Polar Ocean Observations: A Critical Gap in the Observing System and its Effect on Environmental Predictions from Hours to a Season
Abstract
There is a growing need for operational oceanographic predictions in both the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. In the former, this is driven by a declining ice cover accompanied by an increase in maritime traffic and exploitation of marine resources. Oceanographic predictions in the Antarctic are also important, both to support Antarctic operations and also to help elucidate processes governing sea ice and ice shelf stability. However, a significant gap exists in the ocean observing system in polar regions, compared to most areas of the global ocean, hindering the reliability of ocean and sea ice forecasts. This gap can also be seen from the spread in ocean and sea ice reanalyses for polar regions which provide an estimate of their uncertainty. The reduced reliability of polar predictions may affect the quality of various applications including search and rescue, coupling with numerical weather and seasonal predictions, historical reconstructions (reanalysis), aquaculture and environmental management including environmental emergency response. Here, we outline the status of existing near-real time ocean observational efforts in polar regions, discuss gaps, and explore perspectives for the future. Specific recommendations include a renewed call for open access to data, especially real-time data, as a critical capability for improved sea ice and weather forecasting and other environmental prediction needs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 06, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1099658
Entities
People
- Belinda Kater
- Bruno Delille
- Claudie Marec
- David Hebert
- Edward Joseph Metzger
- Frank Kauker
- Fraser Davidson
- Gary Corlett
- Gilles Larnicol
- Gregory C. Smith
- Janet Intrieri
- Jose Lagunas
- Julia Crout
- Laurent Bertino
- Marcel Babin
- Matthieu Chevallier
- Patrick Hyder
- Richard Allard
- Sarah. T. Gille
- Thomas Kaminski
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory