The “Northwestern Pacific Ocean Circulation and Climate Experiment (NPOCE)” is an international joint program endorsed by CLIVAR in 2010. The NPOCE program is designed to observe, simulate, and understand the dynamics of the Western Pacific Ocean (WPO) circulation and its role in low-frequency modulations of regional and global climate such as the western Pacific warm pool variability, ENSO, East Asian Monsoon, and the tropical cyclones.

NPOCE objectives closely align with CLIVAR’s focus on the role of ocean in climate, extreme weather, and international collaboration. A total 19 institutions from 8 countries including Australia, China, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines and United States contribute to this program.

Under the auspices of NPOCE, the 3rd OSS-2018 provided a forum for oceanographers, meteorologists and climate scientists to exchange recent progresses in their study of the WPO circulation and climate and its generality/difference with other oceans, marine biogeochemistry and ecosystem, their variability, changes and impacts, to explore opportunities for international scientific collaboration, and to promote inter-disciplinary study in the WPO.