From August 30 to September 3, 2019, staff of the Ocean and Climate Research Center, the First Institute of Oceanography, the Ministry of Natural Resources (FIO, MNR) and staff of Kenya research institutes embarked on the scientific research vessel named "Mtafiti". On the East African sea waters of equatorial western Indian Ocean, they implemented joint cruise observations and successfully completed the preset section observation. What's more, on the western Indian Ocean area, they managed to set a system of real-time transmission mooring profiling buoy—Bailong buoy system.

This survey laid a foundation for research on marine environmental characteristics and relevant scientific study of this region. At the same time, the successful setting of Bailong buoy filled in gaps in this region's real-time monitoring on upper ocean and surface meteorological elements, effectively serving East African marine forecasting and disaster prevention and mitigation.

Situated in the upstream of the Asian-African monsoon system and the west pole of Indian Ocean dipole mode, East African sea waters is the key region for ocean and climate research of the Indian Ocean. In this cruise, it is the first time for FIO to implement buoy observation and joint section observation on equatorial sea waters of East Africa, which is a milestone in cooperation with countries along the western Indian Ocean on ocean and climate. Not only are the beneficial results of this work conducive to improving the observation and research on the ocean and climate of tropical Indian Ocean, but also to strengthening the ability to tackle marine disaster and climate change. This joint scientific expedition is a major part of the second International Indian Ocean Expedition, making Chinese contribution to cooperation in researching the ocean and climate of the Indian Ocean. This work is jointly supported by Ministry of Science and Technology's key project of Research on Applicability of China's Independently-Developed Marine Environment Security Technology in the Countries along the Maritime Silk Road, National Natural Science Foundation of China and Ministry of Natural Resources.

Members of the joint scientific expedition of China and Kenya

Successful setting of Bailong buoy system