OceanSAfrica: an operational oceanography initiative
Background
In a workshop on the implementation of an operational oceanography system for southern Africa, held in Cape Town in July last year, the urgent need for a southern African operational oceanography strategy was identified, and the OceanSAfrica initiative emerged.
The aim of OceanSAfrica, and operational oceanography in general, is to make the knowledge and capabilities of the marine science community useful to society, by providing information on:
- the current state of the ocean,
- the current state of the ecosystem,
- and the future state of the ocean and marine ecosystems.
In doing so, OceanSAfrica creates a vehicle for the integrated, multi-institutional, strategic development of marine science, helping to build a sustainable marine science capability in Africa. Its operational vision:
"Through a combination of modelling and observations we will deliver regular and systematic information on the state of the ocean that is of known quality and accuracy on open ocean to shelf-scales."
While the initial focus of the OceanSAfrica operational oceanography system is the monitoring and forecasting of the three-dimensional ocean state (temperature, salinity and pressure) and currents for short-range timescales out to one month, the integrated observation and modelling system will be used to monitor and study the ocean and climate variability (change) in southern Africa, thereby developing capacity in marine science.
Considering the dynamic nature of the ocean surrounding southern Africa, its marine resources and proximity to one of the most energetic current systems in the world, the Agulhas Current, the need for oceanographic monitoring is well defined. The Agulhas Current exhibits intense mesoscale activity, including eddy shedding events at the Agulhas Retroflection, the interaction of eddies from the Mozambique Channel with the Agulhas Current core, and large meanders of the Agulhas Return Current (Lutjeharms, 2006). The unpredictability and intensity of the currents represent a direct threat to the industrial, commercial and leisure activities, for example, accidental pollutants, such as oil spills, which may advect onshore to the detriment of the coastal environment. In the years following the catastrophic Prestige wreck in Galicia, 10% to 15% of the ships at sea still do not conform with international safety regulations and represent a risk for further accidental pollutions. Furthermore, the Benguela Current system, which hosts one of the worlds most productive fisheries, is known to be sensitive to climate change and climate variability associates with, for example, the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Understanding these dynamics and their role in ecosystem functioning, is an important part of resource management.
The development of an operational system for southern Africa that delivers regular and consistent nowcasts and forecasts of the state of the ocean is of key interest for the following purposes:
- Marine safety: to improve the predictability of extreme events, such as cut off lows and mesoscale convective systems; to monitor and predict the pathways and spreading of various tracers including toxic contaminants such as oil spills; to support search and rescue of people and goods lost at sea.
- Marine and coastal environment: to provide rapid environmental assessment in order to monitor and mitigate against the effects of, for example, harmful algal bloom (HAB) and low oxygen water (LOW) events as well as large-scale, climate related changes on the oceans surrounding southern Africa.
- Marine resources: to provide support information for the offshore oil and gas industries, fisheries management and ecosystem characterisation; to condition bio-geochemical modelling of ocean primary productivity.
Effective monitoring and forecasting of the ocean around southern Africa will require close coupling between in situ monitoring, remote sensing and modelling activities. The dissemination of realtime and forecast products is an essential component of an operational system and will be designed so as to comply with the needs of users.
OceanSAfrica is made up of four working groups:
- in situ observation,
- remote sensing,
- modelling
- data dissemination.
It is essential that these four working groups work in close collaboration in order to achieve their goals of implementing an operational system.
Technical Task Group General Meeting
Recently, a technical task group (TTG) has been formed to drive the development of operational oceanography in South Africa under the OceanSAfrica initiative and to ensure coordination between the four pillars of the system.
On 30 April 2010, the second meeting on implementing an operational oceanography system for southern Africa, the OceanSAfrica initiative, was held. The aim of the meeting was to initiate open dialogue between the four working groups of OceanSAfrica and to ensure transparency for all interested parties.
The meeting was a great success, with representatives from a variety of institutes involved in marine science participating:
- the Bayworld Centre for Research and Education (BCRE)
- the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA)
- the City of Cape Town
- the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)
- the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
- Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)
- the Institute for Marine Technology (IMT)
- the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON)
- the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research (SANCOR)
- the South African National Parks (SANParks)
- the South African Weather Service (SAWS)
- the African Centre for Climate and Earth System Science (ACCESS)
- the Marine Remote Sensing Unit (MRSU)
- the University of Cape Town’s Department of Oceanography
- the University of Cape Town’s Department of Zoology
International scientists from L’Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), and the University of Maine (UMEOCE) were also present.
The meeting agenda, presentations given during the morning session, the minutes and a summary report from the afternoon session, and a report from the South African Weather Service are available for download below.
The next technical task group meeting will be held informally once the “Statement of Intent” has been drafted. While this TTG meeting is not exclusive, it will be limited to those members actively developing the OceanSAfrica initiative and its 4 pillars.
The following items will be discussed:
- Finalise the “Statement of Intent”.
- Decide on OceanSAfrica Pilot Project(s).
- Discuss which valuable products OceanSAfrica is to produce.
- Discussion with Wim Hugo (SAEON) on data formats and dissemination.
- Next TTG general meeting – presentation of progress.
For further information and quieries please feel free to contact
- Dr Mike Roberts (squid_at_metroweb.co.za) – In situ observations pillar (BCRE / DEA)
- Prof Geoff Brundrit (oceangeoff_at_iafrica.com) – In situ observations pillar (DEA)
- Dr Juliet Hermes (juliet_at_saeon.ac.za) – data dissemination pillar (SAEON)
- Dr Stewart Bernard (sbernard_at_csir.co.za) – remote sensing pillar (MRSU / CSIR)
- Mr Christo Whillte (christo.whittle_at_uct.ac.za) – remote sensing pillar (MRSU / UCT)
- Dr Bjorn Backeberg (bjorn.backeberg_at_nersc.no) – modelling pillar (UCT)
- Dr Jennifer Veitch (jennifer.veitch_at_nersc.no) – modelling pillar (UCT)
- Prof Frank Shillington (frank.shillington_at_uct.ac.za) – Department of Oceanography (UCT)
Downloads:
