1. Sharing of ocean color remote sensing data

Since June 2010, KIOST has operated Geostationary Ocean Color Imager(GOCI) whose target area is the regional seas surrounding Korea. Based on the successful operation of GOCI, KIOST will launch the second geostationary satellite, GOCI-II, in 2019. Its observational coverage will be broadened to include the western Pacific Ocean. Through the web-based data sharing system, the hourly data set of satellite ocean color retrievals related to ocean health will be provided at near real-time. The GOCI-II data will contribute to the developing countries in the Asia Pacific to increase their scientific knowledge on the ocean health. The spatial resolution of GOCI-II is about 250m x 250m, which may even resolve the local ocean variability near the small islands.

2. Providing nowcast/forecast information of ocean environment for sustainable tuna fisheries

Many of the tropical Pacific Island countries rely on tuna fisheries to maintain their economy. Management plans for sustainable fisheries is thus essential, and the understanding of the availability of the tuna would be a key issue. Spatial and temporal distribution of the tuna is closely related to the ocean environment such as temperature and current, and finding an appropriate ocean variable linked to tuna habitat is critical for prediction of tuna availability. KIOST aims to provide nowcast/forecast of ocean condition and environment by using both observation datasets and numerical model. Based on the information, predicting tuna availability would be possible to pursue sustainable tuna fisheries in these countries.

3. Establishment of a graduate school of London Protocol Engineering Master of Project Administration(LPEM)

The London Protocol(LP) aims to promote the effective control of all sources of marine pollution. Contracting Parties to the LP shall take appropriate measures on the prevention of pollution of the marine environment. However, some countries have experienced difficulty in fully complying with the treaty requirements owing to the lack of scientific and technical expertise. Although efforts have been invested by LP to provide technical support to the prospective parties through workshops, in-depth scientific issues may not be fully understood in the few-days-training of these workshops. Recognizing the needs for thorough science and technical education for these countries to comply with the LP standards, the Republic of Korea informed the LP of the plan to open LPEM in the premises of KIOST in September 2016, which was welcomed by the governing bodies of the LP. KIOST has a schedule to open the LPEM in March 2018 by admitting students from the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean countries. KIOST will cooperate closely with the Office of LC/LP to solicit potential students who are junior government officers of their countries.