Ocean Observing Platforms and Technologies for the Ocean Decade: Perspectives and Prospects

The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’ and it seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system. Measure, Monitor and Model the ocean data are fundamental to understand the science of our oceans and ocean management. However, the vastness, harsh environment, and accessibility issues to remote areas makes it challenging for observing the oceans widely.  Alternatively, the availability of limited platforms and technologies restricts our ability to collect large enough data through sustained and long-term monitoring. Low-cost autonomous platforms and persistent measurement technologies are now shaping the future of the ocean observing systems.

The proposed focus session will address and showcase some of the technologies and platforms that have either been tested and deployed or being developed to increase sustained ocean observing capacity globally. The panelists will address how these…