• India and the US have decided to reactivate the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS).

• It is a network of 36 moored buoys in the high seas to collect high-resolution ocean and atmospheric data for weather forecasts.

• A buoy is a floating object anchored at a definite location to guide or warn mariners, to mark positions of submerged objects, or to moor vessels in lieu of anchoring. 

• Moored buoys are components of the IndOOS, which is a coordinated system of sustained ocean based observing systems in the Indian Ocean.

• The IndOOS array of buoys fell into neglect and disrepair during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to gaps in observational data considered crucial by weather forecasters, particularly since the links between the Indian Ocean Dipole phenomenon and monsoon were established.

Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS)

• The Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), established in 2006, is a multinational network of sustained oceanic measurements that underpin understanding and forecasting of weather and climate for the Indian Ocean region and beyond. 

• The Indian Ocean basin is surrounded by 22 countries – home to almost one-third of humankind – many of which are vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change. 

• Many in these countries are dependent on fisheries and rain-fed agriculture that are vulnerable to climate variability and extremes. 

• The Indian Ocean alone has absorbed a quarter of the global oceanic heat uptake over the last two decades and the fate of this heat and its impact on future change is unknown. 

• The goal of IndOOS is to provide sustained high-quality oceanographic and marine meteorological measurements that can support knowledge-based decision-making and policy development through improved scientific understanding, and ultimately, improved regional weather, ocean,and climate forecasts.

• Originally set up to better understand and forecast the onset of the seasonal monsoon, IndOOS now serves to enable the modelling of future climate scenarios under climate change and to predict extreme weather events – such as floods, droughts and cyclones – at a regional scale.

• Natural climate phenomena with global impacts, such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), originate in the Indian Ocean. 

• Such predictions can help prepare for and mitigate the worst effects of extreme weather on vulnerable communities across the Indian Ocean and beyond. 

• Continued financial support for maintaining the existing network of instruments and to expand its reach into new areas to improve the system’s prediction ability is necessary and would be enhanced by the establishment of more partnerships in the region as well as political will to allow observational access to the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of coastal states. 

The framework for IndOOS comprises five observing networks: 

i) Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA)

ii) Profiling floats (part of the global Argo array)

iii) Surface drifters (Global Drifter Program, GDP)

iv) Repeat temperature lines (eXpendable Bathythermograph (XBT) network)

v) Tide gauges.

• Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) programme that was born out of a collaboration between the ministry of earth sciences and NOAA in 2008.

• NOAA has agreed to provide instrumentation and India will give ship-time from July for restarting the RAMA array. About 60-90 days of ship-time will be required for the purpose.

• RAMA moored buoys are usually replaced once a year because sensors fall out of calibration and batteries run down. This servicing is typically done using research vessels primarily from Indonesia, India and South Korea in partnership with NOAA.

• However, these research cruises were put on hold for more than two years during the pandemic, with only a single servicing cruise that turned around two buoys in the southwest Indian Ocean in January 2022.

• Observations of the ocean are essential for operational services such as cyclone warnings, storm surge alerts, initial conditions for monsoon predictions and climate forecasts, tsunami warnings and harmful algal bloom detection. 

• The RAMA moored buoys also provide important verification data for air-sea flux products and satellite measurements.

• Marine observations are crucial in monitoring and forecasting weather and climate over the Indian Ocean and the surrounding rim countries. They also help maintain long-term continuous maritime records, provide information on the ocean’s health and are critical for establishing baselines to assess natural variability and human-forced climate change.

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