Operational Oceanography: Implementation at the European and Regional Scales. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on EuroGOOS

Abstract

The goal of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) is to create a coordinated, worldwide system of ocean observations from satellites, ships, in‐situ buoys, and other sources. GOOS was adopted as a priority activity by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in 1991, and as plans for GOOS developed, it became obvious that implementing an effective global system would hinge on a practical issue: how to create an integrated global system in terms of observations, data analysis, and data access when most observing systems are deployed and maintained by nations and regional intergovernmental organizations. Two obvious paths were taken: regional GOOS activities were developed throughout the world, and additional observations were submitted to the world data centers to make national data available worldwide.European GOOS (EuroGOOS) was founded in 1994 (see www.eurogoos.org) as one of several regional GOOS acthdties. The proceedings of the Second International Conference on EuroGOOS (Operational Oceanography: Implementation at the European and Regional Scales) present a snapshot of the status of EuroGOOS and its possible components as of March 1999.