THE PIRATA PROGRAM: History, Accomplishments, and Future Directions
Open accessAbstract
The Pilot Research Moored Array in the tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) was developed as a multinational observation network to improve our knowledge and understanding of ocean-atmosphere variability in the tropical Atlantic. PIRATA was motivated by fundamental scientific issues and by societal needs for improved prediction of climate variability and its impact on the economies of West Africa, northeastern Brazil, the West Indies, and the United States. In this paper the implementation of this network is described, noteworthy accomplishments are highlighted, and the future of PIRATA in the framework of a sustainable tropical Atlantic observing system is discussed. We demonstrate that PIRATA has advanced beyond a “Pilot” program and, as such, we have redefined the PIRATA acronym to be “Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic.”
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PIRATA was initiated in 1997 and now consists of 18 moorings spanning the tropical Atlantic basin.
“It was initiated in 1997 and now consists of 18 moorings spanning the basin.”
From The tropical atlantic observing system (2019) · cites this paper as Bourlès et al., 2008
The Abstract states that PIRATA implementation began in 1997 and describes a buoy network in the tropical Atlantic. The ATLAS BUOYS section lists five western backbone, five eastern backbone, three Southwest Extension, and four Northeast Extension buoys—17 in total. The PIRATA EXPANSIONS section describes a separate Southeast pilot mooring that ended in June 2007, so the paper does not support 18 as the current mooring count. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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References 64 · Cited by 358
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- Authors
- Bourlès, B., Lumpkin, R., McPhaden, M. J., Hernandez, F., Nobre, P., Campos, E., Yu, L., Planton, S., Busalacchi, A., Moura, A. D., Servain, J., & Trotte, J.
- Affiliations
- Laboratoire d’Études en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (FR)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (BR)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US)
- Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (US)
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Bourlès, Bernard
- ORCID
- Venue
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
- Publisher
- American Meteorological Society
- Published
- 2008-08
- Volume
- 89
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1111-1126
- ISSN
- 0003-0007 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-0477
- OpenAlex
- W2133763908
- Cited by
- 358
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 16.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Open Access Server of the Woods Hole Scientific Community (Woods Hole Scientific Community) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
- Keywords
- PIRATA, tropical Atlantic, ocean observing systems, moored array, ocean-atmosphere variability, regional climate impacts, West Africa, Northeast Brazil, West Indies
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