A Sustained Ocean Observing System in the Indian Ocean for Climate Related Scientific Knowledge and Societal Needs

J. Hermes (1) , Y. Masumoto (2) , Lisa Beal (3) , Mathew Koll Roxy (3) , Jérôme Vialard (4) , M. Andres (5) , H. Annamalai (6) , Swadhin Behera (7) , N. D’adamo (8) , T. Doi (7) , Ming Feng (9) , W. Han , Nick J. Hardman-Mountford (10) , H. Hendon , Raleigh R. Hood , S. Kido , C. Lee (11) , Matthieu Lengaigne (4) , J. Li , R. Lumpkin , N. Navaneeth , B. Milligan , Michael J. Mcphaden , M. Ravichandran (12) , T. Shinoda , A. Singh (13) , B. Sloyan , P. Strutton , C. Subramanian , S. Thurston , T. Tozuka , C. Ummenhofer , A. S. Unnikrishnan , R. Venkatesan , D. Wang , Jerry D. Wiggert , Linwen Yu , W. Yu

1 Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, South Africa
2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [TITECH Tokyo]
3 IITM - Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
4 VARCLIM - Océan et variabilité du climat
5 WHOI - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
6 IPRC - International Pacific Research Center
7 JAMSTEC - Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
8 UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
9 CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [Canberra]
10 PML - Plymouth Marine Laboratory
11 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
12 Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
13 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)

The Indian Ocean is warming faster than any of the global oceans and its climate is uniquely driven by the presence of a landmass at low latitudes, which causes monsoonal winds and reversing currents. The food, water, and energy security in the Indian Ocean rim countries and islands are intrinsically tied to its climate, with marine environmental goods and services, as well as trade within the basin, underpinning their economies. Hence, there are a range of societal needs for Indian Ocean observation arising from the influence of regional phenomena and climate change on, for instance, marine ecosystems, monsoon rains, and sea-level. The Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), is a sustained observing system that monitors basin-scale ocean-atmosphere conditions, while providing flexibility in terms of emerging technologies and scientific and societal needs, and a framework for more regional and coastal monitoring. This paper reviews the societal and scientific motivations, current status, and future directions of IndOOS, while also discussing the need for enhanced coastal, shelf, and regional observations. The challenges of sustainability and implementation are also addressed, including capacity building, best practices, and integration of resources. The utility of IndOOS ultimately depends on the identification of, and engagement with, end-users and decision-makers and on the practical accessibility and transparency of data for a range of products and for decision-making processes. Therefore we highlight current progress, issues and challenges related to end user engagement with IndOOS, as well as the needs of the data assimilation and modeling communities. Knowledge of the status of the Indian Ocean climate and ecosystems and predictability of its future, depends on a wide range of socio-economic and environmental data, a significant part of which is provided by IndOOS.

Mots clés: Indian Ocean; sustained observing system; interdisciplinary; regional observing system; integration; data; end-user connections and application; IndOOS

Domaines: Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]

J. Hermes, Y. Masumoto, Lisa Beal, Mathew Koll Roxy, Jérôme Vialard, et al.. A Sustained Ocean Observing System in the Indian Ocean for Climate Related Scientific Knowledge and Societal Needs. Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019, 6, pp.UNSP 355. ⟨10.3389/fmars.2019.00355⟩. ⟨hal-02192224⟩