Societal Benefits of Operational Activities Using ARGO Data

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Societal Benefits of Operational Activities Using
ARGO Data Judith Gray U.S. Department of
Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Atlantic Oceanographic and
Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL
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Ghana Workshop
Argo capacity building and coordination workshop
Accra, Ghana, December 2006. General
Objectives To provide regional countries with
the capacity to use newly available Argo float
technology to monitor, predict, and mitigate the
adverse impacts of variations in ocean
temperatures, salinity, and currents on the
Atlantic countries of Africa (Morocco to South
Africa) and to encourage participation in the
Argo program by these countries.
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Specific Objectives

• address the integration of Argo data
  with other satellite and in-situ observations to
  fully utilize the ocean observing system to
  monitor conditions in the eastern Atlantic, by
  providing methods for the integration of SST,
  SSS, T(z), S(z) and surface currents from Argo
  data and other in situ (e.g., .XBT, CTD) and
  satellite (e.g., altimetry, SST, ocean color)
  data collected in the region
• train participants in data management, quality
  control, and reporting to international Argo
  standards
• encourage and implement data collection,
  collation, and provision of data products by
  participating countries of Africa and South
  America
• assess capacity needs and assist with capacity
  building (including cross-training and technology
  transfer) to enhance both human and
  infrastructure capacity of local scientists in
  operational oceanography

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Outline

• Struggling with usable science
• Potential areas of societal benefit of Argo data
• Argo data locations and opportunities

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Usable science?

• Current programs in climate
  change science are charged with seeking
  scientific understanding to produce usable
  information on which to base policy decisions
  (1990) and provide decision support (2004)
• Providing useful knowledge is not a given
• Experiments in science policies offer examples
  from which to harvest lessons
• To be successful at providing useful information
  to decision-makers requires research and a
  deliberate approach

• (From Lisa Dilling Center for Science and
  Technology Policy Research
• University of Colorado/CIRES, Boulder, CO USA -
  ldilling_at_cires.colorado.edu)

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Providing Useful Information The Case of
Climate Forecasts
Not as useful as expected to farmers, water
managers and so on because of a variety of
reasons

• Information provided often not what was most
  needed
• Lack of regional specificity, scale mismatch
• Inaccessible presentation, poor communication
• Not presented with accompanying info. more
  important to decision-maker, such as market and
  policy information
• Decision-makers incapable of responding to
  information--institutional constraints
• Lack of trust in information
• Uneven delivery to affected constituents ......
  And so on (ldilling_at_cires.colorado.edu)
• (From Pagano et al. 2002, Eakin and Conley 2002,
  Pulwarty and Redmond 1997, Letson et al. 2001,
  Pielke Jr. and Conant 2003, Lemos et al. 2002,
  etc.)

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Usable science criteria

• Usable science should
• directly reflect expressed constituent needs,
• be understandable to users,
• be available at the times and places it is
  needed, and
• be accessible through the media meaning
  mechanisms of obtaining information available to
  the user community (Lemos and Morehouse 2005)
• For more information http//sciencepolicy.colora
  do.edu/sparc/
• 
  (ldilling_at_cires.colorado.edu)

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Creating science useful to decisions requires a
deliberate research approach

• The creation of knowledge must be use-inspired
  (Stokes 1997)
• The process of science cannot remain isolated
  from societal needs
• Must create knowledge that is credible, salient,
  and legitimate (Clark et al.)
• Programs often lack such an approach and
  therefore represent an opportunity for improving
  decision support
• 
  (ldilling_at_cires.colorado.edu)

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Use-inspired science policy elements

• Own the problem recognize the need for a new
  paradigm or niche for creating use-inspired
  research
• Start small but dedicated not token or add-on
• Start from a problem orientation- not a
  disciplinary perspective
• Specific users or decisions
• Ethics and value transparency why this problem?
  These users? Usable to whom?
• Consider broader participation in priority
  setting and governance
• Problems are multidimensional Pull in
  disciplines and professions as you need them
• Create new metrics for success and accountability
• Celebrate the virtues of mundane science
• Develop mechanisms to connect to and influence
  larger research enterprise
  (ldilling_at_cires.colorado.edu)

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Needs Identified from Web Search (USDA/NRCS
Assessment with CCARD, Minister of Food Ag, and
other Ghanaian Team Representatives)

• Balance natural resource conservation and
  environmental protection with population growth,
  economic development and emerging land use and
  ownership conflicts
• Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Development
  Strategy - Vision 2015 - calls for increased
  economic development from small-scale farming for
  sustainable food security including increased
  exports, focused on the Afram Plains
• Estimated cost of 86M over 5 years

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Plan Elements that may benefit from improved
precipitation forecasts on climate time scales

• Infrastructure Rehabilitation Development
  (roads, 2nd ferry or bridge at Adawsu, docks on
  Afram Sene Rivers, ag processing facilities,
  and international marketing plan)
• Natural Resource Sustainability and Growth
  (education training soil utilization
  development with mechanized ag, diversifying
  plantings, and school gardens requiring
  conservation on ag lands afforestation
  enhancement with wide-scale planning, tree
  plantations, and access to natural gas planned,
  controlled burns for nomad cattle grazing
  irrigation development control of fertilizer,
  disease, and erosion and encouraging developers
  and tenants with clear and precise policies
  legal assurances)
• Water level management on Lake Volta for
  electricity generation
• Controlled reservoir fisheries

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Food

• With the introduction of early
  warning systems and seasonal forecasting for the
  entire country a tool monitoring the expected
  annual food yield has seen daylight.
• A thorough knowledge of local climate and its
  probable anomalies is essential for successful
  land-use planning as well as economic planning.
• Ghana Meteorological Services Department
  (www.meteo.gov.gh)

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RAINFALL
ONSET DATES The rainy season onset dates are
shown in the table below. The start of the
rains will be characterized by thunder storms
and strong winds and as such necessary
precautions need to be taken to protect life and
property during such storms.

• AREA ONSET DATES
• A 10 th 24 th MARCH
• B 8 th 22 nd APRIL
• C 12 th 24 th APRIL
• D 20 th 30 th MAY

The margin of error, in the onset dates, is 10
days. How are the onset dates affected by ocean
temperatures?
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Health

• Examining weather and climate
  data could be used to warn about a range of
  diseases scientists studied the density of
  green vegetation in Africa to predict outbreaks
  of Rift Valley Fever, which can kill livestock
  and humans. (From Maggie Fox, Health and
  Science Correspondent, Reuters, 7/16/99)
• Environmental refugees - people forced to move
  due to changing climate weather are more
  vulnerable to disease
• The poor are the most vulnerable, particularly
  women and children (from UNEPs Africa
  Environmental Outlook - www.grida.no/aeo/259.htm)

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Marine Fisheries

• Extensive mangroves, deltas, and
  other near-shore nursery habitats need protection
• MPAs or similar mechanisms need support they can
  combat pollution and develop infrastructure,
  legislation, and training for management (1984
  UNEP Convention for Cooperation in the Protection
  and Development of the Marine and Coastal
  Environment of the West and Central African
  Region)
• Upwelling event forecasts off Senegal, Namibia,
  and Zaire (sardines)
• Horse mackerel, hake, pilchard, anchovy, orange
  roughy,sole, monk, as well as lobster, deepwater
  shrimp, Gulf of Guinea prawns, deep sea crab, and
  inter-tidal mollusks
• In Ghana, consumption of marine protein exceeds
  terrestrial sources. Marine fisheries accounts
  for circa 10 of the Namibian GNP and 30 of
  value of all exports.
• Ecosystem Management - physical components of the
  system

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South Atlantic ARGO Regional Center (SA ARC)

• This activity started at the end of 2004.
• Main objectives of this activity
• To perform the final quality control of the Argo
  data.
• To obtain the collaboration and participation of
  South Atlantic countries to develop deployment
  opportunities from regional ships and to obtain
  data for quality control of Argo floats.

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During the NARDAC meeting in Paris it was agreed
that

• NA ARC will compile and make available to all
  countries involved a data base containing all
  available hydrographic data for the Atlantic.
  These data will be used for the final QC of Argo
  data.
• SA ARC will search for, compile, make available
  through their website and coordinate all
  platforms that can be used for Argo float
  deployments in the Atlantic.

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SA ARC (http//www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/sardac/)
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Logistics Float Deployments
AOML to centralize and post the information for
the whole Atlantic.

• Donation program
• Agreements with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa,
  Ghana.

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Argo Floats
Positions of the floats that have delivered data
within the last 30 days
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Donation Program
To fill up gaps in the South Atlantic using ships
from Brazil and Argentina.
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Started a collaboration program with the
University of Cape Town, South Africa to deploy
floats from the RV Agulhas.
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New Program - Educational
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Data Access is to be centralized at the NA ARC
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(http//www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/sardac/)
Note This activity is not funded by Argo.
Support is provided by OCO and AOML.
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Other Resources on Societal Benefits

• For more information on economic benefits, a
  great source is
• http//ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/OceanTeacher2/D
  igitalLibrary.htm
• Select Oceanography Today then Operational
  Oceanography then Economics of Ocean
  Observations
• ODINAFRICA complements Argo efforts Mika Odido
  can be reached at m.odida_at_unesco.org or you can
  go to their webiste http//www.odinafrica.net
• Benguela Environment Fisheries Interaction and
  Training (BENEFIT-Programme) to develop joint
  research and sustainable use programs
• BCLME Programme - environmental variability,
  ecosystem impacts, improvement of
  predictability
• http//www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/sardac/

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Related Training and Outreach
Courses at UNESCO that complement the Argo
efforts include Introduction to Ocean
Data Building a Local Ocean Data Base Synthesis
of Ocean and Related Data into GIS Products And
they are preparing courses on Ocean Modeling
Data Support Remote Sensing Database Quality
Control GLOBE has in South Africa 39 K-12 GLOBE
schools 56 teachers trained in GLOBE protocols