Developing and Sustaining an Arctic Ocean Observing System

The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) has been in existence for over a decade. During this first decade, GOOS was primarily a planning exercise, developing observational strategies and the international governance structures required to facilitate multi-national ownership and development of the system. This work is finished for the most part, and the greatest challenge now facing GOOS is to complete and sustain an integrated, global system with clear user benefits. Substantial progress has been made with more than half of the in-situ open ocean observing system for climate already in the water, including buoys, moorings, floats, tide gauges and repeat hydrographic lines. At the same time that the in situ system has developed GOOS has also benefitted from the continuous satellite record of essential climate variables from space including, for example, sea surface temperature, height, surface vector winds, color (an indicator of primary productivity), and sea ice extent. The system is now operational, and serving as the observational backbone for near and real time coastal inundation warnings, weather services and even nascent climate services.

At the same time, substantial challenges remain. One of the most challenging of these is to develop a sustainable regional system in the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic presents unique logistical and technical challenges due to its remote and challenging environment and seaice cover as well as governance challenges, due to the evolving nature of national research interests and territorial claims. The state of the existing near real time Arctic ocean observing system is shown in figure 1. Key future challenges in the Arctic will include in situ measurements from sea ice based platforms, particularly with decreasing areas of multiyear ice and increasingly large seasonal extent changes, measurements of changing biogeochemistry, for example air sea CO₂ fluxes and related acidification in arctic waters, as well as ecosystem monitoring. The importance of filling the Arctic gap in GOOS is given additional impetus by the ongoing rapid changes in the region, be they climatic, biological or within the social and economic realms. For example, increased ship traffic in the Arctic ocean and development along its coasts, as well as the livelihood of indigenous residents, all depend on delivery of accurate synoptic weather forecasts and marine safety and distress systems that depend on sustained ocean observations.

This presentation will begin with a brief overview of the status of the global ocean observing system, focusing in particular in the Arctic Ocean, then highlight milestones successfully achieved and conclude with some ideas on how to tackle some key future challenges.