Project Coordinator: Dr. Somkiat Khokiattiwong, Head of Oceanography and Marine Environment Unit, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Thailand

The establishment of SEAGOOS was formally initiated in the IOC/WESTPAC Workshop on the Establishment of SEAGOOS in the Wider Southeast Asian Region (Seoul, 27-31 August 2001) and officially approved in the Fifth Session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC V, Fremantle, Australia, 9-13 September 2002) through the Recommendation SC-WESTPAC-V.3.

Subsequent to the Fifth Session, other several consultation meetings were held in order to consolidate efforts in the establishment of the programme. With their highlights, these are given below:

• High level Consultative Meeting on SEAGOOS (21-22 October 2003, Malaysia) –Draft MoU formulated and the interim coordinating committee established;
• During the sixth IOC/WESTPAC International Scientific Symposium (19-23 April 2004, Hangzhou, China) –The programme was decided to function as a programme of IOC/WESTPAC and consequently, the “MoU” was transformed into a set of operational guidelines;
• 3rd Consultative Meeting on SEAGOOS (2-4 May 2005, Bangkok, Thailand) –the operational guidelines were finalized for endorsement at the 6th session of IOC Sub-Commission for WESTPAC;
• During the Sixth Session of IOC Sub-Commission for WESTPAC (25 May 2005, Nha trang, Vietnam) –the operational guideline was endorsed;
• 4th Consultative Meeting on SEAGOOS (31 October–3 November 2005, Townsville, Australia) –Three priority projects for SEAGOOS were selected.

Preparation of the Coordinating Committee meeting and Strategic Plan for SEAGOOS

The IOC/WESTPAC Secretariat has invited member states of WESTPAC to nominate their delegate for the Coordinating Committee of SEAGOOS as agreed in the Recommendation SC-WESTPAC-V.3 (TOR for the SEAGOOS Coordinating Committee). Australia, China, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam nominated their representative to be the Coordinating Committee for SEAGOOS. However, SEAGOOS would like to encourage other member states to nominate their delegate and support the SEAGOOS activities.

Terms of Reference for the SEAGOOS Coordinating Committee
(Recommendation SC-WESTPAC-V.3, adopted at the Fifth Session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific, WESTPAC V)

Composition:

The Committee shall consist of representatives of all countries invited to participate. Each country shall endeavour to designate two members, preferably with one person coming from the operational meteorological/oceanographic community.

The Committee shall elect a Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson among the members. The Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee will act as SEAGOOS Coordinator.

The Committee shall meet in regular annual sessions at the expense of the participating countries as far as possible. Other countries and appropriately affiliated organizations can attend the sessions as observers.

Term of Reference:

1. Promote regional operational oceanography in the wider Southeast Asian Basin through the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) by establishing SEAGOOS.
2. Draft a SEAGOOS Strategy document that incorporates the economic, social and environmental protection needs of the region with a clear approach to detailed planning and implementation of SEAGOOS.
3. Publicize and disseminate SEAGOOS plans and information to regional governments and the general public.
4. Recommend scientific and technical activities to support SEAGOOS implementation by coordinating new pilot projects and providing linkages to existing projects such as SEACAMP, the GEF/UNEP South China Sea Project, and other relevant projects.
5. Produce guiding documents for the near real time data collection and exchange in the Wider Southeast Asian Region.
6. Advise and consider sources of funding for pilot project development with various funding agencies and in consultation with pilot project leaders.
7. Identify the SEAGOOS capacity building needs of participating countries and international or regional organizations that can contribute to SEAGOOS
8. Liaison with national SEAGOOS committees, NEAR-GOOS, GOOS Project Office and other GOOS-related bodies as appropriate.

Since the first CC’s meeting needs sometime for preparation, while necessarily keeping SEAGOOS’s project moving, the following pilot projects were proposed at the seventh session of IOC Sub-Commission for WESTPAC, May 2008, Malaysia.

• Development of New Generation Sea Surface Temperature (NGSST) products in the SEAGOOS region. This project was proposed since the 6th Session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific, Nhag Trang, Vietnam. The project just starts to have the First Workshop in May 2008 during the 7th IOC/WESTPAC International Scientific Symposium, Sabah, Malaysia.
• Continuous GPS and Satellite Altimetry in Sea Level Measurement. The project was adopted from the Real-Time Sea Level Observing System for SEAGOOS Region. (Project leaded by Dr. Anond Snidvongs), which has been propose to SEAGOOS during the 3rd Consultative Meeting in Bangkok and recognized by the 6th Session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific. Due to lack of budget and time to organize the project. The project therefore postpones and revises the study technique to use continuous GPS and satellite. The principal is continuous GPS (CGPS) stations install at tide gauges can use to determine the exact position and in particular, the vertical velocity of the land or the sea floor underlying each tide gauge. The scientific applications of these measurements include the calibration of satellite altimeters and the removal of crustal motion signals from long time series of sea level. In principle, satellite altimeter measure absolute sea level (ASL), tide gauges record relative sea level (RSL), and if CGPS is used to measure vertical crustal velocity, this geodetic measurement can be used to transform relative sea level rise into absolute sea level rise, or vice versa. The project would like to create the networking on sea level rise monitoring and study. The project needs to be considered and adopted by the Session for the further operation.
• BLUElink is the Australian Government’s newest investment in ocean forecasting and research that, it is hoped, will provide substantial benefits to maritime and commercial operations, Defense applications, safety-at-sea, sustainability of the marine environment and regional and global climate. Three of Australia’s leading organisations involved in oceanography – CSIRO through the Wealth from Oceans Flagship, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Royal Australian Navy – formed a unique partnership to initiate Project BLUElink in 2002. The first phase of the project, which was completed in mid-2007, has delivered an ocean forecasting system that provides, for the first time, on an operational basis, a seven-day, full-depth, forecast of temperature, salinity and currents for the Australian region. The BLUElink is starting the second phase (BLUElink II) and will keep continue to the end of 2010. The BLUElink is world ocean forecasting model which presently cover all SEA sea. But the result of the model in SEA sea still lack of validation. The SEAGOOS’s neighbour, IOGOOS (Indian Ocean GOOS), presently give attentions on using BLUElink as a forecasting and monitoring tool of the Indian Ocean. Since it will be useful for the SEA sea as well. If SEAGOOS joint the BLUElink with IOGOOS. It will be cost benefit including from the assistance of Australian Government Agency (the Oceanographic Services Programme of the Bureau of Meteorology). However if the Session agree to adopt and develop this project. It needs further organize and collaborate with Australian government and to request the support from delegate of the Australian government in the 7th Session of IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific.

On-going/upcoming activities
Activities carried out during May 2008-May 2010
Online publications