Data and Information on Marine and Coastal Environment
in the NOWPAP Region

(Last update: 2010-04-09)

International Programmes

Argo is a global array of 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats that measures the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean. This allows, for the first time, continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity, and velocity of the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection.

Argo is a major contributor to the WCRP's Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR) project and to the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). The Argo array is part of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and a pilot program of Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

The Argo Data System:
- Argo Data Center (float data base)
- Argo Global Data Assembly Centers (GDACS) in Brest, France
- Argo Global Data Assembly Centers (GDACS) in Monterey, California
- US National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), final repository for Argo data

GDACs in Brest, France (Coriolis]:
- DATA SERVICE
- DEPLOYMENTS
- INSTRUMENTATION
- ACQUISITION FROM RESEARCH VESSELS
- APPLICATIONS & PRODUCTS

CoML is a growing global network of researchers in more than 70 nations engaged in a ten-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans -- past, present, and future.

Scientists throughout the world are using historical and environmental archives to construct a picture of the oceans before fishing and to determine the relative impacts of human activities and environmental fluctuations since fishing became important and are compiling this information into a History of Marine Animal Populations. To quantify the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life, the Census divides the ocean into parts, with research structured around six realms that encompass life from the surface of the nearshore to the bottom of the deep ocean. Field projects are investigating these ocean realms and depositing their data into the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), a web-based catalog of global geo-referenced information on marine species, with on-line tools for visualizing relationships among species and their environment. This massive amount of Census-generated data is being synthesized and mathematical ecosystem models developed to predict changes in Future of Marine Animal Populations caused by environmental or human influences.

Support for the Census of Marine Life comes from government agencies concerned with science, environment, and fisheries in a growing list of nations as well as from private foundations and companies. The Census is associated or affiliated with several intergovernmental international organizations including the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the UN Environment Programme and its World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas,, and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization. It is also affiliated with international nongovernmental organizations including the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and the International Association of Biological Oceanography of the International Council for Science.

CoML three components:

The History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP)

An interdisciplinary research program using historical and environmental archives to analyze marine population data before and after human impacts on the ocean became significant.

The Ocean Bigeographic Information System (OBIS)

21.9 million records of 108000 species from 707 databases (till Nov. 2009), search by name and by geography.

OBIS contact information:

The OBIS secretariat is hosted by Rutgers University, Institute for Marine and Coastal Science. Contact us by email through data@iobis.org, help@iobis.org or admin@iobis.org.

OBIS organization:

OBIS was established by the Census of Marine Life program (www.coml.org). It is an evolving strategic alliance of people and organizations sharing a vision to make marine biogeographic data, from all over the world, freely available over the World Wide Web. It is not a project or program, and is not limited to data from CoML-related projects. Any organization, consortium, project or individual may contribute to OBIS. OBIS provides, on an ‘open access’ basis through the World Wide Web:

• taxonomically and geographically resolved data on marine life and the ocean environment;
• interoperability with similar databases;
• software tools for data exploration and analysis.

OBIS was one of the earliest Associate Members of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (www.gbif.org) which publishes data on all species. OBIS is a very active participant in GBIF activities, and one of the largest publishers of data to GBIF, reflecting its role as a specialist network for marine species. GBIF recommends that marine data are first published through OBIS, because OBIS can add special value (e.g. depth) and will manage the subsequent publication of data through GBIF. This also avoids duplication of data being separately published to GBIF and OBIS.

Who can join OBIS?
How is OBIS governed?
What do all the acronyms mean?
Who has contributed to OBIS?
What were the origins of OBIS?
What has been published related to OBIS?
How do I cite this web page description of OBIS?
How can students use OBIS for learning?
Are there third party tools for working with ArcGIS and OBIS data?

OBIS China:

     Website: http://www.iobis.org.cn/index_e.htm
   Host Organization: Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences ( http://www.qdio.ac.cn)
    Partner Institutions:
    Funding Source:   Chinese Academy of Sciences Alfred P.Sloan Foundation via CoML (in application)
    Mission and Objectives: OBIS China will show marine biodiversity data from the China seas, connect Chinese marine species data with the international OBIS network, and provide data service online.
    Datasets included:
    - Database of Macrobenthos from Yellow Sea and East China Sea
    - Information of Animal Species and Specimens from Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf
    - Database of Fishes from Chinese Seas
    - Database of Type Specimens in MBMCAS (Marine Biological Museum of Chinese Academy of Sciences)
    - Database of Sea Algae in MBMCAS
    - Database of invertebrates and other specimens in MBMCAS (in development)
    Spatial Coverage: Chinese waters of western Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean
    Temporal Coverage:  from 19th century to the present
    Taxonomic coverage:  Mainly fishes, invertebrates, algae
    Services offered: OBIS China will provide information concerning marine biodiversity relevant to regions of concern, and provide a local portal for submission and services of data request.


OBIS Japan:

    Website: TBA
    Host Organization: National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
    Partner Institutions:
   Funding Source: Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies
    Mission and Objectives: To serve species and environmental data to OBIS and taxonomic information of marine and other organisms to local users.
     Datasets included: bacteria/archaea names and strains representing the taxa, free-living aquatic nematodes taxonomy information.
      Spatial Coverage: TBA
      Temporal Coverage: TBA
      Taxonomic coverage: domain Archaea, domain Bacteria,

OBIS Korea:

    Website: http://obis.kordi.re.kr (under construction)
    Host Organization: Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute (www.kordi.re.kr )
    Funding Source: Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea
  Mission and Objectives: Establishment of the Korea marine biodiversity data management system
    Development of a database system and an internet data providing system
    Participation in the international OBIS network
    Datasets included:
     - Database of KoMBIS (Korea Marine Biodiversity Information System)
    - Database of the program "Development of a ubiquitous management system for useful and harmful marine organisms"
    - Observed data of the program "Basic Survey on Korea Marine Ecosystems"
    Spatial Coverage: Yellow Sea, East China Sea, East/Japan Sea
    Temporal Coverage: From 1960s to present
    Taxonomic coverage: All marine life from Korean waters
    Services offered: Providing marine biodiversity information using GIS interface
 

The Future of Marine Animal Populations (FMAP)

A project to synthesize Census-generated information and to develop mathematical ecosystem models to predict future changes in marine animal populations caused by environmental and human influences.

CoML field projects:

- The Natural Geography In Shore Areas (NaGISA) 
- Census of Coral Reefs (CReefs)
- The Gulf of Maine Census of Marine Life (GOMA)
- The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST)
- Continental Margin Ecosystem on a Worldwide Scale (COMARGE)
- Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar)
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem (MAR-ECO)
- Census of Marine Life on Seamounts (CenSeam)
- Biogeography of Deep-Water Chemosynthetic Ecosystems (ChEss)
- Arctic Ocean Biodiversity (ArcOD)
- Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML)
- Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP)
- Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ)
- International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM)

IOC/WESTPAC is a regional subsidiary body of IOC and therefore performs its functions within the general mandate, statutes and policy of the Commission as well as within the budgetary guidelines established by the Assembly. 

IOC/WESTPAC's main task was to develop, co-ordinate and implement regional marine scientific research programmes, ocean observations and services, data and information management and capacity building, all these in the context of priority interests of the Member States in the region.

IOC/WESTPAC Programme:

Ocean and Climate
-  The WESTPAC Ocean Dynamics and Climate (ODC)

Ocean Ecosystem Science
 -  The Census of Marine Life (CoML) (See CoML)

Marine Environmental Protection 
-   Atmospheric Inputs
-   Harmful Algal bloom (HAB)
    To foster the effective management of, and scientific research on, harmful algal blooms in order to understand their causes, predict their occurrences, and mitigate their effects.
   HAB Databases:
   International Directory of Experts In Harmful Algae and Their Effects on Fisheries and Public Health
   IOC Bibliographic HAB Data-base (ASFA)
   Design and Implementation of Some Harmful Algal Monitoring Systems
   IOC-ICES-PICES Harmful Algae Event Data Base (HAE-DAT)
   ICES-IOC Decadal Maps of HAB Occurrences in the North Atlantic
   IOC Taxonomic Reference List of Toxic Plankton Algae

Interdisciplinary Programmes
-  Gulf of Thailand Co-operative Study (GoT)

Ocean Remote Sensing http://westpac.unescobkk.org/programme%20structure/ors.htm
 - WESTPAC/Ocean Remote Sensing Programme New Generation Sea Surface Temperature Project1 ( NGSST-Open Ocean real-time data Home Page )
- Red-Tide Monitoring Project 

GOOS Programmes
 - The Southeast Asian Global Ocean Observing System (SEAGOOS)
 - The North-East Asian Regional of Global a Ocean Observing System (NEAR-GOOS) (See NEAR-GOOS)

Ocean Services
- International Bathymetric Chart of the Western Pacific (IBCWP)  
- The Global Ocean Data Archaeology and Rescue (GODAR-WESTPAC ) (See IODE Projects)

The IOC's IODE was established in 1961 to enhance marine research, exploitation and development by facilitating the exchange of oceanographic data and information between participating Member States and by meeting the needs of users for data and information products. The IODE system forms a worldwide service oriented network consisting of DNAs (Designated National Agencies), NODCs (National Oceanographic Data Centres), RNODCs (Responsible National Oceanographic Data Centres) and WDCs (World Data Centres - Oceanography). During the past 40 years, IOC Member States have established over 60 oceanographic data centres in as many countries. 

IODE network has been able to collect, control the quality of, and archive millions of ocean 
observations, and makes these available to Member States. With the advance of oceanography from a science dealing mostly with local processes to one that is also studying ocean basin and global processes, researchers depend critically on the availability of an international exchange system to provide data and information from all available sources.

The main objectives of the IODE Programme are :(i) to facilitate and promote the exchange of all marine data and information including metadata, products and information in real-time, near real time and delayed mode; (ii) to ensure the long term archival, management and services of all marine data and information; (iii) to promote the use of international standards, and develop or help in the development of standards and methods for the  global exchange of marine data and information, using the most appropriate information management and information technology; (iv) to assist Member States to acquire the necessary capacity to manage marine data and information and become partners in the IODE network; and (v) to support international scientific and operational marine programmes of IOC and WMO and their sponsor organisations with advice and data management services.

IODE Data Centers:

During the past 40 years, the IODE system has developed into a global network of over 60 data centres in as many countries. Each IOC Member States that has established an NODC or DNA has also nominated an IODE National Coordinator for data management. 

IODE NODC:

A National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) is a centralized facility for providing on a continuing basis ocean data/information in a usable form to a wide user community. This facility acquires, processes, quality controls, inventories, archives and disseminates data in accordance with national responsibilities. In addition to disseminating data and data 
products nationally, NODCs are normally charged with the responsibility for conducting international exchange.

IODE WDC:

World Data Centres for Oceanography (WDC) receive oceanographic data and inventories from NODCs, RNODCs, marine science organizations, and individual scientists. These data are collected and submitted voluntarily from national programmes, or arise from international co-operative ventures. 

There are currently 4 World Data Centres (Oceanography): 
- WDC for Oceanography, Silver Spring, USA
- WDC for Oceanography, Obninsk, Russia 
   -- Hydrometeorological data: Air temperature and precipitation daily data from the former USSR 223 stations. Ship meteorological data for the World Ocean.
   -- Russian State fund databases: Hydrometeorological data on magnetic tapes of Russian State fund of data on conditions of environment. 
- WDC for Oceanography, Tianjin
- WDC Marine Environmental Sciences, Bremen, Germany

OCEAN Data, Projects, Literature and Website links:

- DATA PRODUCTS: Climatic Atlas of the Arctic Seas, 2004: Part I. Database of the Barents, Kara, Laptev, and White Seas – Oceanography and Marine Biology
- Data available from IODE NODCs with special attention to marine pollution data (a table shows the data types managed by IODE NODCs.) 
- Finding data or information in the NODC web sites, search all NODC web sites simultaneously through the Ocean Portal search engine
- Finding oceanographic data on the web
- List of IODE National Coordinators for Marine Information Management
- List of IODE National Coordinators for Data Management
- Ocean Literature with 15 sub_categories
- IOC/IODE sites link
- IOC/IODE Projects link

IODE Projects：

The OceanPortal Dynamic Content Management System software (BeeBox)

BeeBox is an open source application for the development of Community portals. Its architecture allows multiple authors to submit content. The system further allows multiple administrators who can validate submitted content prior to publication. The system uses easy WYSIWYG interfaces for content input. 

End-to-End Data Management Prototype (E2EDM Prototype)

E2EDM is JCOMM/IODE Expert Team on Data Management Practices (ETDMP) Pilot 
Project 3. E2EDM system is considered as the coordinated and inter-connected combination of the following components: 1.Marine and ocean meteorological data management systems (local DM systems) which are available and being developed under various ocean study programs and services. 2.Integration technology as an "umbrella" that comprises local DM systems and 
provides communication and "transparent" interaction between metadata, data and products resulted from these DM systems and also an end-user access to any data and information generated by DM systems. 

The goal of this ETDMP Pilot Project is to develop a prototype of the Web-oriented technology that can undertake real-time data fusion from distributed oceanographic and marine meteorological data sources into sample products of interest to JCOMM users and can demonstrate "end to end" data management opportunities (further, E2EDM technology).

E2EDM Data:
- E2EDM Data Access Service (prototype) 
- E2EDM Marine Warning Service (prototype) 

Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology & Rescue project in the Western Pacific region (GODAR-WESTPAC)

The project aims to locate, rescue and make available marine data from the WESTPAC region that is in danger of being lost. Data that is stored on paper or on old media and is not presently available to the WESTPAC scientists will be sort for this project. Work will be undertaken to digitise the data or re-write the data onto modern media in an effort to safeguard it for future use. 

GODAR-WESTPAC Data:
- Data Inventories of GODAR WESTPAC 
- Marine Research Resources in the WESTPAC Region

MarineXML portal

The Marine XML site has been established to provide a discussion forum for MarineXML activities. The IOC/IODE secretariat is hosting the Marine XML web site at the IOC Project Office?for IODE. Visitors are encourged to provide information on any related activities and projects which are of relevance to the field of Marine XML.

MEDI

MEDI is an inventory of information about marine related datasets and is used within the framework of IOC's IODE system. MEDI is maintaining a global inventory of data holdings held in the IOC Member States and relevant agencies, the inventory will allow the end-user to search, as a minimum, on location, data type, temporal resolution and organizational parameters and provide the end-user with information describing the selected data holdings and their sources; 

The MEDI directory has been developed to provide a reference point for locating marine and coastal datasets and will be populated with metadata descriptions of marine datasets from IOC member states. The MEDI authoring tool has been developed to encourage data collectors and scientists to produce metadata descriptions for their datasets. 

MEDI Data:
- Search the MEDI Directory
- Describe your Metadata in MEDI 

Global Ocean Surface Underway Data Pilot Project (GOSUD)

The main objective of GOSUD (Global Ocean Surface Underway Data Pilot Project) is to collect, process, archive and disseminate in real time and delayed mode, sea surface salinity and other variables collected underway, by research and opportunity ships.

The IOC/IODE XVI Conference recommended (IODE-XVI-10) an Underway Sea Surface Salinity Data Archiving Project. The JCOMM-1 meeting supported such a project urging that integration with other data collected at the same time be properly considered. 

GDAC: Global Data Assembly Centers:

FTP data access:
- ftp://ftp.nodc.noaa.gov/pub/data.nodc/iode/gosud
- ftp://ftp.ifremer.fr/ifremer/gosud

OpenDAP data access:
- http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/nph-dods/iode/gosud
- http://www.ifremer.fr/cgi-bin/nph-dods/data/in-situ/gosud

Web data access:
- http://www.ifremer.fr/sismer/program/gosud/cdc/gosud_web_data_access.htm
- http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/iode/gosud/  

GOSUD Products:
- Documentation
- Data products
- Scientific Products
- Network related products

OceanExpert

OceanExpert (or the Global Directory of Marine (and Freshwater) Professionals) (GLODIR) is a database, developed and maintained by the IOC, containing information on individuals and institutions involved in all aspects of Marine or Freshwater Research and Management. OceanExpert is a product developed in 1997 under the auspices of the IODE Group of Experts on Marine Information Management (GE-MIM). OceanExpert is a free product, and is intended to be a tool for scientists, policy makers and anyone who needs to contact a marine or freshwater professional. 

OceanExpert currently contains 11490 experts and 4506 institutions. (June, 2006)

Search for Experts, Institution, Jobs and Events.

Ocean Portal

Ocean Portal is an IODE project. It is a high-level directory of Ocean Data and Information related web sites. Its objective is to provide a one-stop-shop for scientists and other ocean experts to locate such data and information by providing a single point of access to aggregated resources. 

Users can search the Portal for existing links, submit new links, modify an existing link or report a broken link. When submitting a new link, users can select the Category that best describes the site. 

The Links Directory: (june,2006)
- INFORMATION RESOURCES (1112) 
- DATA RESOURCES (1238) 
- SCIENTIFIC TOPICS (2485) 
- AGENCIES/INSTITUTIONS/FOUNDATIONS (1178) 
- ASSOCIATIONS & SOCIETIES (225) 
- ADMINISTRATION, CONSERVATION & POLICY (337) 
- OCEANOGRAPHY INFRASTRUCTURE (236) 
- MISCELLANEOUS (147) 

OceanTeacher

The objective of Ocean Teacher is to provide training tools for Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange. These tools are used during IODE Training Courses but can also be used for self training and continuous professional development.

OceanTeacher Digital Library: 
- Oceanography Today 
- Information Management Principles
- Oceanographic Information Management Processes
- Data Management Principles 
- Oceanographic Data Management Processes

ODIMeX Project

To provide in a single integrated e-learning and expert system providing all the expert and training resources for marine data management and marine information management needed by professional ocean data and information managers and scientists involved in data management, as well as to provide ocean researchers and students with the necessary knowledge to interact 
effectively with their national oceanographic data centres.

The Ocean Information Technology Project (OIT)

OIT Project will be a major, concerted effort with an efficient and effective, comprehensive data and information management system as the goal. We are seeking a 21st Century solution that takes advantage of leading technology and methods. The data and management system will be user driven and, in this case, the users will comprise a mix 
of ocean science, non-ocean science, operational agencies, commercial and private enterprise users, and the general public .

OIT Project:

- Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP)

OPeNDAP is a framework that simplifies all aspects of scientific data networking. OPeNDAP provides software which makes local data accessible to remote locations regardless of local storage format. OPeNDAP also provides tools for transforming existing applications into OPeNDAP clients (i.e., enabling them to remotely access OPeNDAP served data). OPeNDAP software is freely available.

Global Ocean Surface Underway Data Pilot Project (GOSUD) (See IODE Projects)

  WMO Information System (WIS)

An overreaching approach to meet information exchange requirements of all WMO Programmes. WIS will help WMO to avoid data incompatibilities, and problems in the sharing of valuable data between various programmes. It will ensure interoperability of Information Systems between WMO Programmes and outside of the WMO community. The ultimate implementation will build upon the most successful components of existing WMO information systems. WIS will continue to rely upon the WMO communication system (initially the GTS) to provide highly reliable delivery of time-critical data and products. 

Metadata for WMO datasets:
WIS Centres:
- National Centres (NC)
- Data Collection or Product Centres (DCPC)
- Global Information System Centres

The Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) 

GLOSS  is an international programme conducted under the auspices of the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)  (see www.jcommweb.net). GLOSS aims at the establishment of high quality global and regional sea level networks for application to climate, oceanographic and coastal sea level research. The programme became known as GLOSS as it provides data for deriving the 'Global Level of the Sea Surface'.

The main component of GLOSS is the 'Global Core Network' (GCN) of 290 sea level stations around the world for long term climate change and oceanographic sea level monitoring. The present definition of the GCN (the definition is modified every few years) is called GLOSS02.

JGOFS is an international and multi-disciplinary programme with participants from more than 20 nations. JGOFS was launched in 1987 at a planning meeting in Paris under the auspices of the Scientific Committee of Oceanic Research (SCOR), a committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Two years later, JGOFS became one of the first core projects of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). In the fall of 1988, long-term ocean time-series projects were established at sites near Bermuda and Hawaii, and the following year, the multinational North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE) set up the standard for future process studies in other oceans.

The Operational Goal of JGOFS is to assess more accurately, and understand better the processes controlling, regional to global and seasonal to interannual fluxes of carbon between the atmosphere, surface ocean and ocean interior, and their sensitivity to climate changes.

A global system of observations, communications, modeling and assimilation, that will deliver regular, comprehensive information on the state of the oceans, in a way that will promote and engender wide utility and availability of this resource for maximum benefit to the community.

Argo Home	http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/
Bathymetry - BODC
BLUElink (Ocean Forecasting Australia)	http://www.marine.csiro.au/bluelink/intro/background.htm
	http://www.marine.csiro.au/bluelink/exproducts/index.htm
	http://www.bom.gov.au/bmrc/ocean/JAFOOS/POAMA/
	http://dods.bom.gov.au/index.shtml
DIADEM	http://www.theyr.is/diadem/rtweb.html
ECCO	http://www.ecco-group.org/
ESODAE	http://www.met-office.gov.uk/sec5/ESODAE/ESOHOME.HTML
FNMOC	http://www.fnmoc.navy.mil/
GHRSST-PP	http://www.ghrsst-pp.org/
Japan GODAE	http://godae.kishou.go.jp
HICOM	http://hycom.rsmas.miami.edu/
MERCATOR	http://www.mercator-ocean.en/
	http://bulletin.mercator-ocean.fr/html/welcome_en.jsp
Mersea	http://www.mersea.eu.org
Met Office	http://www.met-office.gov.uk/research/seasonal/technical.html
	http://www.met-office.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/models/modeldata.html
Met Office FOAM	http://www.met-office.gov.uk/research/ocean/operational/foam/index.html
MFS - Mediterranean Forecasting System	www.bo.ingv.it/mfstep
NAVOCEANO	http://www.navo.navy.mil/
NRL Modelling	http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global_nlom/
TOPAZ	http://www.halo.is/
	http://www.mersea.eu.org/html/information/model/topaz_overview.html
US GODAE	http://www.usgodae.fnmoc.navy.mil/

GOOS is a permanent global system for observations, modelling and analysis of marine and ocean variables to support operational ocean services worldwide. GOOS is working with national agencies and regional networks to provide accurate descriptions of the present state of the oceans, including living resources, continuous forecasts of the future conditions of the sea for as far ahead as possible, and the basis for forecasts of climate change. (Lead: UNESCO / IOC)

GOOS is a global system for sustained observations of the ocean comprising the oceanographic component of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS).GOOS is sponsored by:IOC, UNEP, WMO and ICSU

GOOS is designed to:

• Monitor, understand and predict weather and climate
• Describe and forecast the state of the ocean, including living resources
• Improve management of marine and coastal ecosystems and resources
• Mitigate damage from natural hazards and pollution
• Protect life and property on coasts and at sea
• Enable scientific research

GOOS is a platform for:

• International cooperation for sustained observations of the oceans
• Generation of oceanographic products and services
• Interaction between research, operational, and user communities

GOOS serves: Oceanographic researchers, coastal managers, parties to international conventions, national meteorological and oceanographic agencies, navies, marine and coastal industries, policy makers and the interested general public.

GOOS is implemented by: Member states via their government agencies, navies and oceanographic research institutions working together in a wide range of thematic panels and regional alliances.

GOOS Reports:

• List of all GOOS reports

Global GOOS:

The global module of GOOS is Advised by the Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC) and Implemented by member states and participating organizations usually cooperating through the JCOMM. The module has been developed to be consistent with the strategic guidance of the IGOS Partners' ocean theme.

The sustained global ocean observing system for climate is designed to provide data and information products for climate monitoring and forecasting, climate assessment and climate research.

It is also the foundation for global operational oceanography, including global weather prediction and marine forecasting, global and coastal ocean prediction and marine environmental monitoring.

Ocean Observations Panel for Climate Report, June 2004 (PDF, 2.25 MB)

Coastal GOOS:

The coastal module of GOOS is currently Advised by a recently expanded GOOS Scientific Steering Committee (GSSC) and Implemented through member states and participating organizations usually cooperating through GOOS regional alliances . The module has been developed to be consistent with the strategic guidance of the IGOS Partners' coastal theme.

The coastal module of GOOS is intended to contribute to the understanding of the effects of human activity, climate change and natural disasters in coastal systems. This is done through the gathering and interpretation of relevant data. Coastal GOOS addresses six goals for the public good: Improving capacity to detect and predict the effects of global climate change on coastal ecosystems, improving the safety and efficiency of marine operations, controlling and mitigating the effects of natural disasters more effectively, and restoring and sustaining living marine resources more effectively. The IGOS Partners have recently produced a coastal module report.

- IGOS Coastal Report 2006
- Design Plan for the Coastal Ocean Observations Module of GOOS
- Implementation Strategy for the Coastal Module of GOOS
- Report of the Global Observing Systems Space Panel, August 1997　

The Global Observing Systems Information Center (GOSIC)

GOSIC provides access to data and information, and overviews of the structure and programs for the Global Climate Observing 
System (GCOS), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS).

Some needs of GCOS, GOOS, and GTOS are provided by partner observing programs such as the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), the World Weather Watch (WWW), and the Joint Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM). GOSIC provides access to 
data and information of these partner programs, but not always to the same level of detail.

Searching GOSIC and the GCMD:

Please find below facilities for searching the GOSIC web site and the GOSIC portal on the NASA Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) web site for data and information are provided. A facility is also provided for users to prepare metadata records describing GTOS, GCOS and GOOS datasets and enter them in the GOSIC Portal of the NASA GCMD.

1. Searching for Datasets on GOSIC: 
- Free text search for documents and data information on the GOSIC web site
- Data set registry search for datasets belonging to various program elements of GTOS, GCOS and GOOS. 

2. Searching for Datasets on the GCMD GOSIC Portal:
- GOSIC Portal on the NASA GCMD search for Global Observing Systems, GCOS, GOOS, or GTOS datasets containing given variables
- Free text search of the GOSIC Portal on the NASA GCMD for GTOS, GCOS and GOOS datasets having certain words or acronyms occurring anywhere in their data set description

3. How to Register your Dataset in the GCMD
- Use register dataset to enter metadata about GTOS, GCOS and GOOS datasets in the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD)

The Global Temperature-Salinity Profile Program (GTSPP)

GTSPP is a cooperative international project. It seeks to develop and maintain a global ocean Temperature-Salinity resource with data that are both up-to-date and of the highest quality possible. Making global measurements of ocean temperature and salinity (T-S) quickly and easily accessible to users is the primary goal of the GTSPP. Both real-time data transmitted over the Global Telecommunications System (GTS), and delayed-mode data received by the NODC are acquired and incorporated into a continuously managed databas.  Countries contributing to the project are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States. Canada's Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) leads the project, and has the operational responsibility to gather and process the real-time data. MEDS accumulates real-time data from several sources via the GTS. They check the data for several types of errors, and remove duplicate copies of the same observation before passing the data on to NODC. The quality control procedures used in GTSPP were developed by MEDS, who also coordinated the publication of those procedures through the IOC.

In addition to MEDS and NODC, three science centers participate in the project by independently evaluating the delayed-mode data sets for the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial and Research Organization (CSIRO), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) perform this function as Data Assembly Centers for the World Ocean Circulation Program, which GTSPP supports.

GTSPP Data: 

- Real-Time Data Sets
- Best Copy Data Sets

LARGE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS Information Portal (LME)

The Portal Toolkit, serves as the user interface to the LME Data and Information Portal.

Features of the Toolkit Include:

- Data Categories: help to discover and access a wide variety of geographic information for a particular data theme or data community.
- Current Event or Application Topics: help to discover and access a wide variety of geographic information for a special application area or current event.
- Search Page: enables to discover and access a wide variety of geographic information within the LME Portal. This geographic information, provided by government, commercial, and noncommercial organizations, includes map images, map services, geographic datasets, geographic activities, spatial solutions, clearinghouses, and land references.
- Performing a Search: set a search area by place name or use the Map Viewer to define the search. Once search area is established, can further set search criteria based on content type, such as map service, geographic datasets, activities, etc., data theme, keywords or date ranges. The results of the search are displayed along with metadata and if appropriate a map.
- View Metadata: use the metadata detail and the full metadata view to browse through information to locate what you are looking for. Map data can be viewed in the Map Viewer or with GIS software to display multiple data sources from the LME Portal along with data from local sources.
- Map Viewer: allows to interact with map services referenced in the metadata, and to browse through baseline datasets. Also allows you to save maps for later use, set transparency levels, query map information, and provides rich functionality to overlay map services.
- Publish Data: can provide geographic data by publishing map services and images, geographic datasets, geoservices, spatial solutions, geographic and land reference material, and geographic activities or events to share with others through submission of on-line provider forms within the GIS Portal Toolkit portal.

LME Protal Parterners: IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Large Marine Ecosystem Program of Narragansett Laboratory of NOAA-NMFS, IOC, UNDP, FAO, WWF,and University of Rhode Island.

Explore an LME:

• EAST ATLANTIC
  Baltic Sea | Faroe Plateau | Canary Current | North Sea | Celtic-Biscay Shelf | Mediterranean Sea | Guinea Current | Iberian Coastal | Norwegian Sea | Black Sea | Benguela Current
• WEST ATLANTIC
  South Brazil Shelf | Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf | Caribbean Sea | Gulf of Mexico | North Brazil Shelf | Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf | Patagonian Shelf | Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf | Scotian Shelf | East Brazil Shelf
• EAST PACIFIC
  East Bering Sea | Gulf of Alaska | Gulf of California | California Current | Insular Pacific-Hawaiian | Humboldt Current | Pacific Central American Coastal
• WEST PACIFIC
  Sulu-Celebes Sea | East China Sea | Southeast Australian Shelf | Gulf of Thailand | Kuroshio Current | West Bering Sea | Oyashio Current | Indonesian Sea | Sea of Japan | South China Sea | Sea of Okhotsk | Northeast Australian Shelf | Northwest Australian Shelf | Southwest Australian Shelf | New Zealand Shelf | West Central Australian Shelf | North Australian Shelf | East Central Australian Shelf | Yellow Sea
• INDIAN
  Somali Coastal Current | Arabian Sea | Agulhas Current | West Central Australian Shelf | Bay of Bengal | Northwest Australian Shelf | Red Sea | Southwest Australian Shelf
• POLAR 

 

NEAR (North-East Asian Regional)-GOOS  (NEAR-GOOS)

NEAR-GOOS is a regional pilot project of GOOS in the North-East Asian Region, implemented by China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation as a WESTPAC Activity. Oceanographic data and relevant products within the NEAR-GOOS system are open to all users free of cost. 

NEAR-GOOS demonstrates the usefulness of a regional ocean observing system for the purpose of encouraging such efforts for the rest of the world as part of the strategy of GOOS. 

NEAR-GOOS was established at the 27th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 1993. 

The first aim of NEAR-GOOS is to share oceanographic data in real time via the Internet to support daily mapping of sea conditions in marginal seas bordered by NEAR-GOOS countries. 

The goals of the NEAR-GOOS are to improve ocean services in the region, to provide data and information useful in the mitigation of the effects of natural disasters caused by waves, storm surges, and sea ice, to increase the efficiency of fishing vessels, to provide information useful in pollution monitoring, to monitor parameters useful to mariculture, particularly with regards to harmful algal blooms, to provide information on the health of the coastal zone for recreation purposes, to provide data sets required for data assimilation, modelling and forecasting. 

The NEAR-GOOS Co-ordinating Committee is established as a management body.

Operation of the NEAR-GOOS: 

Oceanographic data within the NEAR-GOOS system are available free of cost to NEAR-GOOS users via the Internet. Also, NEAR-GOOS users are strongly encouraged to make their data available by sending them to the NEAR-GOOS Data Base. 

An Operational Manual for the NEAR-GOOS Data Base defines, in detail, operation of the NEAR-GOOS data exchange system and user registration. 

Each country establishes a National Real Time Data Base (RTDB) and a National Delayed Mode Data Base (DMDB) to collect all the available oceanographic data in the country, and to make them available to users. After 30 days of service from the National RTDB, the data are transferred to the National DMDB for long-term data archives.

NEAR-GOOS Database: 

- Japan: Regional RTDB / Regional DMDB
- China: RTDB / DMDB
- Republic of Korea: RTDB / DMDB
- Russia: RTDB / DMDB

 

ODINWESTPAC - Ocean Data and Information Network for the Western Pacific Region

ODINWESTPAC, Hosted by NMDIS National Marine Data and Information Service, Tianjin, China, was set up primarily to provide effective capacity building framework, to promote regional collaboration in marine data and information and products sharing, to develop cooperation with other ODINs and international and regional projects/programs, and to provide data and information services mainly for the WESTPAC member states and other users.

 - Finding Data
 - Finding Information
 - Finding People
 

The North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES)

The North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), an intergovernmental scientific organization, was established in 1992 to promote and coordinate marine research in the northern North Pacific and adjacent seas. Its present members are Canada, Japan, People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America. 

- North Pacific Ecosystem Metadatabase
- The PICES Carbon Dioxide Related Data Integration for the North Pacific (PICNIC)
- North Pacific Ecosystem Status Report

UN-OCEANS

In 2003, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board (CEB/2003/7) endorsed the creation of an Oceans and Coastal Areas Network (subsequently renamed UN-OCEANS) to establish an effective, transparent and regular inter-agency coordination mechanism on ocean and coastal issues within the United Nations system.

UN-OCEANS has been established to: 1. Strengthen coordination and cooperation of United Nations activities related to oceans and coastal areas; 2. Review the relevant programmes and activities of the United Nations system, undertaken as part of its contribution to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation; 3. Identify emerging issues, define joint actions and establish specific task teams to deal with these, as apporpriate;  4.Promote the integrated management of oceans at the international level; 5. Facilitate, as appropriate, the inputs to the annual report on oceans and the law of the sea of the Secretary-General; and 6.Promote the coherence of United Nations system activities on oceans and coastal areas with the mandates of the General Assembly, and the priorities contained in the Millennium Development Goals, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and of governing bodies of all members of UN-OCEANS.

Agency Programmes (Who does what within the U.N. system for oceans and coastal area issues?):

- Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (UN-DOALOS)
- Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA)
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization / Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC)
- World Bank (WB)
- International Maritime Organization (IMO)
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- International Seabed Authority (ISA)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Inter-Agency Activities:

UN Atlas of the Oceans

The Atlas is an information system designed for use by policy makers who need to become familiar with ocean issues and by scientists, students and resource managers who need access to underlying data bases and approaches to sustainability. (Lead: FAO)

Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment (GPA)

The major threats to the health, productivity and biodiversity of the marine environment result from human activities on land - in coastal areas and further inland. Some 80% of the pollution load in the oceans originates from land-based activities. The GPA is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance to be drawn upon by national and/or regional authorities for devising and implementing sustained action to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities.

GPA Programmes:
- National Programmes of Action (NPAs)
- Physical Alteration and Destruction of Habitats (PADH)
- Wastewater
- Integrated Coastal Area and River-basin Management (ICARM)
- Financing
- Legislation
- Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
- Training
- Regional Seas

GPA Clearing House Mechanism, 4 main GPA clearing-house approaches:
- Pollutant Source Categories
- Regional Seas
- Coastal Zone Management Framework
- Economic Sectors

Global International Water Assessment (GIWA)

The aim of GIWA is to produce a comprehensive and integrated global assessment of international waters, the ecological status of and the causes of environmental problems in 66 water areas in the world, and focus on the key issues and problems facing the aquatic environment in transboundary waters. (Lead: UNEP)|

GIWA Publications: 
- GIWA Final Report 
- GIWA Regional assessment reports 
- Thematic reports 
- Special reports

GIWA Scaling and Scoping exercise:
- The electronic format for filling in environmental and socioeconomic impacts as well as future conditions.

Confirmation of GIWA Region Boundaries:
- Data files and instructions

Regions and Networks:
- Nine megaregions, 66 subregions

The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)

ICRI is a partnership among governments, international organizations, and non-government organizations. It strives to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems by implementing Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, and other relevant international conventions and agreements.

ICRI Networks: 

Since its founding in 1995, and over the course of the last several years, ICRI has recognized a number of operational networks to assist in achieving the Framework for Action.
- Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean - (CORDIO)
- Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network - (GCRMN)
- International Coral Reef Action Network - (ICRAN)
- International Coral Reef Information Network - (ICRIN)

ICRI Information Center:
- ICRIForum Library ((Book, Publication, Journal Article, Proceedings- Technical Reports)
- ICRI Country reports
- Database on sources of Funding
- Good Practices for the Protection and Management of coral reefs
- ICRI products and key documents

Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP)

GESAMP is an expert group sponsored by several UN agencies that undertakes targeted scientific studies at the request of the agencies to provide technical advice on scientific aspects of prevention, reduction and control of the degradation of the marine environment to sustain its life support systems, resources and amenities. (Lead: IAEA-MEL)

- GESAMP Reports and Studies

Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) (See GOOS)

Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)  

GCOS is intended to be a long-term, user-driven operational system capable of providing the comprehensive observations required for monitoring the climate system, for detecting and attributing climate change, for assessing the impacts of climate variability and change, and for supporting research toward improved understanding, modelling and prediction of the climate system. It addresses the total climate system including physical, chemical and biological properties, and atmospheric, oceanic, hydrologic, cryospheric and terrestrial processes. It is lead by WMO and  co-sponsored by the IOC of UNESCO, UNEP and ICSU. 

GCOS Networks and Data for Ocean Observations:
in cooperation with the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)

- Joint WMO-IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine
- Meteorology : JCOMM/IOC, JCOMM/WMO, JCOMMOPS
- Data Buoy Co-operation Panel : DBCP
- Ship of Opportunity Programme : SOOP
- ARGO array of profiling floats : ARGO
- Pilot Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic : PIRATA
- TAO/TRITON array of moored buoys : TAO
- Global Sea Level Observing System : GLOSS
- Voluntary Observing Ships/Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme : VOS/ASAP
- AOPC/OOPC Surface Pressure Working Group

　

World Database on Marine Protected Areas (WDPA)

The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global spatial dataset on marine and terrestrial protected areas available. Protected areas are internationally recognised as major tools in conserving species and ecosystems. Up to date information on protected areas is essential to enable a wide range of conservation and development activities.

Since 1981 UNEP-WCMC, through its Protected Areas Programme, has been compiling this information and making it available to the global community. The WDPA is a joint project of UNEP and IUCN, produced by UNEP-WCMC and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas working with governments and collaborating NGOs.

- Advanced Marine Protected Area Search
- Add your data
- Download