1.3.3.1 The build-up to WOCE – Scientific
Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)
initiatives
Although the emphasis at the time of FGGE was
on the first objective of GARP, oceanographers
were starting to draw attention to the role that
the oceans have in climate prediction. Interaction
between oceanographers and the Joint Organizing
Committee (JOC) of GARP intensified in early
1973. They saw the opportunities that the global
network being developed for FGGE presented for
extending knowledge, at least of the near-surface
layers of the ocean. The Scientific Committee on
Oceanographic Research (SCOR), through its
Working Groups, played a key role in these international developments. One in particular, Working
Group 43, chaired by Gerold Siedler, on ‘Oceanography Related to GATE’ (GARP Atlantic Tropical
Experiment, our first encounter in oceanography
with a second-order acronym!) was the first to
develop and oversee an international oceanographic field programme within a major meteorological experiment. The scales of the design broadly
spanned the synoptic scales in the atmosphere and
the ocean. The oceanographic component (Düing,
1980; Siedler and Woods, 1980) was importantly
the first significant step towards cooperative studies of the effect of ocean processes on climate.
A meeting of the SCOR Executive Committee in
1974 in Canberra led to a significant rearrangement of SCOR’s Working Groups that reflected the
developing importance of climate questions. WG34
under Allan Robinson became ‘Internal Dynamics
of the Ocean’, which was to become the focus of
general ocean circulation modelling concerns.
WG47 under Henry Stommel on ‘Oceanographic
Activities in FGGE’ exploited the opportunities
for oceanographic research, and WG48 directly
addressed ‘The Influence of Ocean on Climate’.
Discussions in Stommel’s group led to the establishment in 1976 of the Committee on Oceanography and GARP (COG), which was to ‘identify,
stimulate and coordinate international programmes linked to the activities of GARP’. COG recognized immediately that the breadth of the
problems related to climate change and variability
included time scales longer than those with which
GARP was concerned. Also at this time, WG48
(consisting de facto of the Chairman, Henry
Charnock, and the JOC past Chairman, Bob Stewart) was also expressing the view that the problem
of climate research went well beyond the objectives of GARP and that ‘perhaps a major new
initiative by ICSU was required’.
By 1977, the President of SCOR was writing to
the Secretary-General of WMO, drawing attention
to the need to consider the impact of ocean variability on climate as well as the atmosphere’s
impact on the ocean. With such an expanded horizon, it was appropriate for SCOR to join in the
planning of the proposed 1979 World Conference
on Climate Change and Variability. At this time,
SCOR WG47 was proposing to COG a major field
experiment in equatorial dynamics over at least
2 years, and also suggesting that it might be an
opportunity for oceanographers to invite meteorologists to take part in a predominately oceanographic experiment.
By the mid-1970s, sufficient momentum existed
within both the scientific community and the international organizations that sponsored and promoted their activities to launch an investigation of
the ocean’s impact on climate. Studies began of the
observational systems that would be required for
monitoring and prediction of climate variability on
time scales from weeks to decades. SCOR, JOC,
the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC) and WMO were all involved through the
creation of panels and task teams and the holding
of conferences to study various aspects of the
problem.
1.3.3.2 The planning for WOCE – Committee
on Climatic Changes and the Ocean (CCCO)
initiatives
In 1978, WMO and IOC asked their scientific
advisory bodies JOC and SCOR to convene a specialist meeting on the ‘Role of the Ocean in the
Global Heat Budget’ to consider:
¥ a USSR proposal for a research programme
looking into the processes of air–sea interaction
for the purpose of developing long-term weather
and climate theory. The programme would focus
on Energetically Active Zones (EAZOs); and
¥ scientific problems related to extended range
forecasting and climate.
The meeting, chaired by Bob Stewart, and held
in Kiel, actually discussed four main topics:
¥ ocean circulation and heat transport;
¥ the USSR proposal (also known as SECTIONS);
1.3 The Origins, Development and Conduct of WOCE
33
Thompson, Crease and Gould
Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)
initiatives
Although the emphasis at the time of FGGE was
on the first objective of GARP, oceanographers
were starting to draw attention to the role that
the oceans have in climate prediction. Interaction
between oceanographers and the Joint Organizing
Committee (JOC) of GARP intensified in early
1973. They saw the opportunities that the global
network being developed for FGGE presented for
extending knowledge, at least of the near-surface
layers of the ocean. The Scientific Committee on
Oceanographic Research (SCOR), through its
Working Groups, played a key role in these international developments. One in particular, Working
Group 43, chaired by Gerold Siedler, on ‘Oceanography Related to GATE’ (GARP Atlantic Tropical
Experiment, our first encounter in oceanography
with a second-order acronym!) was the first to
develop and oversee an international oceanographic field programme within a major meteorological experiment. The scales of the design broadly
spanned the synoptic scales in the atmosphere and
the ocean. The oceanographic component (Düing,
1980; Siedler and Woods, 1980) was importantly
the first significant step towards cooperative studies of the effect of ocean processes on climate.
A meeting of the SCOR Executive Committee in
1974 in Canberra led to a significant rearrangement of SCOR’s Working Groups that reflected the
developing importance of climate questions. WG34
under Allan Robinson became ‘Internal Dynamics
of the Ocean’, which was to become the focus of
general ocean circulation modelling concerns.
WG47 under Henry Stommel on ‘Oceanographic
Activities in FGGE’ exploited the opportunities
for oceanographic research, and WG48 directly
addressed ‘The Influence of Ocean on Climate’.
Discussions in Stommel’s group led to the establishment in 1976 of the Committee on Oceanography and GARP (COG), which was to ‘identify,
stimulate and coordinate international programmes linked to the activities of GARP’. COG recognized immediately that the breadth of the
problems related to climate change and variability
included time scales longer than those with which
GARP was concerned. Also at this time, WG48
(consisting de facto of the Chairman, Henry
Charnock, and the JOC past Chairman, Bob Stewart) was also expressing the view that the problem
of climate research went well beyond the objectives of GARP and that ‘perhaps a major new
initiative by ICSU was required’.
By 1977, the President of SCOR was writing to
the Secretary-General of WMO, drawing attention
to the need to consider the impact of ocean variability on climate as well as the atmosphere’s
impact on the ocean. With such an expanded horizon, it was appropriate for SCOR to join in the
planning of the proposed 1979 World Conference
on Climate Change and Variability. At this time,
SCOR WG47 was proposing to COG a major field
experiment in equatorial dynamics over at least
2 years, and also suggesting that it might be an
opportunity for oceanographers to invite meteorologists to take part in a predominately oceanographic experiment.
By the mid-1970s, sufficient momentum existed
within both the scientific community and the international organizations that sponsored and promoted their activities to launch an investigation of
the ocean’s impact on climate. Studies began of the
observational systems that would be required for
monitoring and prediction of climate variability on
time scales from weeks to decades. SCOR, JOC,
the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(IOC) and WMO were all involved through the
creation of panels and task teams and the holding
of conferences to study various aspects of the
problem.
1.3.3.2 The planning for WOCE – Committee
on Climatic Changes and the Ocean (CCCO)
initiatives
In 1978, WMO and IOC asked their scientific
advisory bodies JOC and SCOR to convene a specialist meeting on the ‘Role of the Ocean in the
Global Heat Budget’ to consider:
¥ a USSR proposal for a research programme
looking into the processes of air–sea interaction
for the purpose of developing long-term weather
and climate theory. The programme would focus
on Energetically Active Zones (EAZOs); and
¥ scientific problems related to extended range
forecasting and climate.
The meeting, chaired by Bob Stewart, and held
in Kiel, actually discussed four main topics:
¥ ocean circulation and heat transport;
¥ the USSR proposal (also known as SECTIONS);
1.3 The Origins, Development and Conduct of WOCE
33
Thompson, Crease and Gould