Deployment
In order to maintain the 3 000 floats, the deployment of 250 European floats per year is needed. Currently the target is not reached. The table below presents the deployed European floats (from AIC) from 2002 to 2007 and national long-term plan (to be updated according the evolution of the PP of Euro-Argo):
The challenge of Euro-Argo PP is to implement national long-term plans with the European partners’ country from this project but also with new European countries. Every new participating country for this long-term plan is welcome. A direct contribution from European Commission is also hoped to a total value of 30%.
The Euro-Argo infrastructure need to involved European countries as much as possible in order to build and strengthen a long term plans for 250 floats deployed per year. This preparatory phase had to develop a sustained European infrastructure to provide global ocean data in support of climate research and ocean studies, and to facilitate access to European scientists. A long lasting component of 800 floats will be progressively built up as a contribution to the International Argo Programme, to which it will be fully integrated.
