International Repeat Hydrography and Carbon Workshop
November 14-16, 2005
Shonan Village, Japan


Co-sponsored by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project ( IOCCP), and the Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) program.

Support for this workshop was provided by a grant from JAMSTEC, by the US National Science Foundation Award No.OCE-0326301 to the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) for the IOCCP, and by the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and US CLIVAR for the CLIVAR International Project Office. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the workshop sponsors or of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

Introduction to the Conference
International Organizing Committee
Powerpoint Presentations
Photo Gallery ! (special thanks to photographers Bob Key and Akiko Yamada)
Final Report and Action Items (pdf 2Mb)


Introduction to the Conference
During the decade of the 1990s the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) conducted an extensive survey of hydrographic properties in the global ocean in an effort to develop a global picture of ocean properties that was as synoptic as possible. In collaboration with the WOCE global survey, the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) ensured that inorganic carbon measurements were made on a majority of the cruises. The WOCE/JGOFS effort lead to numerous scientific advances in understanding the physical and biogeochemical state of the global ocean. However, this work also lead to the realization that the effect of climate variability on the ocean is still poorly understood. An international conference, entitled "The Ocean Observing System for Climate" (or OceanObs'99), set the initial scientific and implementation framework for post-WOCE hydrography. It was recognized that, while hydrography provides a critical and unique platform for ocean observations that will be required for the foreseeable future, understanding of ocean variability on basin and global scales is still emerging and will require the development of new techniques, integration with other observing platforms, and close scientific scrutiny to ensure the highest possible data quality and scientific interpretation. For this reason, it was suggested that the hydrography program would sit more appropriately within the framework of a research program such as the Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) program rather than the sustained observing systems (e.g., GOOS, GCOS). However, it was also recognized that the CLIVAR program at that time did not include some key aspects (such as CO2 measurements) that are essential to understanding the ocean's role in climate. The OceanObs'99 conference thus highlighted the need for an umbrella structure to more closely link the future global programs and optimise the ocean sampling scheme (Gould et al., 1999).

Recently, both the CLIVAR community and the ocean carbon community have recognized the urgent need for better coordination of planning, implementation, standardization, and data synthesis and interpretation efforts for hydrography. It was also recognized that today's hydrography programs address different issues than were addressed during the WOCE era; issues that require a more integrated approach both in terms of variables measured, sampling strategy, and integration of ship-based sampling with other platforms such as Argo and time series stations.

The International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) and CLIVAR, with the leadership and support of JAMSTEC, developed this workshop to address these issues and to examine potential ways and means for developing the kind of coordination structure foreseen by OceanObs'99 as the next generation of hydrography. One of the immediate goals of the workshop was to lay the foundations for the development of a robust and comprehensive information system about on-going and planned hydrographic activities, and to actively publicize the need and enthusiasm for a new era of integrated hydrographic research. A longer-term goal is to develop an international hydrography program that has a sustained coordination mechanism for data / information management and data synthesis activities, yet remains driven by science through national, regional, and global research programs.

The workshop brought together 49 participants from 11 countries, with expertise covering carbon, hydrography, tracers, prognostic modelling, data assimilation, and the Argo profiling float program, along with data and information management experts.

International Organizing Committee
Masao Fukasawa - IOCCP / CLIVAR GSOP
Richard Feely - US Repeat Hydrography Program
John Gould - Argo
Chris Sabine - IOCCP
Bernadette Sloyan - CLIVAR GSOP
Jim Swift - CLIVAR CCHDO
Alex Kozyr - CDIAC Ocean CO2 Program
Nico Caltabiato - CLIVAR IPO
Maria Hood - IOCCP

Powerpoint Presentations

Introduction to the Workshop: Scientific Goals and Objectives (12Mb) - Richard A. Feely

Changes in Properties on TransOcean Sections, Before, During and After the WOCE Hydrographic Program (29Mb) - Brian King

What We Learned from the CO2 Survey and Some "Intriguing" Questions (5Mb) - Douglas Wallace

Current Status of the U.S. Repeat Hydrography Program and Some Interesting Preliminary Findings (4Mb) - Terrence Joyce

Decadal-Scale Changes in Ocean Biogeochemistry: Results from the CLIVAR / CO2 Repeat Survey (6Mb) - Scott Doney

Observing Systems from a Viewpoint of Modeling and Data Assimilation in the Pacific (12Mb) - Masa Kamachi

Anthropogenic CO2 Uptake in the North Pacific: A Modeling Perspective (4Mb) - Keith Rodgers

Complementarity of the Repeat Hydrography and Argo Programs (12Mb) - Gregory Johnson

 

The planning committee would like to thank Dr. Masao Fukasawa and Ms Akiko Yamada for the excellent organization and implementation of this workshop.

 

Meeting Participants Say a Prayer for
Repeat Hydrography