contact: Sophie Cravatte
The Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) was designed during the highly successful Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) experiment, which was completed in 1994 and revolutionized observational understanding of the tropical Pacific and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) dynamics; it also set the tone for real-time data availability and routine seasonal forecasts.
However, 20 years after TOGA, the system is in need of renewed support to sustain the current observation system while exploring new platforms and tools for ocean observing. A four day TPOS 2020 Workshop was held in January of 2014 at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA. The workshop was attended by 65 invitees form 13 countries and 35 institutes. Through invited scientific talks, agency presentations and extensive discussion, it was recommended to establish a TPOS 2020 project.
The scientific and sponsoring members of the TPOS 2020 aim to rejuvenate and revamp the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) to meet the observational, experimental, and operational needs of today and the future.
The purpose of the TPOS 2020 project is oversee the transition to a more resilient and integrated observing system to meet the identified gaps as well as future needs as they are identified.
The goals of the proposed TPOS 2020 project are:
- To refine and adjust the TPOS to monitor, observe and predict the state of ENSO and advance scientific understanding of its causes.
- To determine the most efficient and effective method for sustained observations to support prediction systems for ocean, weather and climate services of high societal and economic utility, including underpinning research.
- To advance and refine the knowledge of the predictability horizon of the tropical Pacific variability (physical and biogeochemical), as well as its impacts in global climate.