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International Coordination

NEW: Ocean.US to Coordinate National Response to I-GOOS for Ocean Observing System 2007 - National Contributions and Intended Future Commitments

Information has been requested about national contributions and commitments to four areas of the ocean observing system: observations; data management; products and services; and coordination activities including capacity building. Submissions are due on 1 May 2007. Click here to view the electronic template for national reporting to I-GOOS-VIII (June 2007).

The global module of the Integrated Ocean Observing System is comprised of twelve complementary in situ space-based data and assimilation subsystems:

The system illustrated in the figure represents the common goals and objectives of the international Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM), the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) global component.

Global Component of the IOOS

The development of the global module of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) began in 1978, when the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established the Committee on Climate Change and the Ocean (CCCO). In 1990, the CCCO together with the Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) of the WCRP, established an Ocean Observation System Development Panel (OOSDP) to develop the scientific basis for an ocean observing system for climate. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee incorporated the recommendations of the OOSDP report into GCOS plans as the ocean component of GCOS, and agreed to implement the system in cooperation with the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The current sustained global ocean observing system for climate is jointly the global component of GOOS and the ocean component of GCOS. The OOSDP expired when it completed its comprehensive design for an Ocean Observing System for Climate. The OOSDP final report, Scientific Design for the Common Module of the GOOS and the GCOS: An Ocean Observing System for Climate, was published in March 1995.

The Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC) was formed to follow-up on the work of the OOSDP and advises the global module of GOOS. This module has been developed to be consistent with the strategic guidance of the Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) Partners’ ocean theme. The overall goal of the Ocean Theme of IGOS is to develop a strategy for an observing system for the oceans that serves the research and operational oceanographic communities and the wide range of users of marine data and information, such as scientists, policy-makers, port and coastal zone managers, the tourism industry, the fisheries and aquaculture industry, shipping, offshore mining, and the general public. Scientists need continuous and long-term observations to create products and services for a variety of uses, such as forecasts of ocean surface conditions and marine weather. The IGOS Partners’ established a team to analyze the Ocean Theme and there analysis led to a Report, published in January 2001, outlining the need for satellite and in situ observations and focused on the decisions required by satellite agencies to implement a fully operational ocean observing system. Within the IGOS Partnership, the GOOS sponsoring agencies are take the lead in overseeing implementation of the Ocean Theme, with support from the Committee on Earth Observations Satellites (CEOS) agencies for the space-based sector.

The latest specifications for the observing system are detailed the Action Plan For GOOS/GCOS and Sustained Observations for CLIVAR. This report, and the annexes contained therein, formed the basis for the considerations of the International Conference on the Ocean Observing System for Climate, GCOS/GOOS/WCRP Ocean Observations Panel for Climate and the CLIVAR Upper Ocean Panel meeting in Saint Raphael, France, October 1999 (OCEANOBS99), Observing the Oceans in the 21st Century, published in 2001. In 2001 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice "endorsed” the preparation of a Second (the first report was prepared in 1998) Adequacy Report analyzing the ability of the Global Climate Observing System to address the needs of the Convention for climate-relevant observations, including those associated with the development of adaptation strategies and invited GCOS to consider “an integrated approach to global climate observing systems, including the exploitation of new and emerging methods of observation” in order to provide a framework for further work to improve global observing systems for climate. The Second Report on the Adequacy of the Global Observing Systems for Climate, was completed in 2003. In response to the Adequacy Report, the international community published the GCOS Implementation Plan for the Global Observing System for Climate in support of the UNFCCC (GCOS-92) in October 2004. This plan details the actions needed to achieve global coverage by the ocean networks. The system put in place for climate will also support global weather prediction, global and coastal ocean prediction, marine hazard warning, marine environmental monitoring, and many other non-climate users.

The figure below presents the status of the elements of the in situ global module of GOOS as of the end of 2005 measured against the multi-year, phased implementation plan for GOOS.

Status of in situ component of Global Module of GOOS as of 2005 Ocean.US Contact Steve Piotrowicz 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 1350 Arlington, VA 22201 USA (703) 588-0888 s.piotrowicz@ocean.us


Last update: 22 March 2007 - 1:56pm