South Atlantic and Southern Ocean

Sea level; Air pressure; Temperature of the water column; Bathymetry and Elevation

Sea level recorders; inverted echosounders; water temperature sensor; radar altimeters; meteorological packages

The ACCLAIM (Antarctic Circumpolar Current Levels by Altimetry and Island Measurements) programme in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans consists of measurements from coastal tide gauges and bottom pressure stations, together with an on-going research programme in satellite altimetry. ACCLAIM is contribution to the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and one of its objectives is the study of variations in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. For Phase 1 of ACCLAIM from 1983, measurements at coastal tide gauge sites took the form of sub-surface pressure (units of pressure i.e. mbar) rather than sea level (units of length i.e. centimetres). From early 1993, the gauges at many of the sites were replaced by Phase 2 ACCLAIM 'B gauges' which record sub-surface pressure, air pressure and sea level. These Phase 2 data have precise datum control. Sub-surface pressure measurements at deep ocean bottom pressure stations, together with inverted echo-sounder and temperature measurements, have also been made. Data have been collected at Amsterdam and Kerguelen in the Indian Ocean, and in the Scotia Sea (Drake Passage).

Spencer, R., Foden, P.R., McGarry, C., Harrison, A.J., Harangozo, S.A. and Woodworth, P.L. (1993) The ACCLAIM programme in the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans., International Hydrographic Review, 70(1): 7-21.; Vassie, J.M., Harrison, A.J., Woodworth, P.L. Harangozo, S.A., Smithson, M.J. and Thompson, S.R. (1994) On the temporal variability of the transport between Amsterdam and Kerguelen Islands., Journal of Geophysical Research, 99 (C1), 937-949.

Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory
Joseph Proudman Building 6 Brownlow Street
Liverpool
Merseyside
L3 5DA
United Kingdom