2009 - A year of South African firsts for SAEON

“As always, SAEON acknowledges the contributions of its sponsors and partners. We would like to thank all of you for another eventful year.” – Johan Pauw, Managing Director, SAEON Argo floats allow continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity and velocity of the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection. Unlike satellites, Argo floats are able to measure subsurface ocean variables. A new partnership between SAEON, UCT and the University of Arizona has led to the initiation of a project that measures the impact of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on vegetation at centrally placed locations on Table Mountain. The project heralds SAEON’s intention to include observations on urban ecology in its work.

Johan Pauw, Managing Director, SAEON

Looking back on 2009, it is with pleasure that we list a number of South African firsts achieved by SAEON:

Two weeks ago the SAEON-developed South African Earth Observation Strategy data portal was demonstrated to the world during the bi-annual Ministerial Meeting of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in Washington DC. The system raised considerable interest and positive comments at the meeting.

The current development is an expansion of the SAEON and CoGIS systems, and is complemented by another South African first - the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas. Both the South African Earth Observation System and Atlas projects are directly funded by the Department of Science and Technology. The Atlas project is managed by the CSIR and the development and hosting of the IT platform is SAEON’s responsibility.

World Data Centre for Biodiversity and Human Health

A further complementary project is due to start soon — the World Data Centre for Biodiversity and Human Health, a project of NRF-SAEON and several partners co-funded by the United States Geological Service .

All of these developments are based on a set of core open source technologies. By sharing the intellectual property fundamental to all of this and by involving several partners, significant cost savings are achieved on behalf of the South African government. This in itself represents a major achievement.
Argo floats in the Southern Ocean
Resulting from a partnership between SAEON, the University of Cape Town  and the South African National Antarctic Programme, another first is being achieved by the deployment of two South African sponsored Argo floats in the Southern Ocean.

Dr Juliet Hermes, Manager of the SAEON Egagasini Node is of the opinion that obtaining South African owned Argo floats is of importance primarily because the oceans surrounding South Africa are sparse of observations and floats. Another important reason behind funding an Argo float is to enable South Africa to be more involved in the Argo project by being recognised on the Argo website, increasing South Africa’s scientific capabilities internationally.

Argo floats allow continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity and velocity of the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection. Unlike satellites, Argo floats are able to measure subsurface ocean variables. These measurements are essential because the ocean’s upper layers can store 1 000 times more heat than the atmosphere does. Changes in subsurface currents, temperature and salinity eventually change conditions at the surface, where the ocean interfaces with the atmosphere.

Such data is necessary to improve our understanding of both long-term anthropogenic climate change and natural modes of variability in the oceans. This will benefit researchers as well as governments, policy makers and industries. Argo data provide vital input for ocean models, which will lead to a more accurate prediction of the ocean state and how it will change over time and with different forcing, thus the initial benefit of this project will be for modelling undertaken by the ACCESS Centre of Excellence  as well as ocean modellers in general. In the long run operational centres such as the South African Weather Service will also benefit.

Argo is a major contributor to the WCRP's Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR) project and to the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). The Argo array is part of the Global Climate Observing System/ Global Ocean Observing System GCOS/ GOOS).

Monitoring Coega’s impact on Algoa Bay

The continuing intensification of long-term observation and research projects at Algoa Bay is another rather unique achievement in South Africa. Instrumentation and equipment placed in the Bay and continuous monitoring of both physical and biological parameters have attracted a growing number of partners and research projects.

Algoa Bay has become the first true LTER site in South Africa and is an initiative of the SAEON Elwandle Node in partnership with the SAEON Egagasini Node. It has been developed timeously in view of the establishment of the Coega harbour development and will enable continuous monitoring of the impact of this development on the Bay.

Landmark SAEON publications

The compilation of the book Observations on Environmental Change in South Africa was a challenging project in view of the vastness of the subject matter and SAEON’s limited in-house capacity. Contributions to the book thus had to be sourced from many different authors and we are indeed fortunate to have found so many enthusiastic partners from the South African research community. We are grateful to be able to announce that the book is nearing completion and will be published during the first half of 2010.

As per request and sponsorship by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), an informative booklet summarising the policy implications will accompany the book as a contribution to the DST’s Global Change Grand Challenge . The general feeling is that the two publications are destined to become landmarks in the South African research landscape.

A second landmark SAEON publication is on its way — the Framework of SAEON’s Core Science Plan, a document that will guide all scientific investigations that seek to differentiate between anthropogenic and natural environmental change processes. It is a progression from previous SAEON documentation and thinking, and is set to be a major contribution to the DST’s Global Change Grand Challenge.

Learner monitoring programmes

The SAEON Elwandle Node has enjoyed considerable success with the implementation of a Weather and Climate programme as part of SAEON’s Education-Outreach Programme. Benefits to participating schools include:

1.     Installation of a cost-effective weather station and supporting structures

2.     Connection of the station to computers, and training of educators in the use of the weather station

3.     Introduction to the worksheets, and discussion of the approach for Step 4

4.     Initiation of an open forum for sharing data and connecting sections within the curriculum

5.     Learners engage with the data in different subjects; they may also produce different information sets for science expos

6.     Evaluation and maintenance of the structures and station

The weather and climate data and content can be used in Mathematics (data analysis and statistics), Geography (weather, climate, coastal influences, humans and weather), Life Science (weather, climate, environment, humans and science) and Natural Science.

New beginnings

Lastly, a new partnership between SAEON, UCT and the University of Arizona has led to the initiation of a project that will provide new data and insights into the impact of urbanisation on natural vegetation. The project obtains measurements of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and its impacts on vegetation at centrally placed locations on Table Mountain within the Cape Metropolitan Area.

The project heralds SAEON’s intention to include observations on urban ecology in its work.