Data, Products, and Services

The above graphic, developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, demonstrates the complexity of bringing together the various types of observing platforms and instruments into a well-functioning, national system. Click image for larger view.

Data mining and integration are required first steps for many ocean and coastal modeling efforts.  However, the process of locating data and ensuring that they can be used together costs time and resources.  To reduce this inefficiency, NOAA is working to make ocean and coastal data more easily accessible and to provide those data in common formats.  This allows scientists to devote their time and resources toward the development of products and services. 

Increasing Accessibility of IOOS Data

The Portal for Oceanographic Services for IOOS Data and Information (POSIDIN) is an example of NOAA’s effort to increase quality and accessibility of its ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing data and products.  POSIDIN provides Web-based access to a variety of quality-controlled, IOOS-related, data, information, and services from NOAA’s National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), National Weather Service, National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), and other partners participating in the U.S. IOOS.

In addition, NDBC provides Web-based access to near real-time data generated by existing NOAA and regional marine observing platforms within each region.  NDBC developed a series of on-line maps that depict the geographic locations of marine observations collected by a number of NOAA and regional IOOS partners.  By clicking on a station represented on the regional map, the user is able to quickly access the most recent data collected at that location (see links below). 

• Alaska
• Caribbean
• Hawaii 
• Northeast         
• Northwest
• Southeast 
• Southwest
• Western Gulf of Mexico   

Any of these observing platforms can be rendered inactive due to scheduled maintenance, storm impacts, and a variety of other issues. It’s important that data users and providers have easy access to the status of the observing, both to instill confidence in their data outputs and to ensure that problems are corrected as quickly as possible.  Because many of these platforms are located far off-shore, it can be difficult for the owners of these platforms to quickly identify and address a problem requiring their attention.  The NDBC now provides daily “Platform Status Reports” on their Web site to alert data providers and users of any problems, including NDBC observation platform status and partner observation station status.

Finally, the NOAA Coastal Services Center provides a comprehensive, IOOS Community Information Repository that provides access to not only IOOS platforms and data, but also the data standards, data transport technologies, and other services deemed necessary by CSC and Ocean.US to advance compatibility and interoperability of regional data and observing systems.  The repository is designed to help operators of the local ocean observatories and data providers to find and share best practices on data management. 

NOAA’s has made improvements to increase accessibility of IOOS data; however, many of these data sets are still not well integrated or compatible with one another. NOAA is developing an initial capability for a data integration framework that will define and implement the technology, standards, and protocols needed to integrate five core IOOS variables (including seawater temperature, salinity, water/sea level, currents, and ocean color) to affect improvements in four NOAA data products. 

NEXT: Data Integration Framework

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