SynObs & Ocean Observing Co-Design, Joint International Workshop

Motivation & Objectives

Motivation

Ocean observations are an essential component for a wide range of societal applications, across spatial scales from global to local, and temporal scales from days to decades. Their value is realised not only through sustained observing networks, but through their effective integration into numerical models, data assimilation systems, and impact assessment frameworks that translate observations into actionable information. In turn, models can also be used through sensitivity experiments, to optimize the ocean observing system.

This workshop aims to bring together everyone working across the full value chain of ocean observing system co-design, including observations and data management to modelling, data assimilation, and impact evaluation, to exchange experiences, assess progress, and plan future activities. In particular, this workshop aims to integrate the achievements made so far by SynObs and Ocean Observing Co-design, and to plan their future activities. By linking observing system co-design with modelling-based evaluation, synthesis techniques (including emerging AI/ML approaches), and societal impact assessment, the workshop seeks to strengthen the feedback loop between observations and models. This integrated perspective is essential for guiding the design, optimisation, and sustainability of future ocean observing networks and for ensuring that observations deliver maximum benefit to science, services, and society.

Main Purposes of the workshop

1. Sharing experiences of co-designing ocean observing systems

– Best practices in co-designing ocean observing systems

– Strategies and methodologies for co-designing ocean observing systems

2. Evaluation of the impact of ocean observations on ocean, weather and climate predictions and other applications

– Achievements of the coordinated experiments for the observation impacts (SynObs Flagship OSEs)

– Observation impact studies for the social benefit applications

– Use of the evaluation results in guiding co-design of ocean observing systems

– Other impact studies of ocean observations (OSEs, OSSEs, adjoint sensitivity studies, ensemble-based evaluation, etc.), including those of air-sea interface observations and ocean model forcing fields

3. Development of data assimilation and other techniques for effective use and impact assessment of ocean and interface observations

– Data assimilation and other synthesizing methodologies (including AI/ML)

– Applications for improving use of observation data

– Data processing, quality control, and delivery

– Methodology for the observation impact assessment

4. Planning future activities of SynObs and Ocean Observing Co-design and their collaboration

– Future plan of the coordinated experiments for evaluating the ocean observing network (SynObs Flagship OSE) and other SynObs activities

– Future plans of Ocean Observing Co-design activities

– Work plan for developing recommendations on the design of the future ocean observing network from the global ocean to coastal seas.

Date and location

The workshop will take place at the Shimokita Culture Hall, Mutsu, Japan from 24-29 August 2026.

Format

• The workshop will be an in-person event with online (hybrid) access.
• The expected number of in-person participants is 50 people.
• The workshop is jointly organized with the 30^th Data Assimilation Summer School in Japan (DASS, 26 (Wed) -30 (Sun))
• DASS plans to accept up to 10 international students and several international guests.

Schedule & Important dates

Tentative schedule

Important dates

Organizers and Supporters

• Main Organizer:
  • Japan Meteorological Agency, Meteorological Research Institute (JMA/MRI) → https://www.mri-jma.go.jp/index_en.html
• Local Institutes:
  • Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) → https://www.jamstec.go.jp/e/
  • Japan Marine Science Foundation (JMSF) → http://jmsfmml.or.jp/j/index.html (Japanese)
  • UN Ocean Deacde Japan (Domestic committee) → https://oceandecade.jp/en/
  • Habitable Japan → https://hotspot3.aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en
  • Mutsu City → https://www.city.mutsu.lg.jp/#
• Collaborating International Group:
  • Synergistic Observing Network for Ocean Prediction (SynObs, UN Ocean Decade Project) → https://oceanpredict.org/un-decade-of-ocean-science/synobs-2/
  • Ocean Observing Codesign (UN Ocean Decade Program) → https://goosocean.org/what-we-do/goos-at-the-heart-of-the-ocean-decade/ocean-observing-co-design/
  • Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS, jointly organized by WMO and UNESCO-IOC) → https://goosocean.org/
  • OceanPredict → https://oceanpredict.org/
• Other sponsors and fundings:
  • MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25K01073
• Science Organizing Committee:
  • Magdalena Balmaseda, ECMWF (SynObs member)
  • Stephanie Cuven, Mercator Ocean International (OceanPredict programme office coordinator)
  • Yosuke Fujii, JMA/MRI (SynObs co-chair)
  • Juliet Hermes, SAEON (Ocean Observing Co-design MHW Exemplar co-chair)
  • Andrew Moore, UC Santa Cruz (SynObs member)
  • Tammy Morris, SAEON (Ocean Observing Co-design BC Exemplar co-chair)
  • Satoshi Osafune, JAMSTEC (SynObs member)
  • Andrew Peterson, ECCC (SynObs member)
  • Hasibur Rahaman, INCOIS (SynObs ﾓember)
  • Elisabeth Remy, Mercator Ocean International (SynObs co-chair)
  • Jun She, DMI (Ocean Observing Co-design Coordinating Group member)
  • Cheyenne Stienbarger, NOAA (Ocean Observing Co-design TC Exemplar co-chair)
  • Kirsten Wilmer-Becker, Met Office (OceanPredict programme office coordinator)
• SynObs contact mail address:
  • [email protected]

Planning space

Organising an planning space

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