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Serious TOGA Party

Preparation for a major climate study in the Southwest Pacific is under way as part of the Tropical Oceans-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) programme. Scientists from over a dozen countries will be intensively studying an area of equatorial ocean between the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands.

The TOGA programme, and its associated Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment, involves aircraft, shipping, sounding and remote sensing ground stations. The aim is to better monitor, understand and, eventually, predict weather and climate, with particular regard to tropical processes such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

The long-term study will involve researchers from the NZ Meteorological Service, DSIR Marine and Freshwater, and Waikato and Canterbury Universities.