During 1996 and 1997, Neville Smith and Michel Lefèbvre developed the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) concept (Smith and Lefèbvre, 1997). Its central idea was to conduct a 10-year international demonstration of the feasibility and utility of real-time, global ocean forecasting. The principal objectives, outlined in the GODAE Strategic Plan (IGST, 2000), were to:
1. apply state-of-the-art ocean models and assimilation methods for short-range open-ocean forecasts, for boundary conditions to extend predictability of coastal and regional subsystems, and for initial conditions of climate forecast models
2. provide global ocean analyses for developing improved understanding of the ocean and improved assessments of the predictability of ocean systems, and to serve as a basis for improving the design and effectiveness of the global ocean observing system

Bell, M.J., M. Lefèbvre, P.-Y. Le Traon, N. Smith, and K. Wilmer-Becker. 2009. GODAE: The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment. Oceanography 22(3):14–21, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2009.62.

Argo Science Team. 1998. On the Design and Implementation of Argo: An Initial Plan for a Global Array of Profiling Floats. International CLIVAR Project Office Report Number 2, GODAE Report No. 5, GODAE International Project Office, Melbourne, Australia.
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2. IGST (International GODAE Steering Team). 2000. The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment Strategic Plan. GODAE Report No. 6, December, 2000.
3. Pouliquen, S. 2006. In-situ observations: Operational systems and data management. Pp. 207–228 in Ocean Weather Forecasting. E.P. Chassignet and J. Verron, eds, Springer.
4. Smith, N. 2001. Report of the GODAE High Resolution SST Workshop. October 30–November 1, 2000. Available from the International GODAE Project Office, Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Australia (http://www.godae.org/Project-Office.html), 64 pp.
5. Smith, N., and M. Lefebvre. 1997. The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). Paper presented at Monitoring the Oceans in the 2000s: An Integrated Approach, Biarritz, France, October 15–17, 1997.

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