First meeting of the Global Ocean Observing System Steering Committee (GOOS SC-1), Paris, France, 20-22 june 2012 Final report
IOC/UNESCO (2012). First meeting of the Global Ocean Observing System Steering Committee (GOOS SC-1), Paris, France, 20-22 june 2012 Final report. GOOS Report, 195. UNESCO: Paris. 32 pp.
The GOOS Steering Committee (SC), formed by IOC Resolution XXVI-8 'Strengthening and Streamlining GOOS' (2011), held its first meeting at UNESCO 20-22 June 2012. In accordance with its terms of reference, the Committee selected John Gunn (Australia) and Eric Lindstrom (USA) as its co-chairs.The Committee held structured discussions around three themes: 1. sustaining present observations; 2. expanding to new variables and serving new requirements; and 3. identifying regional priorities, capacity, and addressing gaps.The Committee highlighted the strength of treating sustained research and operational observations together, and agreed on the utility of the Framework for Ocean Observing and its focus on Essential Ocean Variables in articulating the multiple 'missions' addressed by a single observing system. It emphasized the importance of reaching out to users, and in particular to modeling users, in helping to evaluate observing system performance andidentify requirements. The Committee decided to negotiate with GCOS and WCRP on the role of the present Ocean Observations Panel for Climate, formally re-establishing GOOS sponsorship for addressing physical Essential Ocean Variables, including GOOS requirements for real-time services and in the coastal ocean.The Committee affirmed the importance of expanding GOOS into new variables. It decided to work with IOCCP as the nucleus of a panel for carbon and geochemical variables, recognizing that any expansion in mandate would require additional funding and personnelsupport. It also decided that it would seek to develop a biology/ecosystems panel in cooperation with SCOR, GEOBON and other activities.The Committee recognized the importance of the GOOS Regional Alliance (GRA) concept, as a way of engaging national action at a regional level that was often seen as most appropriate to the issues faced by Member States. It identified a large heterogeneity in the arrangements for and capacity of the present GRAs. The Committee reemphasized the utility of a link with the GODAE OceanView Coastal and Shelf Seas Task Team, and the potentialto generate projects that would develop useful information at a local level. The Committee recognized the need to develop capacity as a key element for global participation in GOOS, and in particular the need to identify and develop approaches to potential funders.The Committee agreed to an initial work plan of long-term and initial actions:1. Articulating 10-year goals for GOOS, to inform a two-year work plan;2. Engaging with key conventions and assessments on their needs for ocean information,3. Improving outreach for GOOS,4. Engaging IOC Member States, with a focus on raising awareness and information exchange,5. Identification and developing engagement with potential donors for GOOS,6. Broadening the variables examined by GOOS and establishing three disciplinary panels for Physics, Carbon/Geochemistry, and Biology/Ecosystems,7. Improving GOOS Regional Alliance (or like) implementation, starting with a focus on collecting information on priorities and capacity from each GRA,8. Capacity Development, beginning by developing a statement of needs for GOOS, and9. Analyzing the challenge of data interoperability.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy
