GLOBAL TROPICAL MOORED BUOY ARRAY

The Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array Program is an international effort to provide data in real-time for climate research and forecasting. Major components include the TAO/TRITON array in the Pacific, PIRATA in the Atlantic, and RAMA in the Indian Ocean.

The Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array Program is a contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), and the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS).

PIRATA
The Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) Northeast Extension (PNE) is an extension of the original PIRATA array that was designed to study ocean-atmosphere interactions in the tropical Atlantic that affect regional weather and climate variability on seasonal, interannual and longer time scales.

RAMA
The Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) was designed to study the Indian Ocean’s role in monsoons. One third of the world population depends on monsoon driven rainfall for agricultural production, so improving our understanding and ability to predict the monsoons has been a longstanding objective of the international scientific community. RAMA, the newest tropical buoy array, was initiated in the traditionally data sparse Indian Ocean in 2004 following deployment of successful pilot scale arrays by Japan and India. RAMA has since grown through the formation of new partnerships that at present include Indonesia, China, the USA, and the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) program.