The TOGA COARE experiment aims to improve understanding of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system, particularly in the western Pacific warm pool, which is crucial for predicting climate variability on monthly to yearly scales. Despite progress in the Tropical Ocean–Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program, key challenges remain, including understanding the physics that maintain and perturb the warm pool, a region of the warmest sea surface temperatures and highest precipitation. The warm pool is considered a key region for the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, but its simulation remains elusive. The TOGA COARE experiment focuses on four main objectives: understanding the ocean–atmosphere coupling in the warm pool, atmospheric processes organizing convection, oceanic responses to buoyancy and wind stress, and multiple-scale interactions affecting other regions. The experiment involves an intensive observation period (IOP) from November 1992 to February 1993 in the western Pacific, with a focus on an intensive flux array (IFA) centered at 2°S, 156°E. High-quality data from this period will help improve air–sea interaction and boundary-layer parameterizations in models, and validate coupled models. The TOGA program has made significant progress in understanding the role of the Pacific Ocean in ENSO, showing that it is the dominant basin for this phenomenon. The Pacific Ocean's interannual variability, driven by internal dynamical modes, influences other tropical regions and the global atmosphere. The warm pool plays a critical role in setting atmospheric heating gradients and influencing global circulation. The experiment also highlights the importance of understanding convection and its variability in the warm pool, which is crucial for predicting climate. Convection in the warm pool is highly organized and has significant impacts on the ocean and atmosphere. The warm pool's convection is influenced by large-scale atmospheric processes, and its variability is linked to ENSO events. The TOGA COARE experiment aims to improve understanding of these processes through detailed observations and modeling. The experiment's findings will help improve climate models and enhance the ability to predict climate variability. The warm pool's dynamics, including its response to wind events and freshwater fluxes, are critical for understanding the coupled ocean–atmosphere system. The experiment's results will contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions between the ocean and atmosphere in the warm pool and their broader implications for global climate.The TOGA COARE experiment aims to improve understanding of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system, particularly in the western Pacific warm pool, which is crucial for predicting climate variability on monthly to yearly scales. Despite progress in the Tropical Ocean–Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program, key challenges remain, including understanding the physics that maintain and perturb the warm pool, a region of the warmest sea surface temperatures and highest precipitation. The warm pool is considered a key region for the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, but its simulation remains elusive. The TOGA COARE experiment focuses on four main objectives: understanding the ocean–atmosphere coupling in the warm pool, atmospheric processes organizing convection, oceanic responses to buoyancy and wind stress, and multiple-scale interactions affecting other regions. The experiment involves an intensive observation period (IOP) from November 1992 to February 1993 in the western Pacific, with a focus on an intensive flux array (IFA) centered at 2°S, 156°E. High-quality data from this period will help improve air–sea interaction and boundary-layer parameterizations in models, and validate coupled models. The TOGA program has made significant progress in understanding the role of the Pacific Ocean in ENSO, showing that it is the dominant basin for this phenomenon. The Pacific Ocean's interannual variability, driven by internal dynamical modes, influences other tropical regions and the global atmosphere. The warm pool plays a critical role in setting atmospheric heating gradients and influencing global circulation. The experiment also highlights the importance of understanding convection and its variability in the warm pool, which is crucial for predicting climate. Convection in the warm pool is highly organized and has significant impacts on the ocean and atmosphere. The warm pool's convection is influenced by large-scale atmospheric processes, and its variability is linked to ENSO events. The TOGA COARE experiment aims to improve understanding of these processes through detailed observations and modeling. The experiment's findings will help improve climate models and enhance the ability to predict climate variability. The warm pool's dynamics, including its response to wind events and freshwater fluxes, are critical for understanding the coupled ocean–atmosphere system. The experiment's results will contribute to a better understanding of the complex interactions between the ocean and atmosphere in the warm pool and their broader implications for global climate.