Co-coordinated by Ifremer and LOV, Argo-2030 aims to consolidate the contribution of France to the BGC-Argo network and to prepare the next evolutionary stage of the Deep and BGC missions of the Argo program.

To monitor the ocean and understand its impact on climate, the international Argo program has operated >4,000 temperature/salinity profiling floats in the world’s oceans since 2000. Global from the surface to the ocean bottom (Deep-Argo), and fully multidisciplinary with 6 essential biogeochemical variables (BGC-Argo), the Argo program is now entering a new phase to meet the challenges imposed by climate change. Argo-2030 has two main objectives. First, to acquire standard BGC-Argo floats to consolidate the French contribution to BGC-Argo. Second, to prepare Argo’s next phase by testing and validating a new generation of BGC- and Deep-Argo floats that will dramatically increase the scientific potential of Argo. The BGC-ECO-Argo floats will be equipped with innovative ecological sensors to extend Argo’s scope to marine ecological research. Systematically equipped with oxygen sensors, the Deep-6000 floats will enable to investigate the role of the deep layers on current climate changes.