The
proposed ToRs for COOP were set out by GSC-III and presented at the first
session of COOP. The proposed ToRs will have to be formally approved by GSC-IV,
and then by I-GOOS-V. Once approved by I-GOOS-V, the chairman of I-GOOS will
then ask the IOC ASSEMBLY to endorse them.
Scope
and draft Terms of Reference for COOP
The
focus of COOP will be on design and implementation of a sustained, integrated
system. It must be designed and implemented as an end-to-end system, from
measurements to the timely distribution of products. Taken into account must
be user requirements, scientific and technical feasibility, and utility. This
will require oversight and adjustments to the design and operation as needs
and feasibility change.
The Terms of Reference for COOP are to:
(1) Integrate and refine the design plans drafted by the
Health Of The Oceans (HOTO), the Living Marine Resources
(LMR), and the
Coastal GOOS (CGOOS) panels to develop a unified plan that is consistent with
the GOOS Design Principles (Annex 2) and addresses issues related to the
following themes
- coastal marine services (e.g., safe and efficient marine
operations, coastal hazards),
- the health of marine and estuarine ecosystems and its
relation to human health, and
- living marine resources.
(2) Develop mechanisms for more effective and sustained
involvement of user groups in the design and implementation of the coastal
module of GOOS.
(3) Develop mechanisms that enable effective synergy between
research and the development of a sustained observing system for coastal
marine and estuarine ecosystems.
(4) Formulate an implementation plan that is coordinated
with the OOPC plan for climate services, research and marine services with due
emphasis on
- integrated observations;
- data and information management;
- data assimilation and modelling for the purposes of
prediction and product development;
- capacity building; and
- national, regional, and global promotion of objectives and
benefits of the observing system.
(5) Establish criteria and procedures for selecting
observing system elements on global and regional scales, and recommend the
elements that will constitute the initial observing system.
(6) Define procedures for ongoing evaluation of system
components, reliability of data streams, access to data, and applications.
