The Atlantic is the best observed and most studied of the ocean basins. The Gulf Stream System has been a central focus for oceanography since the time of Ben Franklin and packet ships. In the North Atlantic, ocean science has been vigorously pressed to improve observations and basic understanding for the practical benefits of commerce and strategic concerns. Demands for ocean “nowcasts” (the current state of the ocean) and forecasts on time scales from the mesoscale (10s of km, days to weeks) to the basin and global scale (1,000s of km, months to decades) originate from an extraordinarily diverse community, including scientists planning and undertaking field programs, designers of new observing systems, military strategists, commercial interests, protectors of the environment, and those concerned with regional climate prediction and global change.

Thompson, J.D., T.L. Townsend, A. Wallcraft, and W.J. Schmitz Jr. 1992. Ocean prediction and the Atlantic Basin: Scientific issues and technical challenges. Oceanography 5(1):36–41, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1992.30.

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