About GO-SHIP

Despite numerous technological advances over the last several decades, ship-based hydrography remains the only method for obtaining high-quality, high spatial and vertical resolution measurements of a suite of physical, chemical, and biological parameters over the full water column.  Ship-based hydrography is essential for documenting ocean changes throughout the water column, especially for the deep ocean below 2 km (52% of global ocean volume not sampled by profiling floats). 

Global hydrographic surveys have been carried out approximately every decade since the 1970s through research programs such as GEOSECS, TTO/SAVE, WOCE / JGOFS, and CLIVAR.  However, global repeat hydrography has lacked formal global organization since the end of WOCE and this has led to a lack of visibility for hydrography in the global observing system as well as a significant decrease in the number of trans-basin sections carried out by some countries. More importantly, the lack of international agreements for implementation of hydrographic sections has led to disparate data sharing policies, duplication of some sections, and sections being carried out without the full suite of core variables.

The Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP) brings together scientists with interests in physical oceanography, the carbon cycle, marine biogeochemistry and ecosystems, and other users and collectors of ocean interior data to develop a sustained global network of hydrographic sections as part of the Global Ocean / Climate Observing System.

The GO-SHIP Panel was established in 2007 by the IOCCP and CLIVAR to develop a strategy for a sustained global repeat hydrography program as a contribution to the OceanObs09 Conference (September 2009) and to revise the 1994 WOCE hydrographic program manual. Based on community discussions at the OceanObs09 Conference, the Panel recommended the development of a sustained repeat hydrography program to:

• develop formal international agreements for a sustained international repeat ship-based hydrography program, including an internationally-agreed strategy and implementation plan building on the guidelines in the Community White Paper,
• advocate for national contributions to this strategy and participation in the global program,
• provide a central forum for communication and coordination, and
• develop syntheses of hydrographic data, in partnership with national, regional, and global research programs.

The IOCCP and CLIVAR International Project Offices have agreed to provide project office support to this program as it develops.

Project office support for GO-SHIP is provided by the IOC-SCOR International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP) and the Climate Variability and Predictability Project (CLIVAR). Major financial support for this project is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation through a grant to UNESCO - IOC (OCE - 0715161) and a grant to the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (OCE - 0608600) for the IOCCP.

GO-SHIP Committee

Chris Sabine (NOAA, USA; co-chair)
Bernadette Sloyan (CSIRO, Australia; co-chair)
Masao Fukasawa (JAMSTEC, Japan)
Toste Tanhua (IFM-GEOMAR, Germany)
Gregory Johnson (NOAA, USA)
Nicolas Gruber (ETH, Switzerland)
Masao Ishii (MRI-JMA, Japan)
Brian King (NOCS, UK)
Lynne Talley (SIO, USA)
Richard Feely (NOAA, USA; ex-officio)
Maria Hood (International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project) serves as project coordinator.

* note: following approval by relevant international/intergovernmental organizations, a GO-SHIP scientific steering committee will be developed to include a broad range of expertise as well as national and regional representation.

Activities

1. Develop a strategy for a sustained global program. Status: Complete.

Hood., E.M. & Co-Authors (2009). Ship-based Repeat Hydrography: A Strategy for a Sustained Global Survey. In Proceedings of OceanObs'09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society (Vol. 2), Venice, Italy, 21-25 September 2009, Hall, J., Harrison, D.E., & Stammer, D., Eds., ESA Publication WPP-306. (Short print version | Download pdf 370 Kb).

Ship-based Repeat Hydrography: A Strategy for a Sustained Global Survey (Full version | Download pdf 860 Kb).

2. Revise the 1994 WOCE Hydrographic Program Manual. Status: On-going; Electronic publication for January 2010.

See Hydrography Manual Review Site.

3. Develop and implement a community-wide international planning meeting for GO-SHIP. Status: On-going.

A meeting is tentatively planned for Sunday, 21 February 2009 in conjunction with the AGU/ASLO/TOS Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA. Details will be made available on the GO-SHIP web site and announced on the email list.

4. Seek formal international / intergovernmental agreements for the GO-SHIP Program. Status: On-going.

The GO-SHIP program is described in the background documents of the November 2009 session of the WMO - IOC Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) for Member States' consideration. The GO-SHIP program will also be discussed at the June 2010 session of the IOC Executive Council.