Motivation and Goals:

Major components of the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), like RAMA, Argo, and drifters, are important for research on Indian Ocean dynamics and the Indo-Australian monsoon system as well as for subseasonal, seasonal and longer-term climate forecasts. The status and implementation of IndOOS is overseen by the international Indian Ocean Resources Forum (IRF), with the CLIVAR/IOC-GOOS IORP IndOOS Task Team and SIBER providing scientific guidance. During the 2020-2022 COVID global pandemic, the IndOOS implementation and maintenance suffered, with limited deployment opportunities within the Indian Ocean and, in particular, RAMA return gradually decreased to near zero by the end of 2022. Such degradation of the in-situ observing system is likely to have negative and long-term impacts on the Indian Ocean studies and other related research fields. The motivation of this QIndOOS task team is to quantitatively evaluate the impacts and their consequences of the degradation of the IndOOS using OSSE and OSEs in model analysis.

Terms of Reference:

1. To evaluate the impacts of IndOOS data losses during COVID on model-based analyses, simulations, and forecasts of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)
   • An extreme IOD event occurred in 2019, which is an ideal target for the evaluations.
   • Simulations and forecasts of IOD and MJO events will be compared with and without IndOOS data using CGCMs.
2. To evaluate the impacts of IndOOS data losses during COVID on monsoon simulation and forecasts
   • The ability to predict the monsoon evolution and strength is one of the fundamental motivations for maintaining the IndOOS. Thus, the impacts of the RAMA status on monsoon simulations and forecasts will be evaluated by comparing the monsoon indices produced with and without assimilating the IndOOS data.
   • The monsoon has multiple scales and multiple properties. RAMA’s impacts are not expected to be uniform on different scales and on different variables. Timescales include subseasonal, seasonal, interannual, and maybe longer timescales. Variables include temperatures, winds, rainfall, monsoon onset dates, and many others. These variables will be examined individually comparing the simulation and forecast products with and without the IndOOS data.
   • While the Indian monsoon will be the primary focus, it is not the only target. The Australian monsoon, South China Sea monsoon, and East Asian Monsoon can also be influenced by IndOOS data losses. Thus, they will also be examined.
3. To assess the optimization of the IndOOS using OSSEs
   • Conduct Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) for the evaluations in data losses and contributions of various IndOOS components.
   • Apply the concept of targeted observations (adaptive observations), evaluating the “efficiency” of current RAMA buoys, Argo float, drifters and other IndOOS components.
4. To collaborate with other CLIVAR panels and focus groups for coordinating scientific initiatives
   • IndOOS is not the only victim of COVID, although the impact may be the most severe. Similar analyses can be conducted on other observation systems in corresponding oceans, via collaboration with other regional panels and the CLIVAR/GEWEX Monsoon Panel.
   • Collaborations are also expected with the CLIVAR Research Foci Tropical Basin Interaction (TBI) and the SynObs Flagship OSE/OSSEs Project.

Members