High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Due to the importance of surface weather observations from the surface of the ocean, the voluntary observing ship program, known as VOS, was set up to train crews how to take weather observations while at sea and also to calibrate weather sensors used aboard ships when they arrive in port, such as barometers andthermometers.Surface weather observations are the fundamental data used for safety as well as climatological reasons to forecast weather and issue warnings worldwide.