| Set : | PIRATA – France |
| Objective : | The PIRATA project is a joint effort between Brazil, France and the United States to collect oceanic and meteorological observations in the tropical Atlantic. The experimental program PIRATA (initially “Pilot Research moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic” and named “Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic” from 2008) has been implemented in 1997 in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean (Servain et al. 1998). It has been launched in the framework of the international program CLIVAR (CLImatic VARiability and predictability) and implies scientific teams from three countries: France (IRD, in charge of coordination and oceanic cruises, Météo France, with contributions by IFREMER and CNRS/INSU), Brazil (DHN and INPE) and USA (NOAA/PMEL). The French contribution involves installation and maintenance (yearly visit t each site) of an array of 6 ATLAS buoys (the original PIRATA array had 12 buoys in all) in the Eastern part of the tropical basin (Gulf of Guinea). The parameters observed in real-time (ARGOS transmission) by each ATLAS system will enable heat exchanges at the air-sea interface and the thermohaline structure from the surface to a depth of 500 m to be reproduced. Daily assimilation of all data acquired (and logged locally) every 10 minutes, is transmitted by the ARGOS system over the world telecommunications system GTS and Internet. PIRATA mooring sites were chosen with respect to various scientific (key zones for ocean-atmosphere interactions) and logistic (ship time) criteria. Each PIRATA cruise lasts about two weeks (Abidjan-Abidjan). During these cruises, ATLAS systems were deployed and/or recovered (after one year), CTD measurements were taken along transects (0-1,000m), continuous underway current measurements (ADCP) and surface temperature and salinity using shipboard TSG were carried out. By integrating PIRATA data in numerical atmospheric and ocean circulation models, we should be able to understand and simulate seasonal to interannual variability in the tropical Atlantic climatology. Financial supports for the program are from the IRD, Météo France, and Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées/Université Paul Sabatier. |
| Cruise Period : | 03/09/1997 – current |
| Limits : | North : 16.0 South : -10.0 West : -65.0 East : 10.0 |
| Chief Scientist(s) : | BOURLES Bernard |
| DOI : | 10.18142/14 |
| More Info : | http://www.brest.ird.fr/pirata/ftp://ftp.ifremer.fr/ifremer/ird/pirata/pirata-data/ |
| Campaigns : | PIRATA-FR1 03/09/1997 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 18/09/1997 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) PIRATA-FR1 BIS 30/01/1998 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 03/02/1998 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR2 20/10/1998 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 10/11/1998 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR3 23/01/1999 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 01/02/1999 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR5 25/10/1999 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 04/11/1999 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR6 08/03/2000 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 19/03/2000 (Port Gentil/ Gabon)PIRATA-FR7 (EQUALANT 2000) 24/07/2000 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast) – 21/08/2000 (Pointe Noire/ Congo)PIRATA-FR8 15/11/2000 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 03/12/2000 (Port Gentil/ Gabon)PIRATA-FR9 29/10/2001 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 12/11/2001 (Port Gentil/ Gabon)PIRATA-FR10 05/12/2001 (Port Gentil/ Gabon) – 23/12/2001 (Bridgetown/ Barbados)PIRATA-FR11 17/12/2002 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 03/01/2003 (Lomé/ Togo)PIRATA-FR11 BIS 07/02/2003 (Port Gentil/ Gabon) – 15/02/2003 (Dakar/ Senegal)PIRATA-FR12 28/01/2004 (Port Gentil/ Gabon) – 20/02/2004 (Cayenne/ French Guiana)PIRATA-FR13 24/05/2005 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 07/06/2005 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR14 (EGEE1) 07/06/2005 (Cotonou/ Benin) – 05/07/2005 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR15 (EGEE3) 24/05/2006 (Cotonou/ Benin) – 06/07/2006 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR16 19/05/2007 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 01/06/2007 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR17 (EGEE5) 05/06/2007 (Cotonou/ Benin) – 04/07/2007 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR18 01/09/2008 (Cotonou/ Benin) – 06/10/2008 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR19 13/06/2009 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 24/07/2009 (Cotonou/ Benin)PIRATA-FR20 13/09/2010 (Cotonou/ Benin) – 21/10/2010 (Dakar/ Senegal)PIRATA-FR21 01/05/2011 (Cotonou/ Benin) – 15/06/2011 (Dakar/ Senegal)PIRATA-FR22 19/03/2012 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 02/05/2012 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR23 09/05/2013 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 20/06/2013 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR24 09/04/2014 (Dakar/ Senegal) – 22/05/2014 (Abidjan/ Ivory Coast)PIRATA-FR25 18/03/2015 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde) – 16/04/2015 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde)PIRATA-FR26 07/03/2016 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde) – 13/04/2016 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde)PIRATA-FR27 25/02/2017 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde) – 03/04/2017 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde)PIRATA-FR28 27/02/2018 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde) – 05/04/2018 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde)PIRATA-FR29 28/02/2019 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde) – 05/04/2019 (Mindelo/ Cape Verde) |