Member ocean observing systems | Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean

The following table outlines the contributions by POGO members to ocean observations. Please contact us if you are a POGO member and would like to contribute information on your organisation’s ocean observing systems.

Click on each observing system below to find out more information.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented disruptions may have occurred in most if not all ocean observations systems maintained by POGO members. Disturbances may include cancellation of research vessel operations, slowdown in deployment of autonomous instruments and maintenance of moorings, sea level gauges and high-frequency radar. To gain a global view of this risk, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) launched a COVID-19 impacts survey in April 2020 to assess and forecast the pandemic’s impact on global ocean observations. The briefing note presents the results of the survey complemented by information from JCOMMOPS. Recommendations from GOOS include increasing international coordination across national research vessel operations and encouraging classification of observing maintenance and deployment activities as essential.

Country	Institute	Data buoys	Floats and gliders	Sea level - tide gauges	Time series	Ship-based measurements	Research ship-based repeat hydrography	Continuous plankton recorder	Other measurements and platforms
Australia	Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)	Moored buoys			Interdisciplinary Mooring	Ship of opportunity Weather stations			Reef Rescue MMP AIMS LTMP (GBR, WA) AIMS STOS
Australia	Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)	Surface drifters	Velocity-ARGO (EM-APEX) BIO Argo BGC Argo		Interdisciplinary Mooring Physics Mooring		Other Research Ship lines Other Research Ship lines Other Research Ship lines Other Research Ship lines	CPR	Diver-based Reef Biodiversity Surveys
Bangladesh	Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST)					Ship of Opportunity underway sampling			Monitoring with CTD and algal torch
Belgium	Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)	Moored buoys	Ocean gliders			Ship of Opportunity underway sampling Automated weather stations	GOSUD Other Research Ship lines		Abiotic observations Sample library/biobank Biodiversity obs: Phytoplankton Biodiversity obs: Zooplankton Animal detection: Birdcams Animal detection: VEMCO Animal detection: Batcorder/MOTUS Animal detection: CPOD Animal detection: Bird GPS
Benin	Institut de Recherches Halieutiques et Océanologiques du Bénin (IRHOB)	Moored buoys		Tide Gauge		Automated weather stations	Other Research Ship lines
Canada	Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI)	Moored buoys Surface drifters	Ocean gliders BGC Argo		Time-Series Station	Ship of Opportunity underway sampling			HF Radar
China	Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS)				Interdisciplinary moorings	Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler CTD Automated weather stations Surface multi-element system（SBE21）	“KEXEUE” Research Vessel
	National Ocean Technology Center (NOTC)	Surface drifters
	Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (SIO) Read Case Study
	South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCSIO)					Other Research Ship lines Ship of Opportunity underway sampling Automated weather stations
Colombia	Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (INVEMAR)	Automated weather stations Automated weather stations Automated weather stations Moored buoys Automated weather stations
France	IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la MER)		BGC Argo Deep Argo Core Argo		GO-SHIP lines	Automated weather stations			MOOSE SOMLIT PHYTOBS DYNALIT COAST-HF
France	INSU (L’Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers du CNRS)	Moored buoys Ice buoys Offshore platforms Surface drifters	Ocean gliders BGC Argo Core Argo	SONEL National Observation Service	Interdisciplinary moorings	Ship of Opportunity underway sampling XBT	Other Research Ship lines Other Research Ship lines GO-SHIP lines	CPR	Coastal and littoral network Animal-borne sensors HF Radar
Germany	GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel	Surface drifters	Wavegliders Ocean gliders BGC Argo Deep Argo Core Argo		Deep ocean moorings Deep ocean moorings Deep ocean moorings Deep ocean moorings Deep ocean moorings		GO-SHIP lines Other Research Ship lines
India	Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)	Tsunameters Tsunameters Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Surface drifters	Ocean gliders BGC Argo Core Argo		Interdisciplinary moorings	XBT Automated weather stations onboard ships			HF Radar
Ireland	Marine Institute	Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys	BGC Argo Core Argo	Irish National Tide Gauge Network	Interdisciplinary moorings	Ship of Opportunity underway sampling Ship of Opportunity underway sampling Repeat sections Automated weather stations	GO-SHIP lines		Seabed observatory
Italy	Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)	Surface drifters			Interdisciplinary station Interdisciplinary time series X-Band Radar X-Band Radar Manned profiler Coastal mooring time series Coastal mooring time series Coastal mooring time series
Italy	National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS	Moored buoys Surface drifters	Ocean gliders Deep Argo BGC Argo Core Argo		LTER time series Interdisciplinary moored observatory				HF Radar
Japan	Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) Read Case Study	Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys Ice buoys	BGC Argo Deep Argo Core Argo		Moored buoys Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings	Radiosondes Automated weather stations Radiosondes	GO-SHIP lines	CPR	Neuston net Automated Weather Station, LIDAR Automated Weather Station Water sampling at the quay HF Radar
Malaysia	Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) Read Case Study	Tsunameters			Time-series Station Interdisciplinary moorings			CPR
Mexico	Oceanology Division of The Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada (CICESE) Read Case Study	Interdisciplinary moorings Moored buoys Surface drifters Moored buoys	Ocean gliders	Bottom pressure sensors	Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings		Other Research Ship lines		Animal detection: satellite tagging HF Radar
Morocco	Institut National de Recherche Halieutique (INRH)	Moored Buoys				Ship of Opportunity underway sampling	Other Research Ship Lines Other Research Ship Lines Other Research Ship Lines Other Research Ship Lines
Netherlands	Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)	Moored buoys			Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings	Ship of Opportunity underway sampling	Other Research Ship lines		KM3NeT mooring arrays
Nigeria	University of Calabar, Faculty of Oceanography (UNICAL) Read Case Study	Offshore platforms Surface drifters		Sea level obs
Portugal	University of Algarve (UAlg) Read Case Study	Moored buoys Moored buoys							Single Beam bathymetry UBEST IBAM-Sed
South Korea	Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST)	Ocean Acidification (OA) buoy Ocean Acidification (OA) buoy Moored buoys Moored buoys Moored buoys	Core Argo		KIOST Real-time Time-series Observation Stations Real-time Red tide monitoring Interdisciplinary moorings	KUMOS			HF Radar
United Kingdom	British Antarctic Survey (BAS)		Ocean gliders		Repeat stations Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings	Manned weather stations Radiosondes Automated weather stations	GO-SHIP lines		Animal-borne sensors
	Marine Biological Association (MBA)							GACS
	National Oceanography Centre (NOC) Read Case Study	Moored buoys Moored buoys Surface drifters	Ocean gliders BGC Argo Deep Argo Core Argo	South Atlantic Tide Gauge Network	Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings Interdisciplinary moorings	Ship of Opportunity underway sampling	Repeat Hydrography GO-SHIP lines GO-SHIP lines		Marine Protected Array Fixed Point Observatories
	Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML)	Moored buoys	BGC Argo		Interdisciplinary moorings
	Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)	Moored buoys Moored buoys	Ocean gliders Core Argo		Interdisciplinary moorings		GO-SHIP lines
United States	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)	Moored buoys Ice buoys Offshore platforms Surface drifters	Ocean gliders BGC Argo Deep Argo Core Argo		Transport moorings Interdisciplinary moorings		Other Research Ship lines		HF Radar
	Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)	Moored buoys Moored buoys	Ocean gliders and AUVs Ocean gliders BGC Argo Saildrone platform BGC Argo		Interdisciplinary moorings	Ship of Opportunity underway sampling	Other Research Ship lines Other Research Ship lines Other Research Ship lines		Ship-based ROV surveys Autonomous long-duration seafloor/boundary-layer instrumentation Cabled Observatory
	Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)	Moored Waverider buoys The Global Drifter Program Moored buoys	Solomon Sea Project California Underwater Glider Network Underwater Gliders BGC Argo Deep Argo Core Argo	OOI cabled observing system GNSS reflection measurements of sea level	Scripps Ocean Acidification Real-time (SOAR) Monitoring Program Palmyra Atoll OA/ DO/ Tempertaure timeseries Scripps Ecological Observatory