The Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Atlantic (PIRATA)The acronym PIRATA is derived from the former name "Pilot Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic". is a system of

moored A mooring is any permanent structure to which a seaborne vessel (such as a boat, ship, or amphibious aircraft) may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to f ...

observation

buoys A buoy (; ) is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navigation buo ...

in the tropical

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

which collect

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

and

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

data. The data collected by the PIRATA array helps scientists to better understand climatic events in the Tropical Atlantic and to improve weather forecasting and climate research worldwide. Climatic and oceanic events in the tropical Atlantic, such as the Tropical Atlantic SST Dipole affect rainfall and climate in both

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

and

Northeast Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five official and political regions of Brazil, regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, ...

. The northern tropical Atlantic is also a major formation area for hurricanes affecting the West Indies and the United States. Alongside the

RAMA Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

array in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and the TAO/TRITON network in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, PIRATA forms part of the worldwide system of tropical ocean observing buoys.

Partners

The project is a tripartite cooperation between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The principal agencies involved are

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

in the United States, IRD and

Météo-France Météo-France is the official French meteorological administration, also offering services to Andorra and Monaco. It has the powers of the state and can exercise them in relation to meteorology. Météo-France is in charge of observing, study ...

of France plus INPE and from Brazil.

PIRATA network

The PIRATA buoy network consists of seventeen Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System, or ATLAS, buoys. Twelve buoys were originally deployed in 1997. Two of these buoys were decommissioned in 1999 because of vandalism by fishing craft. Three extensions of the original network have been added. Three buoys were deployed off the coast of Brazil in 2005 and four more in 2006/2007 to extend coverage to the north and the north-east. As a demonstration exercise one buoy was deployed to the south-east of the region, off the coast of Africa, between June 2006 and June 2007. In addition to the ATLAS buoys, PIRATA has three island based meteorological stations, one at

Fernando de Noronha Fernando de Noronha (), officially the State District of Fernando de Noronha () and formerly known as the Federal Territory of Fernando de Noronha () until 1988, is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, and ...

, another on the

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ort ...

and one on

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álv ...

. A tidal gauge is also maintained at São Tomé. Dedicated hydrographic cruises and annual buoy maintenance voyages are also undertaken under the auspices of the PIRATA project.

ATLAS buoys

Each ATLAS buoy measures *wind speed and direction, *air temperature, *rainfall, *humidity, *solar radiation, *pressure, temperature and conductivity to 500 metres below sea level. In addition one buoy has an

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler An acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) is a hydroacoustic current meter similar to a sonar, used to measure water current velocities over a depth range using the Doppler effect of sound waves scattered back from particles within the water c ...

fitted alongside to measure

water current A current in a fluid is the magnitude and direction of flow within each portion of that fluid, such as a liquid or a gas. Types of fluid currents include: * Air current * Water current ** Current (hydrology), a current in a river or stream ** Oce ...

velocities Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector quantity, meaning that both m ...

and four buoys are equipped to measure net heat flux. Daily mean observations from the ATLAS buoys are received in near real time via both the Argos System and Brazilian satellites. The data is processed by the TAO Project Office of

and also placed on the Global Telecommunications System for real time distribution to weather centres and other users. High frequency measurements are stored on the buoys and retrieved during maintenance operations. The array provides 4,000 to 4,500 unique hourly values per month.

Notable locations

One of the buoys was positioned at 0°N 0°E, where the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

and

Prime Meridian A prime meridian is an arbitrarily chosen meridian (geography), meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. On a spheroid, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian ...

intersect, off the coast of Africa. This buoy is sometimes jokingly referred to as

Null Island Null Island is the location at zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude (), i.e., where the prime meridian and the equator intersect. Since there is no landmass located at these coordinates, it is not an actual island. The name is often u ...

Notes

References

{{Earth-based meteorological observation Oceanographic instrumentation Physical oceanography Research projects Weather forecasting Buoyage