OceanObs

1
OceanObs09building a common vision for ocean
observations
2
OceanObs09 Vision

• Provision of routine and sustained global
  information on the marine environment sufficient
  to meet societys needs for describing,
  understanding and forecasting marine variability
  (including physical, biogeochemical, ecosystems
  and living marine resources), weather, seasonal
  to decadal climate variability, climate change,
  sustainable management of living marine
  resources, and assessment of longer term trends

3
The conference in numbers

• 600 attendees from 36 countries, majority
  developed countries
• 200 poster presentations
• 99 Community White Papers submitted and reviewed
  before the conference
• 47 Plenary Presentations - so far 42
  submitted/finalized Plenary Papers, peer reviewed
  as well
• 156 comments from the community on open web page
  (blog system)
• 14 international coordination sponsors, 14
  additional national/regional agency sponsors
• budget of 450k lots of in kind support from
  ESA, IOC, WCRP, CLIVAR, NASA

4
The conference in impressions

• Interdisciplinary bringing physics, carbon /
  biogeochemistry, biology research communities to
  the same meeting
• Forward-looking / ambitious
• Guess at population sizes at conference, in
  decreasing order
• research community taking and using observations
• in situ
• satellite
• ocean product/analysis developers
• data management

5
OceanObs09 calls for action

• Calls on all nations and governments to fully
  implement by 2015 the initial physical and carbon
  global ocean observing system originally
  envisioned at OceanObs99, and refined at
  OceanObs'09.
• (2) Calls on all nations and governments to commi
  t to the implementation and international
  coordination of systematic global biogeochemical
  and biological observations, guided by the
  outcomes of OceanObs09, and taking into account
  regional variations in ecosystems.

6
OceanObs09 calls for action

• (3) Invites governments and organizations to
  embrace a framework for planning and moving
  forward with an enhanced global sustained ocean
  observing system over the next decade,
  integrating new physical, biogeochemical,
  biological observations while sustaining present
  observations. Recommendations on this Framework,
  considering how to best take advantage of
  existing structures, will be developed by an
  post-Conference working group of limited
  duration.
• (4) Urges the ocean observing community to
  increase our efforts to achieve the needed level
  of timely data access, sensor readiness and
  standards, best practices, data management,
  uncertainty estimates, and integrated data set
  availability.
• (5) Asks governments, organizations, and the
  ocean observing community to increase their
  efforts in capacity-building and education.

7
Goals of the International Framework for
Sustained Ocean Observations task team
(post-OceanObs09 Working Group)

• The WG will consider the outcomes and
  recommendations from the OceanObs09 Conference
  and, in consultation with the international
  organizations and expert advice, shall
• Recommend a framework for moving global sustained
  ocean observations forward in the next decade
  integrating feasible new biogeochemical,
  ecosystem, and physical observations while
  sustaining present observations considering how
  best to take advantage of existing structures,
• Foster continuing interaction between
  organizations that contribute towards and are in
  need of sustained ocean observations, and
• Report back to its sponsors and disband by 1
  October 2010.

8
Converging on a single vision - with many
advocates

• IOC Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of
  UNESCO
• GEO Group on Earth Observations
• CEOS Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
• POGO Partnership for Observation of the Global
  Oceans
• SCOR Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research
• SCAR Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
• GCOS Global Climate Observing System
• GOOS Global Ocean Observing System
• JCOMM Joint WMO-IOC Technical Commission for
  Oceanography and Marine Meteorology
• PICES North Pacific Marine Science Organization
• ICES International Council for the Exploration of
  the Sea
• CoML Census of Marine Life
• IGBP International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
• WCRP World Climate Research Programme

9
The Overall Goal

• A Global Ocean Observing System is now a
  realizable goal, and the OceanObs09 conference
  has called upon nations to complete the initial
  phase of its implementation by 2015.
• Our community is now prepared to build and
  sustain an observing system that will meet the
  current and future needs of our global society.
• The technologies are in hand, and the design is
  in place. All that remains is the commitment and
  resolve of our nations to make this goal a
  reality.

10
The 2015 Goal

• Much of the design of the sustained ocean
  observing system for climate is known through the
  community process guided by OceanObs99 through
  OceanObs09.
• For the next steps, the number of nations
  participating in this enterprise must increase
  and contributions must grow by 30-50 in the
  coming 5-year period.
• This growth is both practical and sufficient to
  show major impacts on the scope and capabilities
  of the system. The guiding principles for this
  growth should be sustainability, effectiveness,
  and economy.

11
Continuity and Enhancements

• Observations must be continuous. National
  commitments to maintain and further develop it
  are needed in the short term (5-10 years).
• OceanObs09 is recommending numerous enhancements
  that include observations of the deep and
  ice-covered oceans, boundary currents, mixing,
  repeat hydrography and expanded biogeochemical
  measurements.
• Enhancements are needed to adequately describe
  and model phenomena that are of relevance to
  society (e.g., rates of sea level rise and its
  causes, and seasonal-to-decadal climate signals).

12
Endangered Measurements

• The international community must make a strong
  commitment to preserve or repair the continuity
  of several critical but endangered measurements
  (e.g., scatterometers and time-varying gravity).
• To date, no single agency has accepted
  responsibility for transitioning such key
  satellite missions from technology demonstration
  to sustained Earth observation.

13
Integration of Bio-geochemical Obs

• Multi-decadal ocean warming and acidification
  have impacts on marine ecosystems with severe
  socio-economic consequences.
• There is an urgent need to fully integrate
  biogeochemical and biological observations into
  the ocean observing system.

14
The Envisioned System

• A balance between autonomous instrument networks,
  moorings and shipboard observations will be
  required.
• Profiling floats for improved efficiency and a
  wide variety of increased capabilities (deep
  ocean, seasonal ice, active array management,
  high vertical resolution, surface layer,
  ecosystem and biogeochemical sensors).
• Glider sampling is also important in regional
  settings where high resolution transects are
  needed (boundary currents, marginal seas, water
  mass formation regions).

15
The Envisioned System

• The overall strategy for expanding the observing
  system should begin by exploiting the autonomous
  technologies to the greatest extent feasible.
• Parallel expansions of moored and shipboard
  systems must build on their synergy with
  autonomous systems and their role in building an
  integrated physical, biogeochemical and
  biological ocean observing system.
• Extending the global ocean observing system to
  include the high latitudes, deep oceans, boundary
  currents, marginal seas, and a multi-disciplinary
  suite of measurements.