Optimizing Ocean Observing Networks for Detecting the Coastal Climate Signal

Society experiences changes in the global ocean through the ocean’s boundaries. While climate change is certain, its effects in coastal and ocean boundary regions vary considerably geographically. The climate signal is the link between the broader changing climate and the resulting events, which manifests differently in coastal areas than in the open ocean. The U.S. territorial waters encompass 11 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) that range from the cold waters of the Arctic to the tropical waters of the Pacific Islands, and include the Great Lakes that are the world’s largest system of freshwater lakes. As climate change leads to a warmer ocean, LMEs will be exposed to increasing stressors, and coastal communities will be more vulnerable to the effects of climate anomalies. Under these circumstances, it is key to develop a framework that improves the link between larger scale climate variability in the open ocean and its signatures along the coasts.

Objectives

This workshop will bring together operators and users of coastal ocean observing systems to identify the key science issues that need to be resolved to detect and respond to coastal climate change in the coming decades. To achieve this, the workshop will:

1. Identify opportunities to accelerate the co-design and optimization of observing systems for detecting the coastal climate signal by integrating knowledge, data, and approaches.
2. Foster collaborations between the climate science, operational oceanographic, research, and resource management communities to inform first responder agencies in the management and mitigation of coastal vulnerability to both event-scale and long-term climate changes.
3. Bridge gap between global climate research and regional operational oceanography at the coasts.

Outcomes

Deliverables include:

• A workshop report that articulates ways for optimizing global and coastal observing systems to capture the coastal climate signal and address society’s needs for better coastal climate information.
• Identification of coastal climate signals and specific observational metrics needed to track local and regional impacts, including ecosystems and human health.
• Recommendations to be considered by the nascent IOOC Coastal Climate Signal Task Team

Learn more and register here.