AtlantOS BGC floats tests

The six BGC (Biogeochemical) Argo floats purchased by Euro-Argo under the AtlantOS project were received at Euro-Argo ERIC premises during the summer and successfully tested last week by the Euro-Argo technical team in the Ifremer tank.

Four floats will be shipped soon to Southampton where they will be loaded on board the RRS Discovery and deployed in the South Atlantic Ocean (Guinea Dome and Oxygen Minimum Zones encountered on the cruise track) during the AMT27 cruise.

The two remaining BGC floats are planned to be deployed in December in the south eastern part of the Atlantic, off-shore South-Africa.

These deployments are part of the AtlantOS effort of enhancement of autonomous observations in the Atlantic Ocean, which will enable to better understand variations in the Atlantic system. In particular, the floats will provide biogeochemical observations and thus contribute to the implementation of the new BGC Argo programme.