GO-BGC utilizes autonomous robotic floats to measure temperature, salinity, pH, nitrate, chlorophyll, suspended particles, light, and derived parameters DIC, pCO2 and total alkalinity in the ocean from the surface to 2000m. These floats can operate continuously for years in all weather conditions, providing near real-time observations of ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystems throughout the world’s oceans. GO-BGC will deploy 500 autonomous floats in the world’s oceans between 2021 and 2026 as part of the OneArgo array. GO-BGC data are made freely available through our Data page and the Argo data system.
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Data
Data from floats and ships, and tutorials on using the data
Deployment maps
Float array map and status table, current and future deployments
Adopt-A-Float
Partnering teachers with scientists to bring research into the classroom
Events
Upcoming events related to the GO-BGC project
Latest News
GO-BGC Float Data and Science Workshop
The Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Array (GO-BGC) program will be hosting a Float Data and Science workshop on August 17-21, 2026 at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
Future pathways for the BGC Argo program: A Workshop
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will hold a workshop designed to explore options for the future of the biogeochemical (or BGC) Argo program. Cross-sector experts will convene to dig into the scientific value of the program, operation and technical challenges, and pathways for transitioning BGC-Argo to a sustainable long-term operational mode.
Free-Floating Robots Find Ocean’s Carbon Storage Is Struggling
GO-BGC floats are highlighted in an IEEE Spectrum story that discusses the publication by Bif et al. (2025) on the effects of marine heatwaves on marine ecosystems and the biological carbon pump.
Revolutionizing our understanding of the ocean
Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the University of Washington, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Princeton University will use this grant to build and deploy 500 robotic ocean-monitoring floats around the globe as part of NSF’s Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2 program