Observing the Black Sea with Profiling Floats

It is the long-term goal of this work to gain a better understanding of the circulation of the Black Sea. While the nations bordering the Black Sea each have individual programs in scientific exploration and analysis of the Sea, these efforts have not generally been well coordinated, and the most modern technology has not been used. It is the goal of this work to begin a coordinated effort to study the Black Sea with modern profiling floats. The objective of this work was to collect a large number of high quality temperature and salinity profiles from the Black Sea during all seasons, over the course of several years, in order to be able to examine the circulation in the upper 1500 m. The circulation below 500 m in the Black Sea has not been previously well-observed over long periods, and it is planned to examine this circulation for the first time in this work.