Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO)

The TAO Array was designed to better understand and predict climate variations related to El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO, the warm phase of which we refer to as El Niño and the cold phase La Niña, represents the strongest year-to-year climate fluctuation on the planet. ENSO events significantly disrupt normal patterns of weather variability, affecting agriculture, transportation, resource management, energy production, and the lives of millions of people around the globe. ENSO also affects Pacific marine ecosystems and commercially valuable fish stocks such as tuna and anchovy. TAO was built over the 10 year period 1985-94 and is presently supported by the NOAA/National Weather Service/National Data Buoy Center.