A roadmap to IndOOS-2: Better observations of the rapidly-warming Indian Ocean
Figure 1: Main IndOOS-2 recommendations.
The writing team of the decadal Indian Ocean Observing System review, led by Lisa Beal, Jerome Vialard and Roxy Mathew Koll, has recently published a research article on the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) titled ‘A roadmap to IndOOS-2: Better observations of the rapidly-warming Indian ocean’, by presenting the core findings from the IndOOS review.
The Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), established in 2006, is a multi-national network of sustained oceanic measurements that underpin understanding and forecasting of weather and climate for the Indian Ocean region and beyond.
Almost one-third of humanity lives around the Indian Ocean, many in countries dependent on fisheries and rain-fed agriculture that are vulnerable to climate variability and extremes. The Indian Ocean alone has absorbed a quarter of the global oceanic heat uptake over the last two decades and the fate of this heat and its impact on future change is unknown. Climate models project accelerating sea level rise, more frequent extremes in monsoon rainfall, and decreasing oceanic productivity.
Figure 2: Indian Ocean main oceanographic features and phenomena.
A three-year, international review of the IndOOS authored by more than 60 scientific experts highlights the need for an enhanced observing network that can better meet societal challenges, and provide more reliable forecasts.
The core findings from this review have been presented in this research article, including the need for 1) chemical, biological, and ecosystem measurements alongside physical parameters; 2) expansion into the western tropics to improve understanding of the monsoon circulation; 3) better resolved upper-ocean processes to improve understanding of air-sea coupling and yield better sub-seasonal to seasonal predictions; and 4) expansion into key coastal regions and the deep ocean to better constrain the basin-wide energy budget. These goals will require new agreements and partnerships with and among Indian Ocean rim countries, creating opportunities for them to enhance their monitoring and forecasting capacity as part of IndOOS-2.
For more information of the IndOOS-2 Roadmap, please visit: http://www.clivar.org/indoos-2
(Summary written by Jing Li)
***************
A roadmap to IndOOS-2: Better observations of the rapidly-warming Indian Ocean
L. M. Beal; J. Vialard; M.K. Roxy; J. Li; M. Andres; H. Annamalai; M. Feng; W. Han; R. Hood; T. Lee; M. Lengaigne; R. Lumpkin; Y. Masumoto; M.J. McPhaden; M. Ravichandran; T. Shinoda; B.M. Sloyan; P.G. Strutton; A.C. Subramanian; T. Tozuka; C.C. Ummenhofer; A.S. Unnikrishnan; J. Wiggert; L. Yu; L. Cheng; D.G. Desbruyères; V. Parvathi
Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (2020)
