Gulf of Mexico Oceanographic and Meteorological Observation Group (GMOMOG)

/ Innovation in ocean observing / Task forces, projects and working groups / Gulf of Mexico Oceanographic and Meteorological Observation Group (GMOMOG)

Overview

Monitoring is key to numerical modelling efforts for predicting hurricanes and frontal systems, assessing and sustaining ecosystem health and function, managing marine resources, optimising restoration efforts and assessing anthropogenic impacts from climate change, eutrophication, loss of biodiversity, deoxygenation, acidification, overfishing and sea level rise. However, when in situ monitoring efforts are examined at a basin or ocean level, they can vary widely, particularly when multiple surrounding countries are involved. This is due to differences in the extent of sustained government funding, the presence/absence of agencies tasked with data collection, curation, storage and distribution, and dissimilarities in human and infrastructure capacities.
 
The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) covers about 1.6 million km2 and is surrounded by Mexico, the United States, and Cuba. Historically, most of the continuous in situ monitoring efforts have been limited to coastal areas and US waters, with the notable exception of moorings within the deep water region of the Mexican EEZ and Yucatan Channel as well as government-mandated environmental monitoring of oil exploration and exploitation leases in the southern Gulf (which is not currently public). Recently, the capacity to monitor Mexican waters was expanded through the execution of the CIGOM (Gulf of Mexico Research Consortium) project, which was funded by the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) and the Ministry of Energy (SENER) Hydrocarbon Fund so to build scientific capacity toward oil spill preparedness.
 
The goals of the Gulf of Mexico Oceanographic and Meteorological Observation Group funded by POGO are to (1) survey existing monitoring efforts and gage their permanence through time, (2) evaluate the spatial and temporal scales over which they operate, (3) detect key data gaps and compare current measurements with The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) essential ocean variables and essential climate variables, (4) prioritise monitoring data needs and identify agencies or sectors that would benefit, and (5) outline a plan for engagement entities responsible for monitoring efforts, stakeholders and users of information. The scope of the survey will focus on the continental shelves and deep water region of the Gulf of Mexico, and the work group will include participants from the US, Mexico and Cuba.
 
An up-to-date assessment of the ocean monitoring efforts currently in place throughout the GoM will provide the basis for advising government agencies regarding their availability and conditions of use, prioritising the most pressing data needs, and working toward a basin-wide integrated ocean observing system that could be linked to global efforts.

Relevance to POGO and fit with POGO’s Strategy

POGO’s Mission: “to have by 2030, world-wide cooperation for a sustainable, state-of-the-art global ocean observing system that serves the needs of science and society” necessitates a detailed assessment of the status and capacities of regional ocean observing systems, as well the identification and prioritization of monitoring needs. The ultimate goal is achieving national commitments to implement and sustain these efforts.

Oceanographic monitoring efforts can inform decision making by supporting the assessment of the status of fishery resources, aiding in the detection of harmful algal blooms that can negatively impact human health or halt the harvesting of aquatic resources, by providing key physical and meteorological data for forecasting hurricanes or running oil spill prediction models, and by allowing for the detection of changing environmental conditions due to climate change.

The assessment of the present-day monitoring capacity in the GoM and the establishment of monitoring priorities will directly advise government agencies in charge of implementing and sustaining these efforts, and will provide a foundation for pursuing funding at the national and international levels. By integrating the expertise of participants from Mexico, US, Cuba and France involved in ocean monitoring efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, and analyzing the data and capacity building needs from the perspective of the entire system, the workgroup will contribute to POGO’s Mission.

Milestones and Deliverables:

  1. Establishing fields to be compiled as part of the tabular survey of existing monitoring efforts
  2. Submission of the interim report to POGO
  3. Integrated tabular survey of existing monitoring efforts in the US, Mexico and Cuba, identifying the responsible entity, the spatial and temporal scales over which they operate, permanence through time, etc.
  4. Workshop (March 2023). Goals: Detect key data gaps, prioritize monitoring data needs that fill key gaps and complement existing efforts, comparison with GOOS “essential ocean variables”, identification of potential users of data, outline a plan for engagement with entities responsible for monitoring efforts, stakeholders and users of information to further and coordinate monitoring efforts in the Gulf of Mexico
  5. Full draft of technical report integrated for review by working group
  6. Final draft of technical report submitted to POGO
  7. Submission of the final WG report to POGO

Status: Complete Working group

Year: 2022-2023

Members involved

Working group Participants

Leader

  • Dr. Sharon Z. Herzka, Department of Biological Oceanography, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE), Mexico

Participants

  • Dr. Carmen Paniagua, Director of the Oceanology Division, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Juan Carlos Herguera, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Julio Sheinbaum, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Paula Pérez-Brunius, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Enric Pallas Sáenz, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Miguel Tenreiro, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Vanesa Magar, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Edgar Pavia, Division of Oceanography, Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, Mexico
  • Dr. Anthony Knap, Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG), Texas A&M University, USA
  • Dr. Shari Shari Yvon-Lewis, Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG), Texas A&M University, USA
  • Dr. Leticia Barbero, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), University of Miami, USA
  • Dr. Jorge Brenner, Gulf Coast Ocean Observing System (GCOOS), USA
  • Dr. Ida Mitrani Arenal, Instituto de Meteorología (INSMET) Centro de Física de la Atmósfera (CFA), Cuba
  • Dr. Frank Muller-Karger, University of Florida, USA
  • Dr. Jorge Zavala, Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), Mexico
  • Dr. Rosario Romero, Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), Mexico
  • Dr. Julien Jouanno, Laboratory of Space Geophysical and Oceanographic Studies (LEGOS) Institute of Research for Development (IRD), France
  • Dr. Orens de Fommervault, Alseamar-ALSEN, France
  • Dr. Ismael Mariño Tapia, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores (ENES) Mérida, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Working group links

Workshop summary report [POGO Newsletter August 2023]

Related documents

GMOMOG WG Final Report
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