MEDS acts as the designated Canadian focal point for international oceanographic data exchange and expertise in oceanographic data management.  Participation by MEDS allows Canada to not only share its data, but also to obtain copies of data collected by member countries for use by Canadian researchers and engineers.  For some data bases the data obtained by exchange is equal or greater than that collected by Canadian sources, and is of course very inexpensive in comparison to collect.

• Argo
  Argo is an international programme aimed at deploying approximately 3000 profiling Alace floats around the world. Every 10-15 days these floats surface with a temperature and salinity profile and a surface drift velocity. Canada will be contributing approximately 90 floats to the programme.
• Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 
  • Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)
    GLOSS is an international programme coordinated by the IOC for the establishment of high quality global and regional sea level networks for application to climate, oceanographic and coastal sea level research.  MEDS archives tide and water level data for Canada.
  • Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
    The ocean component of Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was established in 1990 by four sponsoring organizations: the WMO, the IOC , the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).  GOOS will provide a mechanism for the coordinated management of data and products generated from major physical, chemical and biological properties of the ocean including the coastal zone and enclosed and semi-enclosed seas.
  • Global Temperature-Salinity Profile Project (GTSPP)
    A joint IOC / WMO project designed to develop the oceanographic data management model for the next decade.  The GTSPP is a joint venture by nine participating member states of the IOC.
  • Joint Commission on Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (J-COMM)
    A joint IOC / WMO program program which makes oceanographic data available within "operational" time frames.
  • Responsible National Oceanographic Data Centre (RNODC)
    MEDS acts as the Responsible National Oceanographic Data Centre for drifting buoy data on behalf of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange Committee (IODE) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).  MEDS archives data collected by drifting buoys deployed anywhere in the world.
  • Ship of Opportunity Programme Implementation Panel (SOOPIP)
    A joint IOC / WMO programme, the SOOPIP in striving to operationalize global upper ocean measurements.  One task is to monitor the performance of the system in covering the oceans in both space and time
• International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
  Since its establishment in Copenhagen in 1902, ICES has been a leading scientific forum for the exchange of information and ideas on the sea and its living resources, and for the promotion and coordination of marine research by scientists within its 19 member countries from both sides of the Atlantic including all European Coastal states.
• Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO)
  MEDS contributes to the knowledge of the environmental conditions of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) by acting as the specialized oceanographic data center for oceanographic data collected by its 17 member countries.
• World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)
  An international experiment conceived to provide the first comprehensive global survey of physical properties of the oceans. The resulting data sets will be used to test computer models of the ocean circulation needed for predicting decadal climate change. 
  • WOCE Upper Ocean Thermal  (UOT)
    The IOC/WMO sponsored GTSPP and the WOCE Upper Ocean Thermal data management system developed a partnership. This permitted the management of both low resolution (real-time) and high resolution (delayed mode) ocean profile data.

Last updated :
2005-2-25

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