BAMOS October 2021
18 Article
Southern Ocean Observing System
Alyce Hancock , Executive Officer , Southern Ocean Observing System
The Southern Ocean has a disproportionally important role in the Earth System ; connecting the Earth ’ s ocean basins , and impacting climatic , biogeochemical , and ecological systems . The understanding of ongoing changes and our ability to project future changes are reliant on sustained observations . The
Southern Ocean Observing System ( SOOS ) is a joint initiative of the
Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research ( SCOR ) and
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research ( SCAR ) with the mission to facilitate the sustained collection and delivery of essential observations of the Southern Ocean to all stakeholders . SOOS is achieving this through the design , advocacy , and implementation of cost-effective observing and data delivery systems . SOOS has been operating for 10 years , officially launched in 2011 with the opening of the SOOS International Project Office hosted by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies ( IMAS ), at the University of Tasmania . During this time , SOOS has built community networks covering both the Antarctic community ( traditionally focused south of 60 ° S ) and the oceanographic community , including 21 implementation groups ( 14 currently active ), and developed tools to support collaboration and data discovery .
SOOS has recently developed a new
Science and Implementation Plan ( 2021 – 2025 ), which is under review from SCAR and SCOR , to focus SOOS ’ s activities for the next five years . The Science Plan identifies five community-agreed Science Themes on understanding and quantifying the state and variability of the Southern Ocean cryosphere ; circulation ; carbon and biogeochemical cycles ; ecosystems and biodiversity ; and airsea-ice fluxes . For each SOOS Science Theme , Key Science Challenges are identified that articulate specific priorities of the SOOS community over the next 5-10 years . In addition to the science priorities , SOOS recognises the importance of enhancing our ability to collect , manage and use observational data . In recognition of this , the community identified SOOS Foundational Capabilities required to collect and deliver the data needed by the scientific community to address the Key Science Challenges ( Figure 1 ). These capabilities are the development of observing system design and modelling tools , identification of key variables , the development of observing methods and standards , and improving data management and delivery .
The delivery of the knowledge and scientific outputs that will address these Science Themes and Key Challenges will be carried out by not only
SOOS working groups , but by many community efforts , including the programs and projects of SCAR and SCOR , among others . Integral to the success of SOOS ’ s Science Plan is ensuring the management and delivery of observation data , and ensuring the resulting data are open and easily “ Findable , Accessible , Interoperable , and Reusable ” ( FAIR ). SOOS ’ s data management efforts have led to the development of data tools for the community including
SOOSmap , an online data discovery tool ( Figure 2 ). SOOSmap is a collaboration between SOOS and the European Marine Observation and Data Network ( EMODnet ) Physics providing curated and standardised observational data from oceanographic and Antarctic research programs . SOOS has also developed a database of upcoming expeditions to the Southern Ocean ,
DueSouth , which is managed for SOOS by the European Polar Board . DueSouth provides information on upcoming and past expeditions to the Southern Ocean including projects on board the expeditions .
Equity , diversity and inclusion ( EDI ) are core to SOOS ’ s values , therefore SOOS recently establish an EDI Group which will be an ongoing initiative that will ensure SOOS continue to act in
Figure 1 ( left ): Five community-agreed science themes ( coloured circles ), the key foundational capabilities ( grey base layers ), including the SOOS equitable and diverse networks ( blue line ), all of which are required to collect and deliver the data needed by the scientific community to address the key challenges encompassed by the themes .
Figure 2 ( right ): SOOSmap , an online data discovery tool managed by European Marine Observation and Data Network ( EMODnet ) Physics .