1.3.6 Was WOCE a success and what is
its legacy?
WOCE achieved much of what it set out to do in
terms of making ocean observations and, of those
data, a large proportion are already available
to the scientific community. WOCE required an
unprecedented level of international collaboration
that was readily forthcoming, perhaps because of
the remarkable challenge that WOCE presented
and the unique opportunity that it provided. It was
helped by the fact that by-and-large it involved a
single discipline, physical oceanography of the
open ocean. It did require a close interaction
of seagoing oceanographers, scientists concerned
with the ocean–atmosphere interface, ocean modellers and satellite remote-sensing scientists. One
might argue that it took a while for each subgroup
to appreciate the others’ abilities. In the mid-1990s
modellers were often being asked for guidance by
the observationalists as to what measurements and
fields were required to critically test the models.
Only in 1998 at the Ocean Modelling workshop
were the modellers sufficiently confident to start to
address these questions. The advances in computer
power have meant that while in 1980, when
WOCE planning started, global ocean models were
running at a resolution of 2°, 20 years later global
models are running at 1/8° resolution and their representation of the ocean is becoming increasingly
realistic. However, progress towards the objective
of the four-dimensional data assimilation of ocean
data into such models to provide ocean state
estimations remains computer resource limited.
Some aspects of WOCE proved too complex and
required too much coordination to be achieved.
This was notably true of the CP3, the Gyre Dynamics Experiment. As originally planned it sought to
observe the response of the gyre-scale circulation to
the changing forcing field by means of repeated
occupations of so-called Control Volumes (arrays
of eddy-resolving hydro stations covering significant
sectors of the Northern Atlantic Gyre), following
the example set by the analysis of the beta triangle
(Armi and Stommel, 1983). These proved too complex and required too heavy a ship commitment to
be achieved by WOCE. However, the conclusion of
the field programme in 1998 was marked by a gyrescale programme in the North Atlantic in which
ship-based hydrography was complemented with
extensive deployments of profiling ALACE floats.
Satellite remote sensing has demonstrated,
through WOCE, its crucial role in almost all aspects
of present-day marine science. Comparison of
computer models with ocean data is now starting
to reveal hitherto undetected aspects of the oceans’
behaviour. The global synthesis and the assimilation of the data into models to provide an ocean
state estimate for the 1990s is underway and it is
only when this has been carried out that we will
really know whether our sampling strategy was
appropriate to address WOCE’s goals. Undoubtedly
the WOCE data set is one of unprecedented accuracy, geographical extent and comprehensiveness.
A measure of success for any scientific programme is the number of papers based on its
results that appear in the refereed literature. The
WOCE IPO maintains a bibliography and to date,
even though systematic analysis of WOCE data
has barely started, over 1200 refereed papers are
indexed as being associated with WOCE results
at the end of 2000; this number is now increasing
at the rate of around 200 papers per annum.
WOCE leaves an important legacy to future
programmes, whether they be associated with climate research, as is the case of CLIVAR; need a
basic physical underpinning, as with the IGBP’s
GLOBEC (Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics)
programme; or are part of the developing movement towards operational programmes, such as
GOOS and GCOS (Global Climate Observing
System). One might justifiably claim that through
WOCE the study of the global ocean ‘came of age’
and that through WOCE we have (or will have)
both the tools and the understanding to address
global ocean issues such as climate change that are
of huge socioeconomic importance.
Acknowledgement and sources
We are most grateful to Bob Stewart for making
available the typescript of his talk at the WOCE
Conference, Halifax 1998, and also for additional
critical comments.
Some detailed references are included but the
majority of our sources are from the meeting reports
and serial publications of the organizations referred
to in the text. Specific meetings are referenced as,
for example, WOCE-1 for the first meeting of the
WOCE SSG. For an early discussion of the scientific
basis of the Experiment, see Woods (1985a).
1.3 The Origins, Development and Conduct of WOCE
43
Thompson, Crease and Gould
its legacy?
WOCE achieved much of what it set out to do in
terms of making ocean observations and, of those
data, a large proportion are already available
to the scientific community. WOCE required an
unprecedented level of international collaboration
that was readily forthcoming, perhaps because of
the remarkable challenge that WOCE presented
and the unique opportunity that it provided. It was
helped by the fact that by-and-large it involved a
single discipline, physical oceanography of the
open ocean. It did require a close interaction
of seagoing oceanographers, scientists concerned
with the ocean–atmosphere interface, ocean modellers and satellite remote-sensing scientists. One
might argue that it took a while for each subgroup
to appreciate the others’ abilities. In the mid-1990s
modellers were often being asked for guidance by
the observationalists as to what measurements and
fields were required to critically test the models.
Only in 1998 at the Ocean Modelling workshop
were the modellers sufficiently confident to start to
address these questions. The advances in computer
power have meant that while in 1980, when
WOCE planning started, global ocean models were
running at a resolution of 2°, 20 years later global
models are running at 1/8° resolution and their representation of the ocean is becoming increasingly
realistic. However, progress towards the objective
of the four-dimensional data assimilation of ocean
data into such models to provide ocean state
estimations remains computer resource limited.
Some aspects of WOCE proved too complex and
required too much coordination to be achieved.
This was notably true of the CP3, the Gyre Dynamics Experiment. As originally planned it sought to
observe the response of the gyre-scale circulation to
the changing forcing field by means of repeated
occupations of so-called Control Volumes (arrays
of eddy-resolving hydro stations covering significant
sectors of the Northern Atlantic Gyre), following
the example set by the analysis of the beta triangle
(Armi and Stommel, 1983). These proved too complex and required too heavy a ship commitment to
be achieved by WOCE. However, the conclusion of
the field programme in 1998 was marked by a gyrescale programme in the North Atlantic in which
ship-based hydrography was complemented with
extensive deployments of profiling ALACE floats.
Satellite remote sensing has demonstrated,
through WOCE, its crucial role in almost all aspects
of present-day marine science. Comparison of
computer models with ocean data is now starting
to reveal hitherto undetected aspects of the oceans’
behaviour. The global synthesis and the assimilation of the data into models to provide an ocean
state estimate for the 1990s is underway and it is
only when this has been carried out that we will
really know whether our sampling strategy was
appropriate to address WOCE’s goals. Undoubtedly
the WOCE data set is one of unprecedented accuracy, geographical extent and comprehensiveness.
A measure of success for any scientific programme is the number of papers based on its
results that appear in the refereed literature. The
WOCE IPO maintains a bibliography and to date,
even though systematic analysis of WOCE data
has barely started, over 1200 refereed papers are
indexed as being associated with WOCE results
at the end of 2000; this number is now increasing
at the rate of around 200 papers per annum.
WOCE leaves an important legacy to future
programmes, whether they be associated with climate research, as is the case of CLIVAR; need a
basic physical underpinning, as with the IGBP’s
GLOBEC (Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics)
programme; or are part of the developing movement towards operational programmes, such as
GOOS and GCOS (Global Climate Observing
System). One might justifiably claim that through
WOCE the study of the global ocean ‘came of age’
and that through WOCE we have (or will have)
both the tools and the understanding to address
global ocean issues such as climate change that are
of huge socioeconomic importance.
Acknowledgement and sources
We are most grateful to Bob Stewart for making
available the typescript of his talk at the WOCE
Conference, Halifax 1998, and also for additional
critical comments.
Some detailed references are included but the
majority of our sources are from the meeting reports
and serial publications of the organizations referred
to in the text. Specific meetings are referenced as,
for example, WOCE-1 for the first meeting of the
WOCE SSG. For an early discussion of the scientific
basis of the Experiment, see Woods (1985a).
1.3 The Origins, Development and Conduct of WOCE
43
Thompson, Crease and Gould