https://cdn.earthdata.nasa.gov/conduit/upload/5182/KeywordsCommunityGuide_Baseline_v1_SIGNED_FINAL.pdf 23.7 2026-04-15T10:53:30.610Z https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/KeywordViewer/scheme/projects/4d569982-00c1-4e7f-b357-0bf0b624998d TOGA In order to better understand the tropical ocean/atmosphere system andits effect on the climate at higher latitudes, the Tropical Ocean andGlobal Atmosphere (TOGA) Program was initiated in 1985 by the WorldMeteorological Organization (WMO), with contributions from nationsincluding the USA, UK, USSR, Japan, Australia, India and Chile. TOGAwas a major component of the WMO's World Climate Research Program(WCRP) and was effective in bringing together the internationalscientific research community to work on problems of globalsignificance. Scientific oversight was provided by the TOGAScientific Steering Group who reports to the Joint ScientificCommittee of WCRP. International coordination was organized throughthe International TOGA Project Office in Geneva and the 18-memberIntergovernmental TOGA Board.The U.S. contribution to TOGA involved the National OceanicAtmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Science Foundation (NSF),and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NOAAinvolvement includes the Climate Analysis Center (CAC), NOAAEnvironmental Research Laboratories (Pacific Marine EnvironmentalLaboratory (PMEL), Atlantic Oceanographic and MeteorologicalLaboratory (AOML), Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), andthe Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL), and theNational Oceanographic Service (NOS). NSF support was fundedthrough its Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Divisions and through NCAR.NASA's effort was funded to NASA centers and academic principalinvestigators while the Office of Naval Research (ONR) supports anumber of university scientists.TOGA is a 10-year international program that began January 1, 1985 andcontinued through 1994.The major elements of the TOGA Praogram Plan are modeling, empiricalstudies, process studies and long-term observations. Three types ofmodels are being used: (1) oceanographic models, in which the windstress and heat flux at the air-sea interface are prescribed and thetime-dependent response of the upper layers of the tropical ocean issimulated; (2) atmospheric models, in which the global circulation issimulated given various prescriptions of the tropical SST field; and(3) coupled atmosphere-ocean models, which are integrated forward intime from a prescribed set of initial conditions. Empirical studiesare focusing on interannual and intraseasonal variability along withstatistical analyses of lead-lag relationships that may have relevanceto seasonal climate prediction. Long-term observations includeinterfacial measurements, and atmospheric and oceanographicobservations.Science Objective:-To gain a description of the tropical oceans and the global atmosphere as a time-dependent system, in order to determine the extent to which this system is predictable on time scales of months to years, and to understand the mechanisms and processes underlying that predictability.-To study the feasibility of modeling the coupled ocean-atmosphere system for the purpose of predicting its variations on time scales of months to years.-To provide the scientific background for designing an observing and data transmission system for operational prediction if this capability is demonstrated by coupled ocean-atmosphere models.Data Used and Produced:Long-term monitoring is among the more focused of the program elementsof TOGA. It is a prerequisite for numerical simulation and long-termprediction of the coupled climate system, and it supports process andempirical studies. Interfacial measurements such as wind stress, seasurface temperature (SST) and surface energy fluxes are most centralto the ocean-atmosphere coupling and are attaining the highestpriority. The major sources of surface wind data over the tropicaloceans are moored buoys, ships of opportunity and island stations.The moored buoys transmit wind, air temperature, SST and subsurfacetemperature via the ARGOS/TIROS-N system. Wind observations fromships and island stations are transmitted via the GlobalTelecommunication System (GTS). The CAC has been producing monthlymean SST analyses with about 2 degree spatial resolution, based upon ablend of in situ (ship and buoy) data and Advanced Very HighResolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data, while also monitoringnet energy flux monthly mean fields generated by one of theoperational numerical weather prediction models at the NationalMeteorological Center (NMC).Observations of the global atmosphere in suapport of TOGA reliedheavily on the World Weather Watch/Global Telecommunications System(WWW/GTS). The observing network consists of two polar-orbitingsatellites and the full array of geostationary satellites, ships ofopportunity, buoys, and surface and upper-air stations. The GlobalPrecipitation Center at CAC has been supportive in producingpreliminary estimates of tropical convective precipitation from1986-1988 based on satellite imagery from the U.S., Japan and theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) geostationary satellites. Ships ofopportunity and approximately 50 drifting buoys are being used tomeasure sea level pressure, air temperature and SST over data-sparseregions of the equatorial and extratropical South Pacific. TheNational Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and ERL havecontributed some upper-air systems and Doppler profilers to thesurface and upper-air network.The ocean observing system consisted of tidal gauges, satellite data,moored (ATLAS) and drifting (Langrangian) buoys and and ships ofopportunity. The island tide gauge network along with altimetricrange data obtained from military satellites provided sea level data.Expendable Bathythermograph System (XBT) lines from ships providedsoundings to analyze the thermal structure and the heat content. Shipsalso carried out conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) surveys inthe upper 1000m of the ocean. Moored buoys, instrumented with currentmeters and thermistor chains also provided subsurface thermalstructure and current data. Circulation was measured utilizingequatorial moorings and from a field of over 130 mixed-layerLangrangian drifters.The following sites on the World Wide Web can provide further informationas well as data access: TOGA COARE Data Information System 'http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/coare/' TOGA-TAO Realtime Data Access: 'http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/'References: National Research Council, 'TOGA, A Review of Progress and Future Opportunities', National Academy Press 1990. World Meteorological Organization, 'WMO/IOC Inter-governmental TOGA Board Report of the Third Session, Geneva, 9-12 January 1990', WMO/TD No. 357. World Meteorological Organization, 'JSC/CCCO TOGA Scientific Steering Group Report of the Eighth Session, Hamburg, 18-22 September 1989', WMO/TD No. 338.