The tropical atlantic observing system

In the paper

“Rainfall in the Sahel has increased since the 1980s, but has not recovered to pre-drought levels (Nicholson et al., 2000;Dong and Sutton, 2015;Berntell et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Nicholson et al., 2000 source
• Partly supported

  The Figure S4 caption (page unavailable) compares a Sahel drought period with a later 'recent wetter period,' supporting an increase in rainfall. It says the observed 1951–1963 precipitation value is shown, but the text does not state whether recent rainfall remained below that pre-drought level. (LLM, conf=0.82)

  cites Dong and Sutton, 2015 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Partly supported

  The Introduction describes a drought in the 1970s and 1980s followed by rainfall recovery. The CRU observations section also reports wet conditions from 2000 onward. Neither passage establishes that rainfall remained below pre-drought levels. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Berntell et al., 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“The two record droughts of 2005 and 2010 were regarded as “once in a century” climate extremes at the times of their occurrences and were linked to anomalous SSTs in the tropical Atlantic (Figure 1; Marengo et al., 2008;Zeng et al., 2008;Lewis et al., 2011).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Discussion and conclusions (section 6; page unavailable) describe the 2005 drought in southwestern Amazonia as possibly among the most severe in at least 100 years. The Introduction (section 1) links that drought to anomalously warm tropical North Atlantic SSTs. This 2008 paper does not address the 2010 drought, so it cannot support the claim about both events. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Marengo et al., 2008 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Partly supported

  Section 4 links the 2005 Amazon drought to tropical Atlantic SST anomalies. The paper does not address the 2010 drought or describe either event as “once in a century”; it calls the 2005 drought rare and reports near-record-low streamflows. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Zeng et al., 2008 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Lewis et al., 2011 source

In the paper

“At the other extreme, the Amazon floods of 2009 and 2012 were the largest going back several decades (Satyamurty et al., 2013;Filizola et al., 2014) and left hundreds of thousands homeless.”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The citation follows the claim that the 2009 and 2012 floods were the largest in decades, not the subsequent statement about homelessness. The Abstract reports that the 2012 Manaus Port level exceeded the previous 2009 record, and the Introduction calls both years record floods. These findings support the cited claim as measured by river level at Manaus. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Satyamurty et al., 2013 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Filizola et al., 2014 source

In the paper

“There is also strong evidence linking decadal-multidecadal tropical Atlantic SST variability to hurricane activity (Goldenberg et al., 2001;Latif et al., 2007;Balaguru et al., 2018), but the drivers of this SST variability are not well known (Yang, 1999;Chang et al., 2000;Tanimoto and Xie, 2002;Evan et al., 2011;Booth et al., 2012;Clement et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Goldenberg et al., 2001 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Latif et al., 2007 source
• Supported

  Balaguru et al. state in §3.2 that the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) modulates Atlantic hurricane activity on interannual-to-decadal timescales. §2.1 defines the AMO index using Atlantic SST, and §3.2 links it to SST patterns and hurricane rapid intensification. Balaguru et al. are cited for the SST–hurricane link, not for the separate claim about its uncertain drivers. (LLM, conf=0.89)

  cites Balaguru et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“The frequency of marine heatwaves has increased significantly in the tropical North Atlantic during the past 35 years and is expected to increase further in response to global warming (Oliver et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Results (‘Marine heatwaves over the satellite record’; page unavailable) report a significant global increase in frequency over 1982–2016 and more moderate increases in the subtropical North Atlantic. The Abstract expects further increases in marine heatwave days under continued global warming. Our copy does not establish a significant frequency increase specifically in the tropical North Atlantic or predict further frequency increases specifically there. (LLM, conf=0.85)

  cites Oliver et al., 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Since 2011, there has been an increase in the abundance of Sargassum in the western tropical North Atlantic, often resulting in mass “beaching” events in the Caribbean (Wang and Hu, 2017) and also in western Africa and Brazil.”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Abstract says Sargassum blooms appear to have increased in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean since 2011. The Introduction reports massive beaching events in the Caribbean since 2011, supporting the portion of the citing sentence attached to Wang and Hu (2017). (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Wang and Hu, 2017 source

In the paper

“It has also been shown that contaminants from plastic debris may leach into seawater or be ingested by marine organisms (Romera-Castillo et al., 2018), creating a new risk route.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Introduction (page unavailable) says plastic additives can leach into surrounding water and that marine animals ingest plastic debris. It does not say that animals ingest contaminants from the plastic; the ingestion passage concerns plastic itself. The paper supports the leaching route, but not that specific ingestion route. (LLM, conf=0.85)

  cites Romera-Castillo et al., 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“The AZM-ENSO relationship is strongest during negative AMV phases (Martín-Rey et al., 2014;Polo et al., 2015a), when equatorial Atlantic SST variability is enhanced (Martín-Rey et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Abstract states that the Atlantic–Pacific Niños connection occurs in particular decades coinciding with negative phases of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and is the leading coupled mode during those decades. This supports the first clause, to which the 2014 citation is attached; the enhanced Atlantic SST variability clause is cited to a different paper. (LLM, conf=0.91)

  cites Martín-Rey et al., 2014 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Polo et al., 2015a
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Martín-Rey et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“The strength of the feedback depends on a storm's intensity and translation speed as well as the ocean heat content and salinity structure, which vary regionally and on seasonal to multidecadal timescales (Shay et al., 2000;Balaguru et al., 2012Balaguru et al., , 2015Balaguru et al., , 2018)).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Shay et al., 2000 source
• Partly supported

  The Conclusions and Discussion (page unavailable) state that salinity-stratified barrier layers reduce cyclone-induced sea-surface cooling and affect intensification; they also mention interannual-to-decadal variability in barrier-layer conditions. The Methods account for storm intensity and translation speed, but the paper does not establish the claimed dependence of feedback strength on those factors or document seasonal-to-multidecadal variation in ocean heat content and salinity structure. (LLM, conf=0.83)

  cites Balaguru et al., 2012 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Partly supported

  The Introduction describes SST cooling as a negative feedback on TC intensity, and the Mixing Length Formulation (section 3; page unavailable) makes mixing depend on storm wind speed, translation speed, and ocean stratification. The Results and Discussion describe regional differences, and the Methods use temperature and salinity profiles, but the paper does not establish that the relevant ocean conditions vary on seasonal-to-multidecadal timescales. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Balaguru et al., 2015 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“The AZM impacts the Indian summer monsoon (ISM), altering the ENSO-ISM connection (Kucharski et al., 2007(Kucharski et al., , 2008;;Wang et al., 2009;Barimalala et al., 2012Barimalala et al., , 2013)).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The section “The role of tropical Atlantic SSTs” reports that Atlantic SST anomalies affect Indian monsoon circulation and reduce the anticorrelation between ENSO and Indian monsoon rainfall. The Discussion and conclusions likewise links south-equatorial Atlantic SST anomalies to a weakened ENSO–monsoon relationship. Neither passage identifies those anomalies specifically as the Atlantic Zonal Mode (AZM), so the AZM-specific attribution is not established by our copy. Page numbers were not supplied. (LLM, conf=0.84)

  cites Kucharski et al., 2007 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Wang et al., 2009 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Barimalala et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“Climate models predict increases in wind shear in some portions of the Atlantic hurricane development region (Latif et al., 2007;Vecchi and Soden, 2007), which would, however, act to decrease overall Atlantic storm activity.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Latif et al., 2007 source
• Supported

  Section 2 reports model-projected increases in wind shear over parts of the Atlantic hurricane development region. The Introduction says wind shear inhibits cyclone development, and Section 4 says the projected increase could inhibit intensification. The paper cautions that the resulting change in storm frequency and intensity remains uncertain; the citing sentence describes a decreasing influence, not a predicted net decline. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Vecchi and Soden, 2007 source

In the paper

“In situ data are crucial for anchoring global efforts to develop a global climate observing system (Weatherhead et al., 2018) and discriminate the imbalance in the Earth's radiation budget as the climate warms (Kato et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Abstract identifies ground-based and in situ observations as part of evaluating approaches to future climate-observing priorities. The discussion of independent verification also calls independent observations a guiding principle for designing an international climate observing system. The radiation-budget clause is cited to Kato et al., not Weatherhead et al., and is outside this verdict. (LLM, conf=0.87)

  cites Weatherhead et al., 2018 source
• Partly supported

  Section 7, “Comparison with surface observations” (page not supplied), uses land-site and buoy measurements to evaluate estimated surface irradiances, supporting a role for in situ data. The Introduction discusses changes in the atmospheric energy budget, but the paper does not establish that in situ data discriminate an imbalance in Earth’s radiation budget as the climate warms. The separate observing-system clause is attributed to Weatherhead et al., not Kato et al. (LLM, conf=0.78)

  cites Kato et al., 2013 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Relatively little is known about the vertical structure and seasonality of the poleward Angola current (Tchipalanga et al., 2018), though data from recently deployed buoys in the region are beginning to shed some light on this (Kopte et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The History of Physical Oceanography in Angola section says knowledge of the current’s velocity structure had historically come from only a few synoptic observations. The Summary and Discussion describes the paper’s new account of its depth and seasonal changes. The buoy-data clause is cited to Kopte et al. (2017), not to this source. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Tchipalanga et al., 2018 source
• Supported

  The Introduction says the first moored observations off Angola, collected from 2013 to 2015, provide insight into the Angola Current’s mean state and variability. The Abstract and Discussion report findings on its depth range and seasonal variability. The paper calls the instruments moorings rather than buoys, but the attributed point—that newly deployed instruments are shedding light on the current—is supported. (LLM, conf=0.87)

  cites Kopte et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“Because of the large spatial extent of the shortwave-absorbing aerosols, they are capable of influencing the interhemispheric energy balance, the location of the ITCZ, and regional precipitation patterns (Jones et al., 2009;Randles and Ramaswamy, 2010;Sakaeda et al., 2011).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Jones et al., 2009 source
• Partly supported

  The Results section (page not provided) reports that absorbing biomass-burning aerosols alter circulation and increase precipitation over parts of southern Africa, supporting the regional-precipitation part of the claim. The paper does not establish effects on the interhemispheric energy balance or the location of the ITCZ; searches for those terms found no relevant passage. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Randles and Ramaswamy, 2010 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Sakaeda et al., 2011 source

In the paper

“Positive dust and cloud feedbacks on SST and climate have been established at interannual and decadal timescales in both hemispheres (Evan et al., 2011;Bellomo et al., 2015;Myers et al., 2018) and are capable of amplifying the AMV (Bellomo et al., 2016;Yuan et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Evan et al., 2011 source
• Partly supported

  The Summary (page unavailable) reports that positive low-level cloud feedback over the Namibian region enhances simulated Atlantic Niño variability, supporting the cloud-feedback part of the first clause. It does not establish positive dust feedbacks or cloud feedbacks at both interannual and decadal timescales in both hemispheres; the Introduction says the relationship between North and South Atlantic variability remains unclear. The sentence cites other papers, not Bellomo et al. (2015), for the separate AMV-amplification clause. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Bellomo et al., 2015 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Myers et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“While most prediction models drop well below that by lead month 3 (Richter et al., 2017), some promising systems show skill in predicting the AZM in summer when initialized on May 1 (Prodhomme et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Richter et al., 2017 source
• Partly supported

  The Bias and Bias Correction section describes June–August forecasts initialized in May, matching the timing attributed to this source. But the copy does not report skill in predicting the AZM; the Conclusions instead discuss deteriorated tropical Atlantic SST skill in the higher-resolution runs. The lead-month-3 comparison is attached to Richter et al., not this citation. (LLM, conf=0.78)

  cites Prodhomme et al., 2016 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“It may be linked to the erroneous southward shift in the Atlantic ITCZ, which is also present in atmosphere-only simulations (Figure 9B; Richter et al., 2014b), and the misrepresentation of convective momentum transport in the lower troposphere (Zermeño-Diaz and Zhang, 2013;Richter et al., 2014b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Richter et al., 2014b
• Partly supported

  Section 5 (Momentum entrainment; page not available) links the westerly bias to insufficient downward transport of easterly momentum from the lower troposphere into the boundary layer. It does not identify that transport specifically as convective momentum transport. The ITCZ-shift clause is separately cited to Richter et al. (2014b), so it is not assessed against this source. (LLM, conf=0.83)

  cites Zermeño-Diaz and Zhang, 2013 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“There are two main causes of the model errors in this region: (1) equatorial biases (Rouault et al., 2007), and (2) errors in local winds, especially the Benguela Jet (Xu et al., 2014a;Koseki et al., 2018;Voldoire et al., 2019) and the Benguela Current (Grodsky et al., 2012a;Muñoz et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Rouault et al., 2007 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Xu et al., 2014a
• Supported

  The Introduction identifies the Benguela low-level coastal jet and associated local wind-stress-curl biases as explanations for the SST bias. The Discussion and concluding remarks (§7) also report that local surface-wind errors increase the model’s warm bias. The citation to Koseki et al. is attached to the local-wind and Benguela Jet part of the sentence, not the separately cited equatorial-bias or Benguela Current parts. (LLM, conf=0.92)

  cites Koseki et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“Temperature and salinity errors were reduced by 5-10% in the upper 2000 m with an enhancement of Argo sampling in equatorial regions and by around 20-30% in the deep ocean due to the implementation of deep Argo (Gasparin et al., 2019).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The 'Doubling Argo in the WBC and Along the Equator' section reports a 5–10% reduction in temperature and salinity error across the Atlantic in the upper 2,000 m. 'Implementing a Deep Argo Array' reports an average improvement of 20% below 2,000 m, not a 20–30% reduction; its 20–30% figure is the standard deviation across systems. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Gasparin et al., 2019 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Mechanisms that are responsible for the other half are unclear and are likely related to changes in ventilation and circulation (Brandt et al., 2015;Oschlies et al., 2018), though changes in biological activity cannot be ruled out.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  Section 7 (Long-term variability in ETNA OMZ) says the driving mechanisms of observed deoxygenation remain uncertain and discusses circulation, mixing, and biogeochemical oxygen consumption. Section 9 (Summary and discussion) identifies circulation changes as a likely contributor to the regional decline. The paper does not attribute a specific ‘other half’ of the multidecadal decline to these mechanisms; its quantitative statement instead concerns an imbalance equal to about 10% of oxygen consumption. (LLM, conf=0.85)

  cites Brandt et al., 2015 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Oschlies et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“Acidification has been examined at this site, though the record is not long enough to detect any increase in CO 2 (or decrease of pH) given the strong natural variability of CO 2 (Lefevre et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Conclusions state that no significant trend in surface fCO₂ or pH was detected at the 6°S, 10°W mooring over seven years. They attribute the difficulty of detecting a trend to the short, gapped record and high variability caused by complex ocean circulation. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Lefevre et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“Inside the eddies' cores, oxygen consumption can be an order of magnitude higher than the average values for the North Atlantic, and the downward flux of organic matter exceeds typical values found in the open ocean (Fiedler et al., 2016).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  Section 3.5 reports a peak oxygen-utilization rate of 0.26 µmol kg⁻¹ d⁻¹ in the eddy core, compared with a mean of 0.03 at similar depths in the eastern tropical North Atlantic—approximately an order of magnitude higher. The same section says the estimated downward particulate-organic-carbon fluxes are exceptionally high for the region and other open-ocean regions. The paper’s oxygen comparison is specifically regional, rather than a basin-wide North Atlantic average. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Fiedler et al., 2016 source

In the paper

“Even when the CMIP surface radiative forcing is correct, the cloud cover is still typically too low (de Szoeke et al., 2012), likely due to an underestimation of optically thin stratiform clouds (Nam et al., 2012;Zuidema et al., 2012;Delgadillo et al., 2018;Wood et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Could not verify

  The supplied copy’s Introduction, Model and experiments, and Conclusions and discussion sections concern Atlantic overturning circulation, not stratocumulus clouds. Searches for low cloud cover despite correct surface radiative forcing and for eastern Pacific stratocumulus returned no relevant passage. The copy therefore cannot verify the part attributed to de Szoeke et al.; the optically thin cloud explanation is cited to other works. (LLM, conf=0.78)

  cites de Szoeke et al., 2012 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Partly supported

  The Conclusion and Discussion (§6, paragraph 20; page unavailable) reports that CMIP5 models underestimate tropical low-cloud cover and overestimate low-cloud optical thickness. It does not identify an underestimation of optically thin stratiform clouds as the likely cause. The preceding statement about surface radiative forcing is cited to a different source, not Nam et al. (LLM, conf=0.84)

  cites Nam et al., 2012 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Could not verify

  The Conclusions report that thin clouds were frequent in the observed southeast Pacific dataset. Section 5.4 discusses thin clouds missed by an instrument retrieval, not clouds underestimated by CMIP models. A search for model underestimation of optically thin stratiform clouds found no passage addressing the explanation attributed to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.72)

  cites Zuidema et al., 2012 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Oxygen changes in the tropical North Atlantic during the past decade are most likely associated with changes in the eddy-driven zonal current bands at intermediate depths and a shoaling of the wind-driven thermocline circulation, but other processes, such as variations in the intensity of the mesoscale eddy field, may contribute (Hahn et al., 2017).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Summary and conclusion (section 5; page unavailable) identifies strengthened intermediate-depth zonal jets as a likely reason for increased oxygen below 400 m. The oxygen-budget discussion (section 4.3; page unavailable) links a shoaling and weakening of near-surface circulation to reduced ventilation above, while section 4.2 says a contribution from changes in lateral eddy mixing cannot be assessed, though eddy mixing alone does not fit the observed pattern. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Hahn et al., 2017 source

In the paper

“Argo is a global array of autonomous floats that sample the upper 2000 m of the ocean (Jayne et al., 2017).The floats drift at a depth of 1000 m and make profiles of temperature, salinity, and pressure in the upper 2000 m typically every 10 days.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

  cites Jayne et al., 2017 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Since 2000, a mooring array has been maintained at 16 • N that includes velocity measurements covering the DWBC east of Guadeloupe and additional geostrophic moorings measuring the deep flow between the continental slope and the mid-Atlantic ridge (Send et al., 2011;Frajka-Williams et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Observations section describes a nearly 10-year continuous MOVE mooring record at 16°N, with current-meter measurements near the continental slope and geostrophic measurements across a 1000 km section. The Figure 1 caption places the moorings between the coast and Mid-Atlantic Ridge and depicts the deep western boundary current. Our copy does not explicitly establish the exact start year of 2000 or locate the boundary-current measurements east of Guadeloupe; page numbers were not available. (LLM, conf=0.82)

  cites Send et al., 2011 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Supported

  Section 2.2 (page not supplied) says the MOVE array at 16°N has operated since early 2000, with current measurements east of Guadeloupe and a nearby current-meter mooring capturing the boundary current. It also describes an eastern mooring near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and a deep-flow estimate based on dynamic-height profiles between the western and eastern sites. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Frajka-Williams et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“Since 2008, the moorings at 4 • N, 23 • W and 12 • N, 23 • W have measured dissolved oxygen (O 2 ) at depths of 300 and 500 m in order to monitor the OMZ.O 2 sensors were recently added at 20.5 • N, 23 • W (Bourlès et al., 2019).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  Section 2.1 states that oxygen sensors were installed in 2008 at 4°N, 23°W and 12°N, 23°W at 300 and 500 m to monitor the OMZ. It also reports additional oxygen sensors at 21°N, 23°W, but does not give the claimed location of 20.5°N, 23°W. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)

  cites Bourlès et al., 2019 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Currently, there are three transects in the tropical Atlantic, each repeated approximately every 3 months (Figure 10).XBTs are deployed 10 to 35 km apart to measure temperature in the upper 760 m, from which mesoscale eddy variability and the larger-scale ocean circulation can be deduced (Goes et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  Section 2.1, paragraph [7] describes one tropical Atlantic XBT transect, AX08, with about four realizations per year, an average 25 km spacing between casts in the tropics, and probes with a nominal depth range of 760 m. It does not establish that there are three transects or that casts across them are spaced 10–35 km apart. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites Goes et al., 2013 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“At the equator, several subsurface acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) moorings are maintained as part of PIRATA (Bourlès et al., 2019).They measure currents typically from depths of about 30 to 300 m.”

What the sources say

• Supported

  Section 2.3, “ADCP Moorings,” states that PIRATA maintains subsurface ADCP moorings at equatorial sites and that the ADCPs typically monitor currents from about 30 to 300 m. It also describes a third equatorial mooring deployed in 2016 for future maintenance as part of PIRATA. (LLM, conf=0.94)

  cites Bourlès et al., 2019 source

In the paper

“It was initiated in 1997 and now consists of 18 moorings spanning the basin.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  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)

  cites Bourlès et al., 2008 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• Supported

  The Abstract says PIRATA was initiated in 1997 in the tropical Atlantic. Section 2.1 says the array grew to 17 buoys and that an eighteenth buoy site was re-established in 2013, supporting the stated count of 18 across the basin. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites Bourlès et al., 2019 source

In the paper

“Profiles of biogeochemical (BGC) parameters are currently made by 329 Argo floats in the global ocean, of which 22 are in the tropical Atlantic (Figure 2B).The measured parameters include oxygen, chlorophyll-a, suspended particles, nitrate, pH, and downwelling irradiance.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Introduction says Argo floats measure dissolved oxygen. Section 6.1 reports more than 200 oxygen-equipped floats deployed and 160 reporting data during a 20-day period in May 2009. The paper does not substantiate the claimed 329 BGC floats, 22 in the tropical Atlantic, or the full list of measured parameters; its figures describe a different time and subset of floats. (LLM, conf=0.85)

  cites Gruber et al., 2010 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Much of the present observing system was designed before coupled model biases emerged as a scientific research priority.As a result, efforts to alleviate model biases are hampered by inadequate in situ measurements (Tchipalanga et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  In “History of Physical Oceanography in Angola” (page unavailable), the paper says a lack of observations prevents satisfactory evaluation of model simulations along the Angolan margin. Its “Summary and Discussion” (page unavailable) links better observations and process understanding to reducing model biases. It does not say that the observing system was designed before coupled-model biases became a research priority, and its discussion is regional rather than a claim about much of the present observing system. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites Tchipalanga et al., 2018 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Coupled ocean-atmosphere data assimilation, a promising approach to improve oceanic and atmospheric analyses and coupled model forecasts, is in its infancy (Zhang et al., 2007;Lu et al., 2015).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The introduction (page unavailable) describes this study as a first step in applying and validating its coupled data-assimilation system, with only a preliminary evaluation. That supports an early-stage characterization of this system, but the paper does not say that coupled ocean–atmosphere data assimilation as a field is in its infancy. (LLM, conf=0.78)

  cites Zhang et al., 2007 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Lu et al., 2015

In the paper

“The tropical Atlantic observing system has progressed substantially over the past 20 years (Figure 2), yet many challenges remain.”

In the paper

“Most deployments are conducted from the expendable bathythermograph (XBT) line AX8, which runs from Cape Town to the U.S. east coast, from research vessels servicing PIRATA, and from Brazilian Navy vessels.”

In the paper

“1998, the array in the tropical Atlantic has averaged 92 drifters, and since 2005 drifter measurements have been approximately hourly.”

In the paper

“Since 2005, there have been eight Atlantic hurricanes that have resulted in at least $25 billion in damages, including Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017 and Florence in 2018 2,3 .”

In the paper

“Present-day observations and models show that the ocean sink has increased along with CO 2 emissions and is currently absorbing about 28% of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions annually (Le Quéré et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Le Quéré et al., 2018

In the paper

“Short-term predictions and longer decadal and century-scale projections of the tropical Atlantic are made more challenging by persistent biases in climate models that have seen little progress over the past two decades.”

In the paper

“These conditions are driven by complex interactions between the ocean, atmosphere, and land, and between other ocean basins and the tropical Atlantic.”

In the paper

“Tropical Atlantic variability (TAV) influences a wide range of societally important phenomena on different timescales that span the physical, biogeochemical, and ecological systems and their interactions.”

In the paper

“Its onset is typically in late June or early July and it ends normally from late September to October (Sultan and Janicot, 2003).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Sultan and Janicot, 2003

In the paper

“There is stronger interannual variability at the Guinea Coast compared to the Sahel, and rainfall anomalies often extend zonally across West Africa (Giannini et al., 2005), affecting large populations.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Giannini et al., 2005 source

In the paper

“There has also been significant decadal-multidecadal variability of TC activity in the Atlantic, with above-normal activity during the 1940s and 50s, belownormal from the 60s to the early 90s, and above-normal since the mid-90s (Goldenberg et al., 2001).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Goldenberg et al., 2001 source

In the paper

“Rainfall in South America and West Africa and Atlantic hurricanes are highly sensitive to conditions in the tropical Atlantic.”

In the paper

“Prior to the recent drought period, Northeast Brazil experienced a severe flood in 2009 that has been linked to anomalous SSTs in the tropical Atlantic (Foltz et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Foltz et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“Strong and societally relevant variability occurs on seasonal to multidecadal timescales.”

In the paper

“The tropical Atlantic is home to multiple coupled climate variations covering a wide range of timescales and impacting societally relevant phenomena such as continental rainfall, Atlantic hurricane activity, oceanic biological productivity, and atmospheric circulation in the equatorial Pacific.”

In the paper

“The tropical Atlantic includes two major eastern boundary upwelling systems that support some of the world's most productive fisheries: the Canary and the Benguela (Chaigneau et al., 2009).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Chaigneau et al., 2009 source

In the paper

“The tropical Atlantic receives about 25% of the global riverine freshwater discharge from three large rivers (Amazon, Congo, and Orinoco; Dai and Trenberth, 2002).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Dai and Trenberth, 2002

In the paper

“Theory and numerical models predict that as SST rises, the maximum potential intensity that storms can reach will increase, enabling more powerful hurricanes (Emanuel, 1999;Elsner et al., 2008).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Emanuel, 1999 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Elsner et al., 2008 source

In the paper

“While uptake of anthropogenic CO 2 by the ocean regulates the atmospheric CO 2 concentration, it also leads to ocean acidification, with significant but poorly understood consequences for marine organisms and ecosystems (Feely et al., 2004;Bates, 2007).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Feely et al., 2004 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bates, 2007 source

In the paper

“A positive AMM favors an earlier migration of the ITCZ northward during April-May, shortening the rainfall season over the Amazon region and Brazilian Northeast and leading to severe droughts over the Northeast (Figures 4B,C; Nobre and Shukla, 1996;Hastenrath, 2006;Kucharski et al., 2008;Liebmann and Mechoso, 2011;Rodrigues et al., 2011).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Nobre and Shukla, 1996
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hastenrath, 2006 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Kucharski et al., 2008 source

In the paper

“The frequency of extreme El Niño and La Niña events is likely to increase (Cai et al., 2014(Cai et al., , 2015a,b,b), which will affect the tropical North Atlantic ocean-atmosphere system.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Cai et al., 2014 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Cai et al., 2015a,b

In the paper

“This is mainly because satellites cannot retrieve the variables a few meters above the sea surface and instead rely on empirically derived algorithms applied to total-column water vapor or precipitable water (Liu et al., 1991).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Liu et al., 1991 source

In the paper

“These events act to intensify the OMZ in the upper 200 m and have severe direct impacts on the local ecosystem (Schütte et al., 2016b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Schütte et al., 2016b

In the paper

“The eastern tropical Atlantic on both sides of the equator is occupied by OMZs, which result from sluggish ventilated shadow zones (Luyten et al., 1983) situated equatorward of the subtropical gyres.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Luyten et al., 1983 source

In the paper

“Coupled model simulations indicate a general warming in the tropical Atlantic, with reduced seasonal cycle and interannual variability, in response to an AMOC weakening (Chang et al., 2008).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Chang et al., 2008 source

In the paper

“These waves significantly contribute to the upper-ocean heat and freshwater budgets through their influence on horizontal and vertical mixing (Foltz et al., 2003;Jochum et al., 2004;Hummels et al., 2013) and provide energy to EDJs via downward propagating Yanai beams (Tuchen et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Foltz et al., 2003 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Jochum et al., 2004 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hummels et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“Eddies are generated in the eastern side of the basin connecting the eastern boundary upwelling systems with the open oceans, transporting oxygenpoor and nutrient-rich waters into the oligotrophic ocean and impacting the mean state (Schütte et al., 2016a,b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Schütte et al., 2016a,b

In the paper

“The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and subtropical cells (STCs) are examples of basin-wide and regional circulations, respectively, that are influenced by and interact with the circulation in the tropical Atlantic and affect tropical Atlantic climate and extreme weather (Zhang et al., 2003;Knight et al., 2005;Zhang and Delworth, 2006).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Zhang et al., 2003 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Knight et al., 2005 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Zhang and Delworth, 2006 source

In the paper

“These biases have received much attention but seen little improvement (Davey et al., 2002;Richter and Xie, 2008;Richter et al., 2014b;Giarolla et al., 2015;Zuidema et al., 2016b).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Davey et al., 2002 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Richter and Xie, 2008 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Richter et al., 2014b

In the paper

“Upwelling is driven by southerly winds associated with the Benguela low-level coastal jet, with oceanic currents and the location of the Angola-Benguela frontal zone sensitive to the jet's wind-stress curl (Colberg and Reason, 2006;Fennel et al., 2012).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Colberg and Reason, 2006 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Fennel et al., 2012 source

In the paper

“Models typically produce too weak of a cold tongue that also appears too late in the year, while placing cool SST in the western equatorial Atlantic warm pool, defined as the area with SSTs above 28.5 • C.”

In the paper

“Another factor that may contribute to the cold tongue bias is insufficient representation of the oceanic thermocline (Hazeleger and Haarsma, 2005;Xu et al., 2014b), which may be related to deficiencies in vertical mixing parameterizations.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hazeleger and Haarsma, 2005 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Xu et al., 2014b

In the paper

“The warm SST bias in the Benguela coastal upwelling region (Figure 9) is more severe than that at the equator, exceeding 2.5 • C in the multi-model average of atmosphereocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5; Toniazzo and Woolnough, 2014;Richter, 2015;Zuidema et al., 2016a).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Toniazzo and Woolnough, 2014 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Richter, 2015 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Zuidema et al., 2016a

In the paper

“This introduces a positive feedback: the warmer ocean surface reduces the lower tropospheric stability that maintains the low cloud deck (Klein and Hartmann, 1993;Huang et al., 2007;Hu et al., 2008), further reducing the low cloud cover.”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Klein and Hartmann, 1993
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Huang et al., 2007 source
• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Hu et al., 2008

In the paper

“The present tropical mooring array provides invaluable time series for evaluation of models and assimilation systems, the latter being primarily impacted in the region of the moorings.”

In the paper

“Measurements of temperature and salinity in the deep ocean and surface atmospheric pressure appear to be top priorities for improving operational data assimilation and ocean state estimates.”

In the paper

“This suggests the atmospheric component of the coupled models is the primary culprit (Lauer and Hamilton, 2013), with the ocean playing a vital but secondary role (Richter, 2015).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Lauer and Hamilton, 2013 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Richter, 2015 source

In the paper

“In many regions of the tropical Atlantic, the rate at which pH is declining, its causes, and its impacts on CaCO 3 shell-forming species are not well known.”

In the paper

“The high temporal sampling rates of moorings are not exploited in most current assimilation systems, and the mooring impact could potentially be larger with better adapted and more advanced assimilation systems.”

In the paper

“Fish stock assessment models have developed quantitative methods to optimize the population dynamics parameters of exploited species based mainly on catch and fishing effort data, and in some cases tagging data (Maunder and Punt, 2013).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Maunder and Punt, 2013 source

In the paper

“OMZs are expected to strengthen the biological carbon pump, as surface-produced OM is better preserved due to oxygen deficiency.”

In the paper

“There have been some successful attempts to assimilate microwave data from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), Aquarius, and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellites to correct SSS (Martin, 2016).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Martin, 2016 source

In the paper

“The mooring consists of an ADCP covering the upper 500 m at 11 • S, 13 • E and has been recording data since 2013, showing a weak and highly variable southward flow of the Angola Current (Kopte et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Kopte et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“Precipitation at the ocean's surface is retrieved from variables that are highly correlated with rainfall, including infrared and microwave brightness temperature, as well as visible and nearinfrared albedo.”

In the paper

“Since 2006 at 6 • S, 10 • W and since 2008 at 8 • N, 38 • W, CO 2 Carbon Interface Ocean Atmosphere (CARIOCA) sensors have been measuring the fugacity of CO 2 (fCO 2 ) at a depth of about 1 m.In 2017, a new CARIOCA sensor was implemented at 6 • S, 8 • E.”

In the paper

“The Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP) conducts high-quality, full-depth measurements in the global ocean approximately once per decade (Figure 10).The measurements have high spatial and vertical resolutions and measure many different physical, chemical, and biological variables, including heat, freshwater, carbon, oxygen, nutrients and transient tracers.”

In the paper

“In situ data are critical for validating and calibrating satellite retrievals, and satellite data are useful for filling temporal gaps in mooring surface data and for providing information to fill the large spatial gaps between moorings and other in situ surface measurements.”

In the paper

“All moorings measure ocean temperature in the upper 500 m, salinity in the upper 120 m, and near-surface air temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, rainfall, and incident shortwave radiation.”

In the paper

“Near-surface air humidity and temperature cannot be retrieved directly by satellites.Instead, these variables are estimated from satellite-measured total column water vapor or total precipitable water (PW) (Liu, 1986;Liu et al., 1991) using passive microwave radiometers such as Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Sounder (SSM/I and SSMIS, respectively), AMSR-E, and AMSR-2.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Liu, 1986 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Liu et al., 1991 source

In the paper

“Beginning in 2014, all buoys have been equipped with acoustic receivers at a depth of 200 m as a contribution to the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN 8 ).”

In the paper

“Moorings also do not resolve well the equatorial waveguide, especially meridionally, or the southeastern tropical Atlantic, where there are large SST signals associated with Benguela Niños, model biases, and complex ocean-atmosphere interactions involving winds, currents, SST, clouds, and aerosols.”

In the paper

“Most satellites provide measurements in real-time or near real-time, and the records for many parameters extend back at least 20 years.”

In the paper

“Pollutants such as mercury and plastics can negatively impact ecosystems, and emerging contaminants such as gadolinium, silver, and platinum need close attention, as their fate, toxicity and distributions are not well known (Hatje et al., 2018;Henderson et al., 2018).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hatje et al., 2018 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Henderson et al., 2018 source

In the paper

“Moored surface buoys have even coarser horizontal and vertical resolutions than Argo, but uniquely make colocated high-temporal-resolution measurements of the upper ocean and near-surface atmosphere.”

In the paper

“In 2017 and 2018, full-depth CTD-O 2 -ADCP casts, along with water sample analyses of salinity, O 2 , pH, nutrients, and trace elements, were performed during the western Atlantic PIRATA servicing cruises.”

In the paper

“Equatorially forced waves propagate along the southwestern African coast, triggering substantial thermocline, halocline, and nutricline displacements and affecting the local marine ecosystems balance, while tropical nutrient-rich and low-oxygen water masses may occasionally penetrate southward over large distances along the coast.”

In the paper

“A transition to the next-generation tropical flex moorings (T-Flex) began in 2015.Currently, 10 PIRATA buoys have been upgraded and the remaining eight will follow (Figure 2).”

In the paper

“Multi-frequency transects collected during the regular maintenance cruises of the PIRATA network since 2015 are a key piece of a growing acoustic network for estimating the global biomass of micronekton, one of the less known components of the ocean ecosystem.”

In the paper

“In the tropical North Atlantic, PIRATA moorings are located in the central and eastern basin (east of 40 • W), where seasonal and interannual SST signals are largest, especially those associated with the AMM and AZM.”

In the paper

“The vertical spacing of temperature sensors varies between moorings and is typically 5-20 m in the upper 40 m, with 20 m intervals down to 140 m and 40-200 m resolution between 140 and 500 m.”

In the paper

“In contrast, Argo provides subsurface information, but at coarser horizontal resolution than satellites.”

In the paper

“Several moorings also measure downward longwave radiation, atmospheric pressure, and ocean currents at a depth of 10 m or 12 m.”

In the paper

“By combining data from several satellites with in situ measurements, daily maps of SST at high spatial resolution (0.25 • or better) are possible going back to 1997, when microwave measurements started.”

In the paper

“Measurements began in the early 2000's and there are currently approximately 4000 floats in the global ocean.About 800 floats must be deployed each year to maintain the array.”

In the paper

“NTAS has been operational since 2001 and measures the same parameters as the PIRATA buoys (surface meteorology including longwave radiation and atmospheric pressure), plus ocean currents from a point meter at 10 m and an upward-looking ADCP at 100 m, and enhanced vertical resolutions of temperature and salinity.”

In the paper

“However, the vertical resolutions of temperature sensors on PIRATA moorings are not high enough to resolve the vertical structure of the mixed layer diurnal cycle, which can affect the mean state climate and vertical mixing (Ham et al., 2009;Hummels et al., 2013).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Ham et al., 2009 source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Hummels et al., 2013 source

In the paper

“Global Drifter Program (GDP) observations from buoys drogued at 15 m were first collected in the tropical Atlantic in 1990, and the array was sustained beginning in 1997 (Figure 2).”

In the paper

“Scatterometers measure the effects of centimeterscale roughness caused by surface stress, but the present retrieval algorithms generate estimates of surface wind, not wind stress, because there are no suitable surface wind stress ground-truths for calibration.”

In the paper

“The deep Argo array currently consists of 69 floats, 9 of which are in the tropical Atlantic (Figure 2B).The project's goal is to deploy 1228 deep Argo floats globally, each with the ability to measure temperature, salinity, and pressure to within ±0.001 • C, ±0.002 psu, and ± 3 dbar, respectively, improving on the standard float accuracies of temperature and salinity.”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites Zilberman and Roemmich, 2017

In the paper

“However, few of these observations are being collected by drifters in the tropical Atlantic.”

In the paper

“Satellites give global coverage but only at the surface of the ocean and generally do not resolve timescales less than one day.”

In the paper

“Conductivity is additionally measured with 5-20 m spacing in the upper 40 m and 20-80 m spacing down to 120 m.”

In the paper

“Satellite-based measurements of SSS began in 2009 with the launch of the SMOS sensor.SSS was measured by Aquarius during 2011-2015 and is currently measured by the SMAP radiometer.From these satellites, complete coverage of the tropical Atlantic is achieved in approximately one week at a spatial resolution of 1/2 • -1 • .”

In the paper

“Other moorings in the tropical Atlantic include the Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station for air-sea flux measurements (NTAS) at 15 • N, 51 • W, the Melax air-sea buoy in the Senegalese part of the Canary Current Upwelling System at 14 • N, 17 • W, the Cape Verde Ocean Observatory (CVOO) at 17.6 • N 24.3 • W, and several meteorological and wave buoys maintained by the National Data Buoy Center (NDB”

In the paper

“Traditional zooplankton sampling with nets requires extra ship time, complicating its implementation.”

In the paper

“Proposed satellite missions such as the Sea surface KInematics Multiscale monitoring of ocean surface currents (SKIM) have great potential to aid research, data assimilation, and forecasts.”

In the paper

“Currently, there is no long-term commitment to fund these observations continuously, only to define what constitutes biogeochemical measurements and what should be measured.”

In the paper

“Currently, the deep ocean (>2000 m) is very poorly sampled, severely limiting the accuracy with which these quantities can be calculated.”

In the paper

“Therefore, the demand for information about the tropical Atlantic Ocean, including subseasonal to seasonal predictions and longer-term projections in a changing climate, is only expected to increase in the future.”

In the paper

“Sustaining drifter observations in the tropical Atlantic is difficult as it is a region of net surface divergence.”

In the paper

“The combination of moorings that include subsurface ocean measurements, and other platforms such as gliders and Argo, would advance knowledge and predictability of landfalling hurricanes.”

In the paper

“The tropical Atlantic observing system generates large quantities of data covering a wide range of temporal and spatial scales and across many platforms.”

In the paper

“PIRATA and other fixed moorings are unique among the observing systems because they can be placed at predefined locations and do not drift.”

In the paper

“Augmenting moorings with barometers will aid NWP and data assimilation.”

In the paper

“For forecast improvements, both a long history (with a record of many past events to evaluate forecast skill) and reliable real-time data (to initialize forecasts) are critical.”

In the paper

“Some PIRATA cruises have only recently begun to measure biogeochemical and biological parameters such as nutrients, pH/alkalinity, and phytoplankton, while others measure only temperature, salinity, and oxygen.”

In the paper

“Augmenting the in situ observing system in the STA will help to improve understanding of the AZM, Benguela Niños, and coupled model biases.”

In the paper

“In situ data provide information on the subsurface ocean and high-accuracy measurements near the airsea interface that can be used to calibrate and validate satellite measurements and to bridge gaps between satellite missions.”

In the paper

“Continuity of satellite records is critical for maintaining basin-wide surface observations.”

In the paper

“There are large uncertainties in surface turbulent heat fluxes derived from satellite and reanalysis data (Figure 7), and it is unclear how well existing bulk formulas perform, especially outside of the equatorial region.”

In the paper

“These long records in the tropical Atlantic are extremely important for observing ocean-atmosphere variability on interannual to multidecadal timescales and changes in response to global warming.”

In the paper

“Though not part of the sustained observing system, process studies are essential to improve model parameterizations, identify new scientific phenomena, and develop and test new technologies.”

In the paper

“However, many important datasets remain difficult to find or are stored in formats that are difficult to read or do not contain adequate metadata.”

In the paper

“Presently, the sensor spacing is too coarse to accurately calculate mixed layer depth, stratification beneath the mixed layer, and the vertical structure of the diurnal cycle of temperature near the surface.”

In the paper

“Currently, satellite retrievals of chlorophyll and ocean color are limited by clouds, especially in the ITCZ, providing additional motivation for in situ measurements this region.”

In the paper

“The most valuable data for evaluating and improving the methodologies are co-located time series of oceanic and atmospheric data from fixed-point moorings.”

In the paper

“For ocean state estimates, the PIRATA array is too sparse and the measurements are too shallow to provide constraints on the deeper ocean.”

In the paper

“These measurements are needed to compute temperature and salinity advection and the net surface heat flux, important components of the mixed layer heat and salinity budgets.”