OceanoScientific Programme -- 2011-2012 PLANKTON MISSION
History: The OceanoScientific Programme was imagined by Yvan Griboval (CEO of SailingOne
Inc.) in 2005 and took form from November 2006 thanks to the collaboration with the French institutes INSU/CNRS, IFREMER and Mto-France. It was declared operational by the scientists on the 14th of October 2009 and perfected in Germany during the summer of 2010.
The objective of the OceanoScientific Programme is to gather high-quality data from the
ocean-atmosphere interface. They are then transmitted free of charge to the international scientific community working on the impact of climate change, guided by JCOMM, the Joint WMO*-IOC** Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology.
Nature of the project: Finalize the development of the OceanoScientific Kit: Version 2.0 (eleven
collected parameters) and Version 2.1 (twelve collected parameters), at the laboratory as well as at sea, during two different sailing periods; initially for 30 days and then for 60 days in areas of the sea that have been scarcely or not at all scientifically explored, during which additional data will be acquired allowing the quantity of plankton at the sea surface to be estimated.
Progress of the project: The 2011-2012 activities of the OceanoScientific Programme are part of
a global project scheduled for the 2006-2018 period. The 2011-2012 period is crucial as it will confirm and give structure to the work that started in 2006, that was validated in 2009 and again in 2010, enabling the OceanoScientific Kit to be commercialized from 2013-2014.
Equipment: OceanoScientific Kit Version 2 (2011-2012) on board the SolOceans One-design
Class (NAVOSE - Navires A Voile dObservation Scientifique de lEnvironnement).
Scientific data collected by the OceanoScientific Kit
Eleven geophysical and biogeochemical parameters are collected at the ocean-atmosphere interface: Atmosphere: Temperature Atmospheric pressure True wind direction True wind speed Humidity Photoactive Radiation Sea Surface Water: Temperature Salinity Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) Power of hydrogen (pH) Fluorescence (Chl a)
A twelfth scientific parameter will be collected by Version 2.1 of the OceanoScientific Kit from November 2011: turbidity, which is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles (suspended solids). This is an important ecological factor, because it is a key indicator for the presence of plankton and of its quantity.
Oceans concerned: North and South Atlantic / English Channel / North Sea / Baltic Sea
WMO - World Meteorological Organization IOC - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO WMO and IOC are specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN)
2011-2012 PLANKTON MISSION
One of the most important challenges for the OceanoScientific Programme, going beyond the stage it had reached at the end of 2010, is the automatic acquisition of scientific data enabling an estimation of the quantity of plankton at the sea surface in ocean areas that have been scarcely or not at all scientifically explored. This PLANKTON MISSION was scheduled as the final step in the development of the OceanoScientific Programme, i.e. during the period from 2015-2016. Financial support from important corporate patronages would accelerate the process by making this task a priority, with an implementation in 2011-2012, matching the wishes of the scientists implicated in the OceanoScientific Programme. Plankton consists of drifting organisms - animals (zooplankton) and plants (phytoplankton) - in general of very small size, inhabiting oceans and seas, or lakes. It represents the bottom level of the food chain in marine ecosystems and plays a role in the ocean's carbon cycle via photosynthesis. Plankton also releases high quantities of compounds evaporating into the air through a series of chemical processes, creating clouds and causing rain. The impact of Climate Change on plankton determines the future of marine ecosystems. And plankton itself influences the speed and intensity of Climate Change at a global scale.

International data distribution (free of charge)
The data of OceanoScientific Campaigns are transmitted to data centres of scientific partners of the OceanoScientific Programme. Furthermore, they are integrated in the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) via WMOs* Global Telecommunications System (GTS) and IFREMERs Coriolis. This means that they are available to scientist all over the world, completely free of charge.
Further objectives of the PLANKTON MISSION - OceanoScientific Programme
1- Automatic acquisition and automatic satellite-transmission of sea surface temperature and salinity data for the calibration of ESAs (European Space Agency) SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) and NASAs AQUARIUS satellites. 2- Automatic hourly transmission of observations from poorly or not at all sampled areas of the Atlantic Ocean to WMOs* Global Telecommunications System (GTS) in almost real-time. These observations will be integrated in numeric models and help to optimize operational meteorology and climatologies of these areas. 3- Store automatically the twelve scientific parameters collected every six seconds by the OceanoScientific Kit, which will afterwards be available to the international scientific community thanks to the Internet platform of the OceanoScientific Programme, especially created by IBM. This platform goes live in November 2011.
WMO - World Meteorological Organization, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN)
Attending scientific institutes
IFREMER - Institut Franais de Recherche pour lExploitation de la MER (Fra.) INSU - Institut National des Sciences de lUnivers (Fra.) CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Fra.) Mto-France (Fra.) IFM-GEOMAR - Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the Christian-Albrechts Universitt Kiel (Ger.) NOCS - National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK) University of Maine (USA) LOV - Laboratoire dOcanographie de Villefranche-sur-Mer (Fra.) IEO - Instituto Espaol de Oceanografa (Spa.) Puertos del Estado (Spa.) INDP - Instituto Nacional de Desenvolvimento das Pescas (Cape Verde) MetOffice (UK) DHN - Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegao (Bra.) INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Bra.) SANAP - South African National Antarctic Programme (RSA) SAWS - South African Weather Service (RSA)
Responsible project scientists
Ocean Physics research director of the OceanoScientific Programme: Dr. Fabienne Gaillard (Fra.) - research scientist and director at IFREMER-LPO (Laboratoire de Physique des Ocans). Expert in sea surface salinity and responsible of the GLOSCAL project for the calibration and validation of the SMOS satellite. GLOSCAL validates sea surface salinity data at a global scale. Marine Chemistry research director of the OceanoScientific Programme: Professor Dr. Arne Krtzinger (Ger.) - Professor for marine chemistry at IFM-GEOMAR (Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel, Ger.). Member of the scientific steering group of the IOCCP (International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project) from 2005 - 2010. Expert in the marine carbon cycle and responsible of the long-term ocean observatory TENATSO at the Cape Verde Islands. In cooperation with Dr. Jacqueline Boutin (Fra.), research scientist at LOCEAN (Laboratoire dOcanographie et du Climat: Exprimentation et Approches Numriques) in Paris. Expert in oceanatmosphere interactions of carbon dioxide. Marine Biology research director of the OceanoScientific Programme: Professeur Dr. Emmanuel S. Boss - Professor for oceanography at the University of Maine (USA). Expert for biological-physical interactions and in the use of measured optical properties to obtain the bulk properties of the matter in the ocean. In cooperation with Dr. Herv Claustre (Fra.) - research scientist at LOV (Laboratoire dOcanographie de Villefranche-sur-Mer). Expert in marine optics and remote sensing, development of platforms, biogeochemical cycles, ocean colour and phytoplankton pigments. Meteorological engineer of the OceanoScientific Programme: Pierre Blouch - Vice-director at CMM (Centre de Mtorologie Marine) of Mto-France. Expert in meteorological sea surface observations and manager of the European E-SURFMAR programme (Eumetnet).

Agenda of the 2011-2012 OceanoScientific Campaign - Part I and II
1st of December 2011: Departure of the 2011-2012 OceanoScientific Campaign - Part I France - Cape Verde and back on board NAVOSE Boogaloo 5,500 nautical miles - Some 30 days of sailing March 2012: Oceanology International (OI12) - The Global Ocean Forum - London (UK) 13th to 15th of March 2012 Departure of the 2011-2012 OceanoScientific Campaign - Part II London - Brest, by rounding Gough Island on board NAVOSE Boogaloo 12,700 nautical miles - Some 60 days of sailing

15th of March 2012:

Campaign Office - Coverage - Events / Cit des Sciences et de lIndustrie - Paris
In the image of ocean racing, the idea is to establish a meeting point with and for a wide public during both parts of the OceanoScientific Campaign (December 2011 and March 2012) at La Cit des Sciences et de lIndustrie (Paris - La Villette) that covers:
Media coverage of the 2011-2012 OceanoScientific Campaign / PLANKTON MISSION
Media partnerships are currently under negotiation and will be finalized between mid-June and midOctober, as soon as the support of the OceanoScientific Programme by important ecology-focused foundations can be announced (or not). Logos of all important supporters of the ROSS association will be displayed, following their recommendations.
Involvement of the general public
Creating educational programmes - The major partners of the OceanoScientific Programme have the technology, manpower, skills and experience at their disposal to raise public awareness for scientific information without distorting it, particularly when aimed at children of the 9 to 11 year-old group. ROSS the Albatross, both an important witness and ambassador, will help get information across to the next generation, illustrated by the adventures of marine explorers, enabling them to better understand environmental issues and the risks for the planet. Taking advantage of the sports side - In accordance with its rules, the SolOceans One-design Class benefits from guaranteed media coverage, for both its scientific and racing involvements. For example, the international Eurosport platform (TV - Internet) is involved. ROSS the Albatross, both an important witness and ambassador, will help get environment-friendly principles across to the next generation in their daily lives, through education, pleasure and social networks on the World Wide Web. Connecting with the French sailing schools network - The French Sailing Federation addresses a receptive public practising nautical sports with high ecological awareness. Every year, ROSS the Albatross has access to more than 620,000 families, sensitive to the marine environment and sustainable development.

Data acquisition by ocean-going sailing yachts: The OceanoScientific Programme
Pierre Blouch (Mto-France) - Martin Kramp (SailingOne)
Sixth Session of the JCOMM Ship Observations Team (SOT) - April 2011 Hobart - Australia
The aim of the OceanoScientific Programme, SolOceans One-design Class (NAVOSE) and ROSS Association is to collect scientific data from the ocean-atmosphere interface during regularly starting offshore sailing races.
Ocean Racer + Research Vessel = Research Racer
Back in 2005, no short-handed ocean races on equal footing existed in the Southern Ocean and the gap between the yacht-classes Figaro (transatlantic races on cheap and small one-designs) and Imoca 60 (around-the world races on large and expensive prototypes) was huge. The number of commercial and research vessels collecting scientific data from the ocean-atmosphere interface in the Southern Ocean was very limited. To bridge those two gaps the idea of a new type of yacht was born, being both: Ocean Racer and Research Vessel.

Research Ocean Racer

Vessel
Routes of VOS / SOOP and Ocean Racers
The CORIOLIS Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) data show that: The number of Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) and Ships of Opportunity (SOOP) is very limited. The frequent races take place far from commercial routes in the Southern Ocean.
VOS/SOOP which transmitted SSS to CORIOLIS (2005-2010)
Sailing race around the world
The Launch of the OceanoScientific Programme
The OceanoScientific Programme was initialized in 2006 and team sessions with all partners take place regularly in Paris.
Fifth meeting of the OceanoScientific Programme. French Research Ministry (MESR) - Paris - 1 December 2010
From left to right: Thodore Danguy & Laurence Beaumont (INSU), Martin Kramp (SailingOne), Olivier Pagezy (MESR), Stefan Marx (SubCtech), Ronan Stephan (MESR), Yvan Griboval (SailingOne), Maria Hood (IOC-UNESCO), Liliane Merlivat (LOCEAN), Henry Bacchini (FFVoile), Patrick Farcy (IFREMER), Pascal Faucher (CNES), Pierre Blouch (Mto-France), Gilles Reverdin (LOCEAN).
The OceanoScientific Parameters
For step 1 (since 2006) the scientific partners determined eight parameters to be measured on board the new research racer:
True wind direction - True wind speed Humidity - Air temperature Atmospheric pressure Sea surface temperature and salinity Sea surface pCO2
In step 2 (from 2010) PhotoActive Radiation (PAR), pH, fluorescence and turbidity are added and a hydro generator becomes an emission-free power supplier. In step 3, further parameters will be added, such as nutrients.
The Elements of the OceanoScientific Programme
The new type of yacht is called SolOceans One-design. The sailing performance of the high tech vessel was tested over 30.000 nautical miles between Europe, New Zealand and the USA (2007-2008). The fleet of SolOceans One-designs forms the SolOceans One-design Class. The vessels are labelled NAVOSE (Sailing Vessel for Scientific Observation of the Environment). The measurement-system is called OceanoScientific Kit. It is fully automatic and integrates an automated weather station (AWS) and a flow-through system for ocean sensors. So far, it was tested over 5.000 nautical miles (2009-2010). The scientific expeditions within the races or events are called OceanoScientific Campaigns. The first OceanoScientific Campaign took place in late 2009, when the first OceanoScientific sailor Liz Wardley tested the first OceanoScientific Kit on the first SolOceans One-design in violent storms and heavy seas between France and Portugal.

A new Fleet of VOS / SOOP: SolOceans One-design Class
Photo Jean-Marie Liot - SailingOne 2009
Photo Jean-Marie Liot SailingOne 2009
AWS BATOS on the SolOceans One-design
After successful tests at the end of 2008, each SolOceans One-design is fitted out with BATOS from Mto-France. BATOS was upgraded (SSS) and the OceanoScientifc version covers:
True wind direction - True wind speed (GILL WINDSONIC) Humidity - Air temperature (ROTRONIC S3CO3) Atmospheric pressure (VAISALA PTB 220) Water temperature - Salinity (SEABIRD SBE 45) Optional visual observations (Graphical user interface (GUI) with pop-up-menus)

BATOS: GUI

A special mounting kit for the radiation shield (YOUNG 41003) was developed by SailingOne and successfully tested. Data are stored every minute on board and transmitted every hour to the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) via Inmarsat-C datareport.
The Seawater Flow-through System OceanPackTM Race
The SolOceans One-designs do not permit the installation of usual flow-through systems (such as Ferryboxes) for several reasons:
Technical limits in weight, size and power-consumption, even if they are not an issue in terms of competition within the one-design concept. Performance and speed capacity. Intake close to the surface (canting keel). Low flow-rate and risk of many bubbles.
For the development and maintenance of the system, SubCtech joined the OceanoScientific partners and created the OceanPackTM Race. Plug & Play with most sensors (such as SEABIRD SBE 45 for SSS in step 1), the system contains a pump, debubbler, filter, flow-meter and datalogger.
The OceanoScientific Kit - V2.0 (11 parameters)
Evaluation and Validation
The prototype of the OceanoScientific Kit was installed in October 2009. In different weather and sailing conditions, first tests took place in French waters between Caen (Normandy) and Brest (Brittany). The emerging data was compared with data from other platforms, several weather models, auxiliary instruments and water samples (taken onboard and analyzed at the laboratory). The SolOceans One-design afterwards left France in December for a challenging voyage to Portugal. Violent Storms and heavy seas allowed to test the equipment in the offshore conditions it will face in the Southern Ocean. The scientific partners were very satisfied with the results. The data quality is better than usually on VOS / SOOP and fulfils the VOSClim recommendations. The results were presented at the OCOSS conference in Brest (June 2010) and published in the journal REE (November 2010, see SOT-VI Appendix).

Data control by Mto-France
The BATOS-data were compared with the data of moored buoy Swansea Vale (close to Brest) and afterwards monitored all the way to Portugal. The wind data were corrected to 22 metres (height of sensor).
Comparisons between wind observations carried out by the BATOS AWS and co-located weather model outputs corrected to 22 metres from the 12th to the 15th of December.

Data control by IFREMER

The ocean data were compared with additional water samples (analyzed afterwards at the laboratory) and floats in the vicinity of the SolOceans One-design.
Comparisons with laboratory-analyzed water samples taken close to Brest
Salinity data with quality flags, co-localized Argo floats (circle) and water samples (triangle).Quality Flags : good (blue), probably good (green), probably bad (magenta)
Transmitted salinity data between France and Portugal in December 2009.
The SolOceans One-designs compared to other Platforms
Compared with buoys and floats (ARGO), the SolOceans One-design fleet is neither anchored nor drifting very slowly and is operating at the surface of the ocean.
Left: ARGO at 10 metres depth Right: ARGO at 3 metres depth
Compared with other VOS / SOOP, the SolOceans One-design fleet also provides especially valuable services, as:
The recorded parameters are wide-spread and all-embracing. Frequent calibrations for constant data quality. Similar routes are followed regularly and frequently. Those routes are often far from regular shipping routes. In most cases identically equipped sister ships are operating in the vicinity.
Patronage by two French ministries
Since December 2010, the OceanoScientific Programme is under the patronage of the French Research Ministry and of the French Ministry for Ecology and sustainable Development.
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, French Minister of Ecology, sustainable Development, Transport and Housing, signs the official letter of patronage for the OceanoScientific Programme and its recognition by the Explorers Club of Grenelle de la Mer.
Upcoming OceanoScientific Milestones and Agenda
July 2011: Coastal test of the latest configuration of the OceanoScientific Kit on Sailing Research Vessel Aldebaran, North Sea. December 2011: Offshore test (focus: plankton) of the latest configuration of the OceanoScientific Kit on SolOceans One-design Boogaloo, France - Cape Verde Islands - France. March - April 2012: OceanoScientific Challenge and Campaign passing by the Roaring Forties on SolOceans One-design Boogaloo, Europe - Gough Island - France. Further editions every two years. November 2012 - February 2013: OceanoScientific Campaign around the world by at least three SolOceans One-designs within the Vende Globe race. France - France nonstop. Further editions every four years. October 2014 - June 2015: OceanoScientific Campaign around the world by several SolOceans One-designs within the Velux 5 Oceans race. France - South Africa - New Zealand Uruguay or Brazil - USA - France. Further editions every four years.

Focus Plankton: OceanoScientific Campaign 2011
Accelerated by arising private partnerships, first tests with sensors for plankton-indicating parameters can now probably take place years earlier than originally scheduled. The sensors to be integrated into the OceanoScientifc Kit (V2.1) will measure Turbidity and Fluorescence of Chlorophyll A. As additional scientific partner for those parameters, Professor Dr. Emmanuel S. Boss (University of Maine, USA) joined the team and further support comes from Docteur Herv Claustre (Oceanographic Autonomous Observations - OAO / Villefranche Ocean Observatory - LOV). The new setup will be tested between France and the Cape Verde Islands on NAVOSE Boogaloo. Emmanuel S. Boss will be part of the crew to: Observe the fully automatic sampling of the OceanoScientific Kit. Take manually water samples for later plankton analysis and comparison at the LOV. Compare the OceanoScientific data to those of scientific platforms the vessel passes by, such as TENATSO - operated by scientific partner IFM-GEOMAR. Compare the data to estimations of satellite based systems such as MERIS and MODIS.
OceanoScientific Campaign in December 2011: Roadmap
Blue : Low plankton levels Olive : Medium plankton levels Green : High plankton levels Cape Verde Islands
The ROSS Association as a new Backbone
ROSS will administrate and co-finance the programme in the future.

Appendices

Sixth Session of the JCOMM Ship Observations Team (SOT)
Invitation Session Report (Draft) Article (REE) Group Picture Australia - April 2011
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION ________________________ JOINT WMO/IOC TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE METEOROLOGY (JCOMM) SHIP OBSERVATIONS TEAM (SOT) SIXTH SESSION HOBART, AUSTRALIA, 11-15 APRIL 2011
INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION (OF UNESCO) ________________________ SOT-VI/Doc. 5.2.7 (04.04.2011) ______ ITEM: 5.2.7

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

THE OCEANOSCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME (Submitted by Martin Kramp (OceanoScientific Programme))
Summary and purpose of the document
This document provides information on the development and activities of the OceanoScientific Programme since the last SOT meeting.

ACTION PROPOSED

The Team will review the information contained in this report, and comment and make decisions or recommendations as appropriate.
___________________________________________________________________

SOT-VI/Doc. 5.2.7, p. 3

the programme, further international scientific and industrial partners such as IFM-GEOMAR, NZ MetService, CNES, ESA, the University of Maine, the University of Caen and SubCtech meanwhile joined in. Since December 2010, the OceanoScientific Programme is under the patronage of the French Research Ministry and of the French Ministry for Ecology and sustainable Development. 6. Financial issues slowed down the project for several months. The association ROSS (Research-OceanoScientific-Sport) was founded at the beginning of the year and now supports the programme. It is hoped to find further financial partners before the end of the year. 7. The ARGO experts from IFREMER who work on the OceanoScientific Programme do not find the SolOceans One-design Class suitable for the distribution of floats, at least at their actual size and weight.

____________ Appendix: 1

SOT-VI/Doc. 5.2.7, Appendix A, p. 1
APPENDIX A SCIENTIFIC DATA ACQUISITION BY OCEAN-GOING SAILING YACHTS: The OceanoScientific Programme English article published in the French journal REE (Revue de lElectricit et de lElectronique) Vol. 10 - 2010, pages 52-60, ISSN 1265-6534

>L article invit

> SCIENTIFIC DATA ACQUISITION BY OCEAN-GOING SAILING YACHTS: THE OCEANOSCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME < Mots cls
Oceanography, Meteorology, Sensors, Data Acquisition, Climate Research
Scientic data acquisition by ocean-going sailing yachts: The OceanoScientic Programme
Martin KRAMP1, Dr. Fabienne GAILLARD2, Pierre BLOUCH3, Peer FIETZEK4
University of Caen (France) 1, SailingOne, Caen (France)1, IFREMER, Plouzan (France) 2, Mto-France, Brest (France) 3, IFM-GEOMAR, Kiel (Germany) 4, CONTROS, Kiel (Germany) 4
Around-the-world sailing races lead in hardly explored sea areas of high scientic interest and it is now possible to use participating vessels as innovative measurement platforms for climate research.

Introduction

The routes of ocean races hardly change and there are regular starts every year. Major parts of those races take place between and south of the continental capes (Horn, Good Hope and Leeuwin) where data from the ocean-atmosphere interface are both, rare and crucial for scientic projects such as CLIVAR (International program on CLImate VARiability and predictability) and GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System). Federating the efforts of scientists from different French institutes (IRD, CNES, CNRS, IFREMER, INSU, IPEV, OMP), the Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) Observation Service gives an overview of regular routes of Ships of Opportunity (SOOP programme) in gure 1. It shows the limited spatial coverage of regular measurements exemplary for the parameter SSS. There is a need for suitable platforms to improve the spatial and temporal collection of scientically relevant sea surface data, because non ship-bound systems such as the broadscale global array of more than 3000 drifting temperature and salinity proling oats, known as Argo, deliver data sets that are very limited in the number of parameters and

E S S E N T I E L

were designed for subsurface operation, i.e. they do not collect real sea surface data. Racing yachts have been equipped with scientic sensors before, but the possibilities were always very limited because of the competition and onboard conditions. In 2006, the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile) launched the SolOceans race, which from the beginning combined the sportive aspects of a sailing race in the Southern Ocean with the scientic need for data from said areas. A new type of yacht, the SolOceans One-Design, was designed for this challenge by the famous Finot-Conq Group (Vannes, France) for a serial production of 15 vessels. Fully in carbon, these 16 meters long high-tech yachts for single-handed racing allow for the deployment of various oceanographic and atmospheric sensors (see gure 2), following French Grenelle de la Mers commitments of Tomorrows Ship (Navire du Futur) [2]. At the fth session of the Ship Observations Team (SOT) of the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United

Y N O P S I S

L objectif du Programme OceanoScientic et de la classe Monotype SolOceans est dacqurir et de transmettre des donnes scientiques de linterface ocan-atmosphre lors de courses ocaniques la voile. Les donnes acquises bord de la premire unit du Monotype SolOceans ont prouv leur bonne qualit. Ainsi, la premire tape pour lintroduction des plateformes acceptes pour lacquisition des donnes ocanographiques et mtorologiques la surface de locan est boucle. La production en srie peut commencer.
The aim of the OceanoScientic Programme and of the SolOceans One-Design Class is to collect and transmit scientic data from the ocean-atmosphere interface during regularly starting offshore sailing races. Data collected on board the rst SolOceans OneDesign proved to be of good quality. Thus the rst important step towards the introduction of accepted platforms for ocean surface and atmospheric parameter acquisition has been taken. The serial production can begin.

REE N10 Novembre 2010

> SCIENTIFIC DATA ACQUISITION BY OCEAN-GOING SAILING YACHTS: THE OCEANOSCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME <
Figure 1. Spatial distribution of SSS observations, 1998-2010 [1]: Data from the southern ocean are rare.
Nations Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the OceanoScientic Programme was introduced to the international scientic community [3]. The eet of completely identical SolOceans OneDesigns forms its own class and will take part not only in the SolOceans, but also other major offshore races. The mixture of scientic expeditions and ocean races offers new opportunities to report on climate change and other environmental challenges beside the fact that highquality data is collected. It enhances public awareness for scientic questions, not only within the race villages at departure and arrival or during virtual races, but also by educational programs.

Together, these partners dene the parameters of the OceanoScientic Programme, share their expertise to design the equipment, validate the emerging data and contribute it to international data networks such as the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) of the WMO. 2.2. Industry SailingOne (Caen, France), based in the Lower Normandy Region, is specialized in ocean racing. SailingOne equips all SolOceans One-Designs (hulls being built by nearby JMV Industries, Tourlaville, France), manages all maintenance services and organizes the SolOceans races. SubCtech (Osdorf, Germany), a recently founded spinoff of CONTROS Systems & Solutions (Kiel, Germany), is specialized in complex ow-through-systems with years of experience in underway technology. SubCtech participates in the project by a micro-version of its OceanPack, which suits the racing conditions. Mer Agite (Port-la-Fort, France) is the technical team of world-class sailor Michel Desjoyeaux. Together with Mer Forte (Port-la-Fort, France), Mer Agite participates in the project by its new hydro generator (HydroGnautiC), source of emission-free energy onboard the SolOceans One-Design Class.

Partners

The project already has various partners from both science and industry, who come together for general meetings twice a year. The number of partners and the constitution of the project are not restricted and it is hoped to welcome further partners in the future. 2.1. Science In France IFREMER [4], INSU-CNRS, Mto-France and the University of Caen are partners of the project, together with IFM-GEOMAR in Germany, the University of Maine in the United States and MetService in New Zealand. It is also supported by the French and European space agencies CNES and ESA [5], the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR), the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing (MEDDTL) and was recently recognized by the Explorers Club (Club des Explorateurs - Grenelle de la Mer).

Finance

Until the end of 2008, French Veolia Propret (Veolia Environnement Group, Paris, France) was main sponsor of the OceanoScientic Programme. Afterwards, at the peak of the worldwide nancial crisis, the other partners continued to invest in the development of the project and the association ROSS (Research-OceanoScientic-

From October 16th to December 20th, 2009, the rst OceanoScientic Kit was put through a thorough testing period on a SolOceans One-Design that sailed the French tany). After the rst successful trial it was put to strain in violent storms and heavy seas during a challenging voyage to Portugal. The Laboratoire de Physique des Ocans (LPO) was in charge of the sea temperature (T) and salinity (S) va23rd to 28th. The validation included: A visual inspection of the and checking of the temperature and salinity data trans(full dataset sampled at 6 seconds). The additional water samples were not taken in via the water inow. They were collected with a bucket directly over the railing on October 26th at several locations and stored in OSIL (Havant, England) type bottles. They were analyzed for salinity back in the laboratory at LPO. Temperature was measured on board with a thermometer Ebro (Ingolstadt, Germany) TFX 392. The stated accuracy of this temperature probe (0.1 C) is lower than the one of the SBE45 (0.001 C). Therefore only a very coarse comparison is possible and the data is given just for sake of completeness. The comparison of the water samples with the corresponding OceanoScientic SBE45 measurements (see tables I and II) indicates a deviation between the two independently measured salinities of about 0.02 PSS (Practical Salinity Scale).
Time 14h15 14h37 16h03 16h36 Latitude (N) 4821.5 4819.9 4817.64 4820.99 Longitude (W) 00431.3 00436.00433.62 Description Between naval base and lighthouse Near Petit Minou Near Toulinguet Near Marel buoy
sensors: Windsonic (wind speed and direction) S3CO3 (air humidity and temperature) SBE45 (sea temperature and salinity) A Young (Traverse City, Michigan, USA) 41003 radiation shield protects the air humidity and temperature sensor. The sailor can regularly add visual meteorological observations. Mto-Frances special training for sailors phical user interface enable them to easily add the extra information on the sea state, clouds, precipitation and further observations. The data are transferred to shore on an hourly basis by an Inmarsat-C data reporting system that also delivers GPS position and speed over ground data. This is necessary to calculate true wind data. The measuring frequency of the atmospheric data depends on the sensor and is between 0.2 and 2 Hz. The data transmitted to shore are:
Table I: Data comparisons (S and T), Time and Position (Oct. 26th, 2009).
SBE 45 T (C) 14.863 14.854 14.854 14.846 TFX 392 T (C) 14.8 14.8 14.8 14.7 T (C) 0.0< 0.0< 0.0< 0.1< SBE 45 S (PSS) 35.267 35.269 35.338 35.268 LPO S (PSS) 35.288 35.295 35.350 35.287 S (PSS) -0.021 -0.026 -0.012 -0.019
<0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.2
Table II: Data comparisons (S and T), Results (Oct. 26th, 2009).
Figure 4. Sea surface salinity measured from the 12/12 to the 20/12/2009. Salinity with quality ags (grey scale (*)) and external data (salinity from co-localized Argo oats (circle) and water samples (triangle)). Only good quality external data are shown. There was no data recorded around December 16th because of technical modications. (*) quality ag: reliable data (black), bad data (light grey).

Given the rapid space and time variability and the nonoptimal sampling conditions for the discrete samples, the achieved accuracy is very good, and complies with the scientic requirements for sea surface salinity. In order to monitor the possible drift of the salinity (conductivity) sensor, water samples are taken regularly (if possible every three days). During the test the water temperature inside the thermosalinograph (jacket temperature) did not show any warming, but this point will be validated on a more representative voyage in the near future using an external temperature sensor. The datasets both transmitted and stored have been analyzed over the period from December 12th to 20th (gure 4 and 5). It appears that there is very little signal loss for the salinity measurements (much less than usually seen on SOOP), although the data were taken in very heavy seas and under rough wind conditions. The comparison of the SBE45 data with the water samples taken underway as well as with data from nearby Argo oats indicates little deviation: the maximum deviation observed was inferior to 0.07 PSS. We can thus conclude that the OceanoScientic Kit will gather high quality, near surface salinity and temperature data that will be e.g. extremely valuable for the calibration of the recently launched SMOS (ESA) and future Aquarius (NASA/CONAE) satellites.
Since salinity measurements are sensitive to bubbles within the water stream and the conductivity cell respectively and since the signal loss was small, we can also conclude that the ow-through setup with its specialized water intake, the pump and the debubbler i.a. successfully fulls the requirements onboard the SolOceans One-Designs. pCO2 data was successfully recorded during the testing period as well. The measuring frequency was 20 seconds and a zero-point drift correction of the NonDispersive InfraRed (NDIR) detector within the HydroC unit, the socalled zeroing, was carried out regularly every 12 hours. A detailed analysis of the HydroC technology and its emerging data is planned within further publications (IFMGEOMAR) from 2011. Intercomparison measurements onboard the SolOceans One-Design as well as the collection of reference samples for the determination of carbon system parameters such as total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), Total Alkalinity (TA) and hence pCO2 are scheduled for 2011. For the validation of the atmospheric sensors, the obof other platforms - two moored buoys and a light vessel - as well as to analysis outputs of two weather models French Arpge and ECMWF (European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasts). For instance, on October 26th, 2009, the SolOceans One-
Figure 5. Map of the offshore test. Measurement positions with salinity quality ags (grey scale (*)), good external data (salinity from co-localized Argo oats (circle) and water samples (triangle)). Same period as Figure 4. (*) Quality ag: reliable data (black), bad data (light grey).

Design kept sailing for a couple of hours in the vicinity of a navigation buoy (Swansea Vale 4819.3N-438.7W) compared to those of the moored buoy. The wind velocities measured by the buoy at 3.50 m height were corrected to 22 m (height of the anemometer above the SolOceans One-Design waterline), with W = Wref * ln(z/z0)/ln(zref/z0) (1)
conditions are met [9]. In (1), W is the wind velocity at height z above the sea level, Wref is the reference speed (i.e. measured by the buoy) at height zref and z0 is the roughness length. With a roughness length of 0.001 m currently used at the sea surface [9], (1) becomes W = 1.225 * Wref (2)
which assumes that the neutral atmospheric stability
Parameter Atmospheric pressure Sea temperature Wind direction Wind speed (22 m) Air temperature Air humidity Time 14:00 15:00 14:00 15:00 14:00 15:00 14:00 15:00 14:00 15:00 14:00 15:00
which has been used here in all wind corrections and comparisons.
Swansea Vale 1019.7 hPa 1019.5 hPa 14.8C 14.8C 8.1 m/s 8.5 m/s 16.0C 15.9C 88% 90% Required uncertainty 0.1 hPa 0.1C 5 0.5 m/s (10% for > 5 m/s 0.1C 1%
SolOceans One-Design 1019.8 hPa 1019.6 hPa 14.9C 14.9C 8.2 m/s 8.2 m/s 15.9C 15.9C 88% 88%
Table III: Data comparisons between SolOceans One-Design and Swansea Vale moored buoy (Oct. 26th, 2009).
Figure 6. Comparisons between wind observations, carried out by the BATOS AWS and co-located weather model outputs corrected to 22 metres from the 12th to the 15th of December, 2009.
Table III shows the values of different parameters measured by the two platforms as well as the recommended measurement uncertainty requirements for general operational use in meteorology [10]. It must be noted that the resolution for wind direction is still in tens of degrees as previously recommended by the WMO. Table III also shows the very high compliance between the measurements of the two stations. It clearly appears the SolOceans One-Design meet the WMO requirements. The observations of the SolOceans One-Design have also been compared to model outputs during all navigations at sea. Figure 6 shows the wind speeds and directions re-
ditional water samples can be added to complement the automatic sampling. The regular acquisition of data on identical routes by the whole eet of the SolOceans One-Design Class make this programme a new partner for the Global Ocean Surface Underway Data (GOSUD) project of the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange Programme (IODE) and JCOMM. Whilst the SolOceans One-Designs remain the best platforms for the OceanoScientic Kit in its totality, parts of the system could also be used on other sea-going sailing vessels to increase even more the amount of scientic data from hardly explored areas of the oceans. First tests have been run successfully in August 2010 on German research sailing vessel Aldebaran.

the SolOceans One-Design are reliable.

Conclusion

Acknowledgment
The fully automatic acquisition and transmission of underway data from aboard the SolOceans One-Design Class has been demonstrated as feasible and efcient within extensive testing onboard the rst vessel for all the measured parameters. The OceanoScientic Programme with international scientic as well as industrial partners will provide full sets of information of the ocean-atmosphere interface in hardly explored sea areas. Like data of VOS and SOOP, or non ship-bound systems such as Argo oats, all OceanoScientic data are available free of charge from international data networks such as GTS and GOOS, for climate and ocean research, for operational oceanography, meteorology and for the public. Regular sensor maintenance and calibration guaranty stable data quality. Optional visual observations and ad-
The OceanoScientic Programme could not have been launched without the nancial support of Veolia Propret (Veolia Environnement Group), the Lower Normandy
Gochimie de lOcan et Climat and TOSCA-CNES project GLOSCAL. The project is further supported by Valrie Pcresse (MESR), Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (MEDDTL), lie Levvre, Gilles Reverdin, Nicolas Metzl, Jean-Claude Gascard, Liliane Merlivat (LOCEAN), Patrick Farcy, Pas-
[10] WMO, Guide to Meteorological Instruments and Methods of Observations (CIMO Guide), 7th ed., WMO-No. 8, 2008. , http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/IMOP/IMOP-home. html
Visbeck, Arne Krtzinger (IFM-GEOMAR), Maria Hood (IOC-UNESCO), Eric Thouvenot, Danielle de Staerke, Pascale Faucher, Eliane Moreaux (CNES), Frdric Robert Meisner (ESA), Christophe Durand, Hamid sity of Maine) and Julie Fletcher (MetService).

References

[1] Sea Surface Salinity Observation Service, Monitoring Sea Surface Salinity in the Global Ocean from Ships of Opportunity http://www.legos.obs-mip.fr/observations/sss/, May , 2010. Available (October 2010). Grenelle de la Mer, Blue Book Commitments of the Oceans Round Table http://www.legrenelle-mer.fr/spip. , php?rubrique61, August 2009. Available (October 2010). JCOMM, Ship Observations Team Fifth Session Final Report (MR 63) http://www.jcomm.info/sot-v, June 2009. , Available (October 2010). LPO (Laboratoire de Physique des Oceans), OceanoScientic http://wwz.ifremer.fr/lpo/la_recherche/projets_en_ , cours/gloscal/observations_in_situ/thermosalinographes/ oceanoscientic, December 2009. Available (October 2010). ESA (European Space Agency), Sailors Braving Treacherous Waters for Science http://www.esa.int/esaLP/SE, MOOU49J2G_index_0.html, December 2009. Available (October 2010). N. LEFVRE, J. CIABRINI, G. MICHARD, B. BRIENT, M. DUCHAFFAUT & L. MERLIVAT, A New Optical Sensor for , pCO2 Measurements in Seawater Marine Chemistry, vol. 42, pp. 189-198, 1993. J. BOUTIN, L. MERLIVAT, C. HNOCQ, N. MARTIN & J. B. SALLE, AirSea CO2 Flux Variability in Frontal Regions of the Southern Ocean from CARIOCA Drifters Limnology , and Oceanography, vol. 53, pp. 2062-2079, 2008. P FIETZEK, A. KRTZINGER, Optimization of a Mem. , brane-Based NDIR Sensor for Dissolved CO2 Proceedings of OceanObs09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society Conference (Annex), Venice, Italy, 21-25 September 2009, Hall, J., Harrison D.E. & Stammer, D., Editors., ESA, Publication WPP-306, 2010. J. HOLTON, An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology 4th , ed., Elsevier Academic Press, 2004.

Martin Kramp (E-Mail: mk@oceanoscientic.org) received his diploma in business engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany). He is also an experienced sailor and worked as professional skipper on both, racing and research sailing vessels. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Caen (France) where his research activities focus on new partnership models in sport sponsoring, following the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Martin Kramp is at the same time in charge of R&D at SailingOne, Caen (France), and he is manager of the OceanoScientic Programme. Fabienne Gaillard is director of IFREMERs ocean physics laboratory (LPO). Her research activities focus on the evaluation of the ocean variability at global scale. She monitors global heat content and steric contribution to sea level and tries to characterize the space and time scales, paying a particular attention to the North Atlantic and its role on the thermohaline circulation. Her work relies on the use of methods derived from optimal estimation theory: inverse method, objective analysis, and assimilation. Fabienne Gaillard has always been deeply involved in the development of data acquisition systems, in particular acoustic tomography, vessel mounted ADCP Argo proling oats and more recently salinity , sensors on sailing vessels. She has supported the French Coriolis/ Argo project during the pilot phase in all scientic aspects and is now coordinator of the GLOSCAL project for the calibration/ validation of the salinity data of ESAs recently launched SMOS satellite. Pierre Blouch is a meteorologist with an experience in marine instrumentation including data buoys and ship borne automated weather stations. He graduated from Mto-France school (engineer) and completed his training with oceanography courses at the University of Bretagne Occidentale (UBO, Brest). Pierre Blouch is presently deputy head of the Centre de Mtorologie Marine of Mto-France in Brest and manager of the European Surface Marine Observation Programme of Eumetnet (E-SURFMAR). Peer Fietzek received his diploma in physics from the Technische Universitt Darmstadt (Germany) for his experimental contribution to a LIDAR system for the remote sensing of temperature proles in the ocean. During his Erasmus year at the Istanbul Technical University (Turkey) he took courses in marine geophysics, uid mechanics and meteorology to gain more theoretical experience in the eld of marine sciences. He is currently a PhD student at the Leibniz-Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) at the University of Kiel (Germany), within the department of chemical oceanography and at the same time in charge of the R&D department at CONTROS GmbH, Kiel (Germany). His scientic interest is in optical underwater sensors mainly for the measurement of dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide.