Back ||NOAA Home Statement by Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. U.S. Navy (Ret.) Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Executive Council of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO Paris, June 10, 2002 Chairman Su; Executive Secretary Bernal; Delegates; ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to be here today to address the 35th Session of the Executive Council of the IOC. All of us here today know that ocean issues inherently transcend national boundaries. Consequently, we also know that we must collaborate in our efforts—if we are to succeed in observing, understanding, assessing, and ultimately forecasting oceanic conditions. As Administrator of NOAA, and from my previous positions as President of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, and in the Navy, I am keenly aware of the importance of working collaboratively with partners from around the world to address ocean issues. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission is an essential partner in facilitating and coordinating those efforts. In February, President Bush came to NOAA to announce the Clear Skies and Global Climate Change Initiatives. He directed the Secretary of Commerce, working with other U.S. agencies, to review current investments in climate change research, to prepare a comprehensive plan for the future—including the setting of priorities, and to improve coordination among the federal agencies. The United States will also provide matching resources to build climate observing systems in developing countries, and encourage other developed nations to match our commitment. The President's budget proposal for our next fiscal year includes $18 million in new climate research funding for NOAA, out of a total of $40 million across the federal agencies. An essential element—about $8 million, half atmospheric and half oceanic—is for NOAA to improve the global observing system. This Presidential Initiative for better science, with improved observations as a first step, will provide the information necessary to formulate sound policy decisions. I strongly believe that NOAA is the right agency to take a leadership role within the United States, but we know full well that we cannot do this alone. The global observation effort for climate is far too enormous for one organization, or even one country, to undertake alone. We must work together. Perhaps the greatest challenge is to develop one integrated observation plan for the ocean, atmosphere, and land which everyone can support. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), working with the Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) Partners and others, have developed international consensus on overall needs. There is, however, much work still to be done. This challenge lies in our ability to provide one coherent plan which integrates space and in-situ observations across those three elements. The IGOS Partners, of which the IOC is a member, is one body trying to meet this challenge. Focusing on the ocean, we need one plan which all organizations can support; this plan would set priorities, so that we can work together to secure the necessary funds and proceed with implementation. International organizations, such as the IOC and WMO, are the logical places to help facilitate this process, and their new Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology represents a giant step forward in our potential ability to integrate plans for implementation. A fully implemented global observing system for climate will give us the tools we need to take "the pulse of the planet." And, the full and open sharing of data between nations is an essential part of this effort—including making the data available within sufficient time to be of operational use. Last month, the United States released a forecast of the coming El Nino event. The fact that we can make such forecasts is a tribute to international cooperation in improving our collective understanding of the ocean and its contribution to weather and climate. Our ability to make this forecast is dependent on data from an array of moored buoys spanning the Tropical Pacific, combined with those collected by satellite. These forecasts can have significant economic benefits, and we will hear about that from subsequent speakers in this session. We are already collaborating with partners within the IOC, actively deploying the Argo buoy array globally. Argo, together with satellite altimetry, will extend our operational coverage beyond the tropical Pacific to include other El Nino-like phenomena, thus laying the basis for further improvements in forecasting. Half of the Initiative's $8 million for NOAA to improve the global observing system, which I mentioned earlier, will be for ocean observations. Most of this will be invested to raise the U.S. contribution to the Argo float array from one-third to one-half. This will support the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment—GODAE, which in turn will support operational oceanography, seasonal to decadal climate forecasts and analyses, and real-time marine weather and ocean forecasting. Although I have focused on climate, I must emphasize that the operational Global Ocean Observing System will be multi-purpose, serving many needs beyond climate. It is the first step toward implementation of an oceanographic analogue to the meteorologist's operational observing system—the World Weather Watch. Our system will contribute to our understanding of physical/chemical/biological cycles on a basin-wide scale, and their link to sustainable fisheries and ecosystem management. It will also contribute to our understanding and predictive capability for the coastal ocean. As the world's population is increasingly clustered along our coasts, we must pay even more attention to the coastal environment. It is clear that sustainable development and poverty alleviation globally will depend to a large degree on how we pursue our stewardship of the world's oceans, coasts, and fisheries, and how we invest in improving our understanding of them—an understanding which critically depends on good atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial observations. New ecosystem forecasting tools that can be derived from the coastal components of an ocean observing system will support management strategies to help ensure we balance economic growth with environmental protection. A sustained, integrated ocean observing system is important to maintaining and improving the management of living marine resources, such as our world's fisheries. The connection between ocean observing systems and the economy is probably most obvious and immediate as it relates to fisheries. Understanding and predicting changes in ocean circulation will allow managers to respond to associated shifts in populations or stock abundance. The accuracy and timeliness of predictions of annual fluctuations in spawning stock size, distribution, recruitment and sustainable yield for exploitable fish stocks is critical to appropriately managing living marine resources. In April, I represented the United States at the APEC Oceans Ministerial Meeting in Seoul. The Ministers discussed a wide range of oceans issues, and importantly, committed to improve ocean observing systems in the region and globally. During this trip to Europe, I am meeting with representatives of numerous agencies and organizations to discuss opportunities for cooperation and meeting shared objectives. Tomorrow I will have the pleasure of speaking at the opening session of the WMO Executive Council. The WMO and the IOC represent two of the major players in global observing systems, leading the establishment of atmospheric and oceanic elements of a comprehensive global system. While it is most critical that we all agree on one plan for that observing system, there are a number of scientifically defensible oceanic elements which we could agree on now. As examples of what I am talking about, and in no order of priority, these could include: Sustained funding for 3,000 Argo floats; much of present funding is via research proposals A system of long-term, fixed climate observatories to complement Argo 1250 surface drifters; we only have ~700 now 35,000 XBTs per year; we only deploy ~24,000 now Sustained funding for the PIRATA moored array; present funding is via research proposals An initial moored array for the Indian Ocean The full GLOSS core network of 270 sea level stations; we only have ~180 operating today A continuing series of TOPEX/Poseidon & Jason-class satellite altimeters A continuing two-satellite series with a capability to observe surface wind vectors; we only have one now Working together, we can establish within this decade critical elements of the Global Climate Observing System which are of special importance to the IOC. I urge the representatives here to work together to pursue partnerships in establishing observing systems, to assist countries to build the capacity to participate, and to use this opportunity to move the world closer toward the goal of implementing a global observing system. The United States is committed to working through the relevant international organizations, including the IOC, to achieve this goal. Thank you very much for your attention.