Global Ocean Observing System report card released

Global Ocean Observing System report card released

Subject :Environment

Context–

• A new Ocean Observing System Report Card – a high-level annual report providing deep insight into the state, capacity and value of our Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) – has just been released.

Prepared and produced by–

• The GOOS Ocean Observing System Report Card was prepared in collaboration with WMO, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) and other GOOS partners and experts, and produced by its operational centre

The objective of the Report–

• The report card focuses onhow an integrated observing network adds value to society across three delivery areas of climate, operational services and ocean health.
• It highlightsphysical, biogeochemical and, for the first time, biological observations, providing a global view of the state of ocean observations and identifying progress, key challenges and opportunities to enhance the system.

The 2022 Report Card includes several key areas–

• Global view of the state of the Global Ocean Observing System
• Monitoring ocean carbon uptake to allow more accurate climate model projections
• Advancing coastal inundation forecasts and early warnings
• Phytoplankton observations – vital for understanding changes in food webs and shifts in marine life
• Involvement of new communities through the GOOS Ocean Decade Programmes

Ocean carbon monitoring–

• In the past 20 years, GOOS has developed the capability to observe some aspects of the global ocean carbon, and the number of surface and ocean interior carbon observations is growing.
• To help improve our understanding of the carbon cycle, and reduce uncertainties about greenhouse gas sources and sinks, thus supporting Paris Agreement mitigation action, WMO is seeking to establish a Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System, strengthening the international observing infrastructure and related modelling and assimilation efforts.

Forecasting and early warning of coastal inundation–

• GOOS in situ and satellite observations are essential contributions to advance weather and flood warnings for coastal zones and communities which are increasingly at risk from rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storm surges
• Recently, several wave buoys were deployed on the south coast of Fiji enhancing forecasts and warnings of coastal inundation.
• The Fiji Minister for Infrastructure, Disaster Management, Land and Mineral Resources and Meteorological Services declared that work done by the Fiji Meteorological Service had enabled better planning and sound decisions prior to and during the advent of severe tropical cyclone Harold in April 2020.

Global phytoplankton observations–

• Marine phytoplankton forms the base of marine food webs and supports other forms of life, including commercial fish valued at ~US$401 billion/year.
• An important goal of GOOS is to improve forecasting of the ecosystem services provided by phytoplankton that support the Blue Economy, and this can only be achieved through gathering continued global phytoplankton observations.
• Currently, a large set of satellite measurements provide information on phytoplankton distribution in the upper layers of the ocean at all times of the day and throughout the year.
• Complementary to satellites, in situ observing instruments provide information about the composition of species of phytoplankton, the pigments they contain, and their

Way Forward–

• Increasing cooperation between observers, modellers and communities, involving the civil society in ocean observation, as well as bridging the gap between technology innovation and user capacity are only some of the focuses of multiple new actions under the GOOS Ocean Decade Programmes, highlighted in the Report Card.
• Enhanced ocean observations will form the foundation for thriving blue economies and sustainable development.

Together the 3 GOOS Ocean Decade Programmes – Observing Together, Ocean Observing Co-Design and Coast Predict– will provide the essential support needed to give us the ocean we need for the future we want.