Oka Eitarou

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Oka
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Eitarou
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  • Article
    Evolving the physical global ocean observing system for research and application services through international coordination
    (Frontiers Media, 2019-08-06) Sloyan, Bernadette M. ; Wilkin, John L. ; Hill, Katherine Louise ; Chidichimo, Maria Paz ; Cronin, Meghan F. ; Johannessen, Johnny A. ; Karstensen, Johannes ; Krug, Marjolaine ; Lee, Tong ; Oka, Eitarou ; Palmer, Matthew D. ; Rabe, Benjamin ; Speich, Sabrina ; von Schuckmann, Karina ; Weller, Robert A. ; Yu, Weidong
    Climate change and variability are major societal challenges, and the ocean is an integral part of this complex and variable system. Key to the understanding of the ocean’s role in the Earth’s climate system is the study of ocean and sea-ice physical processes, including its interactions with the atmosphere, cryosphere, land, and biosphere. These processes include those linked to ocean circulation; the storage and redistribution of heat, carbon, salt and other water properties; and air-sea exchanges of heat, momentum, freshwater, carbon, and other gasses. Measurements of ocean physics variables are fundamental to reliable earth prediction systems for a range of applications and users. In addition, knowledge of the physical environment is fundamental to growing understanding of the ocean’s biogeochemistry and biological/ecosystem variability and function. Through the progress from OceanObs’99 to OceanObs’09, the ocean observing system has evolved from a platform centric perspective to an integrated observing system. The challenge now is for the observing system to evolve to respond to an increasingly diverse end user group. The Ocean Observations Physics and Climate panel (OOPC), formed in 1995, has undertaken many activities that led to observing system-related agreements. Here, OOPC will explore the opportunities and challenges for the development of a fit-for-purpose, sustained and prioritized ocean observing system, focusing on physical variables that maximize support for fundamental research, climate monitoring, forecasting on different timescales, and society. OOPC recommendations are guided by the Framework for Ocean Observing which emphasizes identifying user requirements by considering time and space scales of the Essential Ocean Variables. This approach provides a framework for reviewing the adequacy of the observing system, looking for synergies in delivering an integrated observing system for a range of applications and focusing innovation in areas where existing technologies do not meet these requirements.
  • Article
    Argo data 1999-2019: two million temperature-salinity profiles and subsurface velocity observations from a global array of profiling floats.
    (Frontiers Media, 2020-09-15) Wong, Annie P. S. ; Wijffels, Susan E. ; Riser, Stephen C. ; Pouliquen, Sylvie ; Hosoda, Shigeki ; Roemmich, Dean ; Gilson, John ; Johnson, Gregory C. ; Martini, Kim I. ; Murphy, David J. ; Scanderbeg, Megan ; Udaya Bhaskar, T. V. S. ; Buck, Justin J. H. ; Merceur, Frederic ; Carval, Thierry ; Maze, Guillaume ; Cabanes, Cécile ; André, Xavier ; Poffa, Noé ; Yashayaev, Igor ; Barker, Paul M. ; Guinehut, Stéphanie ; Belbeoch, Mathieu ; Ignaszewski, Mark ; Baringer, Molly O. ; Schmid, Claudia ; Lyman, John ; McTaggart, Kristene E. ; Purkey, Sarah G. ; Zilberman, Nathalie ; Alkire, Matthew ; Swift, Dana ; Owens, W. Brechner ; Jayne, Steven R. ; Hersh, Cora ; Robbins, Pelle E. ; West-Mack, Deb ; Bahr, Frank B. ; Yoshida, Sachiko ; Sutton, Philip J. H. ; Cancouët, Romain ; Coatanoan, Christine ; Dobbler, Delphine ; Garcia Juan, Andrea ; Gourrion, Jérôme ; Kolodziejczyk, Nicolas ; Bernard, Vincent ; Bourlès, Bernard ; Claustre, Hervé ; d’Ortenzio, Fabrizio ; Le Reste, Serge ; Le Traon, Pierre-Yves ; Rannou, Jean-Philippe ; Saout-Grit, Carole ; Speich, Sabrina ; Thierry, Virginie ; Verbrugge, Nathalie ; Angel-Benavides, Ingrid M. ; Klein, Birgit ; Notarstefano, Giulio ; Poulain, Pierre Marie ; Vélez-Belchí, Pedro ; Suga, Toshio ; Ando, Kentaro ; Iwasaska, Naoto ; Kobayashi, Taiyo ; Masuda, Shuhei ; Oka, Eitarou ; Sato, Kanako ; Nakamura, Tomoaki ; Sato, Katsunari ; Takatsuki, Yasushi ; Yoshida, Takashi ; Cowley, Rebecca ; Lovell, Jenny L. ; Oke, Peter ; van Wijk, Esmee ; Carse, Fiona ; Donnelly, Matthew ; Gould, W. John ; Gowers, Katie ; King, Brian A. ; Loch, Stephen G. ; Mowat, Mary ; Turton, Jon ; Pattabhi Rama Rao, Eluri ; Ravichandran, M. ; Freeland, Howard ; Gaboury, Isabelle ; Gilbert, Denis ; Greenan, Blair J. W. ; Ouellet, Mathieu ; Ross, Tetjana ; Tran, Anh ; Dong, Mingmei ; Liu, Zenghong ; Xu, Jianping ; Kang, KiRyong ; Jo, HyeongJun ; Kim, Sung-Dae ; Park, Hyuk-Min
    In the past two decades, the Argo Program has collected, processed, and distributed over two million vertical profiles of temperature and salinity from the upper two kilometers of the global ocean. A similar number of subsurface velocity observations near 1,000 dbar have also been collected. This paper recounts the history of the global Argo Program, from its aspiration arising out of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, to the development and implementation of its instrumentation and telecommunication systems, and the various technical problems encountered. We describe the Argo data system and its quality control procedures, and the gradual changes in the vertical resolution and spatial coverage of Argo data from 1999 to 2019. The accuracies of the float data have been assessed by comparison with high-quality shipboard measurements, and are concluded to be 0.002°C for temperature, 2.4 dbar for pressure, and 0.01 PSS-78 for salinity, after delayed-mode adjustments. Finally, the challenges faced by the vision of an expanding Argo Program beyond 2020 are discussed.
  • Article
    Adequacy of the ocean observation system for quantifying regional heat and freshwater storage and change
    (Frontiers Media, 2019-08-29) Palmer, Matthew D. ; Durack, Paul J. ; Chidichimo, Maria Paz ; Church, John A. ; Cravatte, Sophie ; Hill, Katherine Louise ; Johannessen, Johnny A. ; Karstensen, Johannes ; Lee, Tong ; Legler, David ; Mazloff, Matthew R. ; Oka, Eitarou ; Purkey, Sarah G. ; Rabe, Benjamin ; Sallee, Jean-Baptiste ; Sloyan, Bernadette M. ; Speich, Sabrina ; von Schuckmann, Karina ; Willis, Josh ; Wijffels, Susan E.
    Considerable advances in the global ocean observing system over the last two decades offers an opportunity to provide more quantitative information on changes in heat and freshwater storage. Variations in these storage terms can arise through internal variability and also the response of the ocean to anthropogenic climate change. Disentangling these competing influences on the regional patterns of change and elucidating their governing processes remains an outstanding scientific challenge. This challenge is compounded by instrumental and sampling uncertainties. The combined use of ocean observations and model simulations is the most viable method to assess the forced signal from noise and ascertain the primary drivers of variability and change. Moreover, this approach offers the potential for improved seasonal-to-decadal predictions and the possibility to develop powerful multi-variate constraints on climate model future projections. Regional heat storage changes dominate the steric contribution to sea level rise over most of the ocean and are vital to understanding both global and regional heat budgets. Variations in regional freshwater storage are particularly relevant to our understanding of changes in the hydrological cycle and can potentially be used to verify local ocean mass addition from terrestrial and cryospheric systems associated with contemporary sea level rise. This White Paper will examine the ability of the current ocean observing system to quantify changes in regional heat and freshwater storage. In particular we will seek to answer the question: What time and space scales are currently resolved in different regions of the global oceans? In light of some of the key scientific questions, we will discuss the requirements for measurement accuracy, sampling, and coverage as well as the synergies that can be leveraged by more comprehensively analyzing the multi-variable arrays provided by the integrated observing system.