Role of BSH and KDM

The German Argo programme receives contributions by the Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) and the Konsortium Deutsche Meeresforschung (KDM) with its partner institutions (AWI, IFM-GEOMAR, ZMAW). The BSH takes the overall lead to manage the operational system with sustained funding by the  Ministry of Transportation, Building and Urban Affairs  for  50 floats  each year while the KDM-partners mainly seek for new developments, advanced scientific applications and for broadening the user community.

BSH validates the ‘delayed-mode’ float data in collaboration with the KDM partners and takes responsibility for all German floats which can not be assigned to a principal investigator or expert. BSH has also offered to provide delayed-mode quality control service to smaller programmes such as Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Through its KDM partners ARGO Germany aims at obtaining additional funding for floats by the Ministry of Education and Research.

BSH and KDM collaborate with the international Argo community in the management, exchange and dissemination of the 'delayed-mode' data, including the development and adoption of common protocols. They also share responsibilities in their contribution to the North Atlantic Argo Regional Centre. The North Atlantic Regional Centre has been established to ensure consistency of Argo data from the North Atlantic from different national proframmes, to facilitate the development of a reference data base for delayed mode quality control and to support logistics for deployment.