L3 - Marine Science Organisations Flashcards
What are the 2 types of Research and how do they differ?
- Systematic
- Opportunity
Systematic is a planned survey with a research vessel which is mobbed and de-mobbed whereas an opportunistic survey is only semi-planned and often conducted on commercial or leisure vessels.
Give an example of an opportunistic survey?
Guiding Light collecting data for the UK Met Office
What are Voluntary Observing Fleets?
Merchant ships with trained observers on-board that are provided with instrumentation by their national met offices in order to collect data
Who is responsible for the data from a Voluntary Observing Fleets?
The Flag State
How many Voluntary Observing Fleets are their globally and in the UK?
Globally – 4000 ships
UK – 500 ships/rigs
How many observations does the US’s NCDC receive from VoF?
100,000
Under Voluntary Observing Fleets what else do nations have responsibility for?
To comply with SOLAS
What is the WMO?
World Metrological Organisation (a full UN Body)
When was the WMO set up?
1947
What 6 things does the WMO facilitate?
- Standardisation
- Data Exchange and Telecommunications
- Research
- The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
- Marine Meteorology and Oceanography Programme (MMOP)
- Links with SOLAS and GMDSS
What is the IOC?
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (an agency of UNESCO)
When was the IOC set up?
1960
What does the IOC promote?
Marine scientific investigations and related ocean services with a view to learning more about the nature and resources of the ocean
Give 4 areas of work that the IOC does
- Develop, promote & facilitate research
- Plans for operational ocean observing system
- Ensures ocean data is widely and efficiency available
- Environmental Management (New Work Here)
What is GOOS?
The Global Ocean Observing Network – an IOC initiative
What is IODE?
International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange Project
Give 4 joint IOC/WMO initiatives
- WCRP: World Climate Research Programme
- WOCE: World Ocean Circulation Experiment (now ended)
- CLIVAR: Climate Variation Programme
- JCOMM: Joint Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology
Give 3 areas where Coastal Observatories are used?
- Liverpool Bay
- Western English Channel
- UK Waters through the Smart Wave Rider Buoys (CEFAS)
What do Deep Ocean Observatories aim to do?
Collect data below 45cm
What is metadata?
Data that provides information about other data
Give 5 issues associated with databasing
- Are we all measuring the same thing? (Standardisation)
- Reliability of stations (short & long term)
- Time standards? - is UTC used?
- Breaks in the Data Sets
- Data vs. no data? (only data you have?!)
Give 5 databases
- BODC
- BADC
- NODV via NOAA (USA)
- UK marine environmental data network
- ECMWF: european centre for mean range weather forecasting
Give 2 UK companies with archives
- Met Office
2. UKHO
What is data assimilation?
The use of available data for modelling
What is parametrisation?
Modelling without actual data
Where is there a lack of data?
In the upper air
What is the 3D ocean issue?
We primarily focus on the surface
What does the UKCP09 do?
Provide up-to-date climatic trends, predictions to 2100 and emission scenarios at Low, Medium and High Levels for the UK
Give 3 trends that have recently been established by the UKCP09
- UK Sea Level is increasing by 1mm/year in the 20th Century
- There have been increases in winter precipitation
- More storms in the last 20 years
Give 7 applications/uses of marine data
- Aviation
- Shipping (SOLAS) & GMDSS
- Civil Hydrography Programme
- Renewable Energy
- Marine Management & Conservation
- UKCP09 Predictions
- Salvage Operatios (e.g. Costa Concordia)
