ATOC network definition

The Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) Project has defined an initial network of acoustic paths in the north and tropical Pacific Ocean to establish the feasibility of acoustic techniques for observing ocean climate trends. This paper summarizes the planned network, and the acoustics and engineering issues surrounding its design. Now under development this network will resolve extant questions relative to the stability and variability of discrete arrivals over 3 megameter paths to calibrate seasonal cycles, tides, mesoscale add larger scale processes that mask long term climate trends.