Revolutionizing ocean science: four scientists share perspectives on the 25th anniversary of the Argo Program

Argo float status map as of December 13, 2024. Credit: Argo Information Centre

In the summer of 2024, a robotic Argo float collected data on ocean temperature and salinity from a 10-day dive through the water column. This data profile of the ocean marked the three millionth collected by the global array of Argo floats over the past 25 years. NOAA is a leader in the international Argo Program, and through the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program, funds half of the global array. Data collected by Argo floats is used in ocean research and to improve weather and climate forecasts.

Over the past 25 years, Argo floats have collected four times the amount of ocean information than all other observing tools combined – revolutionizing ocean science as we know it! Now, the Argo Program is evolving to help answer new science questions. Learn all about Argo from the perspective of four scientists with NOAA’s labs and cooperative institutes across the country, and what makes this ocean observing instrument special to them, in the interviews below.