Crucial times for Spanish physical oceanography

Abstract

SUMMARY: The field of physical oceanography has undergone exponential growth in Spain during the last few decades. From a handful of self-taught researchers in the late 1960s there are now several hundred physical oceanographers distributed in some 20 Spanish institutions, and many more working overseas. The First Spanish Physical Oceanography Meeting (EOF1), held in Barcelona in October 2010, was a good example of the high quality and large variety of this research. The facilities and human resources are excellent but the alarming decrease in public investment in science due to the economic crisis must lead the Spanish physical oceanography community to define its current priorities. In this introductory paper to EOF1 we revise our history and where we are now, and suggest that progress in the near future will rely on our intelligence to sustain and enhance human capital, partnership and society-oriented research.Keywords: physical oceanography, Spain, history, human capital, partnership, society-oriented research. RESUMEN: Tiempos de cambio para la oceanografía física española. -El campo de la oceanografía física ha experimentado un crecimiento exponencial en España durante las últimas décadas. Desde unos pocos oceanógrafos autodidactas a finales de la década de 1960 hemos llegado a varios centenares de oceanógrafos distribuidos en unas 20 instituciones españolas, con otros muchos más trabajando fuera de España. El Primer Encuentro de la Oceanografía Física Española (EOF1), que tuvo lugar en Octubre de 2010 en Barcelona, fue un buen ejemplo de la alta calidad y amplia variedad de estas investigaciones. Las infraestructuras y potencial humano son excelentes pero nos enfrentamos ahora, como resultado de la crisis económica que estamos experimentando, con la amenaza real de una significativa disminución de la inversión pública en Ciencias que debe llevar a la comunidad de oceanógrafos físicos españoles a definir prioridades. En este artículo introductorio a EOF1 revisamos cual ha sido nuestra trayectoria y donde nos hallamos ahora, y proponemos que el progreso en un futuro cercano depende de nuestra habilidad para apoyar y fomentar el capital humano, el asociacionismo y una investigación orientada hacia la sociedad.Palabras clave: oceanografía física, España, historia, capital humano, asociacionismo, investigar para la sociedad.

The scientific and personal imprint of Jordi Font, a serene oceanographer

“…During these years, however, physical oceanography remained largely neglected in Spain, as research on marine sciences was dominated by a long-standing tradition in biological and chemical sciences, consolidated thanks to the importance of fisheries (particularly off NW Africa) and the clear influence of the ecologist Ramon Margalef and the chemists Fernando Fraga and Antoni Ballester. In the early 1970s, Spain had no more than a handful of oceanographers studying the physical environment of the ocean (Pelegrí et al 2012 Mar, ICM). In this biographic note we will review some of Font's main oceanographic findings as a descriptive field oceanographer who made extensive use of remote sensing techniques, but we will also recall his key leading role in the Spanish physical oceanography community, from his intuition at choosing the right directions for ocean research to his coordination of the first European mission on remote sensing of sea surface salinity (SSS).…”

“…During these years, however, physical oceanography remained largely neglected in Spain, as research on marine sciences was dominated by a long-standing tradition in biological and chemical sciences, consolidated thanks to the importance of fisheries (particularly off NW Africa) and the clear influence of the ecologist Ramon Margalef and the chemists Fernando Fraga and Antoni Ballester. In the early 1970s, Spain had no more than a handful of oceanographers studying the physical environment of the ocean (Pelegrí et al 2012). …”