Measuring climate impacts
US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) considers its Indonesian counterparts ' the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry ' as major partners in ocean climate observation, saying that the two sides would continue to support each other in monitoring international waters.
NOAA scientist Patrick Berk said the agency would continue to give its Indonesian partners technical assistance in installing meteorology and oceanography monitoring tools in the country's deep seawaters.
He said that 67 percent of 43 different types of moorings (buoys) intended to be installed in the Indian Ocean had been deployed.
'We are two-thirds of the way from the proposed deployment of 43 moorings in the Indian Ocean and Indonesia remains one of our main partners for the ocean,' Berk told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
He said the buoys were equipped with sensors to collect data on wind, rain gauge and short-wave radiation as well as air temperature humidity and surface temperature.
'All data are freely available without restriction in real time or near real time to government agencies, scientists and the public,' said Berk.
Buoy deployment in the Indian Ocean being served by the US and countries in the region -- Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan and South Africa -- is part of the implementation of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), an international program initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The Indian Ocean is the least well understood of the three tropical oceans despite its importance in the regional and global climate system.
To deal with the situation, the Indian Ocean Panel has developed the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), a plan for systematic, comprehensive and sustained site observations of the ocean. (asw/ebf)
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