Support the development of a global initiative for an enhanced, global, sustained sea and ocean observing system.
Fostering agreements on priorities for coordinated investment
Activity 2021 – 2022
Catalyse and facilitate the development of an internationally-agreed strategy for monitoring surface ocean CO2 globally and build on existing observing programmes, data management structures, and coordination bodies to create a global surface monitoring CO2 network capable of responding to the needs of global and regional policy drivers including the UNFCCC Global Stocktake. This activity contributes to G7 FSOI Action Areas 1, 3, and 4.
The G7 FSOI Coordination Centre will provide support for the GOOS Biogeochemistry Panel and build on existing international groups SOCONET and SOCAT to:
- Develop an internationally-agreed observing strategy required to determine net ocean- atmosphere fluxes to an accuracy of 10% or better regionally and globally, and to monitor global ocean acidification, building on existing infrastructures and making best use of the combination of in situ observing platforms, satellite data, and models to fill gaps.
- Develop international agreements on the system components required to support the observing network, including data management and global coordination support.
- Develop a roadmap, phased-implementation plan, and budget requirements by the end of 2022 for a sustained surface ocean CO2 monitoring system, with the goal of establishing a fully functional system for the 2nd Global Stocktake of the UNFCCC in 2028.
- Work with international partners to reach agreements on coordinated contributions and investments to implement the full fit-for-purpose observing system, including coastal areas, regional seas, and regional hubs (e.g., GOA-ON) and coordination support, by 2028.
Lead Coordination Centre Office: EU
Useful links:
- How we use observations and machine learning to find the ocean carbon uptake – video by Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
- Report from first planning meeting of the Surface Ocean CO2 Monitoring Strategy, Nov 2021
- North Atlantic biogeochemical carbon pump Virtual scientific workshop summary
- EU Integrated Carbon Observing System (ICOS) – Ocean
- Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON)
- GOOS Biochemistry Panel
- Surface Ocean CO₂ Atlas (SOCAT)
- Surface Ocean CO2 Reference Observing Network (SOCONET)
- UNFCCC Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement
- GOOS co-chair Anya Waite’s presentation at COP26: Linking Ocean Carbon Observation to Effective Climate Targets (starts at 40 minute mark)
- Remarks by NOAA’s Administrator – Dr. Rick Spinrad about NOAA’s commitment to a surface water CO2 observing system (starts just after 1-hour mark in the video)