PIRATA

Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic

ANNUAL PIRATA meetings

PIRATA program community meetings are usually held once a year and welcome participants from all over the world. They are often associated with those of other partner programs. The reports of the meetings of the PIRATA SSG (Scientific Steering Group) and PRB (PIRATA Resources Board) are available on :

Reports

Tribute to Mathieu… 

Wishes to pay tribute to Mathieu Rouault, who left us on the night of January 17 to 18. Mathieu was a colleague and a friend. He participated in the PIRATA FR11 campaign in December 2002. He initiated the South-East extension of the PIRATA network and thus enabled the installation of the 'Kizomba' buoy off the coast of Congo in 2006. He will have considerably contributed to the development of oceanographic sciences and the training of many students on the African continent. His activities within the Nansen Tutu Center can be viewed at : https://www.nansen-tutu.org/ ). A “google doc” has been created in his memory: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AE2xKvNcZy9pqLtKFOBuWhko5KVaN7wrOY3pXLQM-R0/edit?usp=sharing

Moacyr (Araujo), Jacques (Servain), Bernard (Bourlès) and Mathieu at the Pirata bar of Fortaleza/Brazil, in 2017 (20th anniversary of Pirata)

News !

INFO OCTOBER 2022

Since October 2022 and the PIRATA 25 meeting (see the report on : https://www.brest.ird.fr/pirata/reports_fr.php), Jérôme Llido (UMR065 LEGOS) replaces Bernard Bourlès (UAR191 IMAGO) as coordinator of the PIRATA National Observing System (NOS).  At the international level, Bernard Bourlès is no more member (co-chair) of the PIRATA Scientific Steering Group (SSG). The PIRATA NOS is now represented there by: Fabrice Hernandez (LEGOS, co-chair), Hervé Giordani (CNRM, Météo-France), Jérôme Llido (LEGOS) and Julien Jouanno (LEGOS).

«PIRATA: A Sustained Observing System for Tropical Atlantic Climate Research and Forecasting »

Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) is a multinational program initiated in 1997 in the tropical Atlantic to improve our understanding and ability to predict ocean-atmosphere variability. PIRATA consists of a network of moored buoys providing meteorological and oceanographic data transmitted in real time to address fundamental scientific questions as well as societal needs.

The network is maintained through dedicated yearly cruises, which allow for extensive complementary shipboard measurements and provide platforms for deployment of other components of the Tropical Atlantic Observing System.

This paper describes network enhancements, scientific accomplishments and successes obtained from the last 10 years of observations, and additional results enabled by cooperation with other national and international programs.

Capacity building activities and the role of PIRATA in a future Tropical Atlantic Observing System that is presently being optimized are also described.

The list of publications to our knowledge related to PIRATA is available at: Références PIRATA

New: the story of the PIRATA rise

The rise of PIRATA 1995-2005

About PIRATA

The PIRATA project is a joint effort between Brazil, France and the United States to collect oceanic and meteorological observations in the tropical Atlantic.

The experimental program PIRATA (initially « Pilot Research moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic » and named « Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic »  from 2008) has been implemented in 1997 in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean (Servain et al. 1998). It has been launched in the framework of the international program CLIVAR (CLImatic VARiability and predictability) and implies scientific teams from three countries: France (IRD, in charge of coordination and oceanic cruises, Météo France, with contributions by IFREMER and CNRS/INSU), Brazil (DHN and INPE) and USA (NOAA/PMEL). Financial supports for the program are from the IRD, Météo France, and Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées/Université Paul Sabatier.

More...

French PIRATA cruises DOI informations

From early 2016, informations about all PIRATA-FR cruises have been made available through a "DOI" (Digital Object Identifier) 10.18142/14 through the French Oceanographic Portail.

Each PIRATA-FR cruise has it own DOI number. Each DOI gives access to cruise information, data sets, publications, etc...