Oceanographic Studies via the Ship of Opportunity Program – the science and the processes
Carrie Wolfe: Research and Education Coordinator, Southern California Marine Institute,
Pacific Southwest NOAA SOOP Coordinator
Brief Bio:
Carrie’s undergraduate degree was in Environmental Biology, and her graduate studies concentrated on
ichthyology. She has worked at SCMI since 1991, but since 1998 has been increasingly involved in
oceanography. Most of the oceanographic projects involve pairing oceanographic studies to commercial
ships that transit specific ocean routes. These ships and shipping companies voluntarily cooperate with these
scientific projects, which may involve anything from dropping drifters into the ocean at the equator, to
installations of various instruments, to allowing the scientists and technicians passage aboard the vessels to
take measurements or deploy equipment.
When not chasing ships Carrie runs educational programs at SCMI and also works for Scripps Institute of
Oceanography as a ship rider & fixer.
SCMI Website: http://scmi.us/
Links to various agencies and their projects:
Very broad overview of the entire global project, the instrumentation and the data::
http://www.jcommops.org/soopip/soopip_overview.html
Specific agencies and projects:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Atlantic Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Laboratory (AOML)
Global Ocean Observations, overview: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/goos.php
XBT (eXpendable Bathy Thermograph) Network: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/goos/xbt_network/
Global Drifter Center: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dac/index.php
ARGO Floats: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/argo/doc/introduction.php?entry=whatisit
Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO)
High Resolution XBT Network: http://www-hrx.ucsd.edu/
SIO ARGO float site: http://sio-argo.ucsd.edu/
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (PMEL)
Underway CO2 measurement program:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Volunteer+Observing+Ships+%28VOS%29
Trans Pacific uwpCO2: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Trans+Pacific+uwpCO2
NOAA Global Monitoring Division (GMD) Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases Group (CCGG)
Overview: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/
CCGG Cooperative Air Sampling Network: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/flask.html