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IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC)

Advancing knowledge and cooperation for a healthy ocean and prosperous society

SEAGOOS Ocean Forecasting System Sailing for its Second Phase

The fourth WESTPAC Technical Workshop on SEAGOOS Ocean Forecasting System (OFS) took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, 5-6 March 2013. The workshop was organized by the IOC Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC Office) with the generous host of the Research & Development Center for Marine and Coastal Resources, Research and Development Agency for Marine and Fisheries, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia.

The meeting reviewed with great appreciation the achievements of SEAGOOS OFS in its first phase- demonstration phase (June 2010 – May 2012), and present workplans and activities of participating countries for the OFS Project in its second phase even beyond, with a view to finalizing one project document and road map for its second phase.

The meeting highlighted the considerable progress in the first phase as: i. the establishment of regional expert network on ocean numerical modeling; ii. improved regional capacity on ocean numerical modeling; iii. development of an ocean forecasting demonstration system for the Peninsular Malaysia eastern shelf and Gulf of Thailand; and iv. operation of the web-portal based 12.5km resolution WESTPAC/SEAGOOS Ocean Forecasting Demonstration System (OFDS) for Southeast Asian Seas (http://221.0.186.5/IOC-WESTPAC_OFDS/index.jsp) with 3 days forecast products and downloadable archived data provided on surface wave height (Hs), wind, current, sea temperature and salinity.

The meeting decided to concert efforts from all participating members and members interested to join in the following key areas of work:

• extension of OFS geographic coverage to cover the region of (20°S-20°N, 80°E-145°E), including the Indonesian Seas, eastern part of Malaysia, Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal, and South China Sea, and eastern Indian Ocean with horizontal resolutions no less than (1/6)°×(1/6)°;

• development of higher-resolution models ( with horizontal resolutions of 2-4 km), in a couple of selected sub-domains, subject to the request of participating countries;

• data collection for model validation from joint cruise in late 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as 13 HF radar stations along the Gulf of Thailand, Argo buoys and other sources;

• improvement of current OFDS Web Portal on accessibility and model forcing and boundary conditions downloadable, and online analysis tools;

• scientific issues to be investigated, including water exch

ange between the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea; Compensation bottom current in the Gulf of Thailand in SW monsoon; Role of diluted water from the inner Gulf of Thailand and the Mekong River; Trend of surface wave heights and its effects on coastal erosion; Water exchange through straits; Relationship between upwelling and fishery; Connection between model forecasted results and ecosystem e.g. coral reef; East Malaysia bottom water and mixing; Eddy generation and mechanism; and Particle tracking e.g. oil spill;

• Funding and capacity building with funding for cruises to be sought from respective national agencies through available bilateral and national channels, and training opportunities to be provided through the regular trainings at the UNESCO/IOC Regional Training and Research Center on Ocean Dynamics and Climate and two technical workshops to be organized by WESTPAC.

The meeting agreed on Prof Fredolin’s suggestion by acclamation to designate Prof. Fangli Qiao ( First Institute of Oceanography, China) as Co-Project Leader, welcomed indonesia as member of SEAGOOS OFS project, and considered identifying one capable project assistant to coordinate the implementation, provide technical assistance, and develop and/or prepare relevant meeting and project documents for the SEAGOOS OFS development on a daily basis. The meeting also considered developing a joint proposal for China-ASEAN Cooperation Fund to support the further development of SEAGOOS OFS, built on its past current achievements and high demands of participating numbers.