Sustained ocean observing for the next decade science meeting

14 – 18 September 2015 – Galway, Ireland

Registration : www.gaic2015.org/registration

Further information: www.gaic2015.org

The conveners have great pleasure in announcing a science meeting to bring together participants in GO-SHIP, Argo and IOCCP, with the particular purpose of reviewing and stimulating further research that exploits the synergies among the sponsoring programs. The paragraphs below highlight some science themes that span the programs, and some questions that might be addressed during the conference. Ultimately the scope and content of the conference will be determined around the abstracts submitted.

The three sponsoring programs for this conference promote and coordinate sustained observations of the water column to reveal the changing physics, chemistry and biology of the ocean. Argo began with a focus on physical properties of the upper 2000 metres of the ocean. GO-SHIP covers the full water column, with repeat physical and biogeochemical measurements from research ships. The focus of IOCCP is on coordination of ocean carbon and marine biogeochemistry observations, including data from research ships and other platforms. Each program has established maturity in its own field. Studies combining data from these programs are addressing new research questions and adding value to the individual programs. New technology means there is growing overlap in the research questions that each program can now address. It also presents challenges for how to implement and utilise new technology.

Questions about the climate of the global earth system present new challenges. Ocean observations must be used to provide ever better descriptions of variability and trends, leading to greater understanding of anthropogenic change. The ocean integrates changes in forcing on large space and time scales. This conference will bring together these programs that make sustained observations of the water column on global scales, showcasing the individual programs as well as the synergies among them. An additional focus of the conference will be the future opportunities presented by these programs: in particular the technological development of Argo into the realms of Deep and Bio-Argo. Deep and Bio Argo measurements will supplement GO-SHIP and IOCCP observations in new ways. In turn, these new measurements will depend on ship-borne programs for calibration and data quality assurance of the new float data. Oceanographers are entering a new and exciting phase of ocean exploration. It is timely to bring together scientists from the communities that will enact the next phase of the revolution.