Scientific Committee On Oceanic Research Research Articles

Visiting Scientists Provide Capacity Development: Lessons Learned by POGO and SCOR

To enable the sustainable use of their ocean resources, capacity for ocean science and observations is important for every coastal nation. In many developing areas of the world, capability for ocean science and observations is not yet adequate to meet management needs. International organizations have employed a variety of capacity development approaches to assist developing countries in building self-sustaining ocean science and observational communities. This article describes the lessons learned from visiting scientist programs conducted for more than a decade by the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) that dispatched ocean scientists to developing countries to train hundreds of individuals in a variety of ocean science and observation topics and techniques. From these programs, SCOR and POGO have learned that training in-country has multiple benefits to trainees, host institutions, and trainers, benefits that are not achievable when students leave their countries. These benefits include more cost-effective training on issues relevant to the host institutions using locally available technology, as well as the ability to reach a large number of trainees. Lessons learned from the POGO and SCOR programs can be used to inform the future capacity-development activities of POGO and SCOR, as well as other organizations, to improve, enhance, and expand the use of in-country training and mentoring. Such approaches could contribute to the capacity development efforts of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

К 75-ЛЕТИЮ Е.Г. МОРОЗОВА

March 15, 2021 Chief Researcher, Head of the Laboratory of Hydrological Processes of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, DSc, ex-president of the International Association for Physical Ocean Sciences (IAPSO) Evgeny Morozov is 75 years old. E.G. Morozov is a prominent scientist and organizer of world-class science in the field of studying the temporal and spatial variability of hydrological processes and internal waves in a wide range of scales. He was the first to build a map of the amplitudes of tidal internal waves of the World Ocean. His monograph “Oceanic Internal Waves” published in 1985 in Russian, as well as his article “Semidiurnal internal wave global field”, published in the Deep Sea Research in 1995, are among the most cited on the problem of internal tidal waves. Unique results were obtained by E.G. Morozov in the study of internal waves in the Arctic, including under the ice and near the front of glaciers sliding into the ocean on Spitsbergen. He made a significant contribution to the study of various currents: the Gulf Stream, the Kuroshio and their rings, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the California Current, the Falkland Current, the Lomonosov and Tareev subsurface equatorial currents. Since 1999 he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO) and since 2011 he has been elected President of the IAPSO, represented the IAPSO in this capacity on the Executive Committee of the International Geodetic and Geophysical Union (IUGG) and on the Executive Committee of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic research (SCOR). E.G. Morozov is the chairman of the Ocean Physical Sciences Section of the National Geophysical Committee of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Interdisciplinary Cooperation for Ocean Sciences: Roles of Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)

Interdisciplinary Cooperation for Ocean Sciences: Roles of Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)

Understanding harmful algae in stratified systems: Review of progress and future directions

The Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB) program of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, was created in 1999 to foster research on the ecological and oceanographic mechanisms underlying the population dynamics of harmful algal blooms (HABs). The ultimate goal of this research is to develop observational systems and models that will eventually enable the prediction of HABs and thereby minimize their impact on marine ecosystems, human health and economic activities. In August of 2012, a workshop was held under the umbrella of the GEOHAB program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). The over arching goal of this workshop was to review the current understanding of the processes governing the structure and dynamics of HABs in stratified systems, and to identify how best to couple physical/chemical and biological measurements at appropriate spatial and temporal scales to quantify the dynamics of HABs in these systems, paying particular attention to thin layers. This contribution provides a review of recent progress in the field of HAB research in stratified systems including thin layers, and identifies the gaps in knowledge that our scientific community should strive to understand in the next decade.

A strategy for UK marine science for the next 20 years

This Theme Issue arises from a symposium on the future of UK marine science, sponsored by the Challenger Society for Marine Science and the UK National Committee for the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and held at the Royal Society premises in 2011. The speakers were chosen to

Serving data from the SCAR Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) using the SeaDataNet infrastructure

Abstract. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) jointly intend to build a Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS). This paper addresses the required data flow infrastructure. SOOS will use a system of systems approach, using existing observation programmes and projects. Data should be submitted to professional data centres. The problem arises how to link all these data centres and get a central overview of the SOOS data as well as direct access to the data. The Netherlands National Oceanographic Data Committee (NL-NODC) has successfully built a national distributed oceanographic data acccess infrastructure, adopting and implementing technology developed by the European SeaDataNet project. The Dutch system has been operational since early 2009. The conclusion is that the SeaDataNet technology can be used to build an operational, distributed data delivery infrastructure, featuring all elements required by the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS).

Improving Understanding of the Agulhas Current and Its Global Climate Impacts: Working Group on the Climatic Importance of the Greater Agulhas System; Portland, Oregon, 20–21 February 2010

The first meeting of the new Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 136 was held to discuss recent developments in understanding the greater Agulhas Current system and future research directions. The overarching goal of the working group is to improve understanding and awareness of the regional and global climate impacts of the Agulhas Current, a major western boundary current that flows along the east coast of Africa, and its interocean leakage.In addition to studying modern circulation, the working group is motivated by recent paleodata that suggest that through the currents' southern influence on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), changes in the leakage of warm and salty Agulhas waters into the Atlantic may have triggered the end of ice ages. In terms of global climate, this arguably puts the importance of the greater Agulhas system on a par with Heinrich (land‐ice release) events and high‐latitude deepwater formation.

A Report on the SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research) 50th Anniversary Symposium and the 29th General Meeting

A Report on the SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research) 50th Anniversary Symposium and the 29th General Meeting

A comparison of energy flow through the Dublin Bay and Baie de Somme intertidal ecosystems and their network analysis

Energy (biomass) and energy flows (production, inputs, transfers and losses) were calculated for eight and twelve compartment systems (phytoplankton, benthic primary producers (macroalgae, microphytobenthos), zooplankton, benthos (meiofauna, suspensivores, deposivores and predators), fish, birds and particulate organic matter (POM) in sediment and suspended particulate matter (SPM)) both balanced and unbalanced of Dublin Bay and the Baie de Somme. The resultant models were analysed with the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) network analysis package. While the two systems share many properties such as the dominant biosedimentary facies, there are fundamental differences in both structuring and responses of the systems. The network analysis suggested that the Baie de Somme was far more productive, notably in terms of water column productivity, and was the more mature system. The high organic SPM input to Dublin Bay greatly elevated the degree of detritivory such that the analysis generated metrics indicative of a mature system but which rather reflected the degree of anthropogenic stress on the system. However, the analysis of both systems displayed varying degrees of maturity. Increasing the number of compartments greatly increased the calculated throughput (T) of the system and other associated metrics such as capacity (C), ascendancy (A) and redundancy (R). In the case of Dublin Bay, a higher number of compartments increased the various measures of system maturity, but this was much less marked for the Baie de Somme. Balancing the systems also increased T, C, A and R, and, to a lesser extent but not invariably, the system maturity metrics. The ratios of the comparative system metrics such as comparative ascendancy (A/C) were much less changed by the different methodologies and as such are recommended as robust measures for intercomparison of system performance.

Quantitative ecosystem indicators for fisheries management

Spring in Paris (31 March to 3 April 2004) helped to attract more than 250 participants from 53 countries to a symposium on ‘‘Quantitative Ecosystem Indicators for Fisheries Management’’. The symposium was hosted by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at the UNESCO headquarters next to the Eiffel Tower, and coorganized with the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). Four years of preparation had borne fruit, and the stage was set with a programme of 40 presentations and nearly 150 posters. The symposium was centred on using ecosystem indicators for fisheries management, and as such reflects the growing understanding that exploited fish populations must be considered as integral components of ecosystem function, rather than units that operate independently of their environment. Internationally, there has been wide recognition of the need to move towards an ecosystem approach to fisheries, a development spearheaded by FAO through their Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Garcia, 2000), and supported by many regional and national institutions as well as academia, NGOs, and the general public. Intergovernmental organizations providing management advice, such as ICES and PICES, require meaningful indicators that adequately reflect the state of marine ecosystems. As we move to embrace an ecosystem perspective, we need new measuring sticks. Ecosystem approaches to fisheries require consideration of the interdependent way we utilize ecosystems. At a minimum, the components to be addressed cover ecological, economic, social, technological, and governance aspects. When considering the ecosystem, we must include not only target species, but also their effects on dependent or competing non-target species, as well as on the habitats shared by the species. An important question thus arises, related to trade-offs. Management interventions directed at one target species may have consequences for many other species, including some that are targets of other fisheries. How do we evaluate the trade-offs involved, and how do we determine the direction that a society should take, based on the implications for marine ecosystems? To answer such questions, analyses must be based on

Assessing contributions of jgofs; previewing Studies in Ocean Ecology, Biogeochemistry

Despite impediments to travel imposed by global political and health concerns, 332 scientists and students from 32 countries gathered in Washington, D.C. in early May to celebrate the conclusion of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), and to assess both its accomplishments and the future course of research in ocean ecology and biogeochemistry.Launched in 1987 under the auspices of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), JGOFS became the first core project of the International Geosphere‐Biosphere Programme (IGBP) 2 years later as its first field studies were getting underway. Global in scope and multinational and interdisciplinary from its inception, JGOFS adopted two major goals: to understand the processes controlling the cycling of carbon and other biogenic elements in the ocean and their exchange with the atmosphere and the sea floor, and to advance our capacity to predict the response of ocean systems to anthropogenic perturbations.

Muddy Coast Dynamics and Resource Management

Muddy coasts are land‐sea transitional environments common along low‐energy shorelines around the world. They exist in climatic settings and tidal regimes ranging from microtidal to macro‐tidal. Climatic warming and relative sea level rise are likely to have a greater impact on low‐lying muddy coasts and deltas than most other coastal environments. This was the working hypothesis of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 106, “Relative Sea Level and Muddy Coasts of the World,” which concluded its deliberations in the late 1990s.

Oceans 2020: science, trends, and the challenge of sustainability

A comprehensive assessment of important science and societal issues that are likely to arise in marine science and ocean management in the first 20 years of the 21st century. The text brings together the world's ocean scientists and researchers to analyze the state of marine science and technology, identify key scientific issues for sustainable development, and evaluate the capability of scientists, governments and private-sector stakeholders to respond to those issues. It is sponsored by The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), and The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE).

Intercalibrating SCOR, NORPAC and bongo nets and the consequences for interpreting decadal‐scale variation in zooplankton biomass in the Gulf of Alaska

AbstractThe Canadian weathership time series of zooplankton wet weight biomass, collected at Ocean Station Papa in the Gulf of Alaska from 1956 to 1981, is one of the most comprehensive of its kind in marine science. In 1966, the sampling gear changed from a white North Pacific (NORPAC) net to a black Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) net and it was recently discovered that insufficient intercalibration samples were collected to understand how their sampling properties differed. A Canada‐GLOBEC project to redo the intercalibration of these net types and to understand how they relate to current sampling gear (bongo net) started in 1997. Seventy replicates of the three net types were collected in deep water in the Gulf of Alaska. The major finding is that all nets have similar sampling characteristics, whereas earlier reports indicated that NORPAC biomass values should be multiplied by a factor of 1.538 to be equivalent to the SCOR net. It now appears that this factor arose because flowmeters were not used in the original 1956–81 sampling (volume filtered was estimated from tow length × mouth area). A positive bias was introduced into the SCOR values because relatively more water passed through the SCOR net (undetected without a flow meter) than through the NORPAC net. This means that the unmetered NORPAC samples from 1956 to 1966 should not be adjusted and the unmetered SCOR values should be reduced by a factor that is related to wire angle. The general effect on the entire series is to lower the average biomass estimates, but more so for the early portion of the series than the later years.

SCOR announces new activities

Roger Revelle had many good ideas during his long and productive career. One of them came to fruition in 1957 in the form of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), which the International Council for Science created as its first interdisciplinary body, to promote international activities in oceanography. Revelle served as SCOR's first president from 1957 to 1960. SCOR offers opportunities for scientists from different countries to cooperate in planning and executing international programs in ocean sciences. Over its 44 years in existence, SCOR has sponsored 120 working groups and has actively participated in many of the major international oceanographic projects. Thirty‐six nations presently participate as SCOR members.

Introduction

p n p c a l c a c t e The ICES/SCOR Symposium on Ecosystem Effects of Fishing took place in Montpellier, France, from 15 to 19 March 1999. It was hosted by l’Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD), with IOC, FAO, and ICLARM as co-sponsors. Other organizations which provided sponsorship and logistic support included the European Commission; the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada; the Danish Institute for Fisheries Research; Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO); l’Institut Francais pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER); Institute for Marine Research (IMR), Bergen; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF); The Association of Fish Meal and Oil Manufacturers in Denmark; Region Languedoc-Roussillon and the Montpellier District. The Symposium was proposed by Working Group 105 of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and brought forward to ICES by the Advisory Committee on the Marine Environment. H. Gislason and M. Sinclair were appointed Conveners; B. Rothschild (USA), P. Cury (France), G. Bianchi (Norway), K. Sainsbury (Australia), D. Pauly (Canada), J. G. Pope (UK), S. J. Hall (Australia), and J. Valdemarsen (FAO) formed the Scientific Steering Committee. J. M. Stretta (IRD) headed the local Organizing Committee. The aim of the Symposium was to provide a global synthesis of the effects of fishing on the marine ecosystem, to report on new methods for quantifying these effects at the ecosystem level, and to provide a forum to discuss how to integrate nature conservation objectives into fisheries management. To facilitate a broad coverage of the topic it was decided to base the oral presentations on invited papers. The scope of these papers was discussed at preparatory meetings in SCOR WG 105, and organized into three different themes. The first theme provided an overview of the effects of fishing on different marine ecosystems and on particular species groups. The second presented the methods for quantifying the impact of fishing at the species and ecosystem level, and the last theme considered the integration of fisheries and environmental management. Three poster

Offshore springs and seeps are focus of working group

People have been curious about offshore springs and seeps since at least the days of the Romans. In spite of many centuries of both casual and serious observations, there has been relatively little scientific study concerning the magnitude and effects of groundwater flow into the sea. Rather, studies were performed mostly to address water resource issues. Investigations over the past decade or so have now shown that groundwater discharge, at least in some cases, may be important for geochemical budgets and ecological effects.The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Land‐Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) Project of the International Geosphere‐Biosphere Program have recently established a working group of experts to examine questions relating specifically to groundwater discharge in the coastal zone. Direct groundwater flow into the ocean is known to occur as springs and seeps in near‐shore areas in many parts of the world. Submarine springs, for example, are well known off both coasts of Florida; Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula; in several areas around the Pacific rim including Chile, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and Australia; in the Persian Gulf near Bahrain; in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Libya; and in many other locations.

Reflections on international cooperation in oceanography

These reflections on past and present trends in international cooperation in marine sciences are dedicated to Gerold Siedler, the former President of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). Over the years Gerold Siedler promoted international cooperation on various scales. Inter alia he was in charge of the bilateral Brazilian–German Programme in Marine Science in the 1970s, and he was deeply involved in the planning of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment WOCE and in its execution, particularly in the South-western Atlantic (Siedler et al., 1996) as well as in the formation of the marine science sector of the Framework Programmes of the European Union. Apart from his leading role in international committees he has countless personal links over the oceans and across political borders. There are always foreign students around him in Kiel, and more than once he has made good-will tours to coastal states bordering the South Atlantic in order to pave the way for Meteor cruises in their EEZs and to encourage their local scientists to join those cruises. Gerold Siedler is one of the leading oceanographers devoted to the idea of the global community of oceanographers. He puts much effort in establishing new and maintaining old contacts between scientists in various parts of the World and he pushes for joining forces in cooperative programmes wherever individual research vessels and institutes cannot solve problems of the understanding, prediction and sustainable exploitation of the oceans and their coastal seas. My contribution to this Festschrift is heavily biassed towards biological oceanography in the Atlantic and to the European and German part in international cooperation. The biological inclination originates from my personal background, the geographical bias pays tribute to the fact that Gerold Siedler is a global minded German European who has mainly worked in the Atlantic. I will concentrate on some historical reflections, on the growing collaboration in Europe and on North–South partnerships.

IUPAC Delegate Report from 24th Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Assembly, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1–6 November 1998

IUPAC Delegate Report from 24th Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Assembly, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1–6 November 1998

Euphotic Zone Study moves forward

The Global Ocean Euphotic Zone Study (GOEZS), a potential core program of the International Geosphere‐Biosphere Programme (IGBP) being planned jointly with the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), was recently given the go‐ahead by IGBP's Scientific Committee to move on to the next level of developing its scientific program.The GOEZS program will focus on the coupled physical, biological, and chemical processes operating in the euphotic zone, which is the ocean surface layer where sufficient light penetrates for photosynthesis by phytoplankton to exceed their metabolic energy losses. The upper ocean is extremely important to understanding the atmosphereocean system because it mediates exchanges of heat, momentum, carbon dioxide, sulphur, and nitrogen between the atmosphere and the ocean interior. For the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide for example, there is more carbon in the upper ocean than in the whole atmosphere. Essentially all carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that passes from the upper ocean to the ocean interior has been transformed chemically or biologically in the upper ocean. Moreover, the upper ocean is the site of all marine shipping and most recreation and industrial activity and contains the planktonic food chain and most fish stocks.