La concepción, implementación y desarrollo de un Sistema de Observación a escala Global o Regional requiere no só lo de una adecuada capacidad humana y material, sino también de fuertes organizaciones y vínculos institucionales a escala nacional e internacional. En ello juegan un papel determinante las estructuras de coordinación existentes a todos los niveles, así como la capacidad y voluntad de los individuos, las instituciones y los estados para desarrollar fuertes lazos de cooperación y ayuda mutua. Ello también es básico para lograr establecer un programa estable, sistemático y duradero para la creación de capacidades, no sólo para producir los servicios sino también para dotar a los usuarios de los conocimientos y habilidades para emplearlos. Las ciencias y servicios marinos no son ajenos a esta realidad. Baste señalar que el enfoque integrado de los asuntos marinos y costeros se impone cada día más, y con la necesidad de un acercamiento y de una cooperación y coordinación cada día mejor y mayor entre países, instituciones e individuos. Como consecuencia de ello el desarrollo de las investigaciones científicas y e establecimiento de servicios marinos y costeros de amplia cobertura geográfica y temática, quedan fuera de alcance pleno de una sola nación.

Resulta concluyente que:

• La investigación científica marina actual rebasa las posibilidades humanas y materiales de la mayoría, por no decir todos, los estados en vías de desarrollo y en particular de las pequeñas islas.
• La investigación científica y los servicios marinos y costeros, en su sentido más amplio, dependen de la cooperación internacional y de la creación y desarrollo de las capacidades nacionales y regionales.
• El establecimiento de un sistema de observaciones marinas y costeras encuentra su marco más apropiado cuando se dispone de la volunta participativa de la gran mayoría de las organizaciones gubernamentales y no-gubernamentales, instituciones y países de la Región.
• Las iniciativas académicas o institucionales son insuficientes, si no cuentan con el respaldo de los gobiernos y de las organizaciones intergubernamentales correspondientes.
• El mecanismo de promoción, coordinación e implementación intergubernamental que ofrecen la COI/UNESCO y la OMM, con el apoyo de sus Estados Miembros, es el indicado para enfrentar el gran desafío que constituye establecer un Sistema Global de Observación de los Océanos (GOOS). Con este propósito es aprobada, por los Estados Miembros de la Subcomisión de la COI para el Caribe y Regiones Adyacentes (IOCARIBE), la creación de un Programa Regional del Sistema Global de Observación del Océano. Los objetivos básicos de IOCARIBE han estado siempre fundamentados en la cooperación internacional para la creación de capacidades, y como resultado de ellas, para facilitar el desarrollo de programas científicos y de servicios marinos y costeros de alta prioridad para los países de la región. Precisamente en estos pilares básicos se fundamenta el establecimiento y desarrollo de un sistema de observación del océano y las costas en la Región.

We are occasionally able to obtain high-resolution surface current maps in the Yucatan Channel using the U.S. Navy HF over-the horizon radars in Texas and Virginia. Over the last year, we have accumulated enough of them to reveal details of a highly variable surface flow, including mesoscale eddies passing through the channel and significant backflow near Cuba.

The coastal zone of Belize is very diverse, encompassing the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, three offshore atolls, a barrier lagoon with over 1,000 cayes, extensive seagrass beds and numerous patch reefs. The coast is lined with mangroves, intercepted by several coastal lagoons and estuaries. Concern about the potential harmful impact of increasing development and land-based activities on the health of these ecosystems, particularly on coral reefs, arose in the mid-1980s. Linked to this concern was the possible threat of declining coastal resources to the sustainability of fisheries and tourism, which are vital to the national economy and to the livelihoods of many Belizeans.The management of this complex system has evolved from one of just a focus on a few species, to habitat protection with the establishment of marine reserves, and finally to the broader approach of ecosystem management with the introduction of ICZM.In Belize, this development has also involved gradual changes in institutional arrangements, which have recently culminated in the passing of the CZM Act in 1998. Nevertheless, the establishment of the CZM Authority and Institute, as provided for by this Act, marks only the beginning of a long-term programme of sound ICZM in Belize. This dynamic process has occurred over a period of approximately 10 years.

A new approach to evaluating the condition of coral reefs in the Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico is well underway. The Atlantic-Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) is an international program designed specifically to assess current reef condition of numerous reefs leading to significant scientific and/or managerial results. One goal of AGRRA is to examine the interconnections and patterns between benthic indicators and fish resources and elucidate the mechanisms that generate these patterns. The indicators of the AGRRA Protocol are 1) the partial or total mortality of major reef-building corals by species and size; 2) the relative abundance of major algal types - turf, macro-algae, and crustose corallines; and 3) the diversity of fishes, and the abundance and sizes of key species. AGRRA results provide immediate answers about the current status of coral communities, the extent and patterns of decline in corals or fishes, where to locate monitoring sites, and the extent of damage from hurricanes, bleaching, or diseases. From the examination of a large number of reefs, we will be able to develop a scale of reef condition and make cross-boundary comparisons within the IAS region. AGRRA assessments have been conducted in parts of Bahamas, Belize, Bonaire, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Florida Keys, Flower Gardens, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Venezuela. Challenges for the next two years include developing an AGRRA regional database accessible to all, expanding assessments to additional areas in the region, and synthesizing data to make preliminary regional comparisons of reef condition. The target date for completing the assessment of the Western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico region is the end of the year 2001.

During September and October 1995, the existence of a warm core ring in the Gulf of Mexico contributed to the intensification of Hurricane Opal, when its path crossed directly over this warm ring. Opal's wind field increased from 35 m/s to 65 m/s in only 9 hours, and fluxes doubled to more than 2000 w/(m*m), a response subsequently simulated in numerical model studies. This case was the motivation to investigate the characteristics of warm mesoscale features in regions where tropical storms and hurricane occur.

Regarding the influence of the ocean on tropical cycloneintensity changes, upper ocean temperatures higherthan 26C are necessary but not sufficient condition forstrengthening. Mesoscale features, suchas warm rings, the Loop Current, the Caribbean Current and the Gulf Stream are characterized by higher upper ocean temperatures than their surrounding. These features represent a source of enhanced air-sea fluxes to the atmospheric boundary layer that may cause strengthening of tropical storms and hurricanes. The integrated temperature between the sea surface and the depth of the 26C isotherm, proportional to the energy (heat) content in the upper ocean, is defined as the hurricane heat potential. These warm layers exceeding 26C, which extend up to 250 meters beneath the surface in the region of study, represent areas of high hurricane heat potential.

Satellite altimetry data from TOPEX/POSEIDON hasbeen proven to be a useful tool to study mesoscale dynamics, and can provide information on the vertical structure of the upper ocean when complemented with historical hydrographic data. A two-layer model approximation is used to monitor in near-real time the upper layer thickness and the hurricane heat potential in the western North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. This two-layer model assumes that changes in the sea surface height are compensated by variations in the upper layer thickness, which goes from the sea surface to the depth of the main thermocline. The variations in upper layer thickness are then added to the climatological values of this parameter to obtain the absolute field. The hurricane heat potential is then computed by integrating the temperature between the sea surface and the altimeter-derived depth of the 26C isotherm. The near-real time altimeter data is provided by NOAA/NESDIS and the sea surface temperature data used are the OI analyzed Reynold's fields. Daily maps of upper layer thickness and hurricane heat content are produced at NOAA/AOML and made available through the www (http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/ cyclone/data/).

As part of a jointly supported NSF/NOAA study, a warm core ring experiment was conducted during the summer of 1999 using Airborne eXpendable Current Profilers (AXCPs) and Airborne eXpendable Conductivity Temperature and Depth Profilers (AXCTDs). These profilers will provide three dimensional velocity, temperature and salinity data, which will be compared with the fields derived from T/P altimetry.

This research is supported by the National Science Foundation and NOAA in support of the United States Weather Research Program on Hurricanes at Landfall.

The development of training/education programs, and a strong communication network, for end users and researchers were among the major recommendations made by the 1988 IASI Research Planning Conference. To those ends, we propose the establishment of a training/education program based at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) that focuses on coastal zones. This theme is very important in that coastal zones are where a majority of societal impacts occur, and where physical and biological linkages play critical roles. These interactions are often poorly understood, and are thus major targets for academic research. Our goal is to use collaborative education and training courses, held at RSMAS or in IASI countries, to promote understanding of the current scientific data and technologies available to resource managers, educators, and policy-makers.

Many U.S. coastal zone managers utilize economic and social parameters to make management decisions, and admit they don't know much about how the natural systems they manage really work. These managers have expressed interest in attending workshops on coastal zone habitats and physical processes, but do not know where to find such opportunities. We believe the situation is the same in many IASI countries. Therefore, our program will include general classes on ecology, biology, geology, physical oceanography, meteorology, and environmental science (hydrology, waste management, natural hazards, habitat restoration), and resource management. The technology aspect will focus on types and uses of remote sensing data, GIS mapping and database management, computer skills, and field mapping skills.

As a first step, an Internet web site (http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/IASI/IASIhome.htm) has been established at RSMAS that will serve as a clearinghouse for information. The site represents our initial effort to promote and facilitate broad use of IASI research results of interest to the IASI region. A major service of the site will be to inform end users of science and technology training programs such as workshops, short courses, internships, and academic study opportunities.

The IASI office at RSMAS is in an excellent position to coordinate and host these programs. We have the necessary resources: scientific expertise in all the pertinent marine science disciplines, contacts with in-country experts in the IASI region who can host and teach local programs, excellent remote sensing/GIS facilities at RSMAS, and a convenient, central location in Miami.

Lack of larger temporal scale has misled the history and understanding of recent disturbances degrading coral reefs worldwide. Major environmental changes begun >100-250 years ago but no direct test of effects has been made. Here I provide the first master growth chronology for a large population of corals over a century (A.D. 1880-1989), reconstructed from annual coral growth bands coupled with skeletal stable isotopic composition (13C/12C) and Ba/Ca ratios. Results reveal a trend of increased runoff and turbidity in connection with two periods of man-made disturbances in Caribbean Panama; the construction of the Panama Canal and military installations (1904-1940) and the post-war industrial expansion (1940-present). In consequence, reefs show a continuos and progressive decline in coral growth rates long before population build up in the area, suggesting that coral fitness has been declining for a long time. The results might provide a framework for assessing potential consequences of predicted sea-level rise and climate change in Panamanian coastal environments.