Science applications (monitor, detect, understand and predict):• CO2 uptake by the ocean• biological productivity, biomass, ecosystem variables and fluxes• air-sea fluxes• thermohaline changes, water mass transformation• rapid or episodic changes (mixed-layer, blooms, convection, MOC, etc)• mass/heat transports (boundary current, over/throughflows, MOC)• geophysics

Operational applications:• reference data for forecasting systems (in-situ biogeochemical)• constraints (e.g. transports) for assimilation runs• detection of events• validation of products

Technical applications (reference/calibrate/verify/...) :• air-sea fluxes• remotely sensed variables (SST, wind, color)• sensor calibration (VOS, T/S of floats, ...)• model statistics, physics and parameterizations (and their variability)• providing sound signals for float naviation, acoustic tomography • testbed for new instrumentation

Rationales for timeseries

A global ocean timeseries observatory system is under development internationally

• Started as GOOS/CLIVAR/POGO sponsored (via OOPC/COOP) activity

• The system is multidisciplinary in nature, collecting physical, meteorological, chemical, biological and geophysical timeseries observations

• Goal is to make the data are publicly available as soon as received and quality-controlled by the owner/operator

• An International Steering Team provides guidance, coordination, outreach, and oversight for the implementation, data management and capacity building (18 scientists operating sites, representing all ocean disciplines)

• A pilot system has been defined consisting of all operating sites and those planned to be established within 5 years, subject to evaluation in terms of the qualifying criteria by the Science Team.

Definition of an ocean timeseries site in OceanSITES

• Sustained in-situ observations at fixed geographic locations of ocean/climate related quantities at a sampling rate high enough to unambiguously resolve the signals of interest.

• only truly Eulerian data, i.e. no ship sections or underway data, no surveys with vessels or gliders around a site. But PRODUCTS derived from other systems, e.g. transport timeseries from ferry ADCP sections, would be included in data base.

• Transport sections using whatever technique are included in choke points and major boundary current systems IF based on Eulerian data (moorings, gliders, tomography, etc)

• Coastal timeseries are included when they are instrumented to have multidisciplinary impact on the global observing system and if they are not part of a national coastal buoy network.• Any implemented site fulfilling criteria will become part of the system but has to deliver its data into the system and to demonstrate successful operation and value after 5 years.

• Real-time data telemetry of operational variables will be pursued, i.e. make effort if technically feasible

• Agreement to make data public in near real-time for real-time data or as soon as processed and post-calibrated for other data

This is a realistic goal as will be shown in the following… A number of requirements and developments will enable and drive a sustained/operational future for moorings:

… a global network of observatories, coordinated among many countries, serving many disciplines, providing data and products freely and in real-time...

VISION

Geodetic/oceanographic mooring

Requirement #1: Routine multi-disciplinary observations (physical, atmospheric, biogeochemical, geophysical, biological, tsunami)

Bottom pressure

(all existing, feasible, proposed, planned)

Also zooplankton, fish, mammals...

Labrador Sea convection and CO2

Requirement #2: Telemetry systems and standardization

Spar buoy for high-bandwidth satellite telemetry and power generationAcoustic:

- mooring sensors buoy- bottom sensors buoy

Inductive:- mooring sensors buoy

Cables:- mooring/bottom sensors shore

Satellite links:- Iridium, ARGOS- high-bandwidth systems

Glider relais:- acoustic link to mooring/ bottom sensors, transmission via satellite when at surface

Standardization:- agreed protocols (e.g.TCPIP) and hardware standards (signal levels, baud rate, acoustic encoding,etc)

(all existing, feasible, proposed, planned)

Requirement #3: Mooring technologies

Available now or in near future: surface and subsurface moorings, winched systems, cabled moorings, high-latitude spar buoys, virtual moorings, under-ice moorings,...

Requirement #4: Interdisciplinary and international Coordination

International coordination is critical for sharing resources, addressing global issues, standardization and harmonization, attracting and serving a user community, data management, visibility and advocacy...

OceanSITES, a new action group of DBCP/JCOMM, sponsored by GOOS, CLIVAR, POGO.- Steering team - Pilot project- Data management team

OceanSITES near-term system

Sharing and coordination across disciplines strengthens sites for sustained moorings.

E.g. the US ORION global mooring community merged the interests of physical oceanography, air-sea interaction, biogeochemistry, and geophysics to identify a prioritized list of sites of high multi-disciplinary interest.

Also DART tsunami system….

Requirement #5: Globally coordinated, consistent, efficient data management (strategies, technologies, infrastructure for ocean observatories)

Need: • data from the entirety of ocean observing systems should be easily available, in a single operation, in homogeneous formats• metadata vocabulary independent of sensors and platforms and disciplines

Solutions:Infrastructure:- centralized global ftp servers (ARGO, GOSUD, Global Drifter Center,…)- distributed systems OpenDap (some major projects are starting… )- Catalogues (JCommOps, EDIOS)

Syntax:- NetCDF format definitions (ARGO, OceanSITES,…)- GTS formats (DBCP, VOS, ARGO,….)

Progress made within single projects/communities (ARGO, GOSUD, OceanSITES, Mersea…)

Challenges:Semantics:-Is a satellite SST equivalent to an In-Situ SST or a Model output SST?

Overarching solutions:- very complex to solve the problem as a whole, difficult to assemble all required expertises in one group- explore mapping techniques between several standard vocabularies (MMI project)

data management (continued….)

Plan and Vision for Timeseries:

- 2 global data portals (under construction in OceanSITES)

- NetCDF format has been defined in consistency with other/prior program (e.g. ARGO) and with the US DMAC philosophy

- multi-disciplinary data from all (public) deep-ocean timeseries sites will be available in real-time, with single queries

- more challenging since several communities need to come together

Requirement #6: Homogeneous QC procedures

Data from a SYSTEM of moorings is only useful if comparable/consistent within each other and with outside data

Operational users must be able to trust consistent quality flagging/error estimates: - accepting erroneous data can cause erroneous forecasts

- rejecting extreme but good data can lead to miss important events in forecast…

3 required steps for moorings anticipated :

- real time QC needed by various operational users : required within a few hours ! Must be automatic (gross error tests, temporal coherence of the time series, consistency between different levels,..)

- first delayed mode step before mooring recovery: e.g. statistical method to compare with historical and other data and spatial/temporal variability in the area offset/drift, error bars

- second delayed mode step after mooring recovery: post-calibration, reduced uncertainty

Methods from ARGO (profiles) and GOSUD (timeseries) are now being transferred to gliders and moorings in MERSEA experience will be brought to OceanSITES

Need consistent QC procedures between single moorings AND with other platforms

Requirement #7: Sustained support (funding, infrastructure, organization, operation)

GEO (Group on Earth Observation) http://earthobservations.org Achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustained observations of the Earth system Timely, quality long-term global information as a basis for sound decision making.

The ocean component is a major element of GEO, and will include an observatory/mooring network. Many countries are committing to GEO and to setting up the GEOSS. OceanSITES isworking closely with POGO, Ocean-United and IOC to provide input to GEO.

NOAA and NSF: http://www.noaa.gov, www.orionprogram.org The US NOAA Office of Global Programs is supporting a number of sustained “ocean reference stations“, with a projected growth towards a larger contribution to a global network.NSF ORION program is under contruction.

GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) http://www.gmes.info A concerted European effort to build end-to-end system for monitoring the environment and increasing civil security• make environmental and security-related information available • provide enhanced or new services It is planned to include an organization for operational ocean observation, which is a natural home for an operational mooring activity.

Requirement #8: Interaction with users and definition/provision of products

Add value to data by providing products and indicators, e.g.- intensity of processes (air-sea fluxes, critical vertical/horizontal exchanges, productivity,....)- state and health of the ocean&atmosphere (physics/climate, ecosystem, inventories, chemicals, populations,...)- forecast/warning indicators (El Nino, NAO, blooms, pollution, earthquake,...)

(Funds are being sought from NOAA for a scientific support position with this goal)

Like other sustained systems, timeseries needs also have to be defined by applications and users

• environmental and climate monitoring• science needs• modelling and forecasting (validation) “reference stations“• management of natural/living resources• hazard warning and mitigation• ....

Status and Developments

Since JCOMM 2005 meeting in Halifax, OceanSITES is a recognized component of global ocean observing system being integrated under GOOS, JCOMM, etc.

Outcomes of OceanSITES meeting, February 06, Hawaii

• requesting special status wrt DBCP: both action group and science project (since not operational, many differences like ship-based and watercolumn, no project office support, etc)

• OceanSITES Data Team met for first time and agreed on wide range of issues, approaches, architectures (more below)

• OceanSITES website was transferred to WHOI/CICOR and design reviewed

• OceanSITES brochure was reviewed and fine-tuned (available in print now)

• Clarification on what type of timeseries are included in OceanSITES: only truly Eulerian ones, i.e. no ship sections or underway data, no surveys with vessels or gliders around a site. But PRODUCTS derived from other systems, e.g. transport timeseries from ferry ADCP sections, would be included in data base.

• OceanSITES involvement in Ocean-United and GEO agreed

Counting and nomenclature of sites/network

Clarify name: Best is“ocean reference station” = “observatory” = “ocean timeseries site”

Make clear when only air-sea flux reference stations are meant.

Tropical arrays:

• Agreed to include/keep in OceanSITES format regardless of transitioning to DBCP (included Don Conlee in Steering Team for this).• Count routine tropical arrays separately and shows as box. • Include the enhanced or “super” sites in reference network counting and show as separate sites

OceanSITES Data System

• A data format has been agreed on, modelled after ARGO, consistent with other international and US efforts, NetCDF• conventions on architecture and procedures established (DAC’s, GDAC’s, portals, etc)

OceanSITES Data System

• Coriolis/IFREMER started to be one GDAC, waiting to hear about a NOAA GDAC• Sample data are flowing now from - WHOI air-sea flux sites

- ANIMATE/MERSEA sites- NOAA/KEO mooring- Dickey Bermuda mooring- MOVE moorings- MBARI moorings (under way)- ship hydrography from Hawaii/Bermuda (under way)

• Plan to expand and invite others, once data system and format is demonstrated and operational• in future, it will be a requirement to contribute data publicly, in order to be part of OceanSITES, reflected on implementation maps

Color coding to represent data status

Science Implementation

Scientific applications are driving most of the existing sites at present…

circulation

biogeochemistry

air-sea flux

Science drivers to occupy and sustain global sites

Science drivers to occupy and sustain global sites

Website

www.oceansites.org

Brochure now available

Invitation to other projects present (IMBER, SOLAS, GEOTRACES, etc) to

• express interests and rationales for specific timeseries sites (existing or additional ones)

• cooperate on implementation, maintenance, operation of sites

• cooperate on data system for timeseries-type data

NAS2 data recovered from PAP

DateJa

nFeb

Mar Apr

May Ju

n JulAug

Sep Oct

Nov Dec Jan

FebM

ar AprM

ay Jun Ju

lAug

Sep Oct

Nov Dec Jan

FebM

ar AprM

ay Jun Ju

lAug

Sep Oct

Nov Dec

Nit

rate

con

c. ( M

)(Q

C n

ot c

omp

lete

for

all

dat

a)

0

2

4

6

8

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12

2004 20052003

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAug

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950

Ch

loro

ph

yll

(g/

l)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

In situ fluorometerSeaWIFSCruise presence

Chlorophyll Concentrationat the PAP observatory

(from median values of SeaWiFS weekly composites, 200km radius and in situ fluorometer)

Days since Jan 1st 2003

2003 2004 2005

D296AMT14 CD158PO300 PO306

Nutrient and chlorophyll data at PAP

5-year internal transport timeseries from ongoing MOVE project

US/NSF OOI/ORION initiativeAmbitious “transformative” long-term infrastructure enabling novel research(interactive communication/control to all sensors, seafloor, moving platforms, profilers, many sensors and disciplines, adaptable)

(F.Bryan et al)

Moorings: determine net mass transport, including eddies, recirculations,...

For heat transport need vT dx dz :

Gliders: provide regular upper layer T-weighting of v distribution in stream coordinates

IES+pressure: when upper-layer flow and heat content is know, this provides lower-layer correlation of v and T.

Realtime boundary current observing system under development

Possible configuration….

Possible issues for JCOMM

• facilitate cooperation with other communities (tsunami, waves, etc)

• facilitate sharing of ships (including inter-agency, e.g. NOAA-UNOLS)

• facilitate sharing of infrastructure, e.g can ORION and NOAA contribute to upgraded PAPA or Peru Stratus moorings ?

• help with advocacy to GEO: what do JCOMM and IOC do ?

• help with project office support ?

Thank you…..