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7.4.4 GLOSS 

Ed  Harrison  reported  on  the  status  of  the  Global  Sea level  Observing  System 

(GLOSS). Mark Merrifield is the new chair of GLOSS. There is a GLOSS Core Network of 

300 gauges, unfortunately the majority of them do not report in real time, and their status can 

be  difficult  to  ascertain.  The  OOPC  stressed  the  importance  of  a  good  relationship  with 

GLOSS,  and  decided  to  ask  GLOSS  to  provide  a  real time reporting  map  and  to  revisit the 

question  of  time  resolution  in  the  tide  gauge  data,  to  see  if  it  is  meeting  climate  observing 

requirements.  

7.4.5 VOSClim 

Peter Taylor reported on the status of the VOSClim project. A full report is given in 

Annex VIII, and his presentation is available on the meeting website. The VOSClim project 

has as its goals to improve the metadata available for ships reporting meteorological data, to 

encourage better quality control, and to encourage better reporting. It had its last meeting in 

July  2003.  Progress  has  been  made  on  real time  monitoring  on  all  variables,  and  in  the 

preliminary scientific analyses. However, numerous challenges remain. The WMO has been 

slow in maintaining its metadata database of VOS ships (Publication 47). Harrison reported 

that  progress  had  been  reported  at  the  February  JCOMM  Management  Committee  meeting, 

but  this  should  be  followed  up.  Support  of  port  meteorological  officers  is  in  many  cases 

lacking, and continuity in the face of constantly changing shipping routes was a big challenge. 

Strong  involvement  of  a  user  community,  such  as  the  SURFA  project,  was  also  necessary. 

The VOSClim project is seen as a pilot project to eventually raise the standard of all the VOS 

observing  platforms.  Discussion  by  the  OOPC  focused  on  the  numerous  challenges  to  the 

program, and the need to keep advocating on behalf of the project. 

7.4.6 OceanSITES 

Bob  Weller  reported  on  the  activities  of  the  International  Time  Series  Team,  now 

known  by  the  acronym  OceanSITES.  The  website  has  been  moved,  and  is  now 

http://www.oceansites.org/OceanSITES/

.  A  big  effort  has  been  made  in  data  standards  and 

data sharing, where Sylvie Pouliquen heads up a working group. A draft whitepaper is ready 

for  review  by  the  OOPC,  and  a  brochure  and  new  clickable  web based  maps  based  on  the 

JCOMM standard are forthcoming. 

One  new  initiative  in  the  US  has  been  the  Ocean  Observatories  Initiative  (OOI)  / 

ORION, which will build an observing infrastructure over the next 5 years, NSF is investing 

$250 million. A call for letters of intent will come out this fall. The OceanSITES group has 

put  effort  into  choosing  sites,  taking  into  account  disciplinary  needs.  Individual  process 

studies will also have a place on the maps maintained by OceanSITES, though separated from 

the  main  sustained  observations  initiative.  Free  availability  of  data  will  be  a  central  tenet. 

Moving this initiative forward will be a big challenge, however, both in terms of the resources 

needed to put in place the observatories (estimated at 30 40 months of ship time per year for 

the full system), and in supporting the coordinating mechanism and team. Discussion focused 

in large part on the heavy infrastructure and coordination requirements. OOPC saw the need 

to target the major research funding agencies to identify support for a coordination team.