From the start of the Vendee Globe race, 10 skippers will carry scientific instruments onboard to support the Global Ocean Observing System, within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).
âAbout 2,000 autonomous instruments (such as profiling floats and drifting buoys) must be deployed every year to sustain the Global Ocean Observing System. Usually, the deployment of ocean observing instruments is done through research oceanographic ships, which are very costly and not able to sail everywhere throughout the ocean regardless of the season. Racing yachts allow us to reach remote and not yet well sampled areas of the ocean, filling critical observational gaps, especially during this challenging pandemic periodâ says Mathieu Belbeoch, OceanOPS Lead.
GOOS is a collaborative system of continuous in situ and satellite ocean observations, implemented by numerous programmes and organisations. These observations provide key oceanographic and meteorological data for several applications, such as climate studies, forecasts and early warnings, and marine ecosystems health monitoring....
