IOC-WMO-UNEP-ICSU Steering Committee of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Fourth Session, 14-16 March 2001, Vina del Mar, Chile
IOC/UNESCO (2001). IOC-WMO-UNEP-ICSU Steering Committee of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Fourth Session, 14-16 March 2001, Vina del Mar, Chile. GOOS Report, 102. IOC Reports of Meetings of Experts and Equivalent Bodies, 170. 79 pp.
The fourth session of the GOOS Steering Committee (GSC) took place on March 14-16, 2001, in Vina del Mar, Chile. Progress was reported on the merger of the Coastal GOOS, Health of the Ocean (HOTO), and Living Marine Resources (LMR) Panels to form the Coastal Ocean Observations Panel (COOP), which first met in October, and will produce an integrated design plan for coastal seas. A change has been approved in the Terms of Reference of the Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC) to reflect the expansion of its role to include ocean physical and biogeochemical processes as well as climate. The GSC endorsed the plans of COOP and the OOPC. The GSC welcomed the positive results of the First GOOS Users’ Forum, and encouraged continuation of this new consultative mechanism. The GSC approved expansion of the GOOS Initial Observing System (GOOS-IOS) to include the California Co-operative Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI), and the Global Observing Systems Information Centre (GOSIC). In addition, it identified the satellite missions that contribute to the GOOS-IOS. The Committee endorsed the progress in and plans for the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE), which has now formed a pilot project to develop high-resolution SST data sets and products. The GSC noted that several countries have made financial commitments to the Argo profiling float project, including funds to support the recruitment of an Argo Technical Co-ordinator, who started work in February 2001 at the Argo Information Centre in Toulouse. Around 1500 Argo floats are expected to be in the water by the beginning of GODAE (2003), though difficulties are foreseen in obtaining full global coverage. The GSC was pleased with the growing regional development of GOOS. Development of an Indian Ocean GOOS had begun at meetings in Perth, Western Australia. Meetings had been held between GOOS and both ICES (North Atlantic) and PICES (North Pacific) to see how their ecosystem requirements could be met by GOOS developments. Contacts had been strengthened between GOOS and UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme. Regional meetings had been held to take forward the development of PacificGOOS, IOCARIBE-GOOS, and Black Sea GOOS. MedGOOS had been successful in attracting major funding from the EC to expand development in the Mediterranean. EuroGOOS had begun working towards operational ecosystems models and forecasts. NEAR-GOOS had begun moving towards operational forecasting. The GSC approved plans to inaugurate a new Tropical Moored Buoy Implementation Panel (TIP) under the auspices of CLIVAR, GOOS and GCOS to cover buoy array requirements in all the tropical oceans. The GSC approved the hiring of a consultant to collect information on national activities, so as to improve the national GOOS database on the GOOS web site. The Committee also approved strengthening relationships with the partnership for an Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) (focusing on space-based observations), and with the Partnership for Observations of the Global Ocean (POGO) (focusing on education and training), and recommended dissolution of the Global Observing Systems Space Panel (GOSSP). An Implementation Strategy for Capacity Building was approved. The GSC was pleased with the first issue of the GOOS Products and Services Bulletin, which had been published on the GOOS web site. Progress with and plans for communication and information about GOOS were approved, as was the GOOS work programme and budget. The Committee proposed that in 2002 there should be a major international review of progress in GOOS.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy
