NOAA's Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division works to provide global ocean observations and climate data products through programs like Adopt a Drifter and Argo floats. The Adopt a Drifter Program partners with schools around the world to track drifting buoys in real-time and engage students in ocean science. Through over 1 million daily observations, these tools help monitor ocean currents, temperatures, and other variables to further understanding of our changing oceans and support NOAA's climate services.

1. Emily A. Smith, PhD
Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division
Climate Program Office, NOAA

2. What is NOAA?

3. What do we do?Mission
Provide long-term high-quality global observations, and climate information and
products to researchers, forecasters and other users to inform and prepare
society for environmental challenges
We work from deployment to delivery of information and services
We sponsor
NOAA’s
contributions to
global ocean and
Arctic observing
systems

4. Scientific Impacts
Develop products about our changing environment and support
NOAA’s Services

5. 1 million observations a day

6. NOAA’s Adopt a Drifter Program
A Program to Enhance Informal Education
Mission: To establish scientific
partnerships between schools
around the world to engage
students in activities and
communication about ocean
climate science

7. NOAA’s Adopt a Drifter Program:
All Alumni 2004 – present (>80 schools)
● World map here showing all participant
locations

8. Drifting Buoy
The modern drifter is a high-tech version of the "message in
a bottle". Drifting buoys measure sea surface temperature
and are used to track ocean currents. The drifter’s data are
transmitted to a satellite and received in near real-time at
the Adopt a Drifter Program website (www.adp.noaa.gov).
Floater
Drogue

9. Deploying a drifter

11. Major Ocean Currents
Ocean current – any persistent, dominantly horizontal flow of water

13. The Adopt a Drifter web site allows you to
Select a Buoy to Track Ocean Currents and
Sea Surface Temperature in Real Time
Adopt a Drifter Tracking Page - http://www.adp.noaa.gov/track_drifting_buoys.html

14. Tools for an ocean climate field program:
• Floats
• Gliders
• Drifters
• Moorings
• Ships
• Satellites
• Tide
gauges

15. Drifter Data Are Important
● Help to Predict Path of Hurricanes
● Reveal Ocean Temperature
Patterns
● Monitor Ocean Currents, Winds
● Ground truth Satellite Data
● Follow migrating marine species
● Predict the Path of Ocean
Pollutants
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dac/gdc.html

16. Drifter deployed from a plane

17. Drifter Tracks during Hurricane Rita
September 21-28, 2005

18. 1010 mb --
960 mb --
Hurricane Irene-August 26, 2011

19. New study helps explain how garbage
patches form in the world's oceans
This image shows the density of finite-size objects after 1.5 years of
evolution starting from a uniform distribution under the combined action
of simulated ocean currents and reanalyzed winds.

20. Search and Rescue Efforts

21. Argo Profiling Floats
•

22. Achieving a global array of Argo Profiling Floats

23. Saildrone—autonomous surface vehicle

24. Path of Saildrones
• 3 Saildrones
• 1st transit through
the Bering Strait
• 1st Arctic Basin
observations
• 24,240 Km
traveled!

25. Scientists take
the pulse of the planet

26. Help keep the planet healthy!