Tuesday 23 August 2005

GP2
1520-1700 hours

210
An integrated, operational global ocean observing and hazard warning system
Alverson, Keith¹
1 IOC/GOOS, Paris, France
Author email: k.alverson@unesco.org
The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) has been in existence for over a decade. During this first decade, activities coordinated within the framework of GOOS have primarily consisted of planning observational strategies and the international governance structures required to facilitate multi-national ownership and development of the system. The most important challenge now facing GOOS is implementation. Installation must be rapidly completed, and the system maintained over the long term. Implementation is a difficult task. Substantial progress has been made, with approximately 50% of the in-situ open ocean observing system for climate already in the water, including buoys, moorings, floats, tide gauges and repeat ship of opportunity XBT hydrographic lines. However, current levels of national contribution to the observational network are clearly insufficient to finish the task. This talk will begin with a brief overview of the status of the global ocean observing system, milestones achieved and future challenges. One of these challenges is to develop a real time, operational warning system for tsunamis and other ocean hazards such as storm surges, integrated with the GOOS. The talk will describe ongoing regional and global efforts being coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO to develop such a warning system.

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