Addressing Oceanographic Scientific Gaps through International Capacity Development in Vietnam

Oceanographic capacity building between U.S. academic and foreign institutions aims to evolve the discipline through close cooperation, training, and education in modern ocean technology, thus improving the local institutional infrastructure for the implementation of mutually beneficial research and observations. To this end, a collaborative program between Vietnamese government institutions including the Vietnam Center for Oceanography, Administration of Seas and Islands and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and U.S. scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Oregon State University, and Rutgers University was developed to study the forcing and response within the Gulf of Tonkin using modern numerical models and observation techniques. A primary objective of the program is enhancing the Vietnamese collaborators skills through training and education in addition to strengthening the capacity of local institutions for the implementation of research and observations that benefit Vietnam. As part of the emerging program, an assessment of the seasonal circulation trends along the western Gulf of Tonkin was made, with specific focus on the seasonality of the unique Red River water mass that was largely ignored by earlier studies. We report on the synthesis of first results utilizing a high resolution numerical model, satellite imagery, high frequency radar based surface currents, repeat (monthly) coastal hydrography, drifter and wave observations. The collection and subsequent analysis of the extensive data sets, made possible by the U.S. – Vietnamese partnership, confirmed the importance of riverine input to the Gulf of Tonkin dynamics addressing a known scientific gap in previous studies in the region. The successes from the initial phase of the capacity building effort has resulted in a planned Phase II program that will introduce Vietnamese collaborators to in situ observational techniques including wave buoy deployments, autonomous underwater vehicle surveys, and a collaborative scientific cruise in the Gulf of Tonkin.