Download Report on Intersessional Activities of the Chairman of the IOC

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IOC/IODE-XVII/6
Paris, 15 February 2003
Original: English
INTERGOVERNMENTAL OCEANOGRAPHIC COMMISSION
(of UNESCO)
Seventeenth Session of the IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and
Information Exchange (IODE), Paris, France, 3-7 March 2003
Report on Intersessional Activities of the Chairman of
the IOC Committee on IODE
(Efstathios Th. Balopoulos, IODE Chairman)
1. Introduction
During the intersessional period significant progress took place on various IODE elements that further
promoted its general objectives. This report provides a brief overview of the major activities and
implementation of decisions adopted by IODE-XVI and the Governing Bodies pursuant to the IODE
Programme. It is also focused briefly on developments and achievements in the IODE programme, as
well as on issues and external activities that benefit or impact the IODE Programme. Finally, the report
provides some information concerning the growing cooperation between IODE and other research,
monitoring and marine data management programmes with special emphasis on GOOS and JCOMM.
2. IODE Status
Over the intersessional period IODE has continued to grow and develop with a number of new
projects achieving significant success. The WDCs, RNODCs, NODCs and DNAs continue to work as
the long-term depositories for oceanographic data and associated metadata and also to serve the
IODE and user community producing a great variety of new data products. The IODE Regional
coordinators placed continuous efforts in order to increase effectiveness of the IODE system in their
regions. The number of data centres has also grown and during the last intersessional period, an
additional 7 countries announced the establishment of new IODE giving a total of 64. This growth
provides an increasingly larger community of marine data managers.
There have been some staff changes during the intersessional period. Ms Maria Hood transferred out
of the IODE Secretariat in February 2001. Mr Greg Reed commenced a consultancy contract in May
2001 and Mr Benjamin Simms commenced a supernumerary contract with IODE in September 2001.
In addition, two consultant staff, Mr Mika Odido and Mr Sekou Cisse, are funded from extra-budgetary
funds linked to the ODINAFRICA project. The IODE Secretary Mr Peter Pissierssens has made
significant advances to IODE, especially through the arrangements for the ODINAFRICA Project,
where he was very successful in gaining outside (Flemish Government) funding to continue this
important development activity for the African region. Mr Peter Pissierssens and Mr Greg Reed
currently share the increased load of missions that are required to ensure IODE’s participation in
GOOS, JCOMM, and other programme areas. Technical development work is currently fully
undertaken by Mr Benjamin Sims.
The long-term staffing outlook is far from satisfactory as consultants can no longer be employed on a
long-term basis and need to be replaced by temporary or regular posts. In addition, the funding for
ODINAFRICA-II will end in 2004 and the two consultant positions funded by this project will cease at
that time. Despite the request made by IODE-XVI in 2000 to the IOC Executive Secretary and IOC
Governing Bodies to “strengthen the IOC’s Ocean Services Section, responsible for IODE in the IOC
Secretariat, by two additional permanent Professional staff members …” no new permanent
professional posts have been created. Therefore, the current resources available at the IODE
Secretariat are inadequate to efficiently implement and manage the IODE programme.
The issue of declining resources for IODE has been raised on a number of occasions. The IODE
Chairman has presented items on IODE at the IOC’s General Assembly and the Executive Council
and has raised the issue of declining levels of resources. On each occasion the Assembly and
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Executive Council has acknowledged that IODE is a key activity of the IOC and one of its flagship
programs. However, when the issue of resources is raised, the member states have not supported
any increase to the slowly declining level of support.
During the intersessional period an Intergovernmental Working Group on “IOC Oceanographic Data
Exchange Policy” was established as recommended by IODE-XVI.6 and adopted by the IOC
Assembly at its 21st Session. This was composed of representatives of the countries participating in
the IOC Executive Council. This Group discussed in length the IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange
Policy issue during two Sessions held in Brussels, Belgium between 29 and 31 May 2001 [1] and at
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris France on 17 and 18 June 2002 [2]. As a result of these discussions a
“Draft IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy”, has been adopted by the Intergovernmental
nd
Working Group at its second Session, which will be submitted to the IOC Assembly at its 22 Session,
in June 2003, as a Draft Resolution. The draft resolution adopted by the Intergovernmental Group on
“IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange Policy”, is, to a large extend, in the lines of the IODE-XVI.6
Recommendation.
3. IODE Experts Groups
During the intersessional period, the Group of Experts on Biological and Chemical Data Management
and Exchange Practices (GEBCDMEP) was established as requested by Recommendation IODEXVI.4. Dr Edward Vanden Berghe was nominated as the Chair of the Group. Although the initial
priority of this Group will be biological data management and exchange it has been agreed that it will
seek additional expertise in chemical data management as required. It is expected that the
GEBCDMEP Group of Experts will promote further development and improvement of the IODE
capabilities.
The Group of Experts on Marine Information Management (GE-MIM) and the Group of Experts on
Technical Aspects of Data Exchange (GE-TADE) IODE Community continued to develop and improve
IODE’s data and information management capabilities through their various programmes and activities
and thus serving the IODE community.
4. IODE Projects
IODE’s long-term data projects and those established at IODE-XVI Session have continued to be
successful. While there will be specific reports on these activities under the agenda item 4.2, it is worth
noting here the success of the more significant efforts:
The Global Ocean Data Archaeology and Rescue (GODAR) Project continued its outstanding
success, recovering a large amount of oceanographic observations, processing them, and greatly
enhancing the size, accuracy and therefore the usefulness of the global databases. Other GODAR
related Projects, such as GODAR-WESTPAC and MEDAR/MEDATLAS have also been successful.
The GODAR-WESTPAC Regional Workshop, held from 5 to 8 March 2002, in Tokyo, Japan, adopted
a Work Plan for the WESTPAC Region. MEDAR/MEDATLAS has recently released an updated
database of a diversity of historical data for the Mediterranean and Black Sea and also an updated
climatology for the aforementioned regions. The great success of the GODAR Project as a whole, is a
typical example of the results of the harmonic cooperation of various groups and individuals around
the world. To a large extend this success is due to the personal enthusiasm and efforts of the Project
Leader Mr Sydney Levitus and his staff.
The Global Temperature and Salinity Pilot Project (GTSPP), has focussed its activities over the
intersessional period on the development of a data product based on the data set for the Upper Ocean
Thermal of WOCE, is regarded as a highly successful programme in support of WOCE.
The IODE Metadata Pilot Project (MEDI) has also made considerable advances and is now developed
jointly with NASA’s Global Change Master Directory (that also collaborates with GOSIC), thus gaining
the interest and support of other international programmes.
5. IODE Capacity Building
Capacity building is an essential and critical part of all IODE activities. Its role has always been
catalytic and synergic in the IODE relationship with Member States. Solving society’s needs requires
building the capacity to analyze the data, generate forecasts and other products and communicate the
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results to the public, managers and policy makers. To develop expertise requires a series of
successive and inter-linked approaches including training of experts, knowledge of the framework for
integrated management, a product development ability and an operating data management system
that is fully integrated into a global network.
Over the intersessional period, continuous development and regional expansion marked the capacity
building component of IODE. As was recommended during IODE-XV, the regional approach laid the
foundation for IODE-TEMA activities. Within this frame, and despite the budget limitations, IODE
provided travel grants to a number of scientists from various Member States in order to participate in
regular training courses, Conferences, Symposia, Workshops and other scientific meetings related to
various oceanographic data and information management issues.
Notable IODE capacity building initiatives, such as, the Ocean Data and Information Networks for
Africa (ODINAFRICA) and for Caribbean and South America regions (ODINCARSA) exhibited
significant activity in developing regional infrastructures for data and information management in the
aforementioned areas, and thus, greatly advancing international cooperation, necessary for the
sustainable development in these regions.
(i)
Short Term Training.
Given the limited budget and staff available for this essential activity, an impressive number (around
10) of short-term training courses (usually up to ten days) were arranged in Japan [3], [4], [5], Morocco
[6], South Africa [7], Cote d’Ivoire [8], Tunisia [9], Ecuador [10], Mexico [11] and I.R. Iran [12]. While
there will be discussions under agenda item 4.3.3, it is worth noting here the significance of the Ocean
Teacher as an educational and training tools for implementing IODE training courses.
During the above-mentioned courses, a significant number of participants received training in
oceanographic data and information management. The programmes of the courses covered different
aspects of data and information management. They were also used for making local experts
acquainted with the IOC regional activities and IODE data and information exchange policy in order to
increase awareness of the system, its benefits and to provide an opportunity for improving national
and regional data and information management capabilities.
Apart from the above-mentioned training, work-related training to interested scientists, preferably from
developing countries, was offered in a few cases (e.g., WDC-A, HNODC). Such a training scheme
provides the trainees the opportunity to work jointly with the hosting Data Centre staff members,
thereby offering direct, hands-on experience, giving familiarity with the Centre’s data management
system and frequently providing end results of benefit of both the trainee’s organization and the Data
Centre.
(ii)
Ocean Conferences, Symposia, Workshops, etc.
Various International and Regional Conferences, Symposia, Workshops, etc. related to different
issues of ocean data and information management and associated information technology were held
during the intersessional period. They allowed experts from developed and developing countries to
share information and to present project results, thus serving as a valuable source of education to
scientists and planners. Most of these activities have been in support of ongoing programmes and with
close co-operation with the countries of the regions.
The “Colour of Ocean Data” Symposium, which was organized from 25 to 27 November 2002 and cosponsored by the Flanders Marine Institute, IOC/IODE, the Office of Scientific, Technical and Cultural
Affairs of the Belgium Government and the Census of Marine Life, gathered around 200 participants
from 32 countries. Scientists, data managers and policy makers were brought together to a forum
where the common interest for marine data was the theme.
The Second International Conference on “Oceanography of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black
Sea”, held in Ankara, Turkey [20], was attended by more than 225 scientists from around 23 countries.
Its Session on “Oceanographic Data and Information Management” demonstrated, that in both the
Mediterranean and Black Seas, a large number of initiatives have been undertaken, within the recent
years, which have provided the scientific community with very significant data management tools and
data products.
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The 3rd EUROGOOS Conference on “Building the European Capacity in Operational Oceanography”,
organized by the National Centre for Marine Research, from 3 to 6 December 2002, in Athens,
th
Greece, as well as, the 34 International Liege Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics, organized by the
Liege University, from 6 to 10 May 2001, in Liege, Belgium, assisted to increase awareness on marine
data and information management and to enhance scientific and technological knowledge on new
data management capabilities, techniques and technologies. Furthermore, another regional
Conference with a strong data management component will be organized from 14 to 18 October 2003,
in Varna, Bulgaria.
Apart from the above, numerous of IOC Workshops related to oceanographic data and information
management were held in order to review the progress made within the framework of various
IOC/IODE Projects (e.g., GODAR-WESTPAC, ODINAFRICA-II, ODINACARSA, MEDAR/MEDATLASII, etc.) [13], [14], [15], [16], [17] and plan their future activities.
6. IODE Cooperation with other Programmes
Over the intersessional period certain actions have been undertaken by IODE, in implementing some
of the decisions and recommendations made during IODE-XVI. These initiatives changed substantially
the way IODE operates as a programme. Thus, significant advances were made in developing close
collaboration between the IODE Programme and other data and information management, research
and monitoring programmes. This, is in particular true concerning the remarkable progress made, in
developing close collaboration with GOOS and JCOMM in designing and implementing the necessary
end-to-end data management systems to meet the needs of all organizations. Thus:
− IODE is now an active member in the JCOMM Management Committee (MAN), the JCOMM Data
Management Coordination Group (DMCG) and the JCOMM Expert Team on Data Management
Practices.
− IODE is now an active member of the GOOS Steering Committee and the GOOS Capacity Building
Panel.
− IODE has joined JCOMM in the establishment of the “Oceans Information Technology Pilot Project”
spearheaded by Dr Neville Smith.
− IODE is collaborating with ICES on the development of a marine XML.
− IODE is collaborating with NASA’s Global Change Master Directory (that also collaborates with
GOSIC) for the development of MEDI.
Within the framework of the above mentioned collaborations, the IODE Chairman attended various
meetings on behalf of IODE, including:
− First Session of the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine
Meteorology (JCOMM), 19-29 June 2001, Akureyri, ICELAND [19].
− First Session of the JCOMM Management Committee, 6-9 February 2002, Geneva,
SWITZERLAND [20].
− First Session of the JCOMM Data Management Programme Area Coordination Group (DMCG), 2225 May 2002, Paris, FRANCE [21].
− Informal Session of the JCOMM Expert Team on Data Management Practices (ETDMP), 28
November, Brussels, BELGIUM [22].
− First Session of the Steering Team of the Oceans Information Technology Pilot Project (ST-OIT),
29 November 2002, Brussels, BELGIUM [23].
− Second Session of the JCOMM Management Committee, 5-8 February 2003, Paris, FRANCE [24].
In some of the above-mentioned meetings significant decisions and recommendations were made,
regarding ocean data and information management, which create new opportunities for IODE. The
IODE-XVII should discuss ways for further strengthening the collaborations and also for establishing,
maintaining and strengthening cooperation with other research and monitoring programmes.
7. IODE Awareness
During the intersessional period IODE’s emphasis on developing a prominent and interactive web
presence has continued. A new IODE web site based on a dynamic content management system
(BeeBox) has been developed. Additional sites have been developed for ODINAFRICA Partner site,
Marine XML, etc. Other awareness activities, aiming at the promotion of the IODE visibility included
designing, printing and dissemination of posters for IODE and its activities.
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8. IODE Future
For over forty years the IODE programme has been serving the marine community not only through
collecting, quality controlling, archiving and exchanging of data, but also in developing formats,
standards, protocols, in addition to powerful data products. To serve these requirements IODE has
used state of the art data systems, methods and techniques for data management, but the emphasis
has focussed on delayed mode data and, in most cases, on physical data.
Advances in oceanography, marine science and technology, especially during the last decade, have
led to a rapid expansion in the volume and the diversity of ocean data collected. During this period, the
marine community has paid increased attention to multidisciplinary research, especially that serving
integrated coastal zone management. User requirement have also changed. There is now an
increased requirement for operational data and products. Data types, such as chemical, biological,
biogeochemical, coastal and remote sensed data are now being increasingly collected and managed.
These changing requirements have an impact on IODE and generated lengthy discussions during
IODE-XVI.
The enthusiasm of our previous chairman, Ben Searle, to recognize these new challenges has
resulted in closer cooperation between the IODE data centres and the science and monitoring
programmes and to a significant change of direction for the IODE programme during the intersessional
period. IODE now is an important partner in JCOMM and cooperates closely with GOOS. Ben
emphasized the need for IODE to apply new technologies and to look beyond the traditional confines
of IODE and this has resulted in IODE’s involvement in the development of XML technology to
improve data interoperability for the ocean data community.
Initiatives such as the “IODE Review”, the “IOC Strategic Plan on Oceanographic Data and
Information Management”, the “Ocean and Information Technology Project”, etc., will redefine the role
and objectives of the IODE Programme which must be strongly linked to the requirements of the
operational oceanography community. IODE-XVII provides an excellent opportunity to define the
future role of IODE and to make real decisions, thus ensure the future of this important programme.
9. References
[1].
[2].
[3].
[4].
[5].
[6].
[7].
[8].
[9].
[10].
[11].
[12].
[13].
[14].
[15].
First Session of the Intergovernmental Working group on IOC Oceanographic Data Exchange
Policy, 39-31 May 2001, Brussels, Belgium, IOC/INF-1163.
Second Session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on IOC Oceanographic Data
Exchange Policy, 17-18 June 2002, Paris, France, IOC/INF-1175.
IOC/WESTPAC Training Course on NEAR-GOOS Data Management, 27 November – 07
December 2000, Tokyo, Japan, http://www.jode.go.jp/project/WESTPAC/training.html.
IOC/WESTPAC Training Course on NEAR-GOOS Data Management, 05-16 November 2001,
Tokyo, Japan, http://www.jode.go.jp/project/WESTPAC/training.html.
IOC/WESTPAC Training Course on NEAR-GOOS Data Management, , 21 October – 01
November 2002, Tokyo, Japan, http://www.jode.go.jp/project/WESTPAC/training.html.
First ODINAFRICA-II Training Course in Marine Data Management, 02-03 April 2001,
Casablanca, Morocco, IOC Training Course Report, No. 60.
First ODINAFRICA-II Training Course in Marine information Management, 29 October – 09
November 2001, Cape Town, South Africa, IOC Training Course Report, No. 61.
Remedial Training Course in Marine Data Management for Cote d’Ivoire, 21-29 March 2002,
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, IOC Training Course Report, No. 63.
Second ODINAFRICA-II Training Course in Marine Data Management, 29 April – 10 May,
Tunis, Tunisia, IOC Training Course Report, No. 64.
First ODINCARSA Training Course in Marine Data Management, 20-31 May 2002, Guayaquil,
Ecuador, IOC Training Course Report, No. 62.
First ODINCARSA Training Course in Marine Information Management, 29 September – 04
October 2002, Mazatlan, Mexico, IOC Training Course Report, No. 66.
IODE Training Course in Ocean Data Management for the Caspian and Black Sea Regions, 2030 October 2002, Tehran, I.R. Iran, IOC Training Course Report, No. 67.
GODAR-WESTPAC Workshop, 5-8 March 2002, Tokyo, Japan, IOC Workshop Report.
IOC-Flanders Second ODINAFRICA-II Planing and Review Workshop, 14-17 November 2001,
Nairobi, Kenya, IOC Workshop Report, No. 179.
IOC-Flanders Third ODINAFRICA-II Planing and Review Workshop, 18-21 November 2002,
Limbe, Cameroon, IOC Workshop Report, No. 184.
IOC/IODE-XVII/6
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[16]. First Planning Workshop for the “Ocean Data and Information Network for the IOCARIBE and
South Africa Regions (ODINACARSA)”, 24-26 October, Guayaquil, Ecuador, IOC Workshop
Report, No. 177.
[17]. EU/IOC MEDAR/MEDATLAS-II Final Workshop, 10-14 December, Trieste, Italy, IOC Workshop
Report, No. 182.
[18]. UNESCO (2002). Sixteenth Session of the IOC Committee on International Oceanographic
Data and Information Management, 31 October – 8 November 2000, Lisbon, Portugal, IOC
Reports of Governing and Major Subsidiary Bodies.
[19]. First Session of the Joint WMO/IOC Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine
Meteorology, 19-29 June 2001, Akureyri, Iceland, WMO-No. 931.
[20]. First Session of the JCOMM Management Committee, 6-9 February 2002, Geneva,
Switzerland, Provisional Final Report.
[21]. IOC/WMO First Session of the JCOMM Data Management Programme Area Coordination
Group (DMCG), 22-25 May 2002, Paris, France, Summary Report.
[22]. WMO/IOC Informal Session of the JCOMM Expert Team on Data Management Practices
(ETDMP), 28 November, Brussels, Belgium, IOC/INF-1177.
[23]. WMO/IOC First Session of the Steering Team of the Oceans Information Technology Pilot
Project (ST-OIT), 29 November 2002, Brussels, Belgium, IOC/INF-1178.
[24]. Second Session of the Management Committee of the Joint Technical Commission for
Oceanography and Marine Meteorology, 5-8 February 2003, Paris, France, Provisional Final
Report.
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