Estimating thermohaline structures in the tropical Indian Ocean from surface parameters using an improved CNN model

Accurately estimating the ocean’s subsurface thermohaline structure is essential for advancing our understanding of regional and global ocean dynamics. In this study, we propose a novel neural network model based on Convolutional Block Attention Module-Convolutional Neural Network (CBAM-CNN) to simultaneously estimate the ocean subsurface thermal structure (OSTS) and ocean subsurface salinity structure (OSSS) in the tropical Indian Ocean using satellite observations. The input variables include sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), eastward component of sea surface wind (ESSW), northward component of sea surface wind (NSSW), longitude (LON), and latitude (LAT). We train and validate the model using Argo data, and compare its accuracy with that of the original Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model using root mean square error (RMSE), normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), and determination coefficient (R²). Our results show that the CBAM-CNN model outperforms the CNN model, exhibiting superior performance in estimating thermohaline structures in the tropical Indian Ocean. Furthermore, we evaluate the model’s accuracy by comparing its estimated OSTS and OSSS at different depths with Argo-derived data, demonstrating that the model effectively captures most observed features using sea surface data. Additionally, the CBAM-CNN model demonstrates good seasonal applicability for OSTS and OSSS estimation. Our study highlights the benefits of using CBAM-CNN for estimating thermohaline structure and offers an efficient and effective method for estimating thermohaline structure in the tropical Indian Ocean

Summary of Research 1998, Department of Oceangraphy

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.This report contains summaries of research projects in the Department of Oceanography. A list of recent publications is also included which consists of conference presentations and publications, books, contributions to books, published journal papers, technical reports, and thesis abstracts

A view of the Brazil-Malvinas confluence, March 2015

The encountering of the subtropical Brazil Current (BC) and the subantarctic Malvinas Current (MC) along the western margin of the Argentine Basin forms the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC), one of the most intense open-ocean fronts in the world ocean and a site for the formation of intermediate water masses. Here, we provide a comprehensive description of the BMC based on physical and biogeochemical data – hydrographic stations, profiling floats and subsurface drifters – gathered in March 2015. We use these data in order to characterize the impinging and outflowing currents and to describe the cross- and along-frontal thermohaline structure. In addition, we compare the in-situ measurements with both climatological data and the Mercator Ocean eddy-resolving reanalysis. The hydrographic sections illustrate the contrasting properties between the two western boundary currents: warm, salty, nutrient- and oxygen-poor oligotrophic subtropical waters carried southward by the BC and the cold, fresh, oxygen- and nutrient-rich subantarctic waters carried northward by the MC. The frontal system is also characterized by the presence of thermohaline intrusions, with the cross-frontal gradients and along-front velocities sharpening as the colliding currents shape the frontal system. We also observe brackish waters spreading on top of the frontal jet as a result of both the confluence dynamics and off-shelf advection favored by north-easterly winds. These low-salinity waters are positively correlated with surface ageostrophic speeds over the frontal jet. The cruise data illustrates the high regional and mesoscale variability as compared with climatological conditions, and further document the submesoscale subsurface complexity, which is not properly captured by available operational models.Fil: Orúe Echevarría, Dorleta. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Pelegrí, Josep L.. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Alonso González, Iván J.. Oceomic, Marine Bio And Technology S.L; EspañaFil: Benítez Barrios, Verónica M.. Oceomic, Marine Bio And Technology S.L; EspañaFil: Emelianov, Mikhail. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: García Olivares, Antonio. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Gasser i Rubinat, Marc. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: De La Fuente, Patricia. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Herrero, Carmen. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Isern Fontanet, Jordi. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Masdeu Navarro, Marta. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Peña Izquierdo, Jesús. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Piola, Alberto Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; ArgentinaFil: Ramírez Garrido, Sergio. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Rosell Fieschi, Miquel. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Salvador, Joaquín. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Saraceno, Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera; Argentina. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Valla, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos; ArgentinaFil: Vallès Casanova, Ignasi. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar; EspañaFil: Vidal, Montserrat. Universidad de Barcelona; Españ

Remote sensing of the extent of the Bohai sea ice and temperature anomaly of ocean interior during recent global surface warming hiatus

自1998年起，全球表面出现增暖减缓，全球气候处在深度调整中。我国近岸对此出现不同程度的响应，极端海洋灾害事件频发。2009-2010年冬季，受北方持续寒潮的影响，渤海出现了历史罕见的严重海冰冰情，海冰成为2010年中国海洋主要灾害之一。通过冰冻区遥感影像分类准确有效地提取海冰分布信息对于检测和评估海冰演化过程是至关重要的。我们提出一种新的基于融合多特征的机器学习影像分类技术，有效地用于MODIS冰冻区影像分类及海冰分布范围估算。通过灰度共生矩阵（GLCM）纹理特征分析提取MODIS影像纹理特征，通过劈窗算法反演MODIS海表温度信息，最后利用融合多特征信息（光谱特征、纹理特征及海表温度特征）...Since 1998, the global warming trend enters hiatus, meanwhile the global climate is under in-depth adjustment. The coast of China intensively responds to recent hiatus with frequent extreme marine disasters. A continuous cold snap in the 2009-2010 winter caused a rare and severe sea ice accumulation in the Bohai Sea. Sea ice has become one of the major marine disasters of China in 2010. The image ...学位：博士后院系专业：海洋与地球学院_物理海洋学学号：201317000

The global warming hiatus: Slowdown or redistribution?

Global mean surface temperatures (GMST) exhibited a smaller rate of warming during 1998-2013, compared to the warming in the latter half of the 20th Century. Although, not a "true" hiatus in the strict definition of the word, this has been termed the "global warming hiatus" by IPCC (2013). There have been other periods that have also been defined as the "hiatus" depending on the analysis. There are a number of uncertainties and knowledge gaps regarding the "hiatus." This report reviews these issues and also posits insights from a collective set of diverse information that helps us understand what we do and do not know. One salient insight is that the GMST phenomenon is a surface characteristic that does not represent a slowdown in warming of the climate system but rather is an energy redistribution within the oceans. Improved understanding of the ocean distribution and redistribution of heat will help better monitor Earth's energy budget and its consequences. A review of recent scientific publications on the "hiatus" shows the difficulty and complexities in pinpointing the oceanic sink of the "missing heat" from the atmosphere and the upper layer of the oceans, which defines the "hiatus." Advances in "hiatus" research and outlooks (recommendations) are given in this report

The Brazil-Malvinas Confluence : from local to global scales

The Southwest Atlantic Ocean is a key component of the global climate system. It holds the Confluence of the Brazil and Malvinas Currents (BMC), one of the highest frontal systems of the world ocean. The BMC is the encounter point of subtropical origin warm and salty waters, transported southward within the Brazil Current, and subantarctic water flowing equatorward along the Malvinas Current. The intense mixing and cross-frontal exchanges highly transform the water masses that will finally flow southward, eastward of be subducted into the subtropical thermocline. This PhD dissertation aims at extending our knowledge of the circulation and dynamics in the BMC, placing these results in perspective from the small to the global scales. The intense property contrast found in this region resemble the intense temperature gradients between low and high latitudes. We first analyse the changes in the heat content of the atmosphere and upper ocean for the last 450 kyr and analyse the sensitivity of the system to changes in albedo, cloud cover and atmospheric and oceanic heat transports. We then describe the hydrographic conditions at the BMC during and early fall cruise. These reveal the presence of brackish river water on top the frontal system. The salinity anomaly at the surface correlates with the presence of large ageostrophic velocities along the frontal jet. In addition, the rapid evolution of these waters impinges on the thermohaline variability in the proximity of the front. The comparison of surface overview during the cruise is well represented by the reanalysis although at depth, this misses the thermohaline intrusions developed both sides the front. On the other hand, climatological data misses the numerous mesoscale features. We also examine the circulation pattern in the upper 2000 m depth. We find a relatively weak MC near 41°S, 56°W followed by its cyclonic retroflection, an intense subtropical anticyclone replacing the BC-overshoot (BCO), a subantarctic inflow near 53°W maintained both by an upstream earlier diversion of the MC and the cyclonic recirculation of the flow leaving the east along the confluence front, and on the northern extreme of the Confluence the southward flow of BC. The results in this chapter also suggest the existence of dianeutral mixing and cross-frontal exchanges. We assess the high-frequency temperature variability at this region combining sea surface temperature images with novel high-resolution SeaSoar measurements. We found spatio-temporal scales between 1.5 and 6 days and between 20 and 50 km with the shortest scales along the shelf-break BC and over the Confluence front, with the largest ones along the MC and MRC. Variability increases at the subsurface due to submesoscale thermohaline intrusions. Finally, we analyse the relative role of dianeutral mixing by small scale turbulence and isoneutal mixing induced by mesoscale eddy stirring in setting the temperature-salinity relationship in the Argentine basin using microstructure measurements along the Subtropical Front (STF). Dieneutral mixing is enhanced in the upper 500 m of the water column, especially downstream the BCO, and at depth over the shelf-break and the eastern limit of the basin at the mid-Atlantic ridge. Isoneutral diffusivity dominates below 500 m in the centre of the basin. Moreover, we determine the cross-frontal eddy-advective mass flux. These induce the subduction of about 3 Sv of mode and intermediate waters into the subtropical thermocline and the poleward transport of Upper Circumpolar Deep Water.El suroeste del Océano Atlántico es clave del sistema climático global. En esta región se encuentran las corrientes de Brasil y Malvinas, dando lugar a uno de los sistemas frontales más intensos del océano mundial, la Confluencia de Brasil-Malvinas (BMC). Esta región frontal es el punto de encuentro de aguas de origen subtropical, cálidas y saladas, que son transportadas hacia el sur en la corriente de Brasil y aguas de origen subantárctico que viajan hacia el ecuador a lo largo de la corriente de Malvinas. La intensa mezcla y los intercambios frontales cruzados transforman en gran medida las masas de agua que aquí se encuentran y que finalmente fluirán hacia el sur, hacia el este o que serán subducidas hacia la termoclina subtropical. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo principal ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre la circulación y dinámica en la BMC, colocando estos resultados en perspectiva, desde la pequeña escala a la escala global. El intenso contraste de propiedades de las aguas que se encuentran en esta región se asemeja a los intensos gradientes de temperatura que encontramos entre las altas y bajas latitudes. En un primer trabajo, analizamos los cambios en el contenido de calor de la atmósfera y el océano superior durante los últimos 450 millones de años. A continuación, describimos las condiciones hidrográficas encontradas en la BMC a principios de otoño de 2015 a partir de los datos recogidos en una campaña oceanográfica (TIC-MOC) y su comparación con datos de reanálisis y climatológicos. Estos revelan la presencia de aguas salobres del Río de la Plata en los primeros metros del sistema frontal. La anomalía de salinidad presenta una correlación positiva con las intensas velocidades ageostróficas a lo largo del jet frontal. La comparación de la visión general de las condiciones superficiales durante la campaña está bien representada por el reanálisis de alta resolución, aunque en profundidad su exactitud es menor debido a la presencia de intrusiones termohalinas desarrolladas a ambos lados del frente, no reproducidas por el modelo. Los datos climatológicos, sin embargo, al representar las condiciones medias del mes, no muestran las numerosas estructuras de mesoescala encontradas en la región. Asimismo, examinamos el patrón de circulación en los primeros 2000 metros de la columna de agua. Al sur del frente encontramos un transporte débil de la MC aproximadamente a 41oS, 56oW, seguido de su retroflexión ciclónica, un anticiclón subtropical intenso que reemplaza la retroflexión de la corriente de Brasil, un flujo de aguas subantárcticas a 53oW alimentado por un desvío aguas arriba de la MC y la recirculación ciclónica del flujo que sale al este a lo largo del frente de Confluencia. En el extremo norte, encontramos el transporte hacia el sur, dentro de los valores medios, de la corriente de Brasil. Los resultados en este capítulo sugieren también la existencia de mezcla dianeutra e intercambios frontales en la BMC. Evaluamos la variabilidad de alta frecuencia de la temperatura en esta región combinando imágenes de temperatura superficial del mar con nuevas mediciones de alta resolución recogidas con un SeaSoar (campaña RETRO-BMC). Encontramos escalas espacio-temporales características de entre 1.5 y 6 días y entre 20 y 50 km. Las escalas más cortas se encuentran la lo largo de la corriente de Brasil en su proximidad a la plataforma continental y sobre el frente de Confluencia, mientas que las mayores escalas corresponden a la MC y su retroflexión. La variabilidad aumenta en profundidad debido a la presencia de las intrusiones termohalinas submesoescalares. Finalmente, analizamos el papel relativo de la mezcla dianeutra debida a turbulencia de pequeña escala y de la mezcla isoneutra inducida por remolinos de mesoescala en establecer la relación temperatura-salinidad en la cuenca argentina utilizando para ello mediciones de microestructura. La mezcla dianeutra es máxima en los primeros 500 m de la columna de agua, especialmente aguas abajo de la BCO, y en profundidad sobre el borde de la plataforma continental y el límite oriental de la cuenca sobre la Dorsal Mesoatlántica. La difusividad isoneutral domina en profundidad (>500 m) en el centro de la cuenca. Además, determinamos el flujo de masa meridional debido a la advección inducida por los remolimos mesoscalares

The Brazil-Malvinas Confluence : from local to global scales

The Southwest Atlantic Ocean is a key component of the global climate system. It holds the Confluence of the Brazil and Malvinas Currents (BMC), one of the highest frontal systems of the world ocean. The BMC is the encounter point of subtropical origin warm and salty waters, transported southward within the Brazil Current, and subantarctic water flowing equatorward along the Malvinas Current. The intense mixing and cross-frontal exchanges highly transform the water masses that will finally flow southward, eastward of be subducted into the subtropical thermocline. This PhD dissertation aims at extending our knowledge of the circulation and dynamics in the BMC, placing these results in perspective from the small to the global scales. The intense property contrast found in this region resemble the intense temperature gradients between low and high latitudes. We first analyse the changes in the heat content of the atmosphere and upper ocean for the last 450 kyr and analyse the sensitivity of the system to changes in albedo, cloud cover and atmospheric and oceanic heat transports. We then describe the hydrographic conditions at the BMC during and early fall cruise. These reveal the presence of brackish river water on top the frontal system. The salinity anomaly at the surface correlates with the presence of large ageostrophic velocities along the frontal jet. In addition, the rapid evolution of these waters impinges on the thermohaline variability in the proximity of the front. The comparison of surface overview during the cruise is well represented by the reanalysis although at depth, this misses the thermohaline intrusions developed both sides the front. On the other hand, climatological data misses the numerous mesoscale features. We also examine the circulation pattern in the upper 2000 m depth. We find a relatively weak MC near 41°S, 56°W followed by its cyclonic retroflection, an intense subtropical anticyclone replacing the BC-overshoot (BCO), a subantarctic inflow near 53°W maintained both by an upstream earlier diversion of the MC and the cyclonic recirculation of the flow leaving the east along the confluence front, and on the northern extreme of the Confluence the southward flow of BC. The results in this chapter also suggest the existence of dianeutral mixing and cross-frontal exchanges. We assess the high-frequency temperature variability at this region combining sea surface temperature images with novel high-resolution SeaSoar measurements. We found spatio-temporal scales between 1.5 and 6 days and between 20 and 50 km with the shortest scales along the shelf-break BC and over the Confluence front, with the largest ones along the MC and MRC. Variability increases at the subsurface due to submesoscale thermohaline intrusions. Finally, we analyse the relative role of dianeutral mixing by small scale turbulence and isoneutal mixing induced by mesoscale eddy stirring in setting the temperature-salinity relationship in the Argentine basin using microstructure measurements along the Subtropical Front (STF). Dieneutral mixing is enhanced in the upper 500 m of the water column, especially downstream the BCO, and at depth over the shelf-break and the eastern limit of the basin at the mid-Atlantic ridge. Isoneutral diffusivity dominates below 500 m in the centre of the basin. Moreover, we determine the cross-frontal eddy-advective mass flux. These induce the subduction of about 3 Sv of mode and intermediate waters into the subtropical thermocline and the poleward transport of Upper Circumpolar Deep Water.El suroeste del Océano Atlántico es clave del sistema climático global. En esta región se encuentran las corrientes de Brasil y Malvinas, dando lugar a uno de los sistemas frontales más intensos del océano mundial, la Confluencia de Brasil-Malvinas (BMC). Esta región frontal es el punto de encuentro de aguas de origen subtropical, cálidas y saladas, que son transportadas hacia el sur en la corriente de Brasil y aguas de origen subantárctico que viajan hacia el ecuador a lo largo de la corriente de Malvinas. La intensa mezcla y los intercambios frontales cruzados transforman en gran medida las masas de agua que aquí se encuentran y que finalmente fluirán hacia el sur, hacia el este o que serán subducidas hacia la termoclina subtropical. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo principal ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre la circulación y dinámica en la BMC, colocando estos resultados en perspectiva, desde la pequeña escala a la escala global. El intenso contraste de propiedades de las aguas que se encuentran en esta región se asemeja a los intensos gradientes de temperatura que encontramos entre las altas y bajas latitudes. En un primer trabajo, analizamos los cambios en el contenido de calor de la atmósfera y el océano superior durante los últimos 450 millones de años. A continuación, describimos las condiciones hidrográficas encontradas en la BMC a principios de otoño de 2015 a partir de los datos recogidos en una campaña oceanográfica (TIC-MOC) y su comparación con datos de reanálisis y climatológicos. Estos revelan la presencia de aguas salobres del Río de la Plata en los primeros metros del sistema frontal. La anomalía de salinidad presenta una correlación positiva con las intensas velocidades ageostróficas a lo largo del jet frontal. La comparación de la visión general de las condiciones superficiales durante la campaña está bien representada por el reanálisis de alta resolución, aunque en profundidad su exactitud es menor debido a la presencia de intrusiones termohalinas desarrolladas a ambos lados del frente, no reproducidas por el modelo. Los datos climatológicos, sin embargo, al representar las condiciones medias del mes, no muestran las numerosas estructuras de mesoescala encontradas en la región. Asimismo, examinamos el patrón de circulación en los primeros 2000 metros de la columna de agua. Al sur del frente encontramos un transporte débil de la MC aproximadamente a 41oS, 56oW, seguido de su retroflexión ciclónica, un anticiclón subtropical intenso que reemplaza la retroflexión de la corriente de Brasil, un flujo de aguas subantárcticas a 53oW alimentado por un desvío aguas arriba de la MC y la recirculación ciclónica del flujo que sale al este a lo largo del frente de Confluencia. En el extremo norte, encontramos el transporte hacia el sur, dentro de los valores medios, de la corriente de Brasil. Los resultados en este capítulo sugieren también la existencia de mezcla dianeutra e intercambios frontales en la BMC. Evaluamos la variabilidad de alta frecuencia de la temperatura en esta región combinando imágenes de temperatura superficial del mar con nuevas mediciones de alta resolución recogidas con un SeaSoar (campaña RETRO-BMC). Encontramos escalas espacio-temporales características de entre 1.5 y 6 días y entre 20 y 50 km. Las escalas más cortas se encuentran la lo largo de la corriente de Brasil en su proximidad a la plataforma continental y sobre el frente de Confluencia, mientas que las mayores escalas corresponden a la MC y su retroflexión. La variabilidad aumenta en profundidad debido a la presencia de las intrusiones termohalinas submesoescalares. Finalmente, analizamos el papel relativo de la mezcla dianeutra debida a turbulencia de pequeña escala y de la mezcla isoneutra inducida por remolinos de mesoescala en establecer la relación temperatura-salinidad en la cuenca argentina utilizando para ello mediciones de microestructura. La mezcla dianeutra es máxima en los primeros 500 m de la columna de agua, especialmente aguas abajo de la BCO, y en profundidad sobre el borde de la plataforma continental y el límite oriental de la cuenca sobre la Dorsal Mesoatlántica. La difusividad isoneutral domina en profundidad (>500 m) en el centro de la cuenca. Además, determinamos el flujo de masa meridional debido a la advección inducida por los remolimos mesoscalares.Postprint (published version

Earth resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes (issue 58)

This bibliography lists 500 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between April 1 and June 30, 1988. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Toward quantifying the increasing role oceanic heat in sea ice loss in the new Arctic

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 96 (2015): 2079–2105, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00177.1.The loss of Arctic sea ice has emerged as a leading signal of global warming. This, together with acknowledged impacts on other components of the Earth system, has led to the term “the new Arctic.” Global coupled climate models predict that ice loss will continue through the twenty-first century, with implications for governance, economics, security, and global weather. A wide range in model projections reflects the complex, highly coupled interactions between the polar atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere, including teleconnections to lower latitudes. This paper summarizes our present understanding of how heat reaches the ice base from the original sources—inflows of Atlantic and Pacific Water, river discharge, and summer sensible heat and shortwave radiative fluxes at the ocean/ice surface—and speculates on how such processes may change in the new Arctic. The complexity of the coupled Arctic system, and the logistic and technological challenges of working in the Arctic Ocean, require a coordinated interdisciplinary and international program that will not only improve understanding of this critical component of global climate but will also provide opportunities to develop human resources with the skills required to tackle related problems in complex climate systems. We propose a research strategy with components that include 1) improved mapping of the upper- and middepth Arctic Ocean, 2) enhanced quantification of important process, 3) expanded long-term monitoring at key heat-flux locations, and 4) development of numerical capabilities that focus on parameterization of heat-flux mechanisms and their interactions.2016-06-0

Potential for an underwater glider component as part of the Global Ocean Observing System

The contributions of autonomous underwater gliders as an observing platform in the in-situ global ocean observing system (GOOS) are investigated. The assessment is done in two ways: First, the existing in-situ observing platforms contributing to GOOS (floats, surface drifters, moorings, research/commercial ships) are characterized in terms of their current capabilities in sampling key physical and bio-geochemical oceanic processes. Next the gliders’ capabilities are evaluated in the context of key applications. This includes an evaluation of 140 references presented in the peer-reviewed literature. It is found that GOOS has adequate coverage of sampling in the open ocean for several physical processes. There is a lack of data in the present GOOS in the transition regions between the open ocean and shelf seas. However, most of the documented scientific glider applications operate in this region, suggesting that a sustained glider component in the GOOS could fill that gap. Glider data are included for routine product generation (e.g. alerts, maps). Other noteworthy process-oriented applications where gliders are important survey tools include local sampling of the (sub)mesoscale, sampling in shallow coastal areas, measurements in hazardous environments, and operational monitoring. In most cases, the glider studies address investigations and monitoring of processes across multiple disciplines, making use of the ease to implement a wide range of sensors to gliders. The maturity of glider operations, the wide range of applications that map onto growing GOOS regional needs, and the maturity of glider data flow all justify the formal implementation of gliders into the GOOS. Remaining challenges include the execution of coordinated multinational missions in a sustained mode as well as considering capacity-building aspects in glider operations as well as glider data use