Effects of the Pandemic on Observing the Global Ocean
| Type | Article | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 2023-02 | ||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||
| Author(s) | Boyer Tim1, Zhang Huai-Min1, O’brien Kevin2, Reagan James1, Diggs Stephen3, Freeman Eric4, Garcia Hernan1, Heslop Emma5, Hogan Patrick1, Huang Boyin1, Jiang Li-Qing4, Kozyr Alex4, Liu Chunying6, Locarnini Ricardo1, Mishonov Alexey V.4, Paver Christopher1, Wang Zhankun7, Zweng Melissa8, Alin Simone9, Barbero Leticia10, Barth John A.11, Belbeoch Mathieu12, Cebrian Just7, Connell Kenneth J.9, Cowley Rebecca13, Dukhovskoy Dmitry1, Galbraith Nancy R.14, Goni Gustavo10, Katz Fred4, Kramp Martin12, Kumar Arun15, Legler David M.16, Lumpkin Rick10, McMahon Clive R.17, Pierrot Denis10, Plueddemann Albert J.14, Smith Emily A.16, Sutton Adrienne9, Turpin Victor12, Jiang Long12, Suneel V.18, Wanninkhof Rik10, Weller Robert A.14, Wong Annie P. S.19 | ||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Asheville, North Carolina, and Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; 2 : NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, and Cooperative Institute for Climate Ocean and Ecosystem Studies, University of Washington, Seattle Washington; 3 : Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California; 4 : NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Asheville, North Carolina, and Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, and Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth Systems Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland; 5 : Global Ocean Observing System/Observation Coordination Group, Paris, France; 6 : NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Asheville, North Carolina, and Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, and Riverside Inc., Asheville, North Carolina; 7 : NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Information, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Asheville, North Carolina, and Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, and Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; 8 : U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, Silver Spring, Maryland; 9 : NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, Washington; 10 : NOAA/Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida; 11 : Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; 12 : OceanOPS, Brest, France; 13 : Oceans and Atmosphere, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; 14 : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; 15 : NOAA/National Center for Environmental Prediction, College Park, Maryland; 16 : NOAA/Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program, Silver Spring, Maryland; 17 : IMOS Animal Tagging, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, New South Wales, Australia; 18 : National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, India; 19 : School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington |
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| Source | Bulletin Of The American Meteorological Society (0003-0007) (American Meteorological Society), 2023-02 , Vol. 104 , N. 2 , P. E389-E410 | ||||||||
| DOI | 10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0210.1 | ||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 3 | ||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Ocean, Climate change, Climate variability, In situ oceanic observations, Climate services, COVID-19 | ||||||||
| Abstract | The years since 2000 have been a golden age in in situ ocean observing with the proliferation and organization of autonomous platforms such as surface drogued buoys and subsurface Argo profiling floats augmenting ship-based observations. Global time series of mean sea surface temperature and ocean heat content are routinely calculated based on data from these platforms, enhancing our understanding of the ocean’s role in Earth’s climate system. Individual measurements of meteorological, sea surface, and subsurface variables directly improve our understanding of the Earth system, weather forecasting, and climate projections. They also provide the data necessary for validating and calibrating satellite observations. Maintaining this ocean observing system has been a technological, logistical, and funding challenge. The global COVID-19 pandemic, which took hold in 2020, added strain to the maintenance of the observing system. A survey of the contributing components of the observing system illustrates the impacts of the pandemic from January 2020 through December 2021. The pandemic did not reduce the short-term geographic coverage (days to months) capabilities mainly due to the continuation of autonomous platform observations. In contrast, the pandemic caused critical loss to longer-term (years to decades) observations, greatly impairing the monitoring of such crucial variables as ocean carbon and the state of the deep ocean. So, while the observing system has held under the stress of the pandemic, work must be done to restore the interrupted replenishment of the autonomous components and plan for more resilient methods to support components of the system that rely on cruise-based measurements. |
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