Meeting for establishing the GOOS Regional Alliance for the Southeast Pacific (GRASP), Cartagena, Colombia, 30-31 May 2003
(2003). Meeting for establishing the GOOS Regional Alliance for the Southeast Pacific (GRASP), Cartagena, Colombia, 30-31 May 2003. IOC Reports of Meetings of Experts and Equivalent Bodies. GOOS Report, 134. ii, 11 + annexes pp.
Part of: IOC Reports of Meetings of Experts and Equivalent Bodies. UNESCO: Paris. ISSN 1014-9538
The Meeting for Establishing the GOOS Regional Alliance for the Southeast Pacific (GRASP) was held in Cartagena, Colombia, from 30 to 31 May 2003. It was attended by 28 participants from 6 IOC Member States from the Southeast Pacific region and from outside the region. The CPPS, IOC and UNESCO were also represented at the Meeting. To address the variability of the Southeast Pacific Region complex system and its relation to “El Niño” and based on positive experiences and results obtained from other GOOS Regional Alliances, the establishment of a GOOS Regional Alliance (GRASP) for the Southeast Pacific Region was proposed. The purpose of the Alliance is to (i) regionally coordinate and optimize an adequate use of resources; (ii) to study the Eastern Boundary Current System in an integrated way from a regional perspective; (iii) exchange data and make it available to users; (iv) to be able to do operational oceanography as operational meteorology, and (v) to improve access to international projects (like Argo); (vi) facilitate access to research from the coastal seas of the region; and (vii) study ocean variability operating on 20-40 day scale. During the Meeting two Working Groups were established to work on the establishment of the GOOS Regional Alliance for the Southeast Pacific Region (GRASP). Working Group I worked on the preparation of a Letter of Intent for the Establishment of GRASP. Working Group II defined two key policy related themes to form the basis of major demonstration projects having significant societal benefits: (i) to improve the accuracy of weather and climate forecasts, (ii) to improve the information required to manage the fisheries more effectively. The main purpose of the Letter of Intent is the development of regional cooperation within the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) framework. It was jointly decided to: (i) establish an Ad-Hoc Group of Experts to elaborate a proposal for the strategic plan to the development of an integrated global ocean observing and monitoring system for the Southeast Pacific Region; (ii) contribute to the work of the Ad-Hoc Group by providing necessary information for the preparation of the Strategic Plan; (iii) develop activities to promote operational oceanography based on existing infrastructure and programmes in the Southeast Pacific Region; (iv) promote capacity building and exchange of knowledge among the members of the Regional Alliance; (v) promote studies to evaluate potential economical and social benefits generated by the operational oceanography in the Southeast Pacific Region; and (vi) cooperate with involved organizations on the evaluation of climatic change, research of the marine environment and impact of climatic variability. The Meeting reviewed the Terms of Reference for the Ad-Hoc Group.
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