JCOMMOPS: Supporting Global Observing Systems

1. JCOMM Observing Programme Support Centre Activities, future directions and opportunities. JCOMM III, Nov. 2009, Marrakech Mathieu Belbeoch & Hester Viola

2. Aims of this talk • Background • Infrastructure • Products and Services • Future Directions • Discussion of Opportunities

3. Background The JCOMM(In-situ) Observing Programme Support Centre is a component of the international coordination mechanism, which aims on behalf of JCOMM to: • assist in the planning, implementation and operations of the observing systems • monitor and evaluate the performance of the networks • encourage cooperation between communities and member states • encourage data sharing • assist in data distribution on the Internet and GTS • relay user feedback on data quality to platform operators • provide technical assistance and user supportworldwide • act as a clearing house and focal point on all programme aspects • develop synergies between observing systems

4. Background

5. Background • JCOMMOPS is involved with the implementation of the main global in-situ observing systems, including: • DBCP: Drifting and moored buoys in the high seas and tropical moorings • SOT: XBTs, TSGs, atmospheric soundings from ships, meteorological observations from ships • Argo: Profiling floats • OceanSITES: Deep ocean time-series reference stations JCOMMOPS is now “firmly established as a major support facility for operational ocean observing system.”JCOMM co-presidents, 2009

6. DBCP: ~1500 surface drifters & ~500 moorings

7. Argo: ~3000 profilingfloats

8. SOT: ~2500 ships

9. OceanSITES: ~80 reference sites & ~20 transport sites

10. CTDs, Tide Gauges, Polar platforms, marine mammals, … These GOOS/JCOMM components would need a proper focal point within (or cooperating with) JCOMMOPS.so that sustained support can be provided ...

11. JCOMMOPS …

12. Benefits of a shared infrastructure • Resources available for Coordination or Project office support are limited. • Sharing a common infrastructure (technical and logistical) is especially necessary. • The transfer of skills and expertise between TCs ensures a good continuity in the services to the community and allows long term support to the programmes. • While each Coordinator focuses on their programme, the “integrated centre” concept facilitates cooperation between observing systems components, via the day-to-day cooperation between the Coordinators. New programmes incorporated into JCOMMOPS today would immediately benefit from the existing infrastructure and experience gained.

13. Infrastructure: office, staff and Information System • JCOMMOPS is hosted by France (CLS/IFREMER), in Toulouse • JCOMMOPS comprises two Technical Coordinators: • Mathieu BelbeochThe Argo Profiling Float programme (70%)The Ship Observations Team (30%) • Hester ViolaThe Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (70%)The OceanSITES Program (30%) • Plus a ½ time I.T. resource that is being made full time • And a ¼ time senior scientist, students on work experience • Work priorities are set by panel chairs or steering committee for each programme, in close cooperation with IOC/WMO.

14. Infrastructure: Office, Staff and Information System • 250 k€ / year of global funding (staff salary / mission / hosting contract) • Truly international support (and growing support from Asia) • Host contribution (logistic contract, I.T. resource, ~50% covered). • Administrative support by IOC and WMO (Employment and travel support ) The JCOMMOPS budget is just sufficient for the existing needs but does not allow any flexibility for growth

15. Infrastructure: Office, Staff and Information System • The requirements for an integrated I.S. was recognized in 2001 and built gradually by JCOMMOPS staff (99%): • International programmes need centralized and efficient information and communication tools. • Information on the programs, platforms, people, data, etc, is constantly changing and needs to be well structured. • Database, GIS technologies are required to manage information and web based technologies are required to share and communicate this information. • The development and maintenance of such system has to be properly supported • The new I.T. resource will certainly allow JCOMMOPS to maintain and modernize its system. A new system is being designed to be used into the next decade, with a new generation of integrated web products and services (2010-2012)

16. Infrastructure: Office, Staff and Information System • The JCOMMOPS I.S. routinely takes in information from different sources: • GTS , Global Data Centres , platform tracking data from telecom. providers, various metadata centres, etc. • Platform operators feed the system regularly (e.g. deployment planning) and data users (including operational centres) feedback on data quality to data producers via JCOMMOPS. • Coordinators feed the system regularly and control crucial metadata • Information is then made available through different products and web tools, permitting: • tracking the status, development, and efficiency of the networks • Mapping the programme structure to facilitate communication • provides a common interface and visibility for the programmes. JCOMMOPS is not a data centre … but a support centre managing metadata

17. Web Site Audience: broad, regular, intended and truly international 25000 visits per year, from 135 countries (e.g. for Argo) Source: Google Analytics

18. Products & Services: focal points • The JCOMMOPS Coordinators monitor and provide oversight for the global arrays, and understand all the elements of the system: platforms, people, data systems and unique international/national/regional/institutional considerations (including Law of the Sea issues: JCOMMOPS/AIC role acknowledged in IOC Res XX-6 and XLI-4 – float drift in EEZ). • JCOMMOPS provides a team of focal points, • fully dedicated to the development of a specific programme, • with a truly international focus and a neutral representation, • To mediate and help communicate • in constant liaison with people implementing the arrays. • They support the programme on a wide range of issues: Assistance, Monitoring, Cooperation Integration of the elements of a global system requires focal points, working together

19. Products & Services: Assistance • Assistance to national programs and individual platform operators • on any issue required to participate in an international program • on data distribution, following appropriate standards • on logistics (deployment planning, deployment methods, instrument retrieval) • Programme reporting information • Assistance through • a web portal to find information relating to ocean observing systems, including a centralized source of documentation, contact details, programme information and platforms, etc, and • common system for managing communications (e.g. news items, mailing lists, picture galleries, etc) • Assistance to individual scientists and data users (growing and rationalized) • Assistance to the community or media (photos, maps, articles, presentations, etc) In addition to its web sites, JCOMMOPS provides a responsive and proactive focal point.

20. Products & Services: Monitoring Monitoring goals: • An authoritative source of metadata for platforms and official status of the arrays • Common and integrated monitoring tools across the networks • Common and specific performance evaluation tools for the networks • Integration of quality control feedback mechanisms across programmes and platforms • Centralised deployment planning tools and capacity for shared deployment opportunities • Detection of problems with data formats, data archives Monitoring Tools: • Real-time web applications to browse the platform database • Real-time GIS/Chart based monitoring and tracking tools • Daily Metadata export files (Textual, XML, Google Earth outputs). • A portal for access to community (national/regional) web based monitoring tools • Various monthly and yearly products and reports

21. Products & Services: Cooperation • Encouraging cooperation between research and operational communities within the domains of oceanography and marine meteorology. • Encouraging, providing recognition and visibility to every single contribution to the programmes • Encouraging standardization (or harmonization) of Data Formats and Table driven code forms, in close cooperation with JCOMM DMPA. • Encouraging and coordinating international cooperation through bilateral/multilateral and cross-programme initiatives • e.g. training sessions on floats/buoys/XBTs related practices, proactive development of international cooperation through Platform Donor Programs, Sharing ship time • (to work with regional GOOS / RMIC / IODE)

22. Products & Services: Cooperation Platform Donor Programme: • Opportunity for a country to start participating in global programme • Permit to identify new deployment opportunities and fill regional gaps • Permit to increase the international support to the programme • Permit to smooth political issues (EEZ access) • Permit to increase the data user community • Not a high priority for JCOMMOPS (and no appropriate resource) • Latest example (Morocco/France, floats to be deployed early 2010) • Do not hesitate to contact JCOMMOPS to set up such initiatives.

23. Products & Services: Examples Real-time ...Very early on, JCOMMOPS provided online, interactive GIS–based, real-time tracking tools for ocean platforms and is now working on a partnership with Google to include JCOMM/GOOS observing system status and products within Google OceanInteroperability targeted: Web Map Services, XML metadata exports, etc. Monthly ... JCOMMOPS Status maps are widely recognised as authoritative and giving an up-to-date, verified status of the arrays, encouraging community to share the data and showing how the programmes assess and meet their requirements

24. Products & Services: Examples Products (on-line or on-demand) measuring the growth and efficiency of the arrays. If there is a need for new information products on platforms, statistics about national/regional contributions, or a map, etc ... just ask JCOMMOPS, support@jcommops.org

25. Products & Services: Examples • Cruise Scoring System (Argo) • Encourages array coverage optimization • Helps manufacturers to prioritize platform delivery to customers

26. Products & Services: Examples

27. Products & Services: Examples QC feedback Operational for DBCP/VOSUnder development for Argo Array:Monthly Monitoring Statsallow to look at the trends and detect issues or show progress on a global dataset Platform:on a specific platform. JCOMMOPS relays quality information from users to producers Products developed for one programme initially will be adopted for all JCOMMOPS programmes.

28. Future Directions • Strengthening the existing infrastructure • Designing a new generation of integrated products/services • Expanding JCOMMOPS to support new observing systems.

29. Future directions: Strengthening the existing infrastructure • JCOMMOPS is under-resourced and not tasked with seeking its own resources • There are limits on the amount of extra financial input from CLS/IFREMER • Document 6.4: “encouraging Member States to commit resources to JCOMMOPS …”. • Funding • Human resources • Should JCOMM seek support from other international organizations, Europe ? “A major support facility for operational ocean observing system” costs money !!!

30. Future directions: Strengthening the existing infrastructure Ships are the common denominator of all ocean observing systems. JCOMMOPS needs a dedicated cruise information coordinator for a cross-programme benefit. • Facilitate maintenance and operations of global arrays through logistics coordination when required. • Further develop cooperation between programs (e.g. shared cruises, ship time). • Further develop platform donor programs and identify new regional deployment opportunities. • Identify future research cruises, and CTD data essential to Argo data quality control, in cooperation with the GO-SHIP, CCHDO and POGO initiatives. • JCOMMOPS already handles similar data (e.g. Argo/DBCP planning, SOT) • GO-SHIP is planning to be a sustained programme and identified the need for more coordination. (see #2 meeting aside of OceanObs’09 ) • Identification of future research cruises , developing new products, synthesizing information, similar to typical functions for a coordinator within JCOMMOPS We could combine those two needs in a single full time position: 50% JCOMMOPS Cruise / 50% GO-SHIP coordination ( in line with plans of the JCOMM OPA & partners)

31. Future directions: Integrated products / services • Design a new generation of integrated web tools: • Integration of the technical elements of the information System • Design a new structure for the JCOMMOPS website (and flexible enough to handle new programmes) • Analyze in depth the results of the websites audience tracking • Get more feedback from the community on the tools they need • Using more interactivity in navigation (via latest web technologies) • Develop a profile based service: “My JCOMMOPS” priorities are - deployment planning, monitoring, QC feedback tools (from operational centres), Ship callsign Masking (MASK scheme) • Developing further cooperation by cross-programme training workshops and platform donation • Make cross-programme “variable oriented” monitoring products (in cooperation with JCOMM OCG).

32. Future directions: Expanding JCOMMOPS • How encourage the emerging programmes to participate in the centre activities and contribute to JCOMM? • Assistance provided to various programmes hasn’t really lead to any substantial progress (marine mammals, etc) • New Opportunity: • during OceanObs’09: JCOMMOPS was approached by the Glider community (EGO) initiative and invited to Cyprus meeting this month. • JCOMMOPS will be represented to promote JCOMM international coordination mechanisms and feedback on the successful development of Argo/DBCP, to encourage the glider community to fund a dedicated coordinator cooperating within JCOMMOPS. • Satellites (cooperation with GHRSST), Coastal and multi-disciplinary observations ?

33. Conclusions JCOMMOPS has an infrastructure in place, providing services to the JCOMM community Feedback from JCOMM and its programmes indicates that JCOMMOPS is a major element in the successful implemention of the observing systems JCOMMOPS is visible (evidenced by the 15 proposals for the OPSC) JCOMMOPS has achieved a lot with meagre means JCOMMOPS is ready to fulfill new expectations and pursue new challenges

34. Discussion Activities, Products and Services: feedback orsuggestions? Resources: What solutions are recommended by JCOMM? Future Directions: other suggestions? General Feedback or questions: general discussion support@jcommops.org Thank you …