The Nansen Environmental Centre in Norway and South African partners have set up a joint venture in South Africa, directed by a South African, and have employed staff and are building capacity locally. A Board of four South Africans and four Norwegians will oversee the programme. The Nansen-Tutu Centre is based in Cape Town and operates as a programme complementing the developing South African marine research framework. SABC 2 – Launch of Nansen-Tutu Center – click here to view! The activities are run by 6 scientists and students, 3 funded by Norway and 3 from South African sources, under the management and financial control of UCT.
The vision and goal are very specific. This is quite deliberate, since we have identified a topic that fills a gap that badly needs filling in order to understand and deal with global change in Africa and complements existing South African expertise:
Preamble
Africa juts into the Indian, South Atlantic and Southern Oceans with cool and warm oceans juxtaposed, giving rise to unique marine and land ecosystems with high biodiversity, rich fisheries and superb natural resources. It is therefore important that we develop the capacity for understanding and predicting the state of the ocean and its ecosystems as the meteorological services do for the weather. The Founding Partners have complementary expertise and knowledge to address these challenges.
Back to topVision
To serve Africa through advancing knowledge of the marine environment and climate system in the spirit of Nobel Peace Laureates Desmond Tutu and Fridtjof Nansen.
Back to topOverall Goal
To improve the capacity to observe, understand and predict marine ecosystem variability on timescales from days to decades in support of scientific and societal needs including fisheries, coastal management, maritime security, recreation and tourism. To this end, one of the core activities at the Centre will focus on education and exchange of young researchers and students from different cultures and countries through the Nansen-Tutu Scholarship Program.
South African Needs:
There is a world-wide need to understand, model and predict conditions in the ocean as the meteorological services do for the weather. This is done by satellite and in–water observations with data being collected and used in mathematical models in real time – this is what we call “operational oceanography”. A South African committee has been convened to put this into practice, in a delicate political process to give each institution a place in keeping with its mandate. The SA Operational Oceanography Committee has four sub-groups:
- In situ observations (lead Institution: SA Dept of Envirnomental Affairs: Oceans and Coasts)
- Satellite Observations (lead Institution: Marine Remote Sensing Unit, UCT)
- Ocean Modeling (lead Institution: ACCESS)
- Data dissemination (lead Institution: SAEON)
The proposed Centre will serve to bring data from in situ and satellite observations into ocean models. It is thus a specialised joint venture under the Ma-Re umbrella, carefully tailored not to tread on the toes of government or statutory bodies. This is why MCM and SAEON (for example) are not signatories to the agreement but are represented on its advisory board.
UCT has multiple roles in Operational Oceanography: in training the new generation of operational oceanographers, of hosting the marine satellite remote sensing unit, and in ocean modelling along with and within ACCESS. It was decided to set up a joint venture, which for historical reasons in Norway, is to be called a Centre, the “Nansen – Tutu Centre for Marine Environmental Research”. The Nansen Centre in Norway has three other specialised Centres as joint ventures in Russia, India and China, each with a different focus. This is the only Nansen Centre in the Southern Hemisphere.
Back to topResearch Areas and Challenges of Nansen -Tutu Programme
The approach is to advance the sustainable marine science base for developing and implementing ocean observing and modelling systems with particular focus on identifying and resolving key regional processes driving phenomena as specified below.
Benguela Current System
- Benguela Niño’s
- Frontal zone processes and mesoscale variability
- Benguela upwelling, low oxygen and impact on ecosystem
- Ecosystem variability and fisheries
- Coastal trapped waves and poleward undercurrent
Agulhas Current System
- Sources and variability of the Agulhas Current system
- Dynamics in the retroflection region
- Inter-ocean exchanges (Indian Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean)
Southern Ocean
- Ecosystem variability and fisheries (e.g. Krill in the SO)
- Southern Ocean circulation, acidification and carbon export.
Implementation Plan of Nansen-Tutu Programme
The aim is to make a significant contribution to developing and implementing operational oceanography and data assimilation methods around southern Africa including the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the Southern Ocean, with a focus on ocean state, marine environmental and ecosystem modelling, research and capacity building, including their roles in climate and global tele-connections. The implementation will specifically target:
- Generation of joint research and development activities between scientists and students from the participating institutions and the Nansen Group.
- Exchange of visiting scientists and students between the participating institutions.
- Co-supervision of post-graduate students.
- Coordinating and facilitating joint project proposals to be submitted for funding through national, EU and international bodies.
- Technical development, infrastructure and support for pre-operational production and demonstration of information and services.
- Developing capacity through joint courses, workshops, training and research schools
- Ensure integration with other operational components within OceansAfrica including the user community.
- Ensure open and free access to the centre´s resources, data, products and achievements.
- Cooperation in the fields of distance educational courses and research programs.
- Enable joint participation in field campaigns.
- Stimulate international collaboration and activities with GOOS, GOOS-Africa, relevant components of GEO, GODAE Phase 2 and the sustainable Marine Core Service (e.g. MyOcean).
- Outreach including web page, public media, involvement of users.
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