Our understanding of tropical basin interactions has increased greatly since the discovery of interbasin teleconnections more than 45 years ago. These advances have been facilitated in large part by model improvements and the growth of the tropical ocean observing system. The current designs of the tropical basin observing systems are based primarily on climate and weather phenomena specific to each ocean with little attention to tropical basin interactions. This is also reflected in previous reviews of the tropical ocean observing system, which were conducted individually for the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. These considerations lead to the following questions: What are the commonalities between individual basin observing systems and their needs? Can we develop a pantropical observing system that is geared more toward improving understanding, monitoring, and forecasting of tropical weather and climate as a whole? This presentation provides a broad perspective on the tropical ocean observing system and identifies common gaps, needs, and recommendations, as well as interbasin differences. Recommendations for improved observations of tropical basin interactions, through oceanic and atmospheric pathways, are presented. A key finding is the need for improvements to the tropical ocean observing system for monitoring the growing threat from extreme weather and climate events and their global tropical links. Potential paths to a more comprehensive observing system will be discussed.
