Report of the Rapporteur on Marine Observing Systems Ninth Session of the CBS/OPAG-IOS/ICT-IOS April 2016 Report of the Rapporteur on Marine Observing Systems Jon Turton (JCOMM OCG)

Status of marine and oceanographic observations Summarized in document 4.3 JCOMM Observations Coordination Group (OCG) is responsible for technical coordination of the ocean observing networks works closely with the OOPC (Ocean Observations Panel for Climate) JCOMMOPS JCOMM in situ Observing Platform Support Centre (JCOMMOPS) provides support to the various networks

JCOMM network January 2016

Marine/ocean observing networks JCOMM ‘owned’ Ship observations (VOS, ASAP, SOOP) under SOT Data Buoy observations (global drifter array, tropical moored buoy array, national/coastal moored buoy networks, high latitude (Arctic/Antarctic) buoys, tsunami buoys) under DBCP GLOSS global tide gauge network

Marine/ocean observing networks ‘Partner’ networks associated with JCOMM Argo (global profiling float array) OceanSITES network of reference fixed point sites GO-SHIP repeat hydrography programme Emerging ‘partner’ networks Subsurface glider observations under the EGO (Everyone’s Gliding Observatories) network Carbon observations under the IOCCP (International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project)

JCOMM OCG Work Plan 5 year work plan (2015–2020) prepared following OCG-6 in April 2015 Key timelines include: Update of the GCOS Implementation Plan in 2016 JCOMM-5 session in October 2017 OceanObs19 Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS 2020) project

Requirements Ocean chapter of the 2016 update of the GCOS Implementation Plan presently being drafted Being written in terms of Essential Climate Variables Need to ensure consistency with the RRR/OSCAR

Requirements OCG/OOPC have developed network specification sheets for each network, capturing Capability in terms of ‘Essential Ocean Variables’ measured Performance metrics (with revised targets where appropriate, e.g. DBCP, allowing traffic-light (RAG) monitoring Next steps will be to develop cross-network metrics based on each variable

Present status of DBCP networks © Crown copyright Met Office

Revised global drifter array target Historical target of 1,250 operating drifters (with some ambiguity whether this includes the equatorial regions or not) New KPI of % coverage of 5x5 degree boxes (excluding marginal seas, latitudes >60N/S and any box with a death rate >20% in 30 days) including the near equatorial band (5°S – 5°N) Green>85%, Amber 70-85%, Red<70% Plus 6 other metrics for monitoring (including number of drifters measuring surface air pressure)

National/coastal moored buoy networks KPI A ‘network of networks’ operated by over 15 countries to meet various national requirements; wide variation in designs and capability Number of national/coastal moored buoys operating and delivering real-time data to GTS Green ≥ 300, 300 > Amber  ≥ 200, Red < 200 Additional metrics looking at data availability (meteorological, oceanographic and waves) in terms of variables reported to GTS and on metadata submitted to JCOMMOPS

Other DBCP network targets Similar metrics have been suggested for (i) Arctic/Antarctic buoys (higher than 60 N/S) and (ii) Global tsunami buoy network - to be endorsed by the relevant DBCP Action Groups Global tropical moored buoy network – almost all are registered with and metrics will be addressed by OceanSITES

DBCP developments - HRSST High resolution SST from drifters for improved cal/val of satellite derived SST A small number of HRSST drifters have been deployed by some programmes Anticipate EUMETSAT, who will take over post-launch responsibility for the Sentinel satellites, will shortly announce an ITT for an HRSST drifter pilot project

DBCP developments - waves Rely on ‘high quality’ in situ measurements to provide ground truth for satellite derived wave measurements But…

DBCP developments - waves There are differences in the wave heights derived by the various satellites And also differences in the wave heights measured from different moored buoy networks ETWCH-DBCP Pilot Project on Wave measurement Evaluation and Test aims to coordinate inter-comparisons and develop best practice guidance Also, potential to make wave measurements from undrogued drifters

Argo

Argo Original core array design was for 3°x3° spacing in the ice-free (between 60° N and 60° S), deep (<2,000m) oceans – which would require around 3,000 operating floats Presently have over 3,800 floats including higher latitudes and the marginal seas Now looking at a global Argo array with extensions to the original core design

Global Argo design

Emerging capabilities - Argo As well as increasing the global coverage, Argo is also looking at Deep Argo, sampling the deep (to 4,000m depth) and abyssal (to 6,000m) oceans – several regional pilot projects underway Bio-geochemical Argo, measuring oxygen, pH, nitrate, chlorophyll fluorescence, suspended particles and downwelling irradiance

WIGOS Limited appreciation of what WIGOS is within the (mainly oceanographic) OCG community, so gave a short presentation at OCG-7 OCG members now aware that national focal points for WIGOS exist and the future use of unique WIGOS numbers for marine/ocean platforms A key aspect will be the interfaces between WIGOS and the non-WMO partner observing systems (such as Argo and OceanSITES)

WIGOS data exchange issues WIS/GTS is the telecoms infrastructure used and data can only be exchanged in agreed WMO formats, e.g. BUFR which will replace the legacy TAC Opportunity for platform specific messages that include new variables (e.g. bio-geochemistry) and quality flags BUFR not used by the research community who use netCDF (hence need to develop neCDF to BUFR converters) Only NMSs have direct access to GTS, the marine/oceanographic partners within JCOMM do not OCG is encouraging the use of ERRDAP for data integration http://osmc.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap

Regional WIGOS centres Two Regional Marine Instrumentation Centres (RMICs) established NMDIS, Tianjin, China NDBC, Gulfport, US RMIC-RA-IV-2 (Feb 2016, Gulfport, USA) Recommendation to promote Quality Assurance of Real Time Ocean Data (QARTOD) best practices and standards by the US IOOS via a JCOMM Technical Report

Documentation – recommendations (Meldrum review) Separate all regulatory material from guidance material in recognition that guidance material needs to be updated more easily and possibly more frequently  Delegate all marine observation guidance documentation to the JCOMM OCG, with all essential and current material catalogued by means of two JCOMM Technical Reports, one to cover oceanographic observations the other marine meteorological observations Within the JCOMM OCG, currently existing panels/ network groups be tasked with submitting and linking their existing best-practice documentation to the proposed JCOMM Technical Reports 

Recommendation CBS to raise WMO Members’ attention to the JCOMM Observations Coordination Group’s Work Plan (2015-2020) and the need to achieve the implementation targets and to sustain the marine meteorological and oceanographic observing systems note that most, if not all, of the oceanographic observing systems are funded and operated by research agencies/institutes

Any questions?