Project Linkages

These descriptions of our relationships to other programs are still being developed.

• SOLAS-IMBER
• SOLAS and the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project
• SOLAS-LOICZ

SOLAS and IMBER

SOLAS and IMBER have agreed to work together to implement marine carbon research.

We will form a joint group with the expertise to implement the carbon research in both the SOLAS and IMBER Science Plan and Implementation Strategies. This will follow on from, and replace, the work of SOLAS Focus 3 Implementation Group. The new group will produce a joint Implementation Plan that will form part of the SOLAS Implementation Plan and contribute to IMBER's planning efforts.

An interim group met in November 2004 and an Implementation Plan is currently being drafted, to be completed by the end of Jan 2005.

Although the implementation group will be jointly co-chaired by IMBER and SOLAS, each project will take the lead on certain areas of science, namely:

Together with IOCCP, SOLAS and IMBER will implement a management system for marine carbon data.

SOLAS and the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project

The relationship between SOLAS and the IOCCP is defined by the report below. The linkages between SOLAS and IMBER are still being developed, but are also outlined above.

International Ocean Carbon Stakeholders Meeting Report

UNESCO, Paris, December 6-7, 2004

Many national and international programs conduct or have a direct interest in observations and research related to the global ocean carbon cycle.  There is an immediate need to provide a global forum for coordination of ocean carbon studies, including data collection, large-scale synthesis efforts, model-data integration, and the development of a sustained ocean carbon observing system.  Coordination is central to the achievement of the carbon-related goals of the SOLAS and IMBER Science Plans.

On December 6-7, 2004, a meeting was held at UNESCO in Paris to evaluate the most efficient way to meet these coordination needs.  The meeting, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, IOC, and SCOR, included representatives of IOC, SCOR, IGBP, SOLAS, IMBER, GCP, CLIVAR, GOOS, GCOS, CARBOOCEAN, NASA, NSF, and JCOMM.

The meeting identified two types of coordination activities – those specific to meeting research program goals and those to address a global ocean carbon observing system.  Unlike the research programs that have a finite lifetime, there are coordination activities that must be sustained, including the development of the observing system and permanent data archiving.  The two coordination activities are intrinsically linked and must work closely together.

At the international level, the coordination needs for research and observations are:

1. To implement a central information center for program planning (for example, compiling information on current and planned repeat hydrographic sections, VOS carbon measurements, time series networks measuring carbon, process studies, etc.)

2. To develop international agreements on standards, best practices, data and meta-data standards, etc.

3. To develop, evaluate, and evolve strategies for large-scale observations for a sustained observing system

4. To carry out basin and global scale data synthesis and interpretation activities

5. To develop a data management system for ocean carbon data

6. To monitor implementation of the global ocean carbon observing systems, and to liaise with the larger global ocean/climate observing system.

To meet these coordination needs, the participants felt that it was important to continue the work of the IOCCP (sponsored by IOC and SCOR) and to utilize the recently formed SOLAS-IMBER implementation group for carbon research.  These groups should be closely linked and jointly provide the services listed above.  The IOCCP would take the lead on tasks 1,2, and 6 in collaboration with the research programs, and the SOLAS/IMBER group would take the lead on tasks 3,4 and 5, with input from the IOCCP.  Secretariat functions should be coordinated, and optimally co-located, to provide an integrated service to the community.  An important service would be to implement a web-based portal to provide a central point of contact for information on ocean carbon research and observations.

acronyms:

CARBOOCEAN (European Union integrated research activity on the marine carbon cycle); CLIVAR (Climate Variability and Predictability Study); GCP (Global Carbon Project); GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System); GCOS (Global Climate Observing System); IGBP (International Geosphere – Biosphere Programme); IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission); IOCCP (International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project); IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research Project); JCOMM (The Joint World Meteorological Organization – Intergovernmental Oceanographic Institution Committee on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology); NASA (U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration); NSF (U.S. National Science Foundation); SOLAS (Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Study); SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research); UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization); VOS (Volunteer Observing Ships).

SOLAS and LOICZ-II

Co-operation Between LOICZ and SOLAS

Although the LOICZ Phase II Plan and the SOLAS Science Plan and Implementation Strategy describe projects with distinct aims and objectives, there are clearly areas where the planned activities of the two projects overlap. These should be regarded as opportunities for co-operative working and sharing of skills and resources, rather than as areas of conflicting interests. The main areas of overlap can be identified as follows:

1. Gas exchange in coastal areas was an activity in LOICZ Phase 1, but one which did not receive a lot of attention. It is definitely a strong interest in SOLAS and it is proposed that future studies should be conducted jointly, but not necessarily equally, between the two projects, with SOLAS taking the lead role. Studies will include field measurements of air-sea gas transfer velocities (SOLAS Focus 2.1) in coastal areas, as well as the measurement of concentration fields for a range of trace gases including CO₂, N₂O, CH₄, CO, DMS, COS, NH₃, non-methane hydrocarbons, organo-halogens, etc (SOLAS Foci 1 and 3). The products of SOLAS activities in this area will then be available to LOICZ to incorporate into its work – for instance in the role of coastal seas in greenhouse gas and climate change issues.

2. The role of inputs from land on the nutrient balance and productivity of coastal zones is a clear priority area in LOICZ. Part of these inputs come from deposition from the atmosphere onto coastal waters, which is a strong interest in SOLAS. It is proposed that SOLAS will take responsibility for measurement and quantification of these atmospheric inputs, by both wet and dry deposition. The incorporation and integration of these estimates of atmospheric inputs into nutrient balances and coastal zone biogeochemistry models will largely be the responsibility of LOICZ. Clearly these two activities should be carried out in close co-ordination between the two projects.

Other actions which should be taken to ensure proper co-operation between SOLAS and LOICZ include:

1. Continuation of the post of link person between the LOICZ and SOLAS SSC's.
2. Cross membership between relevant Working Groups of the two projects.
3. Occasional articles in each other's Newsletters describing planning and progress in the above areas of mutual interest, and any others which are identified in the future.