data. Expendable Bathythermograph System (XBT) lines from ships provided soundings to analyze the thermal structure and the heat content. Ships also carried out conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) surveys in the upper 1000m of the ocean. Moored buoys, instrumented with current meters and thermistor chains also provided subsurface thermal structure and current data. Circulation was measured utilizing equatorial moorings and from a field of over 130 mixed-layer Langrangian drifters. The following sites on the World Wide Web can provide further information as well as data access: TOGA COARE Data Information System "http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/coare/" TOGA-TAO Realtime Data Access: "http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/" References: National Research Council, 'TOGA, A Review of Progress and Future Opportunities', National Academy Press 1990. World Meteorological Organization, 'WMO/IOC Inter-governmental TOGA Board Report of the Third Session, Geneva, 9-12 January 1990', WMO/TD No. 357. World Meteorological Organization, 'JSC/CCCO TOGA Scientific Steering Group Report of the Eighth Session, Hamburg, 18-22 September 1989', WMO/TD No. 338. (en)
Broader concept
- S - U (en)
URI
https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/4d569982-00c1-4e7f-b357-0bf0b624998d
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