post-OO’09 Working Group

OceanObs’09building a common

vision for ocean observations

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OceanObs’09: Vision

Provision of routine and sustained global information on the marine environment sufficient to meet society’s 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

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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

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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

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OceanObs’09: calls for action

(1) Calls on all nations and governments to fully implement by 2015 the initial physical and carbon global ocean observing system originally envisioned at OceanObs’99, and refined at OceanObs'09.

(2) Calls on all nations and governments to commit to the implementation and international coordination of systematic global biogeochemical and biological observations, guided by the outcomes of OceanObs’09, and taking into account regional variations in ecosystems.

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OceanObs’09: 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.

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Goals of the International Framework for Sustained Ocean Observations task team (post-OceanObs’09 Working Group)

The WG will consider the outcomes and recommendations from the OceanObs’09 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.

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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

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The Overall Goal

• A Global Ocean Observing System is now a realizable goal, and the OceanObs’09 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.

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The 2015 Goal

• Much of the design of the sustained ocean observing system for climate is known through the community process guided by OceanObs’99 through OceanObs’09.

• 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.

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Continuity and Enhancements

• Observations must be continuous. National commitments to maintain and further develop it are needed in the short term (5-10 years).

• OceanObs’09 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).

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.