GO-BGC utilizes autonomous robotic floats to measure temperature, salinity, pH, nitrate, chlorophyll, suspended particles, light, and derived parameters DIC, pCO2 and total alkalinity in the ocean from the surface to 2000m. These floats can operate continuously for years in all weather conditions, providing near real-time observations of ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystems throughout the world’s oceans. GO-BGC will deploy 500 autonomous floats in the world’s oceans between 2021 and 2026 as part of the OneArgo array. GO-BGC data are made freely available through our Data page and the Argo data system.
Floats deployed
Scheduled deployments
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Data
Data from floats and ships, and tutorials on using the data
Deployment maps
Float array map and status table, current and future deployments
Adopt-A-Float
Partnering teachers with scientists to bring research into the classroom
Events
Upcoming events related to the GO-BGC project
Latest News
Beware the Blob! Ocean heatwaves threaten microbes that help counter global warming
Mariana Bif, a Research Specialist at MBARI, was recently interviewed in article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists entitled: Beware the Blob! Ocean heatwaves threaten microbes that help counter global warming. Mariana talks about using data from biogeochemical floats to look at anomalous amounts of organic carbon in the ocean during blob years and outlines the connection with climate change.
What’s climate change really doing to the ocean? Ask the robots.
Mariana Bif, a Research Specialist at MBARI, recently published an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists entitled: What’s climate change really doing to the ocean? Ask the robots.
Robotic floats provide new look at ocean health and global carbon cycle
Microscopic marine life plays a fundamental role in the health of the ocean and, ultimately, the planet. Just like plants on land, tiny phytoplankton use photosynthesis to consume carbon dioxide and convert it into organic matter and oxygen. This biological transformation is known as marine primary productivity.
Revolutionizing our understanding of the ocean
Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the University of Washington, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Princeton University will use this grant to build and deploy 500 robotic ocean-monitoring floats around the globe as part of NSF’s Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 program
