Opening and purpose of the meeting

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Dr. M. R. Nayak, chairman of the TIP-5 local organizing committee, opened the meeting with a brief welcoming address, and then introduced Dr. E. Desa, Director of NIO, Dr. M.J. McPhaden, chairman of the TAO Implementation Panel, and Dr. A. Sumi, co-chairman of both the TAO Implementation Panel and the CLIVAR Monsoon Panel.

Dr. Desa welcomed the participants to Goa, and wished them success in their deliberations. He pointed out that NIO has a tradition of over 30 years of research in the Indian Ocean, and welcomed further involvement of NIO in climate related studies as part of international programs such as CLIVAR. NIO would in particular welcome an expansion of the TAO array into the Indian Ocean, noting that the institute has a very capable deep ocean going vessel (the RV Sagar Kanya) at its disposal.

Dr. McPhaden gave a brief historical overview of the development of the TAO array as a background to the meeting. He then stated the purposes of TIP-5 which were to review the present status of TAO array; to address technical and logistic issues related to its maintenance; to provide a forum for discussion of possible enhancements and/or expansions of the array to other into other regions of the world ocean; and to promote the scientific utilization of TAO data. In addition, some sessions at TIP-5 would be organized around the science theme of short term climate variability and predictability related to the monsoons.

Dr. McPhaden noted that, while planning for TIP-5 was underway with NIO, the International CLIVAR Office recommended that the first session of CLIVAR Monsoon Panel be held in conjunction with TIP-5. The intent in overlapping the CLIVAR Monsoon Panel meeting with TIP-5 was to engage a broad segment of the international community in focussed discussions of monsoon dynamics. The expectation was that these discussions would contribute to defining the scientific rationale for possible development of future observational networks in oceanic regions affected by, or exerting an influence upon, monsoon circulations in the atmosphere.

Dr. McPhaden concluded by thanking the meeting participants for persevering in their efforts to reach Goa for TIP-5 and the CLIVAR Monsoon Panel meeting. Several participants were indisposed by the sudden failure of Modiluft Airlines, complicating travel within India during the busy tourist season. Nonetheless, nearly everyone who planned to be at the meetings was able to attend.

Dr. Sumi pointed out that the CLIVAR Monsoon Panel was responsible for developing an implementation plan to address the Austral-Asian monsoon. This plan was necessary to continue the progress begun during the TOGA program, and to enhance our understanding and ability to predict monsoon related variations in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. He observed that Indian Ocean region is very important for monsoon dynamics, and that India had a long history of leadership in monsoon studies. He looked forward to a week of successful meetings hosted by NIO.

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