IOC/WESTPAC co-ordinating committee for the North-East Asian Regional - Global Ocean Observing System (NEAR-GOOS), Fifth session, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 7 – 8 December 2000
(2001). IOC/WESTPAC co-ordinating committee for the North-East Asian Regional - Global Ocean Observing System (NEAR-GOOS), Fifth session, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 7 – 8 December 2000. IOC Reports of Meetings of Experts and Equivalent Bodies, 176. GOOS Report, 100. iii, 15 + annexes pp.
Part of: IOC Reports of Meetings of Experts and Equivalent Bodies. UNESCO: Paris. ISSN 1014-9538
The Fifth Session of the NEAR-GOOS Coordinating Committee was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, 7-8 December 2000. The main objective of the meeting was to agree on a workable mechanism for the elaboration of a medium-term strategy plan for NEAR-GOOS. The initiation of such a process coincides with the completion of the design plans for LMR, HOTO and C-GOOS, thus allowing for the incorporation of pertinent elements thereof in this regional pilot programme. In order to ensure that the medium-term strategy plan reflects the needs of potential user groups, NEAR-GOOS agreed to open the consultation process to other competent organizations and bodies, and where appropriate set up working groups to ensure the necessary scientific and technical input to the process. A crucial element of the strategy planning exercise is to arrive at a common understanding of what is to be achieved within the next five years. On the one hand, such an understanding should be guided by the overall long-term goals of NEAR-GOOS as laid down in its initial implementation plan. On the other hand, it should be driven by the practical considerations and constraints that ultimately determine the various steps that needs to be taken, what data can be contributed, for what purpose and within what timeframe. Since NEAR-GOOS has so far concentrated on establishing an effective mechanism for data exchange among the countries involved, the present development, in essence, marks the commencement of a second phase. The Committee hopes to complete the medium-term strategy plan before the Fifth Session of IOC/WESTPAC Sub-Commission in the fall of 2002. Meanwhile, the Committee also agreed to continue their efforts to improve the basic data exchange mechanism that forms the basis of NEAR-GOOS. All in all, the picture emerges that NEAR-GOOS is making steady progress. Data contribution to and retrieval from the regional and national NEAR-GOOS databases has increased considerably over the past year. NEAR-GOOS also started to report sea-level data and a variety of other data online. The databases are currently all accessible via the Internet. The countries have moreover strengthened the inter-agency coordination at the national level, which in due course should provide a sound basis for the further development of NEAR-GOOS in the years to come.
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