Ocean Circulation and Climate—Observing and Modelling the Global Ocean

Abstract

The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) began with the goals of developing models and collecting the oceanographic data necessary to predict and monitor climate change. Early discussions of WOCE started in the late 1970s, and a full observational and modeling plan was gradually formulated over the course of the 1980s. WOCE seagoing work carried out in the 1990s spanned the global ocean, taking oceanographers to some of the most distant parts of the ocean to complete long hydrographic lines and deploy instruments. Satellite altimetry was also included in the plan, and the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter was launched in 1992. In 1998, several hundred oceanographers gathered in Halifax, Canada, at a conference marking the end of the fieldwork phase of WOCE and the beginning of the analysis, interpretation, and modeling phase. Ocean Circulation and Climate—Observing and Modelling the Global Ocean had its genesis in that conference.