In October 1987 the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Executive Committee established an international planning Committee for JGOFS, which met for the first time in January 1988. In 1989, a formal agreement was reached between SCOR and the ICSU Special Committee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) for global change making JGOFS a core project of IGBP but responsible directly to SCOR.

The JGOFS Scientific Steering Committee (SSC), appointed by SCOR and IGBP, has overall responsibility for the design, implementation, execution and synthesis of each internationally co-ordinated activity. This involves decisions on main measurements to be made, the most effective use of resources, and the best ways to interact with other large-scale programmes. Initially, such decisions were largely based on the accumulated experience of the participants, but as skills in modelling and synthesis have grown, they were supplemented by model-based assessments of how informative, different possible measurements and strategies, would be for particular questions. The SSC, supported by the JGOFS International Project Office, define the questions, form planning and synthesis groups as well as tasks teams, co-ordinate the observational phase and set the timetables for each study.

The JGOFS SSC created initially a number of Planning Groups and Task Teams to consider scientific and logistic questions and make recommendations to the SSC. These groups identified the most important processes and variables to study, the regions in which such studies will provide the greatest insight and most useful data, and the best experimental design for the studies. The SSC then set the sequence of events necessary to complete specific tasks, the resources required for the tasks and the level of international co-ordination that is required. Some task teams disband after delivering their reports; others are expected to last throughout JGOFS.

During the 13^th meeting of the SSC (Cape Town, 1998), the SSC agreed to re-structure the organisation of the Planning Groups into Regional Synthesis and Modelling Groups. This new organisation reflects the end of the fieldwork for several completed Process Studies (e.g., North Atlantic, Equatorial Pacific and Indian Ocean) and the initiation of the synthesis phase within the project. For the Southern Ocean and North Pacific Ocean, the synthesis activities parallel the on-going fieldwork until process study is completed.

SCIENTIFIC STEERING COMMITTEE

Terms of Reference
as of May 1998

The Scientific Steering Committee is responsible for the overall direction and management of the Core Project on behalf of SCOR and IGBP.

• To oversee the development and implementation of the Joint Global Flux Study in accordance with the published Science and Implementation Plans;

• To foster the integration of JGOFS activities in order to achieve the global synthesis required to meet JGOFS objectives;

• To ensure the appropriate collaboration with other IGBP Core Projects (especially LOICZ and GLOBEC), WCRP programmes (especially WOCE and CLIVAR) and other international activities, such as GOOS;

• To put in place the necessary data management policies so as to ensure the exchange and preservation of JGOFS data sets;

• To report regularly to SCOR, IGBP and related bodies on the state of implementation and accomplishments of JGOFS.

The JGOFS SSC, its Officers, subsidiary groups and International Project Office shall operate in accordance with the guidelines by SCOR and the SC-IGBP.