AUTHOR=Thierry Virginie , Claustre Hervé , Pasqueron de Fommervault Orens , Zilberman Nathalie , Johnson Kenneth S. , King Brian A. , Wijffels Susan E. , Bhaskar Udaya T. V. S. , Balmaseda Magdalena Alonso , Belbeoch Mathieu , Bollard Marine , Boutin Jacqueline , Boyd Phillip , Cancouët Romain , Chai Fei , Ciavatta Stefano , Crane Rich , Cravatte Sophie , Dall’Olmo Giorgio , Desbruyères Damien , Durack Paul J. , Fassbender Andrea J. , Fennel Katja , Fujii Yosuke , Gasparin Florent , González-Santana Alberto , Gourcuff Claire , Gray Alison , Hewitt Helene T. , Jayne Steven R. , Johnson Gregory C. , Kolodziejczyk Nicolas , Le Boyer Arnaud , Le Traon Pierre-Yves , Llovel William , Lozier M. Susan , Lyman John M. , McDonagh Elaine L. , Martin Adrian P. , Meyssignac Benoit , Mogensen Kristian S. , Morris Tamaryn , Oke Peter R. , Smith Walker O. , Owens Breck , Poffa Noé , Post Joanna , Roemmich Dean , Rykaczewski Ryan R. , Sathyendranath Shubha , Scanderbeg Megan , Scheurle Carolyn , Schofield Oscar , von Schuckmann Karina , Scourse James , Sprintall Janet , Suga Toshio , Tonani Marina , van Wijk Esmee , Xing Xiaogang , Zuo Hao 

TITLE=Advancing ocean monitoring and knowledge for societal benefit: the urgency to expand Argo to OneArgo by 2030

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1593904

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2025.1593904

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=The ocean plays an essential role in regulating Earth’s climate, influencing weather conditions, providing sustenance for large populations, moderating anthropogenic climate change, encompassing massive biodiversity, and sustaining the global economy. Human activities are changing the oceans, stressing ocean health, threatening the critical services the ocean provides to society, with significant consequences for human well-being and safety, and economic prosperity. Effective and sustainable monitoring of the physical, biogeochemical state and ecosystem structure of the ocean, to enable climate adaptation, carbon management and sustainable marine resource management is urgently needed. The Argo program, a cornerstone of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), has revolutionized ocean observation by providing real-time, freely accessible global temperature and salinity data of the upper 2,000m of the ocean (Core Argo) using cost-effective simple robotics. For the past 25 years, Argo data have underpinned many ocean, climate and weather forecasting services, playing a fundamental role in safeguarding goods and lives. Argo data have enabled clearer assessments of ocean warming, sea level change and underlying driving processes, as well as scientific breakthroughs while supporting public awareness and education. Building on Argo’s success, OneArgo aims to greatly expand Argo’s capabilities by 2030, expanding to full-ocean depth, collecting biogeochemical parameters, and observing the rapidly changing polar regions. Providing a synergistic subsurface and global extension to several key space-based Earth Observation missions and GOOS components, OneArgo will enable biogeochemical and ecosystem forecasting and new long-term climate predictions for which the deep ocean is a key component. Driving forward a revolution in our understanding of marine ecosystems and the poorly-measured polar and deep oceans, OneArgo will be instrumental to assess sea level change, ocean carbon fluxes, acidification and deoxygenation. Emerging OneArgo applications include new views of ocean mixing, ocean bathymetry and sediment transport, and ecosystem resilience assessment. Implementing OneArgo requires about $100 million annually, a significant increase compared to present Argo funding. OneArgo is a strategic and cost-effective investment which will provide decision-makers, in both government and industry, with the critical knowledge needed to navigate the present and future environmental challenges, and safeguard both the ocean and human wellbeing for generations to come.