Gustavo Jorge Goni

Gustavo.Goni “at” noaa.gov

BACK TO NOAA/AOML's PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY WEB PAGE

Links to web pages containing some of my current ‘operational’ projects

Several global and regional products derived mostly from altimetry observations are distributed through these web pages, including the monitoring of volume transport of currents, shedding of rings and variability of sea height and temperature. This web site is particularly useful if you are interested in studying the variability of ring shedding in the North Brazil Current and in the Agulhas region. If your interest is in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, please check the time series of the separation of the Brazil Current front from the continental shelf break (we are submitting a manuscript on this subject this April). The links below are sub-links that will direct you to the two most popular links.

Near-real time estimates of Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential from satellite altimetry.
These estimates are used by several laboratories, agencies and universities to identify regions where there are appropriate upper ocean conditions for tropical cyclone intensification. Data are provided upon request.

Near-real time surface currents from satellite altimetry.
Estimates of geostrophic current fields. You can choose from different mean sea heights and superimpose drifter observations to visually compare the estimates. Data are provided upon request.

SEAS Program

NOAA/AOML currently manages a large component of the global ocean observing system through its GOOS Center. I am currently managing the SEAS-XBT-TSG programs.

SEAS is a real-time ship and environmental data acquisition and transmission system. The SEAS 2K software acquires atmospheric, oceanographic data and transmits the data real-time for addition to scientific and operational databases. SEAS 2K is employed on ships of the SOOP, VOS, and on NOAA and some UNOLS ships.

In collaboration with other NOAA and US and international universities NOAA/AOML works in the acquisition, deployment, data quality control, and distribution of approximately 80% of all XBTs deployed annually, some 24,000. The XBT Program is part of the WMO and IOC-sponsored Ship Of Opportunity Program (SOOP). These deployments are done through cargo (container) ships and as these ships also help with the deployment of surface drifters and profiling floats, the SOOP is sometimes referred as the backbone of the global ocean observing system. A few of these ships also allow us to install thermosalinographs.

Another important aspect of the SEAS operation includes the transmission of meteorological reports from these ships of the Voluntary Observing System (VOS). Coast Guard vessels use the AMVER component of the SEAS software to create a series of reports, which describe point of departure, route and arrival and are used for search and rescue purposes. SEAS 2K is also used to provide real-time ice reports.

Latest maps of SEAS transmissions can be obtained here. The electronic version of the brochure that we use for recruiting purposes in located here.

XBT fallrate workshop

During March 10-12 we held an international XBT fall rate workshop at NOAA/AOML. Analyses of concurrent XBT, CTD and Argo float observations indicate that there is a systematic difference in temperature profiles, which is likely due to an error in the XBT fall-rate equation. This error is thought to have introduced a warm bias in the global XBT data base. This workshop was dedicated to discuss the findings related to this issue by different groups. As a consequence, a new fall rate equation may need to be developed and applied to both past and future XBT data.

o Global XBT transects

NOAA/AOML manages several XBT transects in high density mode in the Atlantic Ocean and several transects in frequently repeated mode in the Pacific Ocean. Additionally, NOAA/AOML collaborates with SIO, France (IRD), Noumea (IRD), Australia (BOM), and Brazil with the deployment and/or transmissions of XBTs. You can obtain the XBT data from NOAA/NODC or from the Coriolis web page. Let me know if you need help with this.

Thermosalinographs (TSGs)

Some of the ships of the SOOP have TSGs installed. TSGs are instruments mounted close to the water intake of research and cargo ships and that continuously measure the sea surface salinity and temperature along the track of the ship. AOML currently operates several TSG transects from three ships of the SOOP. There are two cruise ships that currently have TSG installed. Additionally, we are working with NOAA/Marine Operations to implement real-time transmissions of TSG data from 15 ships of the NOAA fleet. We are currently testing the transmission of TSG data in real-time in 6 NOAA ships. More information on the NOAA/TSG operations can be found here.