The Eyes on the Ocean™ Bi-weekly is an informal way of keeping you up-to-date on U.S. IOOS® activities.

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From the Director:

Hello IOOS Community,

Today and tomorrow, senior leaders and staff from across NOAA are attending NOAA’s 3rd Annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit. The theme for this year’s summit is “Strengthening Employee Engagement to Cultivate an Inclusive Culture”. The insights that will be shared during this summit are part of our personal and professional journey in challenging bias – both explicit and implicit – that remain in our society and can permeate into the workplace, yet must be rejected.

In the IOOS office, we strive to create an inclusive and diverse workplace and we are implementing various initiatives to minimize unconscious bias and encourage discussion on various topics to foster a more collaborative and inclusive work environment. March was National Women’s History Month, and as that month comes to a close, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank the many women across the IOOS Enterprise who have contributed their talent, leadership, and hard work to build the IOOS system. 

Happy April,
Carl

From the U.S. IOOS Office:

  • Grants Update: Grants Management Division generated email notifications to all IOOS grant recipients on March 26, 2019. The notification addresses the implementation of the newly developed DOC Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR, OMB Number 0690-0032). The RPPR is specifically for research awards and its content is in accordance with the requirements for Non-Federal entity submission of performance reports as outlined in OMB-approved Government-wide standard information collections, per 2 CFR Part 200, §200.328. This means that the OMB Uniform Guidance applies to all new awards and may apply at the Grants Officer's discretion to additional funding to existing awards made on or after December 26, 2014. Currently ACT, COMT and OTT grant recipients are the only identified research projects that may be affected by this administrative change. IOOS will email every active grant recipient and provide a status update concerning on how this new requirement is applicable to their respective project.

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

  • Frontiers has accepted the manuscript / OceanObs19 community white paper for publication: “Coastal Mooring Observing Networks and their Data Products: Recommendations for the Next Decade” has been accepted for publication in Frontiers. Kathy Bailey is lead author and co-led this effort with Craig Steinberg (Australian Institute of Marine Science). Other co-authors are Claire Davies (CSIRO, Australia), Guillaume Galibert and Marton Hidas (Integrated Marine Observing System, Australia), Margaret  McManus (PacIOOS), Teresa Murphy (NWS), Jan Newton (NANOOS), and Moninya Roughan and Amandine Schaeffer (U of New South Wales, Australia). The paper describes the utility of coastal moorings as part of an integrated coastal observing system, with an emphasis on stakeholder engagement to inform observing requirements and to ensure data products are tailored to user needs. Recommendations are provided for optimizing moorings networks, and thus downstream data products, to guide regional planners and network operators. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00180
  • Surface Current Mapping: (IOOS PO POC, Derrick Snowden, Derrick.Snowden@noaa.gov):  
    • No update.
  • Gliders (IOOS POC LCDR Benjamin LaCour, Benjamin.Lacour@noaa.gov):
    • 8th EGO Meeting & International Glider Workshop - May 21-23, 2019: The European (EGO) and US (UG2) autonomous underwater glider user groups are coming together to host the 8th EGO Meeting and International Glider Workshop at Rutgers University, New Jersey. The goal of the meeting is to strengthen international collaboration through community dialogue, exchanges of information, sharing of experiences, and development of best practices to support the glider community. This international meeting will offer a mix of presentations, panels, breakout groups, poster sessions, and open community dialog. It will provide a forum in which scientists, engineers, students and industry can exchange knowledge and experiences on the development of glider technology, the application of gliders in oceanographic research and the role of gliders in ocean observing systems. More info here: https://gliders.ioos.us/ug2_ego_2019/

  • Animal Telemetry Network (ATN) (National Coordinator Bill Woodward, Bill.Woodward@noaa.gov):
    • Mid-Atlantic Telemetry Workshop: The workshop, hosted by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, NMFS Chesapeake Bay Office, MARACOOS and the ATN, is scheduled for April 18-19, 2019 at the University of Delaware. For info. Contact: Bill Woodward bill.woodward@noaa.gov or Matt Ogburn ogburnm@si.edu
    • May 6-7, 2019 NERACOOS ATN-MBON-OTN Workshop: The workshop will be held at the Univ. of New Hampshire May 6-7, 2019. So far, 13 of ~25 speakers have been confirmed for the meeting. For more information and to register, please go to http://neracoos.org/nebioworkshop2019. Please contact Jackie or Bill for more info: jackie@neracoos.org, bill.woodward@noaa.gov

Data Management and Communications (DMAC) Subsystem and Tools Built on IOOS data (DMAC listserv – contact Micah Wengren, DMAC System Architect, data.ioos@noaa.gov)

  • DMAC Tech Webinar: The ERDDAP project team (IOOS PO/Axiom) hosted a DMAC Tech Webinar on Thursday 3/28 covering proposed updates to the IOOS Metadata Profile and ERDDAP transition project, development of gold standard datasets for ERDDAP that follow the Profile, and scenarios for ERDDAP usage within IOOS, including harvest by NDBC of data for GTS.  The webinar began with a round-robin discussion by those joining of their current use of ERDDAP and any future plans to deploy ERDDAP, then transitioned into the upcoming changes with the Metadata Profile and implications to the IOOS DMAC system. The webinar was well attended and the discussion will continue at the DMAC meeting at the end of April.
  • DMAC Annual Meeting - April 30-May 2: The 2019 DMAC Meeting will take place April 30- May 2, 2019 in Silver Spring, MD.  Please save these dates in your calendars. A hotel block of rooms is available for reservations here: https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1543853969044&key=GRP&app=resvlink A preliminary agenda will be available soon! Please direct any questions regarding scheduling, general inquiries, etc. to Rachel Horoschak rachel.horoschak@noaa.gov. Questions or suggestions about the agenda should go to Micah Wengren micah.wengren@noaa.gov.

     

  • QARTOD (National Coordinator Mark Bushnell, mark.bushnell@noaa.gov):
    • QARTOD implementation news: Last summer, the University of North Carolina in Wilmington began providing SECOORA with data that was quality controlled and flagged in real time, following guidance provided in the QARTOD manuals. Now, a similar system has been implemented for the University of South Florida Coastal Ocean Modeling and Prediction System. Jeff Donovan/USF, Charlton Galvarino/Second Creek Consulting, and others have worked to apply the UNCW tools to the COMPS data. In this case, the extensive QC tests carried out by COMPS actually exceed the QARTOD guidance and UNCW testing. USF COMPS data will also be provided to SECOORA in the same manner as UNCW CORMP.  The COMPS team will now receive nightly reports and have access to QC administration tables and a website with graphic products.
    • Ocean Best Practice System update: Members of the OBPS working group met in advance of the First International AtlantOS Symposium to review recommendations and actions from the December OBPS workshop. Twelve participants discussed Communication / Outreach / Advocacy, Governance, the Frontiers journal partnership, system / technology, and training. The repository continues to grow faster than anticipated, with each submission adding to the value of the collection. See https://www.oceanbestpractices.org and consider using OBPS to share your techniques with your colleagues.

Modeling and Analysis Subsystem (IOOS PO and IOOS Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed (COMT) POC – Derrick Snowden, Derrick.Snowden@noaa.gov):

  • COMT Annual Meeting: The COMT Annual Meeting is being scheduled for late October. The final dates will be announced soon.

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

  • Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) (IOOS PO POC Gabrielle Canonico, Gabrielle.Canonico@noaa.gov):
    • Future Oceans2 IMBeR Open Science Conference: The conference will be held at Le Quartz Congress Centre in Brest, France, June 17-21, with a focus on ocean sustainability for the benefit of society - understanding, challenges, and solutions.  MBON team members (Frank Muller-Karger, Gabrielle Canonico, Isabel Sousa-Pinto and Mark Costello) are organizing a session at the conference titled “Towards a coordinated global marine biodiversity observing system.”
    • MBON Pole to Pole regional workshop for the Americas: “Data from the Sea to the Cloud” -- April 2-5, 2019 near Puerto Morelos, Mexico.  This workshop is a follow on to a five-day training program offered by MBON Pole to Pole, OBIS, and AmeriGEOSS in Brazil in August 2018.  MBON Pole to Pole, with funding from NASA, is building a Community of Practice for understanding and conserving life in the ocean. The effort supports capacity building towards: expanded knowledge of biodiversity and its services; coordinated biodiversity monitoring and shared data, experiences, knowledge, and protocols; increased understanding of physical and biological connectivity; and development of biodiversity indices needed for ecosystem assessments and science-based decision making.  The effort and outcomes are designed to be scalable from the Americas to other regions.
  • OceanObs’19 Updates and Planning: 
  • 2019 NOAA Emerging Technologies Workshop: NOAA will hold its third Emerging Technologies Workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 25-26 at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP) in College Park, Maryland. Registration is now open and free, but on a first come, first serve basis. Click here to register now and learn more about this year’s workshop, focusing on the Blue Economy and Resilience to Extreme Weather and Water. Sponsored by the NOAA Observing Systems Council, NOAA Ocean and Coastal Council, NOAA Research Council, and the Weather Water and Climate Board, NOAA’s 2019 Emerging Technologies Workshop is a public showcase for innovative technologies designed to optimize NOAA’s observing capabilities and data synthesis. The workshop engages presenters from within NOAA as well as external researchers, analysts, and practitioners representing academia, private businesses, and other government agencies with technologies that have the potential to expand NOAA’s ability to observe the environment, improve efficiency, or reduce costs. Like previous workshops, this year’s event will focus on new and evolving technologies that are already being explored by users in NOAA, and in development by our partners and by industry. The report from the most recent workshop can be found here. We invite you to join us for this exciting opportunity to learn more about the emerging technologies that could be used to make NOAA’s observation enterprise more agile, effective, and efficient.
  •  Global Ocean Carbon Uptake Research Featured in Press: New research published by NOAA and international partners, including OOMD's Brendan Carter and Richard Feely, in Science finds as carbon dioxide emissions have increased in the atmosphere, the ocean has absorbed a greater volume of emissions. The global ocean absorbed 34 billion metric tons of carbon from the burning of fossil fuels from 1994 to 2007 - a four-fold increase to 2.6 billion metric tons per year when compared to the period starting from the Industrial Revolution in 1800 to 1994. Articles highlighting the research have been published to USA Today, Seattle Times, and EcoWatch just to name a few. The article is currently on the NOAA Research website and main NOAA.gov page, and has been shared to Twitter with 108 likes and 97 retweets, and on Facebook with 112 likes and 32 shares! Read the original paper published to Science here. 
  • Protecting Our Ocean — and Our Bottom Line - How solutions to ocean problems can help our planet and our pocketbooks: Improving the health of our ocean requires investment. But that investment doesn’t have to be a choice between our planet and our pocketbooks. Sometimes solutions to ocean problems can save money. Read on to learn more about three solutions to ocean problems that NOAA researchers found save or even make money. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/economy/ocean-investment.html 
  • U.S. Coast Pilot® now contains Coast Guard navigation rules: NOAA recently announced that all nine United States Coast Pilot®  volumes now contain the U.S. Coast Guard International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (72 COLREGS) and the Inland Navigation Rules — commonly known as the “Rules of the Road.” The navigation rules are similar to rules on the highway as they present a consistent way to navigate safely and avoid collisions. Having the newly published Coast Pilot now fulfills the legal requirement for mariners to maintain a copy of these regulations on board. Read more: https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/updates/?p=172062 
  • NOAA scientists are revolutionizing how we measure accurate heights across the nation: Scientists at the National Geodetic Survey are working on a 15-year-long project to make accurate height measurement better, faster, and cheaper. This project is called the Gravity for the Redefinition of the American Vertical Datum, or GRAV-D for short. When it’s done in in 2022, you will be able to get accurate heights to within about an inch for most locations around the nation. Read more about this here: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/geodesy/height-measurement/ 
  • NGS Releases GEOID18 Products for BETA Testing and Public Comment: The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has released GEOID18 products for BETA testing. GEOID18 will provide improved GPS-derived NAVD 88 equivalent heights, and will be the last hybrid geoid model NGS will create before replacing the current height reference frame, NAVD 88, with the North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022 (NAPGD2022). The nation’s height system, the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88), is based on historic geodetic leveling surveys using thousands of bench marks, most of which have not been positioned using GPS. Adding GPS coordinates to these control marks allows them to be used in NGS’ modern height reference-surface modeling. For more information, contact galen.scott@noaa.gov, 240-533-6563
  • 2019 National Surveyors Week: This year’s National Surveyors Week, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), was held March 17-23. It’s a great opportunity to participate in NGS' GPS on Bench Marks program. NGS routinely partners with NSPS to engage the surveying community and promote the importance of the profession. NSPS provides a National Surveyors Week Volunteer Kit and has partnered with other organizations to create free "Get Kids into Survey" posters. For more information, contact christine.gallagher@noaa.gov, 240-533-9544
  • Register Now! OceanPredict ’19 is May 6 – 10, 2019 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada:You do not want to miss this opportunity to engage in science sessions, booth exhibitions and discussions to explore and define the direction of future operational oceanography. If you haven’t already done so, please click the link below for details on registration fees, and to register for this important gathering of the world’s leading ocean scientists, ocean observation specialists, industry representatives, service providers and users of ocean data & products from across the local, national & international operational oceanography community. GODAE OceanView continues to provide coordination and leadership in consolidating and improving global and regional ocean analysis and forecasting systems. For more information about the symposium visit http://www.oceanpredict19.org

Delivering the Benefits:

  • ACT opens call for new technologies related to hyperspectral imagery: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies is currently accepting preliminary applications from individuals, teams of researchers, and/or sensor developers and manufacturers to participate in a technology demonstration aimed at improving data processing and algorithm development of hyperspectral imagery for research and management applications within shallow freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems. See more info and how to apply here.
  • New releases from ACT: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies has released new reports, now available on their website.
    • A workshop report on Practical Uses For Drones To Address Management Problems in Coastal Zones is available here.
    • Verification statement reports on the performance of four different multi-spectral fluorometers for use in coastal systems and for harmful algal blooms are available here.
  • February 2019 California HAB Bulletin Now Available: The latest monthly edition of the California HAB bulletin is now available here http://sccoos.org/california-hab-bulletin/february-2019/. The purpose of this experimental product is to give the public and resource managers a quick outlook of recent toxic (marine) algal blooms in coastal California from models and aggregate data sets. Monthly to bi-monthly reports will synthesize model output, near real-time observations, and public health alerts to provide a more complete picture of the regional variability in harmful algal blooms.
  • SECOORA seeks Data Management and Communication Services: The Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA) is requesting quotes from data management service providers to manage and enhance the SECOORA data management and communications (DMAC) infrastructure. The period of performance is June 1, 2021 – May 31, 2026. Access the full RFQ here.

Congressional:

  • ICOOS Reauthorization Update: The Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act of 2019 S. 914 (of which, Title I is the ICOOS reauthorization bill), was introduced and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation without amendment on 3/27/2019.

Communications/Outreach/Education:

  • Evaluation of a Regional Ocean Observing System: As part of the publication series OceanObs'19: An Ocean of Opportunity, the article “An Innovative Approach to Design and Evaluate a Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System” was recently published in Frontiers in Marine Science. Led by former PacIOOS Principle Investigator Chris E. Ostrander and current PacIOOS Director Melissa Iwamoto, this publication describes the decision analysis methodology used to inform programmatic decision making to continuously evolve and enhance the system. Attributes and scoring of the evaluation matrix are described, as well as other decision-making factors and example cases to demonstrate the application of the framework.

  • PacIOOS releases viewer to explore King Tides photos: With the support of dedicated citizen scientists, the Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands King Tides Project has collected more than 2,600 photos throughout the past years. Led by the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, the project strives to document high water level events, specifically King Tides, in order to better understand future impacts from sea level rise and other coastal hazards. All photo contributions are easily accessible on an interactive map viewer.

  • Great Lakes Bottom Mapping Workgroup Updates: Get updates from new GLOS team member Linden Brinks as the GLBMW works to prioritize where to map, create a centralized place for existing bathymetric data, refresh the existing maps, and collect depth and other benthic data.  Sign up here.

  • Apply Now for the Vembu Subramanian Ocean Scholars Award: Apply today to be the next Vembu Subramanian Ocean Scholar! This year’s award value has increased a thousand dollars to $3500. Deadline to submit proposals is May 24, 2019. Visit the website for more information.

  • 2nd Annual Vembu Cup: Be sure to sign up for the 2nd Annual Vembu Cup! This year's 4-man scramble will start at 8am Sunday May 5th at Mangrove Bay Golf Course in St. Petersburg, FL with an after party to follow. All proceeds will be used to support the University of South Florida Vembu Subramanian MSAC scholarship. It will be an annual award for a USF College of Marine Science graduate student who best reflects Vembu's unifying spirit through service to the college and their fellow students. For additional information contact Linda Kelbaugh, USF College of Marine Science, office: 727-553-1634, email: lkelbaugh@usf.edu

  • IOOS Enterprise in the News

Click here to view the IOOS Association Calendar

Do you have suggestions for new things you would like to see in the Eyes on the Ocean IOOS Bi-Weekly? Talk to us: eoto@noaa.gov!