At the core of PIRATA, moored buoys provide daily (or higher-frequency) meteorological and oceanographic measurements in near real time. These observations are systematically transmitted through the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and distributed to operational oceanographic, meteorological, and climate forecasting centers worldwide, where they help reduce biases in numerical model forecasts.
In parallel, all data are archived and made openly available through the CORIOLIS Data Center
(<a href= »http://www.coriolis.eu.org/Observing-the-Ocean/OceanSITES-PIRATA2″ target= »_blank » rel= »noopener »>http://www.coriolis.eu.org/Observing-the-Ocean/OceanSITES-PIRATA2</a>)
and the international OceanSITES Global Data Assembly Centre (GDAC)
(<a href= »https://dods.ndbc.noaa.gov/oceansites/ » target= »_blank » rel= »noopener »>https://dods.ndbc.noaa.gov/oceansites/</a>),
ensuring long-term access, interoperability, and reuse by the scientific community.
PIRATA observations are essential for a wide range of applications, including equatorial dynamics, heat and salinity budgets in the ocean mixed layer, air–sea fluxes, numerical model validation, data assimilation in operational centers, and weather and climate prediction.