Insights about climate are being uncovered thanks to improved capacities to observe ocean salinity, an essential climate variable. However, cracks are beginning to appear in the ocean observing system that require prompt attention if we are to maintain the existing, hard-won capacity into the near future.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dean Roemmich, Susan E. Wijffels, Lynne D. Talley, Gregory C. Johnson and Bernadette M. Sloyan for providing information for the international Argo and GO-SHIP programs respectively. We also thank Mathieu Belbeoch, Argo Coordinator at JCOMMOPS, for providing Argo deployment and active float activity data. The work of P.J.D. from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is a contribution to the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, Regional and Global Climate Modeling Program under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. The work by T.L. was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). The work by N.T.V. was supported by NASA's Physical Oceanography Program.
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Durack, P., Lee, T., Vinogradova, N. et al. Keeping the lights on for global ocean salinity observation. Nature Clim Change 6, 228–231 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2946
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2946
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