By John Field
The second scientific workshop of the India-Brazil-South Africa tri-lateral scientific and technical agreement took place in Goa, India from 2 – 9 May. One of the 9 topics in the tri-lateral agreement is on Oceanography, meteorology and the Antarctic (IBSA-Ocean for short). The first workshop held in Cape Town in March 2008 had sketched the outline of the joint research planned, based on three drivers: Regional consequences of climate change, regional observing systems (Ocean GEOSS) and dissemination networks. This second workshop developed an action plan for joint research. The meeting was attended by 56 Indian scientists, with 9 from South Africa*, and 7 from Brazil.
The meeting commenced with an elaborate Indian inauguration ceremony, hosted by the Secretary of the Indian Department of Earth Sciences (Director General equivalent). The South African team gave 7 presentations on South Africa’s activities in these areas and similar presentations were given by the other countries.
South African representatives - Back row, from left to right: Servaas Holtzhausen, CSIR; Christo Whittle, UCT; Sandy Thomalla, UCT/CSIR; Juliet Hermes, SAEON; Willem Landman, SAWS; Vernon Coyne, UCT; Front row: Charles Griffiths, UCT; Nkgatho Tlale, CSIR; John Field, MA-RE
The Action plan drafted by 4 working groups operating in parallel and plenary is best summarised by the table below, which gives an idea of the scope of the work planned.
Draft IBSA-Ocean Action Plan summary
Climate variability and change |
Effects of Global Change on Ecosystems, carbon flux and biogeochemistry |
Effects of Global Change on living resources, biodiversity and for management planning |
Prediction systems |
Coastal ecosystems |
Biodiversity |
IBSA Earth System Model |
Open Ocean ecosystems |
Bio-invasions |
IBSA Database |
|
Harmful algal blooms |
Southern Ocean |
|
Fisheries |
Paleoclimate |
|
|
Regional Ocean Observing systems
Remote sensing
Autonomous vehicles & mooring platforms
Meteorological stations & sea-level gauges
Dissemination networks Training and capacity Building |
The IBSA-Ocean Action Plan is based on the three primary drivers listed above, in which the first driver has been elaborated into three main themes, shown as columns in the table, all built upon a foundation of inter-operable ocean observing systems in the three countries. There is a common theme of training and capacity building throughout. The IBSA Earth System Model is an ambitious, but doable, project that would bring great prestige to IBSA, and is something that could not be achieved by any one country alone. It would also provide a different perspective from the first world models that exist. This requires a joint database and palaeo-climate and Southern Ocean estimates in order to test and calibrate the Earth System model in conditions that have not been monitored in historical times.
Studies of climate variability and climate change feed into studying the effects of global change, including direct human effects, on ecosystems and the living resources that they support so that we can manage them. Regional observing systems exist in each of the alliance partners, that can greatly enhance local economic efficiency by sharing knowledge and expertise and by jointly testing new systems under the varying conditions found in the partner regions. Dense spatial and temporal sampling expected from the various autonomous platforms and vehicles will also provide a realistic test database for the Earth System model and regional modelling efforts.
The workshop was very successful and should result in a fairly comprehensive Action Plan. This should be fleshed out in to a more detailed implementation plans for the various sub groups at a meeting being planned for 2010 in Brazil. The South African team did their best to represent all South African activities and proposals and follow ups will be sent to relevant role-players. However, if anyone would like further specific information they can contact any of the South African attendees.
