UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
11/05/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/05/2024 09:05
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, the Vendée Globe and the IMOCA Class – A lasting partnership between sports and science for ocean protection
Now ten years later, the partnership has expanded to include the Vendée Globe, the solo non-stop round the world race. This will be a significant contribution to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030('Ocean Decade'), and, in particular, to the OdysseyProject. The project was launched in 2021 by OceanOPS- the InternationalCentre of Excellence for the coordination and Monitoring of Meteorological and Oceanographic Observing Systems, established by the World Meteorological Organization and UNESCO - and is led in coordination with the IOC.
Odyssey calls on civil society to support the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) - flagship programmeof the IOC - implementation and unlock the potential of citizens, ocean race sailors, mariners, NGOs and private sector, to ensure a more complete knowledge of the ocean and the atmosphere above it, delivering data for effective prediction of how the ocean and climate may change in coming years.
While competing in the Vendée Globe race, IMOCA boats become vessels of opportunity, using scientific equipment to gather ocean data to understand ocean variability and trends, along with related impacts on our society, through continuous ocean observations and oceanography.
Skippers embark scientific equipment on board for the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe race
On November 10th2024, skippers will embark on the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe. Starting from the coastal city of Sables d'Olonnein France, skippers will sail through the Atlantic before reaching the most remote places of the ocean around Antarctica through the Indian and Pacific oceans.
On October 22ndand 23rd, more than half of the skippers (25 in total) acquired the scientific equipment they will take on their boats as well as received training on how to use them in the presence of the president of the Vendée Globe and the Departmental Council of Vendée, Alain Leboeuf, and Emanuela Rusciano, representative of UNESCO.
These twenty-five sailors will contribute to important ocean data observations by collecting and distributing in real time various data to scientists. This will help enrich global knowledge on climate and the ocean and improve operational weather forecasting services, particularly in the less frequented areas of the globe such as the Southern Ocean.
This scientific equipment is provided by a number of institutes, all of them stakeholders in the Global Ocean Observing System(GOOS): Ifremer, Météo France, UK MetOffice, CNES, GEOMAR, CLS, TARA Foundation, ETH Zurich. The technical coordination of all these instruments and operations will be overseen by OceanOPS. These scientific initiatives are correlated with educational programs conducted in partnership within primary and secondary schools.
What instruments will the skippers be carrying?
Six types of instruments were given to the skippers this Tuesday, while other equipment, such as a mini oceanographic lab, were already onboard and tested during previous races
- Ten skippers will be carrying an Argoprofiling float. Measuring 1.70 m long and weighing 20 kg, it measures temperature and salinity from the sea surface down to 2,000 m, which allows for ocean and climate monitoring and forecasting.
- The drifting surface buoymeasures atmospheric pressure, sea surface temperature and current. Weighing 20 kg and carried by eight skippers, it provides useful information for global and regional weather forecasts. The data collected by the beacon is also useful for climate change monitoring.
- Complementing these aforementioned devices, the weather stationis a box fixed inside the boat that measures the atmospheric pressure for real-time weather forecast. Much smaller and lighter (300 grams), it is connected to the on-board computer.
- The TSG Gaillard, a 10 kg device, also allows continuous readings to be taken. Carried on two boats, it is a simple-to-use tool that measures sea surface temperature and salinity. Ifremer, who developed it, would like to extend its use to the world of recreational sailing.
- TheCalitoo photometeris a small portable device weighing 400 grams that will be on five boats. It takes measurements of the level of aerosols present in the atmosphere and sorts them according to their size (smoke, pollutant gas, ice crystals, dust). This makes it possible to measure the optical depth, a measure of the amount of light that is absorbed when passing through an environment.
- Finally, two Argos Marget IIbeacons, weighing 1.3 kg, will be taken to measure marine currents. The aim is to highlight a major marine current and to help raise awareness of our understanding of the ocean.
In line with the Vendée Globe's environmental commitments to UNESCO, ocean observations will be mandatory for all sailors as part of the race rules from the 2028 edition onwards.
Read more about it here:
Distribution of scientific instruments | Vendée Globe 2024
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About the UNESCO-IOC:
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC)promotes international cooperation in marine sciences to improve management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources. The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together by coordinating programmesin capacity development, ocean observations and services, ocean science and tsunami warning. The work of the IOC contributes to the mission of UNESCO to promote the advancement of science and its applications to develop knowledge and capacity, key to economic and social progress, the basis of peace and sustainable development.
About GOOS:
GOOS is the global home of ocean observing expertise. We lead and support a community of international, regional and national ocean observing programmes, governments, UN agencies, research organisationsand individual scientists. Our Core Team of expert panels, networks, alliances and projects supported by a GOOS Office is in touch with ocean observing and forecasting around the world. We are an Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) led programmewith UN and science co-sponsors WMO, UNEP and ISC www.goosocean.org.
About OceanOPS:
Since 2000, OceanOPShas been the international hub and centreof excellence that provides vital services in monitoring and coordinating an expanding network of global oceanographic and marine meteorological observing communities, under GOOS.
Based in Brest, the centreoversees the coordination, monitoring and harmonisationof 10,000 in situ marine meteorological platforms, including the Argo network - with nearly 4,000 autonomous underwater profilers launched since its inception - as well as the network of fixed and drifting buoys, the piloted profilers, and the research and voluntary vessels dedicated to met-oceanographic observations. Its 87-person team also develops web-based tools to monitor the status of the GOOSand its evolution.
About the Ocean Decade:
Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) ('the Ocean Decade')seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalysenew opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is 'the science we need for the ocean we want'. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the scientific knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system, anddeliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparations and implementation of the Decade.