Understanding marine life, ecosystems, and processes depends on high-quality, publicly available data. The Argo Program is the dominant source of ocean data, helping scientists worldwide assess and track global ocean health. 

Launched in 1999, this international initiative supports a global array of more than 4,200 robotic floats that constantly monitor ocean temperature, salinity, and currents. The Argo Program now helps scientists track ocean warming, improve weather and climate forecasts, monitor sea level rise, and better understand the ocean’s role in Earth’s changing climate. Today, Argo is expanding beyond the upper ocean to include deep-ocean observations and biogeochemical measurements that reveal how the ocean stores carbon, cycles nutrients, and supports marine life.

Senior Research Specialist Monique Messié leads MBARI’s Data Integration and Interdisciplinary Oceanography Team, leveraging diverse datasets to understand ocean processes. Messié recently contributed to a commentary by members of the US Climate Variability and Predictability (US CLIVAR) Program in the scientific journal Oceanography, reflecting on the program’s accomplishments.

Researchers from US CLIVAR’s Phenomena, Observations, and Synthesis (POS) Panel highlighted Argo’s scientific, operational, and societal contributions, underscoring the need to sustain and expand the global observing system to ensure continuity of high-quality ocean observations. Messié was a member of US CLIVAR’s POS Panel for six years and most recently served as its co-chair from 2024–2026.

MBARI has played an integral role in the Argo Program. MBARI Senior Scientist Ken Johnson is the co-chair of the Biogeochemical Argo mission team and the principal investigator for the Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Array (GO-BGC) project. MBARI researchers have also developed advanced chemical sensors for use on biogeochemical Argo floats. By equipping autonomous floats to measure not only temperature and salinity but also oxygen, pH, nitrate, chlorophyll, and other indicators of ocean health, MBARI researchers have helped transform Argo into a more comprehensive ocean-observing system.

Research Publication:

Dove, L.A., G. Forget, M. Hell, V. Hormann, I. Marinov, M. Messié, A. Romanou, J. Steinberg, and L.D. Talley. 2026. Argo at a crossroads: Achievements, impacts, and the imperative for sustained global ocean observations. Oceanography, 39(2): 6–11. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2026.e207

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