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You are in:  Home » Science & Data » Standing Scientific Group on Physical Sciences » SCAR and SCOR

A Proposal to SCAR and SCOR
for Joint SCAR, SCOR Coordination of Southern Ocean Studies

Summary

This proposal recommends establishment of a SCAR/SCOR/IOC Coordinating Group on Inter-disciplinary Southern Ocean Science (ISOS) consisting of 6-8 people. Among other things, this group would facilitate coordination between the different discipline research groups currently active in the Southern Ocean; encourage an inter-disciplinary approach to Southern Ocean observational and modelling research, recognising the inter-dependence of physical, chemical and biological processes in the ocean; identify historical and reference data sets of value to researchers; and coordinate the transfer of near real-time data (or a sub-set of such data) to operational users. The work of ISOS should greatly improve the coordination of Southern Ocean research both at the national and international levels, to the benefit of the nations and research programmes presently active there.

Introduction

Conditions across the Southern Ocean have a profound effect on many aspects of the physical and chemical environment and biota of the Antarctic and lower latitudes, including:

In addition the Southern Oceans:

There are also a number of key questions regarding climate variability and change in the high southern latitudes that are linked to the oceans, including:

Except for decreases around the Antarctic Peninsula, has the extent of Antarctic sea ice increased when mean global air temperatures have been increasing, as suggested by some recent satellite studies over the past two decades, or has it decreased over the past 50 years, as suggested by methanesulphonic acid records from ice cores?

Clearly oceanography (taken here as the physical, chemical, geological, and biological environment of the oceans, including sea ice) is critical to many aspects of Global, Antarctic and Southern Hemisphere science. At a time of increasing inter-disciplinary investigations within Southern Ocean science, this document (i) reviews the current involvement of SCAR, SCOR and the IOC with the Southern Ocean oceanographic community, (ii) makes recommendations on how coordination and liaison could be better improved within and between these organisations on Southern Ocean issues and (iii) considers the requirements for improved collection, archiving and dissemination of Southern Ocean oceanographic data.

SCAR

SCAR has been in existence since February 1958 and its structure has changed a number of times over the last 40 years. From 1961 to 1980 SCAR had an oceanography working group (WG), but at XVII SCAR the minutes record that “The Working Group on Oceanography was disbanded and SCOR will be expected to take up the focus on oceanography in the Southern Ocean.” Since that time groups such as the Physics and Chemistry of the Atmosphere (PACA) and Glaciology WGs, and GLOCHANT group of specialists were only concerned with questions of sea ice extent and air-sea interactions, though the convenor of GLOCHANT was the SCAR contact point for SCOR. The biology WG was involved in considering the effects of specific environmental conditions on the biota and the effects of ocean variability on the marine and terrestrial ecosystems, with an emphasis on the pack-ice zone in the marine realm, and the Geophysics WG was involved in marine sediment drilling programmes that investigated the paleoclimate history of the Antarctic and AABW. However, most of the SCAR member countries have been implementing their own national programmes concerned with oceanography of the Southern Ocean.

In 2002 at the XXVII SCAR meeting a new structure for SCAR was adopted, with the science being re-organised into three Standing Scientific Groups (SSGs) covering Physical, Biological and Geosciences. The Physical Sciences SSG included an Action Group on Oceanography. Under these SSGs a number of Programme Planning Groups have been established to propose major programmes of science, which will each have a lifetime of 5-10 years. Outline plans for the proposed first batch of science programme were considered by the SCAR Executive in August 2003, and hopefully these programmes will start in late 2004 once they are ratified by the Delegates.

The new SCAR programmes that have been proposed reflect the areas of science that are of primary interest to the present membership of the organisation and cover the fields of marine biota, glacial history of the Antarctic, upper atmosphere and space physics, and climate links between the Antarctic and the rest of the Earth system. In the first call for possible new SCAR programmes there has been no oceanography programme proposed, which is understandable considering the present membership of the various SCAR groups. Instead, oceanography will be integrated as necessary into the first round of programmes adopted next year.
Oceanography has been designated an Expert Group under the Physical Sciences SSG. The Expert Group has held one meeting, in Rome on 22-24 October 2003. Representatives of SCAR, SCOR, IOC and CLIVAR attended the meeting.

SCOR

SCOR was formed in 1957 as ICSU’s first interdisciplinary committee. SCOR has sponsored several working groups and large-scale ocean research projects in the Southern Ocean, particularly since SCAR disbanded its Working Group on Oceanography. WG 54 was on the topic of Southern Ocean Ecosystems and Their Living Resources. This group was also the SCAR Group of Specialists on Living Resources of the Southern Ocean, and IABO also participated in this activity. The BIOMASS program was also related to this group and resulted in many reports. Other SCOR working groups relevant to Southern Ocean topics include WG 74 on General Circulation of the Southern Ocean, WG 82 on Polar Deep Sea Paleoenvironments, and WG 86 on Ecology of Sea Ice.

The current SCOR-sponsored large-scale ocean research projects with past, ongoing, or planned Southern Ocean activities include

JGOFS sponsored a Southern Ocean research program in 1991-1999. The results of the activity are currently being synthesized to aid in the overall JGOFS synthesis.

Southern Ocean GLOBEC is an ongoing activity that has brought together scientists from several nations and from the International Whaling Commission to study the year-round life cycle of Antarctic zooplankton, particularly krill. Southern Ocean GLOBEC has also studied the predators of krill, such as marine mammals and seabirds. As such it builds on the extensive previous work undertaken by the Discovery investigations, and more recently by the BIOMASS programme of SCAR.

The Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) is a new project sponsored by SCOR, IGBP, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and the Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (CACGP) of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences. The SOLAS Scientific Steering Committee has met several times to complete its Science Plan/Implementation Strategy, which has been approved and is available on the SOLAS Web site. The effects of ice on air-sea exchange of gases and particles significant for global climate will be an important element of SOLAS research. A specific task team will be developed related to Air-Ice Chemical Interactions (AICI), which will be a joint activity with the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project of IGBP, starting in 2004.

Another new activity being developed by SCOR and IGBP is the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) project. An open science meeting was held last January to gather input from the international scientific community for the project’s Science Plan/Implementation Strategy, which is in development now. High-latitude areas (including polar regions) are an area of special focus identified in the draft plan, in recognition of the importance of these areas in global change. Biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems will be linked, as will natural and human systems. A joint activity between IMBER and GLOBEC under development is the Integrated Analysis of Circumpolar Climate Interactions and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICCED) project. It is likely to continue some of the work of Southern Ocean GLOBEC, but to broaden it to meet the goals of IMBER.

SCOR also has a system of project affiliation to help these projects interact with activities of SCOR and other international organizations. Projects and programmes affiliated with SCOR include the Census of Marine Life (CoML), International Antarctic Zone Program (iAnZone), International Marine Global Change Study (IMAGES), International Ocean Colour Co-ordinating Group (IOCCG, and the International RIDGE Studies (InterRidge). Each of these projects/programmes has ongoing or potential activities in the Southern Ocean.

IOC

The IOC was formed in 1960, and has as its main purpose “to promote international cooperation and to coordinate programmes in research, services and capacity building, in order to learn more about the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas and to apply that knowledge for the improvement of management, sustainable development, the protection of the marine environment, and the decision-making processes of its Member States.” It differs from SCOR and SCAR in being an intergovernmental body with a responsibility for focusing on scientific applications useful for its members (the Member States). The IOC develops global programmes, like the Global Ocean Observing System, but also focuses on particular regions where developing countries need assistance to build their capacity to carry our oceanographic research and applications in support of sustainable development. The IOC’s regions are: (i) the Caribbean and adjacent regions; (ii) the Central Eastern Atlantic; (iii) the Western Indian Ocean; (iv) the Central Indian Ocean; and (v) the Western Pacific. The IOC cooperates closely with the WMO through the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM).

SCOR provides scientific and technical advice to the IOC, and the IOC and SCOR develop joint programmes. For instance IOC and SCOR both co-sponsored WOCE; and both co-sponsor GLOBEC, the POGO Fellowship scheme, GEOHAB and the Advisory Panel on Ocean Carbon Dioxide.

In the past the IOC also had a Regional Committee for the Southern Ocean (IOCSOC). However, the IOC’s 33rd Executive Council recognised in June 2000 that that the responsibility for coordination of operational oceanographic activities in the Southern Ocean, which was one of the Terms of Reference for the IOCSOC, had in effect been subsumed within the Terms of Reference for GOOS and JCOMM. The Council asked the IOC Executive Secretary to investigate the interest of partner organizations for the convening of an ad hoc working group comprising representatives of IOC, SCOR, SCAR, and WMO, to consider suitable ways and means by which the coordination of basic research in the Southern Ocean could be ensured. The Executive Secretary contacted these organizations to determine if there was sufficient interest in convening such a working group, and all responded positively. In addition, the IOC Executive Secretary contacted several key members of the research community specializing in the Southern Ocean, and found strong support for a coordinating mechanism for basic research in this region. As a result, the 21st IOC Assembly in July 2001 agreed that the working group should be convened to consider suitable ways and means by which the IOC and its partners should coordinate basic research in the Southern Ocean. The Assembly agreed that the formation of this working group, in which all major organisations with Southern Ocean research interests would be involved, effectively replaced the need for continuance of the IOCSOC, which was therefore dissolved.

A discussion on the possible way forward took place immediately before the 2001 SCOR Executive Committee meeting, and involved IOC, SCAR, SCOR, CLIVAR, GLOBEC, iAnZone, and SOLAS. As reported in the 2001 SCOR Proceedings (section 4.1.1), “Participants agreed that a mechanism to share information about Southern Ocean research plans could be useful, as long as it doesn’t create a new bureaucracy. Intergovernmental organisations should only be involved to the extent that they need to be. One idea was to have a Web site for exchange of information on cruise schedules, meetings, activities, where to find data sets, and other relevant information. Establishment of a new Web site would require some funds for a Webmaster.” Participants were asked to send relevant URLs to the Executive Director of SCOR to see how this activity might proceed. It was suggested that contacts should be made with CCAMLR and COMNAP to see whether they would like to be involved in this activity.

At the time of writing (February 2004), neither the ad hoc Working Group nor the Web site had been created, due to lack of interest by potential financial sponsors.

Recommendations concerning the three organisations

Following (i) the IOC’s 33rd Executive Council in June 2001, which recommended exploring links between SCAR, SCOR, IOC and WMO on the coordination of research in the Southern Ocean; (ii) the meeting between the Presidents of SCAR and SCOR in April 2001 and the preparation of a statement on the need for improved coordination in Southern Ocean matters (Annex 1), (iii) the discussions and agreements between SCAR and SCOR that took place at the SCOR Executive Committee meetings in 2001, 2002 and 2003; (iv) the ad hoc meeting between SCAR, SCOR, CLIVAR, GLOBEC, iAnZone, IOC and SOLAS that took place in association with the SCOR Executive Committee meeting in 2001; and (v) the meeting in Rome between representatives of SCAR, SCOR, IOC and CLIVAR that took place on October 23, 2003, in the margins of the SCAR Workshop on Oceanography ( 22-24 October 2003) this proposal recommends:

Recommendations to SCAR

• SCAR should be encouraged to join ISOS.
• Because many of the SCAR programmes will need to have access to oceanographic data for tasks such as verification of the ocean element of climate models, understanding the observed distribution of marine biota and investigating the production of AABW, consideration needs to be given to the establishment of a cross SSG group to ensure that the data requirements of the SSGs are being met. This group would also involve the Joint (SCAR–COMNAP) Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM), which would advise on data management matters. This new cross-cutting group could be the Expert Group on Oceanography with an expanded remit. However, it would make more sense to subsume the Expert Group into ISOS and have ISOS perform the functions of the cross SSG group.
• The group should identify gaps in our knowledge of oceanographic processes and data availability in the Antarctic.
• SCAR should try to develop a higher profile within the oceanographic community by co-sponsoring symposia and conferences organised by organisations such as SCOR, IOC, the International Association of Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO), and the International Association of Biological Oceanography (IABO).
• SCAR should try to promote its oceanographic activities more outside the immediate SCAR communities. For example, SCAR’s Antarctic Sea Ice Zone (EASIZ) and Antarctic Pack Ice Seals (APIS) programmes have created data sets that are of great interest to the marine science and globalk change communities outside the Antarctic; EVOLANTA is addressing evolutionary issues that are of world-wide significance; and the Antarctic Sea-Ice Processes and Climate (ASPECT) project is assembling a very valuable data set of in-situ sea ice observations (http://www.antcrc.utas.edu.au/aspect/index.html).
• JCADM could play a central role in the creation of a data base of key oceanographic fields for use within SCAR/SCOR/IOC science. This could include sea surface temperature, CTD sections, ocean circulation, sea ice extent/concentration/thickness and chemistry. It is not suggested that all these fields should be created by the group. Rather it should work with other groups and experts on deciding which are currently the best fields available. The SCAR/SCOR/IOC oceanographic data base should be Web-based, where possible providing links to existing data sets. SCAR is already active in some of these areas having been involved in the establishment of the data base of drifting buoys.
• SCAR should take the lead in working with SCOR and the IOC to create a Web-based information system on Southern Ocean activities.

Recommendations to SCOR

• SCOR should be encouraged to join ISOS.
• The SCOR community should also be encouraged to take part in the SCAR open science conference on “Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the Global System” in July 2004. SCOR should continue its liaison with SCAR, by participating in the SCAR Action Group on Oceanography and sending SCOR liaisons to SCAR’s annual meetings.
• SCOR should encourage SCOR-affiliated programs— Census of Marine Life (CoML), International Antarctic Zone Program (iAnZone), International Marine Global Change Study (IMAGES), International Ocean Colour Co-ordinating Group (IOCCG, and the International RIDGE Studies (InterRidge)— to work with other projects in the Southern Ocean.

Recommendations to IOC

• IOC should be encouraged to join ISOS.
• The IOC should also be encouraged to take part in the SCAR open science conference on “Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the Global System” in July 2004.

John Turner, Colin Summerhayes, Roberto Purini, Michele Colacino

16 December 2003

Acronyms

ANNEX I

(from ANNEX 5 of SCOR Proceedings Vol. 37, Mar del Plata, Argentina, October 2001)

SCAR, SCOR, AND OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN

The Presidents of SCAR (Robert Rutford) and SCOR (Robert Duce) met at Texas A& M University on 6 April 2001 to discuss

1. A possible joint response to the request from IOC for comments about the ways in which there could be increased coordination between SCAR, SCOR, IOC, and WMO concerning research in the Southern Ocean, and

2. Areas where there could be increased cooperation and coordination between SCAR and SCOR in general.

Relative to the first topic, we support strongly increased cooperation and coordination between SCAR, SCOR, IOC, WCRP, and WMO in the Southern Ocean Region. The scientific community is increasingly recognizing the importance of the Southern Ocean relative to possible climate change, air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide, nutrient and biological community dynamics, etc, as shown by new research efforts planned or underway in programs such as GLOBEC, SOLAS, WCRP , and others. If such a coordinating effort were to take place, it would need to reach across a wide range of disciplines in both the ocean and atmospheric sciences. This has never happened before but, we believe that if all the organizations listed above approached this issue jointly, the likelihood of meaningful results could be high.

We suggest that a relatively small (perhaps 6 to 8 individuals) working group of experts representing the necessary disciplines in the ocean and atmospheric sciences, supported by the organizations above, meet to develop a strategy and goals for the development of a somewhat larger coordinating and advisory panel. One possible location for such an initial meeting might be the Joint IAPSO/IABO General Assembly to be held in Mar del Plata, Argentina 21-28 October 2001. It is likely that a number of the individuals who would be involved in such a joint group would already be at that meeting.

Relative to the second topic, we both agreed that increased coordination between SCAR and SCOR is important and could be beneficial to both groups. We agreed to approach our respective Executive Committees to discuss the possibility of having liaison people attend each other's General and Executive Committee meetings, perhaps an officer or Executive Director/Secretary. We also agreed that at some time in the future it could be beneficial to both SCAR and SCOR if our Executive Committees could hold occasional joint meetings.

Robert Rutford, President, SCAR

Robert Duce, President, SCOR

GLOBEC	Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics project
IABO	International Association of Biological Oceanography
IAPSO	International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean
IOC	Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
SCAR	Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
SCOR	Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research
SOLAS	Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study
WCRP	World Climate Research Programme
WMO	World Meteorological Organization