The primary goal ofwhich is to make global measurements of ocean temperature and salinity quickly and easily accessible to users. It seeks to develop and maintain a global ocean T-S resource with data that are both up-to-date and of the highest possible quality. The objectives of the GTSPP are:

to create a timely and complete data and information base of ocean temperature and salinity data of known quality in support of the WCRP;

to improve the performance of the IOC, IODE and IOC/WMO IGOSS data exchange systems;

to disseminate information on the performance of the IODE and IGOSS systems;

to improve the quality and completeness of historical databases; and

to distribute copies of portions of the database and selected analyses to interested users and researchers.