|
AGENDA Item 6.1.1.
Tropical Moored Buoy Panel Report
Michael J. McPhaden
NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Seattle,
WA 98115
Michael
McPhaden, chairman of the Tropical Moored Buoy Implementation Panel (TIP),
briefed the panel on three topics: 1)
the current successes of the TAO/TRITON partnership in maintaining the
moored buoy array in the tropical Pacific; 2) recent scientific and organizational
efforts that provide an international framework developing a sustained
ocean observing system, including moored buoys, in the Indian Ocean; and
3) the recent request from the NOAA Executive Council (NEC) for a new
plan to transfer operational responsibility for the TAO portion of the
TAO/TRITON array from NOAA's Pacfiic Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)
to the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). Specific issues regarding TRITON and PIRATA
were presented by Yukata Michida and Edmo Campos, respectively, in separate
presentations.
The TAO/TRITON partnership continues to function well,
providing a seamless real-time data stream for ENSO forecasting and analysis.
During the recent 2000-03 El Niņo, TAO/TRITON data proved to be
valuable for characterizing the evolution of the event and for coupled
ocean-atmosphere model forecast initialization. The data are disseminated
to the operational and research communities via the GTS and the World
Wide Web. Between August 2002
and July 2003, a total of 119,170 data files were downloaded from TAO/TRITON
web sites at PMEL and JAMSTEC in 10,551 separate user requests. For August
2002-July 2003, real-time data return for the array was 86%.
Planning for an Indian Ocean moored buoy array has
progressed over the past year. At
the IOGOOS meeting in Mauritius in November 2002, representatives from
several nations reviewed recent scientific progress, discussed array design
concepts and implementation strategies, and produced a summary document
on the status of Indian Ocean moored buoy activities.
An informal working group of the TIP was formed at the end of the
meeting to continue the planning effort.
Subsequently, the CLIVAR Asian Australian Monsoon Panel in February
2003 recommended the establishment of a Indian Ocean Panel to guide the
design and implementation of a sustained integrated ocean observing system
in the region. This recommendation was endorsed at the CLIVAR Scientific
Steering Group meeting in Victoria, BC in May 2003.
Thus, a new Indian Ocean Panel is in the process of being established
with sponsorship by CLIVAR, GOOS, and the IOC/WMO Joint Technical Commission
for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM). The TIP will work with
this new panel (as well as other existing CLIVAR and IOC/WMO panels) to
advance the implementation of a moored buoy network in the context of
other observing system elements in the Indian Ocean for climate purposes.
The NOAA Executive Council (NEC), which advises the
Administrator of NOAA on management and policy issues, has requested submission
of a new transition plan by 31 October 2003 to transfer responsibility
for TAO array operations from PMEL and NDBC. While at one level NOAA's
management of the TAO array is an internal affair, the OOPC and other
international bodies should be aware of potential impending changes in
management practices because 1) the TAO array was developed over a 20
year period with intellectual, organizational, and financial support from
the international community; 2) it is presently maintained as a contribution
to GOOS, GCOS, and the WCRP through international partnerships; and 3)
it is universally recognized as a key element of the ENSO observing system.
McPhaden briefed the OOPC on the history and status of TAO transition
planning within NOAA and discussed some of the possible implications for
how the array might be operated in the future.
|
