OCEATLAN Program Overview

The Regional Alliance in Oceanography for the Upper Southwest and Tropical Atlantic (OCEATLAN) represents the regional efforts of institutions from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay to the development of operational oceanography within the scope of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) program.

Program Management

The OCEATLAN counts on the participation of institutions from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay to jointly develop and implement an operational oceanographic system to monitor and investigate the oceanic processes in the Upper Southwest and Tropical Atlantic. The regional alliance's creation was firmed through the signature of a Letter of Intention by representatives of institutions from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay engaged in activities related to operational oceanography.

People in OCEATLAN and Contact Information

Additional Information

The OCEATLAN is made up of three major oceanographic programs:

• The International South Atlantic Buoy Program (ISABP) is operated as a regional action group of the Data Buoy Co-Operation Panel (DBCP), and endeavors to establish and maintain an oceanographic and meteorological data network over the South Atlantic Ocean. Drifting buoys have been deployed in the South Atlantic Ocean for more than 20 years.

• The Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) is an international program conducted under the auspices of the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The determination of the sea level has a key role in environmental sciences research directed to improve the social and economic planning. The South America Regional GLOSS is a contributor to the OCEATLAN.

• The Brazilian National GOOS component (GOOS-BRAZIL) is the Brazilian contributor to GOOS. The great motivation of this program is the development of a national system of ocean observation where the gathering, coordination, quality control, and distribution of oceanographic data would become operational. Among the projects involved in the GOOS-BRAZIL program are: PNBOIA, PIRATA, GLOSS-BRAZIL and Argo drifting profilers floats.