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SynObs & Ocean Observing Co-Design, Joint International Workshop

Workshop
24 Aug 2026 – 29 Aug 2026, Mutsu, Japan (Shimokita Culture Hall)

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SynObs aims to maximize the value of integrating measurements from diverse observation platforms—such as satellites, in situ sensors, and coastal or open-ocean systems—for ocean and coastal prediction. Its goals are to determine the most effective combinations and impacts of these platforms through observing system design and evaluation, and to develop assimilation methods that harness their synergies.

———    SynObs Workshop registration is now OPEN  ———

 

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This workshop will show progress made in the project, and highlight the importance of the collaboration with partners such as the Ocean Observing Co-Design programme and GOOS.

SynObs is a UN Decade endorsed project under the ForeSea programme.

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. Development of data assimilation and other techniques for effective use and impact assessment of ocean and interface observations
  2. Evaluation of the impact of ocean observations on ocean, weather and climate predictions and other applications
  3. Sharing experiences of co-designing ocean observing systems
  4. Planning future activities of SynObs and Ocean Observing Co-design and their collaboration

For further details go to Themes

Date and location

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

Abstract submission & registration

 

If you like to submit an abstract you have to use the abstract submission form in addition.

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Themes

Four main themes of the workshop have been identified:

  1. Development of data assimilation and other techniques for effective use and impact assessment of ocean and interface observations
  2. Evaluation of the impact of ocean observations on ocean, weather and climate  predictions and other applications 
  3. Sharing experiences of co-designing ocean observing systems
  4. Planning future activities of SynObs and Ocean Observing Co-design and their collaboration

These themes have associated sub-themes (the list is given below). Please use the check boxes below to let us know what sub-theme your abstract is contributing to.

  1. Theme 1
    • 1.1 Data assimilation and other synthesizing methodologies (including AI/ML) for effective use of ocean (physical and BGC) and interface observations.
    • 1.2 Observation data processing, quality control, delivery and other applications for improving use of observation data.
    • 1.3 Methodology for the observation impact assessment and optimal design of the observation network (OSEs, OSSEs, adjoint sensitivity studies, ensemble-based evaluation, etc.).
  2. Theme 2
    • 2.1 Achievements of the coordinated experiments for the observation impacts (SynObs Flagship OSEs).
    • 2.2 Evaluation of synergy between satellite and in-situ observations or among various in situ observation platforms.
    • 2.3 Evaluation of air-sea interface observations for model forcing fields and data assimilation.
    • 2.4 Observation impact studies for the social benefit applications close to end-users (including applications for fishery, marine transportation, marine ecosystem management, marine pollution, etc.).
    • 2.5 Observation gap analysis and model uncertainty assessment
  3. Theme 3
    • 3.1 Strategy, methodology, and best practice for co-designing ocean observing systems.
    • 3.2 Co-designing ocean observing networks across coastal-shelf-deep sea continuum: synergy between open-ocean and coastal observations (i.e., interaction between boundary currents and coastal/regional seas, polar ocean/sea ice).
    • 3.3 Use of ocean observing system evaluation in guiding co-design of ocean observing systems.
    • 3.4 Co-designing the ocean observing system for better understanding of tropical cyclones and improving their prediction.
  4. Theme 4
    • 4.1 Future plans of the coordinated experiments for evaluating the ocean observing network (SynObs Flagship OSE) and other SynObs activities.
    • 4.2 Future plans of Ocean Observing Co-design activities, including those for the exemplars.
    • 4.3 Work plan for developing future ocean observing network recommendations and desirable contribution to OceanObs’29.

 

Abstracts

Abstract submissions

All submitted abstracts are available in the table below, sorted by theme, oral and poster presentations.

Theme 1 – Development of data assimilation and other techniques for effective use and impact assessment of ocean and interface observations

Oral presentations
No Abstract no Abstract title Presenter Affiliation
1 1.1 ORAS6 as a Framework for Assessing and Designing the Global Ocean Observing Network (Keynote presentation) Hao Zuo ECMWF
2 1.2 Informing Integrated Observing System Design with Convolutional Gaussian Neural Processes Dani Jones Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, University of Michigan
3 1.3 Flexible Analysis system for Sea Surface Temperature (FASST) – not available Kosuke Ito Kyoto University
4 1.4 Recent Development of The Indonesian Coupled Atmosphere Wave Ocean Model (InaCAWO) through Data Assimilation and Ensemble Forecast System Furqon Alfahmi Indonesian Agency for Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics
5 1.5 An EnOI Ocean Data Assimilation System for the GEPSv3 Coupled Prediction System: Development, Tuning, and Multi-model Evaluation Lalu Mantigi Wana Paksi Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
6 1.6 Glider impact on Hurricane Fiona using Weakly coupled Data Assimilation with Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System Hyun Sook Kim NOAA/OAR/AOML
7 1.7 Deterministic and Ensemble forecasts of the Kuroshio south of Japan Shun Ohishi RIKEN Center for Computational Science
8 1.8 First field application of the Matched Nonreciprocity Method (“MNM”) to quantify current-induced nonreciprocity in acoustic transmission John Wells Ritsumeikan University
9 1.9 NAIADE: an OSSE AI-based framework for observation impact assessment and optimal design of ocean observing networks Jean-Marie Vient (remote) SHOM
10 1.10 Impact of enhancement of the number and types of assimilated observations in the biogeochemical modelling of the Mediterranean Sea Anna Teruzzi OGS
11 1.11 Tracing deoxygenation signals in the Mediterranean Sea through a Delayed-Mode Quality-Controlled BGC-Argo dataset Caroline Amadio OGS
12 1.12 Use cases of in-situ and satellite BGC data in Copernicus Marine Service Arctic Ocean biogeochemical analysis/forecast and reanalysis products Tsuyoshi Wakamatsu NERSC
13 1.13 Investigating Ocean Circulation Using the ECCO Ocean State Estimation Modeling System Ichiro Fukumori Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

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

Oral presentations
No Abstract no Abstract title Presenter Affiliation
14 2.1 ECMWF OSES for long time scales: reanalysis and seasonal forecasts Magdalena Balmaseda ECMWF, University of Reading
15 2.2 Impact of Ocean Sub-Surface Observations on Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean 15-day Predictions Andrew Peterson Environment and Climate Change Canada
16 2.3 Validation of ocean state estimation by satellite altimeters targeting meso-scale eddies south of Japan Yasumasa Miyazawa JAMSTEC
17 2.4 AMOC variability in INCOIS Global Ocean Reanalysis-IGORAv1 Hasibur Rahaman ESSO – Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
18 2.5 Global Changes in Sea Surface Salinity and Freshwater Flux Based on Ocean Data Assimilation Products Hiroyuki Tomita Hokkaido University
19 2.6 Impact of observing systems on global Ocean Heat Content using Argo gridded dataset and SynObs Flagship OSEs Shigeki Hosoda JAMSTEC
20 2.7 Impact of Ocean Observations in the Indian Ocean: Insights from SYNOBS Experiments Raheema Rahman INCOIS
21 2.8 MER-EP: a Marine Environment Reanalysis Evaluation initiative fostering synergies with observation-based approaches for enhanced ocean monitoring (Keynote presentation) Romaine Bourdalle-Badie Mercator Ocean International
22 2.9 GLobal Ocean Reanalysis (GLORe): OSEs and initialized seasonal forecasts Jienshun Zhu NOAA/NCEP
23 2.10 Quantifying the Contribution of the RAMA Observing Network to Seasonal Predictions of Global Tropical Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies Xiaojing Li Second Institute of Oceanography, MNR
24 2.11 Complementarity of altimetric and Argo observations in constraining the global 1/12° Mercator Ocean forecasting system Elisabeth Remy Mercator Ocean International
25 2.12 Synergistic Assimilation of SWOT and in-situ Observations for the 3D Reconstruction of a Small-Scale Intrathermocline Eddy Jen-Ping Peng Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain
26 2.13 Intercomparison and Ensemble of Coastal Ocean Prediction Models in Japan: A Case Study in the Goto-nada Teiji In Japan Marine Science Foudation

Theme 3 – Sharing experiences of co-design ocean observing systems

Oral presentations
No Abstract no Abstract title Presenter Affiliation
27 3.1 Co-Designing Ocean Observing Systems for Improving Tropical Cyclone Forecasts and Warnings (Keynote presentation) Cheyenne Stienbarger NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program
28 3.2 Category “6” Tropical Cyclone Hot Spots in the Warming Climate I-I Lin National Taiwan University
29 3.3 Effects of Spatial Constraint on Clustering-Based Sea-Surface Observation Targeting for Typhoon Forecasting Yusuke Umemiya NTT, Inc.
30 3.4 Fishing Vessel Observations in the East Australian Current: Co-designed observations for boundary current monitoring and prediction Veronique Lago UNSW Sydney
31 3.5 The Indo-Pacific Fishing Vessel Observation Network: A demonstration of ‘user-observer’ co-design Moninya Roughan UNSW Sydney
32 3.6 Second Cooperative Study of the Kuroshio and its Adjacent Region (CSK-2) Akira Nagano JAMSTEC
33 3.7 Marine heatwave co-design initiatives: the Australian pilot Amadine Schaeffer UNSW Sydney, Australia
34 3.8 Suppression of marine heatwave activity by tropical cyclone-induced upper ocean cooling Iam-Fei Pun National Central University, Taiwan
35 3.9 Ocean Forecasting in Data-Sparse Environments: Operational 3D Ocean Circulation Models for Pacific Island Resilience: Bridging Models, Observations, and Societal Applications C. Gabriela Manorga Adame The Pacific Community (SPC)
36 3.10 Toward a Self-Optimizing Global Ocean Observing System: A Dual-Track Co-Design Framework for the Coastal-Shelf-Deep Sea Continuum (CSDC) Jun She Danish Meteorological Institute
37 3.11 Impact of the Mississippi River plume on Hurricane Idalia (2023): a sensitivity experiment Matthieu Le Henaff NOAA/AOML
38 3.12 Connecting Emerging Ocean Observations to Data Assimilation Systems: A Co-Design Approach for CrocoLake and DART Nicholas Rome Center for Ocean Leadership
39 3.13 Design of Physical Oceanographic Observing Systems with Numerical Modeling for Coastal Seas Kiyoshi Tanaka University of Tokyo

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

Oral presentations
No Abstract no Abstract title Presenter Affiliation
40 4.1 Evaluation of the Ocean Observation through using the SynObs International Multi-System OSEs Yosuke Fujii JMA/MRI
41 4.2 OceanObs ’29 and the Role of Integrated System Evaluation Juliet Hermes NRF SAEON

 

Poster presentations by theme (1-4)

No Abstract no Abstract title Presenter Affiliation
42 P1.1 EasyOneArgo data products: a user-centric approach for delivering physical and biogeochemical ocean data from Argo profiling floats Annie Wong Scripps Institution of Oceanography
43 P1.2 Towards Regional and Seasonal Ocean Biogeochemical Prediction: A New Offline Simulation Framework Hakase Hayashida JAMSTEC
44 P1.3 An estimation of impacts of ocean observing systems on forecast and analysis in tropical Pacific regions Hyun-Chul Lee ERT at NOAA/NWS/NCEP/Climate Prediction Center
45 P1.4 Evaluating the potential of SMART subsea cable pressure sensors to constrain Subpolar North Atlantic circulation variability through Observing System Simulation Experiments Matthew C. Goldberg The University of Texas at Austin
46 P1.5 Accessing and using OneArgo data Megan Scanderbeg Scripps Institution of Oceanography
47 P1.6 Fourier Neural Operator-based Sensitivity Analysis for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Minori FUKUSHIMA Kyoto University
48 P1.7 LETKF-based Ocean Research Analysis (LORA) for a quasi-global domain Shun Ohishi (2) RIKEN Center for Computational Science
49 P1.8 Global Ocean Dissolved Iron Distribution Inferred from an Optimized Model and Its Sensitivity to Observational Data Coverage Toshimasa Doi Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
50 P2.1 BluebottleWatch: building a prediction tool beachgoers Amandine Schaeffer (2) UNSW Sydney, Australia
51 P2.2 A System Intercomparison of Data Withholding Impacts on the Detection of Proxies for Near Surface Sound Channels in the Ocean Andrew Peterson (2) Environment and Climate Change Canada
52 P2.3 Wide-swath satellite altimetry and novel subsurface observations improve predictions in a dynamic western boundary current Colette Kerry (flash talk by Moninya Roughan) UNSW Sydney
53 P2.4 Temperature metrics, subsurface spatio-temporal variability, and model evaluation from fishing vessel observations in the Western Central Pacific Fernando Sobral UNSW Sydney
54 P2.5 Demonstrating the utility of SWOT in Observing Fine-Scale Dynamics in the East Australian Current System Marina do V C Azaneu University of New South Wales
55 P3.1 Current Status and Future Plan of NIMS/KMA Argo Program Baek-Jo Kim National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, KMA
56 P3.2 The spread of terrestrial waters around the Shimokita Peninsula into the coastal region and its impacts: An analysis based on coastal observations and high-resolution ocean model outputs. Hitoshi KANEKO Mutsu Institute for Oceanography, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
57 P3.3 Evaluation of Operational ASV Observation Strategy in Tropical Cyclone Strong-Wind Regions Using OSSEs Naoko Kosaka NTT
58 P3.4 Statistical typhoon intensity forecast with oceanic conditions predicted by an ocean model Norihisa Usui Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency
59 P3.5 Recent Results from the Tropical Cyclone Exemplar Pilot Studies Scott Glenn Rutgers University
56 P4.1 Use of Argo data by European operational users Tsuyoshi Wakamatsu NERSC

 

Schedule / agenda

The detailed agenda will be confirmed after the closure of the abstract submission. The tentative schedule for now:

Date Science Events Social Events
24 (Mon) Open Session (AM. PM) Workshop Dinner
25 (Tue) Open Session (AM, PM)
26 (Wed) Open Session (AM, PM)
27 (Thu) Open Session (AM) Excursion and Barbecue (with DASS)
28 (Fri) Inner Meeting (AM, closed) Special Lecture for  DASS
29 (Sat) Town Hall Meeting

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 30th Data Assimilation Summer School in Japan (DASS, 26 (Wed) -30 (Sun))
  • DASS plans to accept up to 10 international students and several international guests.

 

Details

  • The main international meeting will take place 24-27 August. There will be an additional Japanese Town Hall meeting on 29 August for local attendees and possibly others interested in extending their stay.
  • The 30th Data Assimilation Summer School in Japan will be organized together with the workshop in the same week (27-30 August) at the same venue. The summer school will have a joint session with SynObs and Ocean Observing Codesign in the afternoon of 28 August. Participants of the main international meeting can attend the joint session without registering for the summer school. The summer school will also accept around 10 international students. The registration for the international students of the summer school is now open (webpage) and will be closed on 27 March 2026.
  • The following side meetings will also take place during the main international meeting (24-27 August) or after the main meeting (28 August).
    • SynObs planning meeting
    • Ocean Observing Co-design Tropical Cyclone Exemplar Meeting
    • Ocean Observing Co-design Coordinating Group Meeting
  • Our host plans to allow remote participation to the main international workshop (24-27 August).
  • Most events of the workshop will be held at Shimokita Culture Hall (https://shimobun.com/). Our host will take care of providing the meeting rooms, coffee breaks, wifi facilities, and will also offer a workshop reception and some other side events. The hotel rooms for the guests will be reserved by the host (the room charge needs to be paid by the guests). Lunch will not be provided, and participants will be asked to find lunch at restaurants or convenience stores nearby. More information about hotel rooms, lunch options, reception, and side events will be provided later.

Presenter guidelines

Oral Presentations (including Keynotes)

  • The workshop will use the Zoom web meeting platform. The Zoom link will be announced later.
  • All presentations will be recorded. With your approval, the recordings will be shared with workshop participants and made publicly available a few months after the workshop.
  • On-site presenters may use a laptop prepared by the LOC or their own computer. If using your own computer, please join the Zoom meeting and share your screen.
  • Remote presenters must join the Zoom meeting and share their screen and audio.
  • Presentation time:
    • Regular presentations: 14.5 minutes , including 2.5 minutes for Q&A
    • Keynotes: 24.5 minutes , including 3.5 minutes for Q&A
  • The session chair will notify presenters at 10 minutes , 12 minutes , and 14.5 minutes for regular presentations (18 minutes, 21 minutes, and 24.5 minutes for Keynotes) after the start of the presentation.
  • Presentation files should be prepared in PowerPoint or PDF , preferably in 4:3 format . If using other software, please confirm compatibility in advance.
  • Remote presenters are encouraged to submit their presentation file to a designated Google Drive folder beforehand. The link will be provided later.

Poster Presentations

  • Poster presenters must prepare an A0 portrait poster and a 2.5‑minute flash talk.
  • The poster session will be held on Wednesday, August 26, 13:40–15:10.
  • On-site presenters:
  • Posters may be displayed from Monday, August 24 (coffee break) .
    • Posters must be removed by Wednesday, August 26, 18:40 .
    • Poster files (PDF) must be submitted by August 23 .
  • Remote presenters:
    • LOC staff will print and display posters.
    • Poster files (PDF) must be submitted by August 18 .
  • The Google Drive link for poster submission will be provided later.
  • Flash talks will be held during the morning sessions on Wednesday, August 26 . Attendance is mandatory.
  • Flash talk files must be submitted by August 23 .
  • The LOC will merge all flash talk files and prepare them on a laptop.
  • Remote presenters should request LOC staff to advance slides during their talk.
  • Posters and flash talk recordings will be shared with participants and made publicly available later, with your approval.
    3.

Chair and rapporteur guidelines

Role of Session Chairs

  • Introduce yourself at the beginning of the session.
  • Introduce each presenter’s name, affiliation, and presentation title before their talk.
  • Notify presenters of the remaining time at 10 minutes , 12 minutes , and 14.5 minutes .
  • Ask presenters to conclude if they exceed their allotted time.
  • Chairs of discussion sessions must also moderate the discussion.
  • Support rapporteurs in preparing a 1‑page session summary by the beginning of the closing session ( Thursday, August 27, AM ). The LOC will prepare a Google Doc for drafting the summary.
  • Chairs of discussion sessions must report the session summary during the closing session, together with the co-chair and rapporteurs.
  • Collaborate with rapporteurs to draft the session summary for the BAMS article reporting the workshop outcomes.

Role of session rapporteurs

  • Take notes on presentations, Q&A, and discussions in the assigned session.
  • Prepare and submit a 1‑page session summary , with support from the session chairs, by the beginning of the closing session ( Thursday, August 27, AM ). The LOC will prepare a Google Doc for drafting the summary.
  • For discussion sessions, prepare a presentation file summarizing the discussion for reporting during the closing session, in collaboration with the session chairs.
  • Work with the session chairs to draft the session summary for the BAMS article reporting the workshop outcomes.

Venue , accommodation and local information

Important Notes for All Travelers

  • Plaza Hotel Mutsu is located approximately a 5‑minute walk from Shimokita Station.
  • Planned LOC shuttle buses on 23 August 2026

    The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) arranges complimentary shuttle buses:

    – From Hachinohe Station at 12:00 and 18:20
    – From Misawa Airport at 12:40 and 19:00

    It is recommended to choose flights or trains that match these times.

  • Departing shuttle buses are cancelled. Instead, the LOC will arrange large taxies from Mustu to Misawa Airport or Hachinohe Station. The LOC will conduct a questionnaire to arrange the taxi schedule.
  • A transit at Haneda Airport requires about 3 hours both when entering and when leaving Japan.
  • Please prepare Japanese cash (yen) before arriving at Misawa Airport if you plan to use local transportation from the airport to Mustu. There is no ATM at Misawa airport. Many local transportation lines in Aomori Prefecture accept cash only. Please obtain Japanese cash at Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, or your departure airport before entering Japan.
  • It is difficult to exchange foreign cash in Aomori Prefecture. If needed, please exchange money at Haneda Airport, Narita Airport, or your departure airport before entering Japan.
  • ATMs in convenience stores (7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart) usually allow withdrawals with credit/debit cards.

Important dates

Important dates
Call for abstracts open 17 February 2026
Abstract submissions close 27 March 2026
Registration open 6 April 2026
Abstract selection confirmation 30 April 2026
Registration closes for all international attendees (in-person) 22 May 2026
Acceptance of registration 29 May 2026
Deadline for provision of visa information (for the issuing of invitation letters) 10 June 2026
Issuing of invitation letters for visa applications 26 June 2026
Registration closes for all attendees Early August 2026
Workshop 24 -29 August 2026

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