m 



Oceanography is steadily moving toward nowcasts -Hnd 

 eventually forecasts) of ocean circulation patterns. Access to 

 near realtime data will be a critical element of such models. 

 Many other activities, including ship and aircraft observations, 

 would benefit greatly by this near realtime view. The present 

 system focuses primarily on physical observations such as 

 currents, temperature, and salinity. We encourage 

 N.WOCEANO to examine new data types, such as bio-optical 

 measurements, as a wider variety of autonomous sensors become 

 available and are widely distributed in the oceans. 



d. Findings 



The findings relative to realtime salinity anci temperature fields 



(GOODS) are: 



• Although tlie largest pan of the GOODS database is 

 unclassified it is not generally accessible. It is recommended 

 that steps be taken to explore access to this database via the 

 Internet where it would get its most productive use. 



?] commonly produce both temperature and salinty (and 

 other) data, whereas .tircraft surveys normally provide only 

 temperature data as depicted in Figure 20. 



To gain some understanding of the spatial sampling of MOODS 

 data. Figure 22 illustrates the locations of public domain 

 MOODS survex data for the Norwegian and Barents seas in the 

 winter season. 



b. Accessibility 



Currently MOODS is only available to the Navy and the DoD 

 community. The unclassified MOODS database contains 

 publicly available data as well as restricted and/or sensitive but 

 unclassified data. Disclosure of the resLncted and/or sensitive 

 data may be controlled by bilateral international data exchange 

 agreements or other understandings. Coupied with the 

 unclassified/resiricted/sensitive data, there is also a classified 

 MOODS database which contains data at various classification 

 levels. 



• Nov/casting of the ocean circulation and temperature is the 

 future direction of oceanography, and GOODS data would 

 make a significant contribution. 



2. ARCHIVAL SALINITY AND TEMPEIt\TURE FIELDS 

 (MOODS) 



a. Data Description 



The Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set (MOODS) 



is probably the largest collection of in situ oceanographic 

 observations that has been syntiiesized into a single coherent 

 database. The MOODS data set covers the time period from 

 1900 to the present. MOODS contains primarily vertical 

 profiles of temperature and temperature/saimily data with some 

 observed sound speed profiles and some surface temperature 

 values. The highest depth resolution of the MOODS data is one 

 meter. Examples of ocean thermal structure data extracted 

 from MOODS are given in Figure 20 for two nearby but 

 dissimilar ocean areas. 



Figure 2 1 again shows dissimilar data from nearby ocean areas, 

 this time in the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike Figure 20 which 

 shows many individual temperature profiles. Figure 21 shows 

 only the envelope of temperature and salinity profilt v. Ship 

 surveys such as the ones resulting in the data shown in Figure 



NAVOCEANO transfers unclassified data collected for 

 MOODS to the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) 

 for distribution m the public domain. In theory, this should 

 ensure a timely progression of these data to general use. 



Each vertical data cast in the MOODS database contains a data 

 classification code in the data header, including the data 

 distribution statement and reason for restriction. A comparison 

 of the amount of data categonzed by distribution statement is 

 illustrated in Figure 23. A representative area (the Norwegian 

 and Barents seas) was chosen as a baseline for comparison of 

 the different types and categories of data. 



c. Scientific Utility 



Improved descriptions of the oceanic density field are 

 fundamental to our understanding of the ocean's circulation. 

 Such descriptions provide a basis for estimates of mean 

 circulation as well as analyses of low frequency changes in 

 circulation, e.g.. decadal fluctuations in North Atlantic salinity. 



General availability of the original MOODS database from 

 NAVOCEANO to the civilian oceanographic community would 

 significantly enhance education and research in ocean sciences. 

 It is unclear to us whether access to either the restncted or the 

 classified data would significantly enhance the value of current 



