Institutional and International Organizations NOAA Office of Climate Observation

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Institutional and International
OrganizationsNOAA Office of Climate Observation
Report to PIRATA-12 Miami, USA 1-3 November
2006 Mike Johnson Director, NOAA Office of
Climate Observation
photo courtesy of MeteoFrance
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Office of Climate Observation Mission Bui
ld and sustain a global climate observing system
that will respond to the long-term observational
requirements of the operational forecast centers,
international research programs, and major
scientific assessments. Focus on
the in situ Ocean component.
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Climate Requirements

• Document long term trends in sea level change
• Document ocean carbon sources and sinks
• Document the oceans storage and global transport
  of heat and fresh water
• Document the ocean-atmosphere exchange of heat
  and fresh water

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International Partnerships are Central
A global system by definition crosses
international boundaries.
NOAAs contributions are managed in cooperation
with the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for
Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) --
presently 66 nations.
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The Plan is in place
Observations Programme Area

• Implement the ocean domain of GCOS-92
• International GOOS
• US IOOS Global Component
• GEOSS Ocean Baseline
• UNFCCC Priority
• G8 Commitment

Same Goalsand Priorities
U.S. IOOS Global Component
OCO
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GCOS-92
Implementation Targets are designed for climate
but also serve global weather prediction, global
and coastal ocean prediction, marine
transportation, marine hazards warning, marine
environmental monitoring, and many other
non-climate users.

• Tide gauge stations
• Drifting Buoys
• Tropical Moored Buoys
• Profiling Floats
• Ships of Opportunity
• Ocean Reference Stations
• Ocean Carbon Networks

• Arctic Observing System
• Dedicated Ship Support
• Data Assimilation Subsystems
• Management and Product Delivery
• Satellites -- SST, Surface Topography, Wind,
  Color, Sea Ice

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All six global (in situ) implementation programs
are now linked internationally through WMO/IOC
JCOMM coordination
The organizing framework is in place
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Initial Global Ocean Observing System for Climate
Status against the GCOS Implementation Plan and
JCOMM targets
October 2006
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Total in situ networks
57
100
42
81
81
43
66
48
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• A total of 5635 platforms are
• maintained globally.
• Of these, 2591 are sponsored
• by OCO.

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Progress and Priorities
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PIRATA continues to be a Top Priority for OCO
Tropical Moored Buoys PIRATA extensions and
Indian Ocean Array
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Surface Drifting Buoys 1250 sustained array
(achieved)

• Users Workshop (March 2006)
• Implement hourly reporting
• Need barometers on all drifters
• (presently 385)

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Pressure vs. Distance from Center of Rita
New Addition to the western Tropical Atlantic
30 Hurricane Drifters per yearDrifting Buoys
Deployed in Hurricane Rita 20 buoys measure air
pressure, SST, wind speed direction8 buoys
measure upper ocean temperature
Wind Direction Data on Plot of Drifter Location
Relative to Rita Center
Forecast Track
NOAA Hurricane Drifters ready for air deployment
by the Hurricane Hunter Squadron at Keesler AFB
Courtesy of Scuba (2006)
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Argo Profiling Float Array
2527 active floats -- will reach 3000 by early
2007
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Note AX08 is Under sampled in FRX Mode
SOOP 39 of 51 lines now occupied
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GCOS Climate Reference Network of Tide Gauge
Stations
By the end of 2007 most of the 170 Climate
Reference Tide Gauge Stations Will Provide Marine
Hazards Warning in Real Time
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Measuring Ocean Carbon Sources and Sinks
New carbon systems on NDBC Coastal Weather Buoys
1. Inventory 10-year survey 2. Ships of
opportunity 3. Moored buoy time series
38 complete
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NOAA Contributions Future NOAA
Deploying and maintaining 89 Ocean Reference
Stations (42 now in service)
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PIRATA

• PIRATA Backbone
• Brazil SW Extension
• USA NE Extension
• NDBC Hurricane systems
• NTAS Climate Reference Station
• Africa SE Extension

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Tropical Moored Buoy Array

• Transition of Pacific TAO operations from PMEL to
  NDBC is underway.
• Indian Ocean expansion is underway - PMEL.
• Enhancing Ocean Reference Stations in the
  Tropical Oceans is underway - PMEL
• PIRATA
• Budget
• 2004 -- 600 K
• 2005 -- 1035 K
• 2006 -- 1387 K
• 2007 -- 1387 K
• Transition of operations from PMEL AOML to NDBC
  ?
• Need a Program Plan to ensure transition
  funding.
• Next programming cycle would be 2010.
• NDBC may begin serving real-time data out of
  hide.

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Thank You