Atlantic monitoring system PIRATA turns 25, helps scientists globally

Joined by Brazil, France, and the US, international cooperation project PIRATA—the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic—is turning 25 years old this month, and its impacts have reached global proportions.

“It’s an investment that overflows to the entire planet because we’re talking about weather, climate, areas in which the research contributes to the design of prediction models—processes aimed at taking good care of the oceans,” Brazil’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation Paulo Alvim said during an interview on public radio broadcast A Voz do Brasil on Tuesday (Oct 10).

The program has 18 buoys scattered throughout the Atlantic Ocean that collect oceanic and atmospheric data, helping enhance weather and climate prediction models. According to information from the ministry, the data also plays a role in sea surface temperature estimates, optimizing rain and hurricane forecasts.

Of the 18 buoys, Minister Alvim noted, eight are under Brazil’s responsibility.

“[The program] contributes to the advancement of mathematical modeling, including how it can contribute to safety, and that’s where it’s important. When we work with forecasting, we’re talking about natural disasters and how we can anticipate this kind of thing. The impact of PIRATA in this connection is instrumental,” he stated.

He went on to say that PIRATA increases the capacity to predict climatic phenomena of great social and economic impact, like droughts and excessive rainfall. It also adds to Brazil’s capacity to sustainably explore the resources in the Tropical Atlantic, he added.

Ocean Literacy Dialogues

During the interview, Paulo Alvin also mentioned Ocean Literacy Dialogues, an event attended by representatives from multiple countries in Santos, São Paulo state. “It’s a partnership with the Federal University of São Paulo, joined by NGOs and UNESCO. It focuses on society’s view of the issues surrounding the ocean, and comes in a broader context, which is the decade of the oceans. We are in the decade of the ocean.”

The ocean is the new frontier of knowledge, the minister declared. “We have achieved this as gateway for new knowledge, made visible in the potential of wealth generation. Sometimes we think only about fishing, but there are other major impacts, for example, in mining, and energy,” he pointed out, adding that “the sea can be a new source of opportunity, and supplies—in the form of food, minerals, and energy.”