Global temperature and salinity profile programme (GTSPP) - Data user's manual, first edition.

Abstract

The Global Temperature and Salinity Profile Programme (GTSPP) is a joint Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) programme to develop and maintain a global ocean Temperature-Salinity resource with data that are both up-to-date and of the highest quality[2]. The four primary objectives of GTSPP are: a) Provide a timely and complete data and information base of ocean temperature and salinity profile data, b) Implement data flow monitoring system for improving the capture and timeliness of real-time and delayed-mode data, c) Improve and implement agreed and uniform quality control and duplicates management systems, and d) Facilitate the development and provision of a wide variety of useful data analyses, data and information products, and data sets. The international oceanographic community‟s interest in creating a timely global ocean temperature and salinity dataset of known quality in support of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) dates back to the 1981 “International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange” (IODE) meeting in Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany. The community's interest led to preliminary discussions by the Australian Oceanographic Data Center (AODC), the Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS), now the Integrated Science Data Management (ISDM), of Canada and the U.S. National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) during the second Joint IOC–WMO Meeting of Experts on IGOSS1-IODE Data Flow in Ottawa, Canada in January 1988. Development of the GTSPP (then called the Global Temperature-Salinity Pilot Project) began in 1989. The short-term goal was to respond to the needs of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Experiment and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) for temperature and salinity data. The longer-term goal was to develop and implement an end-to-end data management system for temperature and salinity data and other associated types of profiles, which could serve as a model for future oceanographic data management systems. GTSPP began operation in November 1990. The first version of the GTSPP Project Plan was published in the same year. Since that time, there have been many developments and some changes in direction including a decision by IOC and WMO to end the pilot phase and implement GTSPP as a permanent programme in 1996. Figure 1 is a sketch diagramme of the GTSPP management structure. GTSPP reports to the IODE Programme of IOC and the Joint Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM), a body sponsored by WMO and IOC.