The voluntary observing ship (VOS) scheme
The voluntary observing ship (VOS) scheme
The Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) Scheme is an observing program for marine meteorology, continuing a record extending back centuries. VOS are an important component of the surface observing system, providing air and sea surface temperatures, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, waves, ice and weather data. Observational metadata allow biases to be diagnosed and corrected.
Despite its importance, the Scheme faces challenges. Observation numbers have declined as more data from satellites and buoys becomes available. However buoys and satellites do not replace the full multivariate VOS record which is needed for applications including climate monitoring, air-sea interaction and satellite validation. Other issues include changes to the transmission system and the security and commercial concerns of ship operators whose ships are identified in the data stream. Current initiatives are aimed at improving data quality, real time metadata availability and archival of data for climate applications
Marine Meteorology, in situ observations, ocean observing system
551-561
Kent, E.C.
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Ball, G.
354ce9de-a965-46ee-b988-135551218858
Berry, D.I
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Fletcher, J.
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Hall, A.
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North, S.
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Woodruff, S.D.
4fd0f53c-84f6-4229-8a89-1e4f1db29587
2010
Kent, E.C.
ea23f6f0-ccf6-4702-a5c9-184e9c5d4427
Ball, G.
354ce9de-a965-46ee-b988-135551218858
Berry, D.I
55ffc590-f459-49c8-aecf-842d65aeb0fb
Fletcher, J.
b7ccf16a-7ab1-45a0-bf67-64fd6aa497dc
Hall, A.
d264326c-a622-4418-b1c4-024867eb9218
North, S.
3b62e0b1-dc74-4c21-b8af-c94a54e70d33
Woodruff, S.D.
4fd0f53c-84f6-4229-8a89-1e4f1db29587
Kent, E.C., Ball, G., Berry, D.I, Fletcher, J., Hall, A., North, S. and Woodruff, S.D.
(2010)
The voluntary observing ship (VOS) scheme.
Hall, J., Harrison, D.E. and Stammer, D.
(eds.)
In Proceedings of OceanObs’09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society, Vol. 2.
European Space Agency.
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
The Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) Scheme is an observing program for marine meteorology, continuing a record extending back centuries. VOS are an important component of the surface observing system, providing air and sea surface temperatures, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, waves, ice and weather data. Observational metadata allow biases to be diagnosed and corrected.
Despite its importance, the Scheme faces challenges. Observation numbers have declined as more data from satellites and buoys becomes available. However buoys and satellites do not replace the full multivariate VOS record which is needed for applications including climate monitoring, air-sea interaction and satellite validation. Other issues include changes to the transmission system and the security and commercial concerns of ship operators whose ships are identified in the data stream. Current initiatives are aimed at improving data quality, real time metadata availability and archival of data for climate applications
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More information
Submitted date: October 2009
Published date: 2010
Venue - Dates:
OceanObs’09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society, Venice, Italy, 2009-09-21 - 2009-09-25
Keywords:
Marine Meteorology, in situ observations, ocean observing system
Organisations:
Marine Physics and Ocean Climate
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 71592
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/71592
PURE UUID: 7ea5f287-be5c-40b7-8fe5-b165d3df86a8
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 15 Dec 2009
Last modified: 22 Jul 2022 17:09
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Contributors
Author:
E.C. Kent
Author:
G. Ball
Author:
D.I Berry
Author:
J. Fletcher
Author:
A. Hall
Author:
S. North
Author:
S.D. Woodruff
Editor:
J. Hall
Editor:
D.E. Harrison
Editor:
D. Stammer
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