The success of the SOOS hinges on our ability to involve already active communities, and to facilitate communication amongst these groups. The table below lists the key international projects and programmes that are relevant to the SOOS, and that the SOOS will endeavour to connect with on some level.
Is there a community missing from this table? Contact the SOOS Executive Officer ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) to have your group added.
| Acronym | Full Name | Description |
| AADC | Australian Antarctic Data Centre | |
| AGCS | Antarctica and the Global Climate System | Project of SCAR |
| AnSITP | Antarctic Sea-Ice Thickness Project | A project of AWI |
| ANTABIF | Antarctic Biodiversity Information Facility | |
| Antarctic and Southern Ocean Data Portal | Part of the US Marine Geoscience Data System | |
| Argo | Part of IGOS, global array of free-drifting profiling floats | |
| SO Argo | Southern Ocean Argo Regional Centre | Regional component of Argo. Validates all float data in the SO, derives SO data products, interactive map |
| ASPeCt | Ant. Sea-ice Processes & Climate | SCAR-CliC Project |
| CAASM | Catalogue of Australian Antarctic & Subantarctic Metadata | Part of the AADC. Sponsored by NASA. Metadata collection |
| CCAMLR | Convention on the Conservation of Ant. Marine Living Resources | |
| CCHDO | CLIVAR and Carbon Hydrographic Data Office | CTD and hydrographic data. NSF-funded |
| ChloroGIN-Earth | Chlorophyll Globally Integrated Network | In situ measurements of chlorophyll & satellite data |
| ChloroGIN-ANTARES | Chlorophyll Globally Integrated Network – Latin American Regional Branch | Long term changes in coastal ecosystems around Latin America (sat data) |
| CliC | Climate and the Crysophere | WCRP core project, sister of CLIVAR |
| CliC Datasets | Metadata of Cryosphere datasets | |
| CLIVAR | Climate Variability and Predictability | A core project of WCRP. Sister project to CliC |
| COMNAP | Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs | |
| Data Management for International Global Ocean Carbon & Repeat Hydrography Program | Manages CLIVAR CO2 & repeat hydrography data. Manages the data of the US CO2 & repeat hydrography program | |
| DIMES | Diapycnal and Isopycnal mixing experiment in the S Ocean | UK and US funded field project. Finishing 2015 |
| EBA | Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic | SCAR biology programme until 2013 |
| EPB | European Polar Board | Europe's strategic advisory body on science policy in the Arctic and Antarctic |
| ERDDAP | Environmental Research Division’s Data Access Program | NOAA |
| ESP-OMZ | Eastern South Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone | |
| FRISP | Forum for Research into Ice Shelf Processes | |
| GACS |
Global Alliance of Continuous Plankton Recorder Surveys SOOS is a stakeholder in GACS |
Partnership of all current and developing regional Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys |
| GBIF | Global Biodiversity Information Facility | Global biodiversity database |
| GCOS | Global Climate Observing System | The climate component of GEOSS, sister component of GOOS, supported by IOC |
| GCP | Global Carbon Project | An ESSP project |
| GDP | Global Drifter Program | NOAA funded |
| GEBCO | General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans | Provides bathymetry of worlds oceans |
| GEO | Group on Earth Observations | Group of Eight initiative |
| GEOSS | Group on Earth Observations System of Systems | Part of GEO |
| GEO BON | Group on Earth Obs Biodiversity Observation Network | |
| GEOTRACES | SCOR Working group. Biogeochem cycles & trace elements | |
| GLOSS | Global Sea Level Observing System | Part of JCOMM and IOC. Network of sea level stations |
| GOOS | Global Ocean Observing System | The oceanic component of GEOSS, sister project of GCOS |
| GOS | Global Observing System | WMO system |
| GO-SHIP | Global Oceans Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program | Sponsored by IOCCP and CLIVAR |
| GOSIC | Global Observing Systems Information Center | Data programme of GCOS, GOOS and GTOS. Funded by NOAA and National Climatic Data Center |
| Global Partnership for Oceans | An alliance of governments, organisations, society groups and private sector interests addressing ocean threats | |
| GRASP | GOOS Regional Alliance for the Southeast Pacific | GOOS Regional Alliance |
| IASC | International Arctic Science Committee | |
| IBCSO | International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean | A SCAR, IOC and IHA programme |
| IceBridge | NASA project mapping ice sheet and under-ice shelf | |
| ICED | Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the SO | IMBER project - Ecosystem modelling project |
| IGBP | International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme | ESSP project with 8 daughter projects (e.g, IMBER, SOLAS) |
| IHO HCA | International Hydrographic Organization, Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica | Promotes cooperation in hydrographic surveying and marine cartography |
| IMBER | Integrated Marine Biogeochem and Ecosystem Research | IGBP core project |
| IMBER Data portal | Open metadatabase | |
| IMOS | Australian Integrated Marine Observing System | Australian observing system |
| IMOS emII | Integrated Marine Observing System e-Marine Information Infrastructure | |
| International Argo Information Centre | Information centre for Argo and forms component of JCOMMOPS | |
| IOC | Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission | |
| IOCCG | International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group | Looks at all aspects of satellite ocean colour |
| Ocean Colour Remote Sensing in Polar Seas | Working group of IOCCG | |
| IOCCP | International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project | Part of GCOS |
| IODE | International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange | Data programme of IOC |
| IOGOOS | Indian Ocean GOOS | GOOS Regional Alliance |
| IPAB | International Program of Antarctic Buoys | WCRP/SCAR programme |
| JCOMM | Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology | Part of WMO, UNESCO and IOC |
| JCOMMOPS | Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology in-situ observing platform support centre | Part of WMO and IOC. Provides information on the status of obs programmes, info on data requirements etc |
| MEOP | Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole | Animal-borne CTD tags |
| OBIS | Ocean Biogeographic Information System | Data project of the Census of Marine Life |
| OceanSITES | Global syst deepwater reference stations | |
| OOI | Ocean Observatories Initiative | NSF funded. Contributes to IOOS |
| OOPC | Oceans Observations Panel for Climate | Oceanic scientific panel of GCOS |
| Palmer LTER | Palmer Long Term Ecological Research | American station on western Antarctic Peninsula. NSF funded |
| PIC | Polar Information Commons | ICSU and CODATA |
| POGO | Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans | Created by directors and leaders of major oceanic institutions |
| PRIMO | Polar Remote Interactive Marine Observatory | Palmer Station cabled observatory |
| SCADM | Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management | SCAR Data programme |
| SCAR | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research | ICSU Antarctic programme |
| SCOR | Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research | ICSU Oceans programme |
| SEaOS | Southern Elephant Seals as Oceanographic Samplers | |
| SOKI | Southern Ocean Knowledge and Information Wiki | SOKI aims to provide a source of standardised and validated (peer-reviewed) reference material on Southern Ocean ecosystems and on the research tools used in the region |
| SOLAS | Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study | IGBP project |
| USAP-DCC | US Antarctic Program Data Coordination Center | US NSF Office of Polar Programs data. Also part of Marine Geoscience Data System |
| US CO2/Repeat Hydrography | Carries out US component of WOCE sections | |
| WAIS | The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative | A multidisciplinary research program designed to answer how will the unstable WAIS affect future sea level and how do rapid global climate changes occur |
| WCRP | World Climate Research Programme | ESSP project. Sister project to IGBP |
| WIGOS | WMO Integrated Global Observing System | Produced the Integrated Global Observing Strategy |
| WMO | World Meteorological Organization | UN agency |
The SOOS "Initial Science and Implementation Strategy" outlines the scientific rationale and strategy for the SOOS and identifies the next steps towards implementation.
| Acronym | Full Name | Description |
| AADC | Australian Antarctic Data Centre | |
| AGCS | Antarctica and the Global Climate System | Project of SCAR |
| AnSITP | Antarctic Sea-Ice Thickness Project | A project of AWI |
| ANTABIF | Antarctic Biodiversity Information Facility | |
| Antarctic and Southern Ocean Data Portal | Part of the US Marine Geoscience Data System | |
| Argo | Part of IGOS, global array of free-drifting profiling floats | |
| SO Argo | Southern Ocean Argo Regional Centre | Regional component of Argo. Validates all float data in the SO, derives SO data products, interactive map |
| ASPeCt | Ant. Sea-ice Processes & Climate | SCAR-CliC Project |
| CAASM | Catalogue of Australian Antarctic & Subantarctic Metadata | Part of the AADC. Sponsored by NASA. Metadata collection |
| CCAMLR | Convention on the Conservation of Ant. Marine Living Resources | |
| CCHDO | CLIVAR and Carbon Hydrographic Data Office | CTD and hydrographic data. NSF-funded |
| ChloroGIN-Earth | Chlorophyll Globally Integrated Network | In situ measurements of chlorophyll & satellite data |
| ChloroGIN-ANTARES | Chlorophyll Globally Integrated Network – Latin American Regional Branch | Long term changes in coastal ecosystems around Latin America (sat data) |
| CliC | Climate and the Crysophere | WCRP core project, sister of CLIVAR |
| CliC Datasets | Metadata of Cryosphere datasets | |
| CLIVAR | Climate Variability and Predictability | A core project of WCRP. Sister project to CliC |
| COMNAP | Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs | |
| Data Management for International Global Ocean Carbon & Repeat Hydrography Program | Manages CLIVAR CO2 & repeat hydrography data. Manages the data of the US CO2 & repeat hydrography program | |
| DIMES | Diapycnal and Isopycnal mixing experiment in the S Ocean | UK and US funded field project. Finishing 2015 |
| EBA | Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic | SCAR biology programme until 2013 |
| EPB | European Polar Board | Europe's strategic advisory body on science policy in the Arctic and Antarctic |
| ERDDAP | Environmental Research Division’s Data Access Program | NOAA |
| ESP-OMZ | Eastern South Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone | |
| FRISP | Forum for Research into Ice Shelf Processes | |
| GACS |
Global Alliance of Continuous Plankton Recorder Surveys SOOS is a stakeholder in GACS |
Partnership of all current and developing regional Continuous Plankton Recorder surveys |
| GBIF | Global Biodiversity Information Facility | Global biodiversity database |
| GCOS | Global Climate Observing System | The climate component of GEOSS, sister component of GOOS, supported by IOC |
| GCP | Global Carbon Project | An ESSP project |
| GDP | Global Drifter Program | NOAA funded |
| GEBCO | General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans | Provides bathymetry of worlds oceans |
| GEO | Group on Earth Observations | Group of Eight initiative |
| GEOSS | Group on Earth Observations System of Systems | Part of GEO |
| GEO BON | Group on Earth Obs Biodiversity Observation Network | |
| GEOTRACES | SCOR Working group. Biogeochem cycles & trace elements | |
| GLOSS | Global Sea Level Observing System | Part of JCOMM and IOC. Network of sea level stations |
| GOOS | Global Ocean Observing System | The oceanic component of GEOSS, sister project of GCOS |
| GOS | Global Observing System | WMO system |
| GO-SHIP | Global Oceans Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program | Sponsored by IOCCP and CLIVAR |
| GOSIC | Global Observing Systems Information Center | Data programme of GCOS, GOOS and GTOS. Funded by NOAA and National Climatic Data Center |
| Global Partnership for Oceans | An alliance of governments, organisations, society groups and private sector interests addressing ocean threats | |
| GRASP | GOOS Regional Alliance for the Southeast Pacific | GOOS Regional Alliance |
| IASC | International Arctic Science Committee | |
| IBCSO | International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean | A SCAR, IOC and IHA programme |
| IceBridge | NASA project mapping ice sheet and under-ice shelf | |
| ICED | Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the SO | IMBER project - Ecosystem modelling project |
| IGBP | International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme | ESSP project with 8 daughter projects (e.g, IMBER, SOLAS) |
| IHO HCA | International Hydrographic Organization, Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica | Promotes cooperation in hydrographic surveying and marine cartography |
| IMBER | Integrated Marine Biogeochem and Ecosystem Research | IGBP core project |
| IMBER Data portal | Open metadatabase | |
| IMOS | Australian Integrated Marine Observing System | Australian observing system |
| IMOS emII | Integrated Marine Observing System e-Marine Information Infrastructure | |
| International Argo Information Centre | Information centre for Argo and forms component of JCOMMOPS | |
| IOC | Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission | |
| IOCCG | International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group | Looks at all aspects of satellite ocean colour |
| Ocean Colour Remote Sensing in Polar Seas | Working group of IOCCG | |
| IOCCP | International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project | Part of GCOS |
| IODE | International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange | Data programme of IOC |
| IOGOOS | Indian Ocean GOOS | GOOS Regional Alliance |
| IPAB | International Program of Antarctic Buoys | WCRP/SCAR programme |
| JCOMM | Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology | Part of WMO, UNESCO and IOC |
| JCOMMOPS | Joint Technical Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology in-situ observing platform support centre | Part of WMO and IOC. Provides information on the status of obs programmes, info on data requirements etc |
| MEOP | Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole | Animal-borne CTD tags |
| OBIS | Ocean Biogeographic Information System | Data project of the Census of Marine Life |
| OceanSITES | Global syst deepwater reference stations | |
| OOI | Ocean Observatories Initiative | NSF funded. Contributes to IOOS |
| OOPC | Oceans Observations Panel for Climate | Oceanic scientific panel of GCOS |
| Palmer LTER | Palmer Long Term Ecological Research | American station on western Antarctic Peninsula. NSF funded |
| PIC | Polar Information Commons | ICSU and CODATA |
| POGO | Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans | Created by directors and leaders of major oceanic institutions |
| PRIMO | Polar Remote Interactive Marine Observatory | Palmer Station cabled observatory |
| SCADM | Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management | SCAR Data programme |
| SCAR | Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research | ICSU Antarctic programme |
| SCOR | Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research | ICSU Oceans programme |
| SEaOS | Southern Elephant Seals as Oceanographic Samplers | |
| SOKI | Southern Ocean Knowledge and Information Wiki | SOKI aims to provide a source of standardised and validated (peer-reviewed) reference material on Southern Ocean ecosystems and on the research tools used in the region |
| SOLAS | Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study | IGBP project |
| USAP-DCC | US Antarctic Program Data Coordination Center | US NSF Office of Polar Programs data. Also part of Marine Geoscience Data System |
| US CO2/Repeat Hydrography | Carries out US component of WOCE sections | |
| WAIS | The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Initiative | A multidisciplinary research program designed to answer how will the unstable WAIS affect future sea level and how do rapid global climate changes occur |
| WCRP | World Climate Research Programme | ESSP project. Sister project to IGBP |
| WIGOS | WMO Integrated Global Observing System | Produced the Integrated Global Observing Strategy |
| WMO | World Meteorological Organization | UN agency |
