U.S. IOOS
At the National level, the U.S. IOOS is a user-driven, coordinated network of people, organizations, and technology that generate and disseminate continuous data about our coastal waters, Great Lakes, and oceans. The power of IOOS is in its partnerships. Seventeen Federal agencies and eleven Regional Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (RCOOSs) share responsibility for the design, implementation, operation, and improvement of the U.S. IOOS over time. By working together to integrate our data and provide a broad, detailed, and synoptic view of our coastal, Great Lakes, and ocean environments, we deliver a coordinated data network that allows resource managers, emergency responders, scientists, policy makers, and many others quick and easy access to a range of information on demand and in formats useful for everyday decisions. Two interdependent components constitute the IOOS: (1) global ocean component and (2) coastal component. The latter includes the national set of observations for the Great Lakes and the EEZ, as well as the network RCOOSs. Federal agencies are responsible for the design, operation, and improvement of the both the global component and the national network of observations. RCOOSs augment existing federal observing capacity around the nation and expand the number of variables measured according to local priorities within the region. Regional observing systems are designed, operated, and improved by the Regional Associations (RA).
Zdenka Willis, Director, NOAA IOOS Program, addressed IOOS during an "Industry Outlook Session" talk at the recent OceanTech Expo, held September 5-7, in Providence, RI.
NOAA's Contributions
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has participated in the development of the U.S. IOOS since its beginnings in the late 1990s. In February 2007, VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of NOAA, established a new program to serve as the overall coordinator NOAA's IOOS activities and to provide a consistent management function. The program's mission is to "Lead the integration of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing capabilities, in collaboration with Federal and non-Federal partners, to maximize access to data and generation of information products, inform decision making, and promote economic, environmental, and social benefits to our nation and the world." In support of this mission, the NOAA IOOS program initiated development of a Data Integration Framework (DIF) to improve management and delivery of an initial
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subset of ocean observations. The DIF will establish the technical infrastructure, standards, and protocols needed to improve delivery of five of 20 IOOS core oceanographic variables, as defined in the First U.S. IOOS Development Plan. Integration efforts will focus on temperature, salinity, sea level, surface currents, and ocean color to improve NOAA's efforts to model and forecast harmful algal blooms, coastal inundation, hurricane intensity, and integrated ecosystem assessments. NOAA's goal in this effort is to test and demonstrate the value of integration. Ultimately, the intent is to extend this capability to include other data, products, and services.
IOOS Data Management and Communications
Data will be compiled from a variety of NOAA observing sources, as well as the Regional Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (RCOOSs) and a subset of Federal and other partners, to achieve rapid and routine operational access for NOAA and other end users and to establish a methodology that can be applied to a broader suite of NOAA and non-NOAA data. The DIF will function as a distributed system, meaning that the agency or organization that owns a particular observing platform will conMarine Technology Reporter 29
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