Annex V
Linking the Coastal Modules of GOOS and GTOS
The effects of land-based human activities on the oceans are especially pronounced in coastal marine and
estuarine ecosystems (Chapters 1 and 2) and GOOS must rely on GTOS to quantify surface and groundwater
discharges and associated inputs of sediments, contaminants, and nutrients. Consequent changes in coastal waters
that impact human health and safety and their capacity to support goods and services also affect the socio-economics
of coastal states. For example, freshwater (buoyancy) and nutrients (phytoplankton production) from terrestrial
ecosystems are inputs to coastal water quality models that are used to predict and control human activities on land
(e.g., sewage treatment and discharge, agriculture); data on human labor pools can be input for fishery models; and
coastal storm surge models provide predictions of flood risks that impact insurance rates and are used for evacuating
coastal populations. In short, land- and water-based changes in the coastal zone are intertwined by purpose,
geographic position, user groups, variables, and products. These realities underscore the importance of coordinating
the development of the coastal modules of GOOS and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (C-GTOS), and it
highlights the need for an integrated approach to the coastal zone within the framework of the IGOS. Planning for
the coastal module of GOOS is much farther along than that for GTOS. Thus, GTOS can and should build heavily
on the design of coastal GOOS.
Boundaries between the Coastal Modules of GOOS and GTOS
The boundaries of the two coastal modules overlap in many respects. For the purposes of coastal GOOS, “coastal”
refers to regional mosaics of habitats including intertidal habitats (mangroves, marshes, mud flats, rocky shores, sandy
beaches), semi-enclosed bodies of water (estuaries, sounds, bays, fjords, gulfs, seas), benthic habitats (coral reefs, seagrass
beds, kelp forests, hard and soft bottoms) and the open waters of the coastal ocean to the seaward limits of the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ). GTOS is responsible for freshwater (rivers, streams, lakes and ground water) and terrestrial systems,
including coastal drainage basins, barrier islands, and land “reclamation” (land fills). In this context, many of the phenomena
of interest for coastal GOOS (Chapter 1) are also of interest to C-GTOS. These include coastal flooding, extreme weather,
coastal erosion, trajectories of oil spills and harmful algal blooms, sea-level rise, changes in shoreline, habitat loss, spread of
water-borne disease, and aquaculture. Thus, the two systems overlap geographically in the intertidal and this overlap is
reflected in the kinds of phenomena the two systems should be responsible for detecting and predicting.
The two systems also overlap in terms of the human dimension on at least three fronts. First, human activities are
major drivers of environmental changes in both terrestrial and marine systems and these changes have socio-economic
consequences that affect human behavior. People and their environment interact through complex feedback loops that may
have destabilizing or stabilizing influences. Understanding the nature of these feedbacks should be a high priority for both
coastal modules. One challenge to addressing these feedbacks within the observing system framework are the different
scales of variability that characterize changes in terrestrial and coastal marine and estuarine ecosystems and the relationship
of these changes to the scales on which humans alter these environments, i.e., primary producers and habitats in coastal
marine and estuarine ecosystems tend to be more variable on shorter time scales than is typical of terrestrial ecosystems
(Chapter 1). Thus, while the coastal module of GOOS emphasizes the importance of high resolution time series
observations, observations of the dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems and human activities tend to focus on larger time scales.
Thus, coordination of the two coastal programs requires agreements on the scales of observation that benefit both.
Second, there is much overlap in potential user groups. Common user groups include coastal engineers, agriculture,
mining, aquaculture, port authorities and services, national weather services and private sector weather services, land-use
planners and developers, government agencies for environmental protection, public health authorities, coastal management,
emergency management agencies, coastal communities, tourism, conservation groups, recreation, news media, educators, and
the scientific community. Users that have been previously identified for C-GTOS include the following:

GTOS and other observing system programs and in particular those associated with coastal waters (e.g., COOP, Baltic
Operational Oceanographic System, BOOS; Global Sea Level Observing System, GLOSS);

The research community, including individual scientists and programs such as the European Land-Ocean Interaction Studies
(ELOISE), Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ), and ILTER;

Programs associated with global change or global issues (e.g., IGBP, GPA, Coastal Zone Management Centre);

Conventions, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,
Convention on Biological Diversity, and Regional Seas Conventions;

Policy makers and environmental managers(e.g., European Environment Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration of the USA);

Modelers working the range in scale from particular species populations of economic or social value to global climate change
and biosphere response (e.g., Tool to Assess Regional and Global Environmental and health Targets for Sustainability
[TARGETS, Rotmans and de Vries 1997]);

Non-governmental organizations for industry, transportation, tourism, agriculture, fisheries and environmentalism (e.g.
European Chemical Industry Council, Wetlands international, Birdlife international).
Thus, the "scales" of user may also have to be coordinated between the two programs as well as the "scales" of measurement.
Third, largely as a consequence of one and two, integration of observing elements and regional enhancements will
involve government agencies that contribute to and benefit from both GOOS and GTOS.
Design of the Coastal Module
An important element of the observing subsystem for coastal GOOS is the Network of Coastal Observations
(Chapter 4). Many of the coastal laboratories that will constitute this Network have been identified as part of the Terrestrial
Ecosystem Monitoring Sites (TEMS) network within GTOS. In addition, Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites,
including coastal sites, are part of the GTOS design and are included in the GTOS Global Hierarchical Observing Strategy
(GHOST). The latter will play an important role in data acquisition and processing for the GTOS, and regional synthesis
centers (Chapter 6) may serve both GOOS and GTOS.
Remote sensing is critical to both GOOS and GTOS. It provides spatial coverage unavailable by any other means.
Thus, it is an integral part of GOOS and GTOS and explicitly a hierarchical level within GHOST. Common modes of remote
sensing (especially land-based platforms, satellites and aircraft) will bridge the two coastal programs. Some sensors will be
unique to each program, but some are common. It will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of both programs if the
commonalities can be identified. Images may be able to be gotten, stored, analyzed and managed with cost savings and
efficacy.
The linkages between land and sea and between environmental changes and socio-economics are highly national and
regional in character. Consequently, coordinated development of coastal GOOS and C-GTOS will be most important on the
regional scale – especially in terms of the acquisition and processing of in situ observations. Overlap of products and user
groups may promote duplication in observing and data management subsystems. As the design plan for C-GTOS has not
been developed, it is not known how the need for both regional and global approaches will be addressed. As the plan begins
to form and be implemented, the need may first be to ensure collection of information and then to avoid duplication with CGOOS. If duplication is to be avoided during the implementation of the programs, considerable coordination will be needed,
especially for data communications and management. The respective implementation plans must address this issue.
In terms of modeling, GTOS has not begun to identify models, but interaction at this level is highly likely and will
need coordination. Coordination may involve (1) joint use of same models (e.g., sediment transport, coastal erosion) and (2)
use of separate models that can be linked (e.g., Storm surge models liked to evacuation plan models, linked ecosystem
models). Two modeling areas in which interaction is quite obvious are public health and effects of anthropogenic activity on
ecosystems. But others also exist. Furthermore, some issues of modeling are universal. There will be a need for quality
observations and assimilation processes in both programs. There is also a need for transparent decision making for model
construction, verification, validation and analysis. Again, the two programs must maintain communication among those
responsible for modeling.
The data management and communication subsystem of C-GOOS builds on existing systems. GTOS should begin a
program to assess the applicability of these existing systems. Much of the data management and communication subsystem
will have to conform to the agencies responsible for the data. Where the agencies are the same for both C-GOOS and CGTOS, the rules and processes should be the same. Also, some issues are universal (e.g., QA/QC) and therefore should be
similar for both programs. But details within existing agencies and development of procedures for newly formed networks
need special attention. Both observing systems have guidelines, and these guidelines need to be coordinated. The
hierarchical design of C-GOOS may be considered by GTOS or compatibility of GTOS systems to this is needed.
Conclusions
The coastal module of GTOS is in the early stages of design. It is clear that linkages with C-GOOS are not only
warranted, but necessary for a successful observing system for the coastal zone. The opportunities for linkage are at all levels
of system design from user groups and the phenomena of interest to observations and data management. There are many
opportunities to make more effective use of resources and to achieve economies of scale. But for these to be realized,
considerable coordination and collaboration will be necessary. As a first step, GTOS has been represented in the
development of the coastal GOOS design plan. The next step is to establish a joint committee charged with ensuring the two
systems are integrated and develop to the benefit of both.