Terms of Reference
(As approved by JCOMM-5)

The Expert Team on Marine Climatology, in close collaboration with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and its Committee for International Data and Information Exhange (IODE), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Commission for Climatology (CCl) and the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) subsidiary bodies and related experts, shall:

(a) Determine procedures and principles for the development and management of global and regional oceanographic and marine meteorological climatological datasets;

(b) Review and assess the climatological elements of the Commission, including the operation of the Marine Climate Data System (MCDS) and its centers, and the development of required oceanographic and marine meteorological products;

(c) Review the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) requirements for climatological datasets, taking account of the need for quality and integration;

(d) In close cooperation with IODE and other appropriate partners such as the ICSU World Data System, to develop, review and update the MCDS strategy, implementation plan and performance indicators in the next two years for achieving the Vision for a new MCDS;

(e) Develop procedures and standards for data assembly and the creation of climatological datasets, including the establishment of dedicated facilities and centres;

(f) Collaborate and liaise with other groups as needed to ensure access to expertise and ensure appropriate coordination;

(g) Keep under review and update, as necessary, relevant technical publications in the area of oceanographic and marine meteorological climatologies;

(h) Collaborate with IODE concerning historical Ocean Observations;

(i) Keep under review and provide guidance as appropriate on the operations of the Global Digital Sea Ice Data Bank (GDSIDB), in collaboration with ETSI.

The Membership is selected to ensure a range of expertise and to maintain an appropriate geographical and gender representation, and includes:

(a) Up to eight experts, including the chairperson, selected from Members/Member States, representative of the range of responsibilities of the Expert Team.;

(b) Additional representatives from MCDS centers, from the Services and Forecasting Systems Programme Area’s Expert Teams on Disaster Risk Reduction (ETDRR) and on Sea Ice (ETSI), and from relevant projects and subsidiary bodies of IODE of IOC, as required, in consultation with the co-presidents of JCOMM;

Additional experts may be invited as appropriate, with the concurrence of the co-presidents of the Commission, on a self-funded basis, and in general with no resource implications to JCOMM.

Representatives of JCOMM Programme Areas and of other expert bodies may be invited, as appropriate, with the concurrence of the co-presidents and with no resource implications to the Commission.