Ship Observations Team

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Ship Observations Team

• NOAA Climate Observations Program 3rd Annual
  System Review.
• 2527 April 2005, Silver Spring, USA.

Graeme Ball Chairman, Ship Observations Team
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Outline

• JCOMM
• Background.
• Structure.

• SOT
• Composition of SOT.
• Program Status.
• Objectives of SOT.
• Scientific Guidance to SOT.
• SOT Working Arrangements.
• Panel Chairs.
• SOT Sessions.
• Achievements.
• Major Issues from SOT-III.
• Websites.

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JCOMM Background

• The reporting and coordinating mechanism for all
  operational marine activities of both WMO and
  IOC.
• Formally established in 1999 through a merger of
• WMO Commission for Marine Meteorology (CMM).
• IOC Committee for the Integrated Global Ocean
  Services System (IGOSS).

Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and
Marine Meteorology
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JCOMM Structure
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Composition of SOT

• SOT consists of a group of enduring and
  successful data collection programs
• Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) Scheme.
• Ship of Opportunity Programme (SOOP).
• Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme (ASAP).
• Membership is open to any country operating any
  of these programs.

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Program Status

• VOS
• About 6,700 ships worldwide taking surface
  meteorological observations (1,080,000 SHIP
  messages on GTS in 2003).
• SOOP
• About 70 ships worldwide taking upper-ocean
  thermal profiles on prescribed XBT sampling lines
  ( 24000 BATHY p.a.).
• ASAP
• About 15 ships, mostly in the North Atlantic and
  Mediterranean, taking upper-air profiles (4000
  TEMP in 2004).

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XBT Sampling Lines
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ASAP routes (2004) for EUCOS
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Sub-Programs/Projects

• VOSClim VOS Climate Project
• Reference climate network (target 200 ships,
  now 55).
• Multi-disciplinary underway sampling
• Including atmospheric and ocean carbon,
  fluorescence, pigments, SST and salinity (few
  ships).
• WRAP Worldwide Recurring ASAP Project
• Upper-air profiles in the Indian Ocean (1 ship).

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Objectives of SOT

• To manage, coordinate and, wherever possible,
  integrate these programs to support a range of
  well defined operational and research
  applications.
• To liaise and coordinate with other groups
  involved in using volunteer ships as
  environmental observing platforms with a view to
  their participation in SOT.
• To foster greater national coordination between
  agencies involved in similar or related programs.

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Scientific Guidance to SOT

• Provided by panels and bodies for climate and
  operational meteorology, including
• GCOS/GOOS/WCRP Ocean Observations Panel for
  Climatology (OOPC).
• CLIVAR Global Synthesis and Observations Panel
  (GSOP).
• WMO Commission for Basic Systems (CBS).

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SOT Working Arrangements

• SOT meets every two years.
• Incorporates separate but plenary sessions of the
  three program panels.
• Matters of general interest are discussed during
  the common sessions of SOT. Panel specific
  matters are discussed during the plenary sessions.

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SOT Working Arrangements

• Most work is undertaken during the
  inter-sessional period by specific Task Teams
  that report to SOT
• VOS Recruitment and Programme Promotion (SOT-II).
• Metadata for Pub47 (SOT-II).
• Satellite Telecommunications Costs (SOT-II).
• Instrument Standards (SOT-II).
• VOSClim (SOT-III), replaces the former VOSClim
  panel.
• Coding (SOT-III).

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Panel Chairs
SOT Graeme Ball Australia

VOSP Julie Fletcher New Zealand
SOOPIP Steve Cook United States
ASAPP Sarah North United Kingdom
caretaker role until JCOMM-II
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Sessions of SOT
SOT Date Date Location Plenary Sessions
1 Mar 2001 Goa, India. VOSP-II, SOOPIP-IV, ASAPP-XIII
2 July 2003 London, UK. VOSP-III, SOOPIP-V, ASAPP-XIV
2 Held in conjunction with PMO-II and VOSClim-IV Held in conjunction with PMO-II and VOSClim-IV Held in conjunction with PMO-II and VOSClim-IV
3 Mar 2005 Brest, France. VOSP-IV, VOSClim-V, SOOPIP-VI, ASAPP-XV.
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Achievements

• Greater cooperation and coordination between
• VOSP, SOOPIP and ASAPP.
• International VOS, SOOP and ASAP operators.
• National agencies operating similar programs.
• Greater drifting buoy and profiling float
  deployment opportunities to support
• DBCP and its Regional Action Groups.
• AST.

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Achievements

• Greater liaison with other groups that use
  volunteer ships as observing platforms
• International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project
  (IOCCP).
• Seakeepers International.
• Greater use of PMOs, leading to a reduced number
  of visitors to ships with sampling program
  requests.
• Spreading the load - ensuring the better
  reporting and more obliging ships are not
  over-tasked.

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Achievements

• Raising awareness of the need for
• Comprehensive observer training and re-training.
• Equipment standards leading to data quality
  assurance.
• Regular instrument calibration checks or
  replacement.
• Robust data processing and reporting methods.
• Data quality control and quality monitoring.
• JCOMMOPS support
• Currently provided to DBCP, SOOP and Argo.
• Increasing for the VOS (and possibly also for
  ASAP).

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Achievements

• Enhanced VOS monitoring tools
• Timeliness of receipt of observations.
• Multi-recruitment.
• Data quality monitoring.
• Integration opportunities provided by the Task
  Team on VOS Recruitment and Programme Promotion
• Design Guidelines for shipbuilders.
• SOT Certificate of Participation.
• SOT flyer.
• PowerPoint presentation on ship recruitment.

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Major Issues from SOT-III

• Security issues resulting from the
  publishing/plotting of ships names and positions
  on the Internet.
• Impact of the ISPS Code and Customs requirements
  on national VOS operations.
• Promotion of the VOS Scheme through IMO.
• Multi-recruitment of VOS ships.

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Websites
JCOMM www.wmo.ch/web/aom/marprog/
SOT www.jcommops.org/sot/
VOS www.bom.gov.au/jcomm/vos/
SOOP www.ifremer.fr/ird/soopip/
JCOMMOPS www.jcommops.org
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