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From the Director:

Hello IOOS Community,

In the last two weeks, we've seen the U.S. enter peak hurricane season with a burst of activity in both the Atlantic and Pacific.  As Hurricane Isaias traveled north along the east coast bringing strong winds, inches of rain, and tornadoes, Hurricane Douglas churned toward Hawaii, narrowly avoiding landfall.  NOAA's National Hurricane Center is the go-to source for forecasts, warnings, and up to the minute storm information nationwide, and the IOOS Regional Associations offer a host of resources that provide access to data, models, and news updates to keep communities & users informed.  From custom dashboards to links to current models and data views, we've included a round-up of those resources below in the Delivering the Benefits section. 

Best wishes and stay safe,
Carl

From the U.S. IOOS Office:

  • Congressional Tribute to Dr. Ru Morrison: New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen contributed a beautiful tribute to Dr. Ru Morrison, former NERACOOS Executive Director, acknowledging his significant contributions to IOOS and the ocean community at large. The tribute can be found in the Senate's Congressional Records. Ru is also the first recipient of the IOOS Association Caraid Award to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to observing and understanding our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes through vision, leadership, friendship and collaboration. We thank Ru for his dedication to the ocean observing community and wish him the best in his retirement. 

  • Welcome Mathew Biddle: Mathew Biddle is excited to be joining the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System office. Matt has over 10 years of experience in oceanographic data management. Most recently, Matt worked with the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO­DMO) at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as a data manager and administrator of their ERDDAP. Previous to working at WHOI, Matt worked with the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), cataloging, archiving, writing metadata, and making oceanographic data publicly available. Matt studied at Humboldt State University in California and received his B.S. in Oceanography in 2010. In 2019, Matt received his MSc from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) investigating the interaction between sediment transport and submerged vegetation in the upper Chesapeake Bay. His work related research interests are mainly focused on data management and its applications to in-situ measurements. Welcome aboard!

  • The Ocean Enterprise Study 2020 - Survey Ending Soon: Your business matters, help NOAA assess the Ocean Enterprise Sector! IOOS/NOAA are requesting input from businesses who provide infrastructure or products that support or conduct ocean observation and measurement by participating in the Ocean Enterprise Study 2020.  We will use the results to help inform NOAA and the U.S. Department of Commerce about the changing needs of the Ocean Enterprise sector in a report to be published in 2021. “NOAA strongly supports the IOOS Ocean Enterprise Study 2020. Applying data and services to grow the American Blue Economy is a top priority for our agency, and the information provided by this study will help us further the sustainable economic contributions of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes,” said retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy NOAA Administrator. “We are proud of our IOOS Program and partners that have enabled NOAA’s leadership in Ocean Science and Technology.”  We invite any company, large and small, working in this sector, to contribute to this important study through participation in an online survey. Survey results will be compiled in September, so please respond soon! To find out more information or to take the survey click here. The study will deliver an update to the initial study conducted in 2015. Thank you to the Marine Technology Society for featuring the study on their website and in the May issue of Currents. 

  • IOOS Federal Advisory Committee Public Meeting (VIRTUAL): The public meeting of the IOOS Advisory Committee wraps up today. We will have a meeting summary and report available soon. The meeting is focused on ongoing committee priorities, including the role of ocean observations in forecasting, strategy and vision for the System, partnerships for a successful System, and requirements for the System, in order to develop the next set of recommendations to NOAA and the IOOC. On the first day of the meeting, Acting NOAA Administrator, Dr. Neil Jacobs addressed the IOOS Advisory Committee on his vision for advancing NOAA’s Earth Observation mission and how to better engage the private sector in this effort. One key message from Dr. Jacobs was the importance of ocean observations and public-private partnerships to improve NOAA’s forecast capabilities. He also spoke to how strong academic and private-sector partnerships enhance collection of ocean and Great Lakes data, increases data sharing of observing data, and improves methods of data collection and analysis critical for improving forecasting capabilities. Integrated data is critical to timely action, decisions, and response for all levels of society. U.S. IOOS delivers the data and information needed to increase understanding of our coastal waters, so that everyone can take action to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect the environment. Thank you to Dr. Jacobs for joining the meeting and your thoughtful discussion. More info about the meeting is available here: https://ioos.noaa.gov/​community/​u-s-ioos-advisory-committee/​. POC: Laura.Gewain@noaa.gov.

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

  • Surface Current Mapping: (IOOS Surface Currents Program Manager, Brian Zelenke, brian.zelenke@noaa.gov): 

    • Meeting on Oceanographic HF-radar Wind Turbine Interference Mitigation: An early August 2020 meeting is in the process of being scheduled with representatives from the offshore wind energy industry, government, and academia to discuss research and development of oceanographic HF-radar wind turbine interference mitigations. If you are interested in joining in this technical discussion, please contact Brian Zelenke at brian.zelenke@noaa.gov.

    • 2020 Wind Turbine Interference Mitigation (WTRIM) Working Group Webinar: Presentation slides from the July 27, 2020 Wind Turbine Radar Interference Mitigation (WTRIM) Working Group’s Oceanographic High-frequency (HF) Radar Webinar will be available for download at the website here.  These slides include presentations on mission impacts, technical issues, and WTRIM options from speakers Brian Zelenke (NOAA), Hugh Roarty (Rutgers University), Chad Whelan (CODAR Ocean Sensors, Ltd.), Dale Trockel (CODAR Ocean Sensors, Ltd.), Anthony Kirincich (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Brian Emery (University of California, Santa Barbara), Cristina Forbes (U.S. Coast Guard), and Angel McCoy (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management).

    • Hurricane Gliders Deployed: We are glad to report that all efforts leading to the deployment of hurricane gliders in the Caribbean Sea and tropical North Atlantic have been successful. All hurricane gliders funded by IOOS, NOS, OAR, and AOML committed to be deployed and operated by CARICOOS and NOAA/AOML in the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic are now operating and transmitting data in real-time. We sincerely appreciate the hard work that went into making this effort successful. The team has worked since early this year to refurbish and condition the 9 NOAA gliders. The manufacturer and sensor companies (Hydroid and SeaBird) also contributed to have all equipment ready and shipped on time. During the glider deployments, which took place between July 13-19, the team deployed the 9 NOAA and 2 Navy gliders.  

    • NOAA, U.S. Navy will increase nation’s unmanned maritime systems operations: NOAA and the United States Navy have signed a new agreement to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems in the nation’s coastal and world’s ocean waters. This will enable NOAA to leverage the Navy’s expertise, infrastructure, best practices and training to accelerate its science, service and stewardship mission. Read more here: https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-us-navy-will-increase-nation-s-unmanned-maritime-systems-operations

    • Upcoming Training Announcement: The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) will be conducting UxS certificate classes this summer and fall.  This two-tiered training gives the working knowledge from ocean science to engineering (ocean, electrical and mechanical) for operators and pilots to safely and successfully execute UxS missions.  This will be the first offering of Tier 2 program with a heavy focus on buoyancy gliders. These courses/certificates have been developed in collaboration with NOAA, Navy, academia, and industry partners to meet the user’s needs.  This is a great opportunity for operators/pilots at all levels that are planning and conducting UxS missions. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: UNMANNED MARITIME SYSTEMS CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS, PHONE: 228.688.3177 • FAX: 228.688.1121. Admissions Information: https://www.usm.edu/ocean-science-engineering/unmanned-maritime-systems-ums-certification.php

      • Unmanned Maritime System (UMS) CERTIFICATE PROGRAM — TIER 1 - Aug 24 – Sep 25, 2020 - Students will learn foundational material in oceanography and ocean engineering related to unmanned undersea and surface vehicles (UUVs and USVs), such as powered gliders. This 10-credit hour program compressed into five weeks of instruction is intended to provide sufficient background to safely operate vehicles in challenging marine environments as well as work with a variety of sensors.

      • Unmanned Maritime System (UMS) OPERATOR CERTIFICATE PROGRAM — TIER 2 - Oct 12 – Nov 13, 2020 - The Tier II follow-on Curricula will be focused on specific types of vehicles, but with topics generalized across vehicle types where appropriate. In this first module focused on gliders, students will learn about glider operations including mission planning, mission execution and management and maintenance and management of assets.  The curriculum draws knowledge from real- world case studies of specific situations, sensors, and platforms. Students will apply these concepts in developing and conducting operations during a short field project.  The UMS Operator Certificate program consists of four courses totaling 12 credit hours compressed into five weeks of instruction including a field project during which students will conduct mission analysis & planning, specific vehicle and sensor matching, specific vehicle preparation, launch, operation, and recovery, followed by quality review of collected data.

    • The ATN welcomes a new tool for real-time quality control of Argos locations for oceanographic profiles collected by animal-borne sensor tags: State-space models are important tools for quality control of animal movement data. In a recent paper published in Movement Ecology, A continuous-time state-space model for rapid quality control of argos locations from animal-borne tags, Jonsen, I.D., Patterson, T.A., Costa, D.P. et al. Mov Ecol 8, 31 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-00217-7.  Developed collaboratively with the ATN, IMOS (Australia) and OTN (Canada) and others, this tool will enable the ATN DAC to apply essential quality control in real-time to the locations of ocean profiles from animal-borne sensors in so the data can be assimilated into operational analyses and forecast models.

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

  • Sonar (Acoustic Backscatter) Data Code Sprint July 23 11AM-4 PM ET: On July 23, fifteen participants from Government (IOOS, NOAA Fisheries, NOS, NOAA NCEI), the private sector (Saildrone, inc), academia (UW) and IOOS RA (NANOOS) partners participated in an IOOS code sprint. Saildrone engineers, NCEI data experts, Acoustic data experts from UW, Pangeo and Python experts from NANOOS and NOS Data and Metadata lead, and NOAA Fisheries Acoustic data scientists all attended and contributed to this first successful code sprint. Good progress was made during this very short code sprint to make large acoustic datasets from several surveys in Westcoast and circumnavigation surveys in the AWS S3 bucket and accessing it through pangeo jupyter notebooks. Several challenges to convert data to ICES Sonar data standards using UW Echopype were identified and will be addressed in the coming months to move to the next code sprint to actually test some AI/ML based applications. Next code sprint may be organized in parallel to the DMAC fall meeting. 

  • IOOS and NOAA Reps Meet with Saildrone to Discuss Data: Hassan Moustahfid (IOOS PO) had a productive meeting with Eugene Burger (PMEL) and Sebastien de Halleux (Saildrone, inc) regarding Saildrone data and the opportunity to make it interoperable and accessible on the cloud in a ready-analysis format. They discussed the recent code sprint and the opportunity to collaborate on a pilot project with the goal to test the integration of Environmental data and the Acoustic data and the accessibility through cloud services and enhance the collaboration between IOOS, Saildrone, NOS, NCEI, OAR, and NOAA Fisheries, NANOOS and UW.

  • IOOS/ESIP Biological Data Standards Workshop: The Biological Data Standards workshop, sponsored by the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (US IOOS), will take place in three stages: 

    • Stage 1 (Completed): June 2020, Workshop participants were invited to view pre-recorded videos on a number of biological data standards, with the intention that participants will enter Stage Two of the workshop with a broad overview of the standards landscape. See videos here: https://www.esipfed.org/biostandards-overview 

    • Stage 2 (Completed): July 13th, 2020  ~ 64 participants came together online to catalyze community efforts around biological data standards and discuss topics including:   

      • Data standard and stewardship best practices 

      • Vocabularies and ontologies 

      • Shared technology, shared knowledge, and knowledge transfer 

      • Development of methodologies 

      • Data transformation and management processes 

    • Stage 3 (starting in August) : Participants will be invited to join the ESIP Biological Data Standards Cluster, which will meet monthly and work towards the following objectives:  

      • Plan for additional steps for standardizing marine biological data 

      • Refocus US participation in global standards bodies (TDWG)

      • Develop a consortium among US Federal agencies, non-Federal, and academic partners around standardizing biological data and providing guidance

      • Develop guidance for data submitters and providers

  • 2020 DMAC Annual Meeting Update: Like many other groups, the IOOS Ops Division has decided against planning in-person events for the time being.  Therefore, the dates we had tentatively rescheduled this year's DMAC meeting for (Tuesday Oct 13 - Thursday Oct 15) will be used to hold a virtual DMAC plenary/presentation session and group breakout discussions. Please save the hours of 2 - 5 PM ET, Oct 13 - 15 if you'd like to participate.  More details to follow, however our plan at the moment is for a daily schedule of:

    • 2 PM - 3:30 PM: Presentations and project updates

    • 3:45 PM - 4:45 PM: Breakout discussions

    • 4:45 PM - 5 PM: Daily Recap

    • QARTOD Paper: The draft paper, QARTOD - Prospects for Real-Time Quality Control Manuals, How to Create Them, and a Vision for Advanced Implementation has been broadly distributed internationally for a third review. The paper describes the applicability of real-time QC for the IOOS core variables not yet addressed by a QARTOD manual. We seek the opinions of subject matter experts to confirm that the readiness descriptions for the remaining variables are accurate. Contact Mark for a copy and let us know what you think.

    • Ocean Best Practice System: Registration for the 4th OBPS annual workshop is now open. The overarching goal of the workshop is to gather recommendations to help the OBPS serve communities and advance:

      • Sharing of information and knowledge

      • Endorsement of methodologies

      • Convergence of methodologies

      • Guidance – how can the OBPS support your region/community in building best practices?

      • More information is available at https://www.oceanbestpractices.org/#events.

    • U.S. CLIVAR Ocean Uncertainty Quantification Working Group: OceanUQ working group members and others with an interest in uncertainty quantification will virtually meet during the 4th annual OBPS workshop, in an Ocean Uncertainty Quantification session. The session goal is to develop recommendations which guide OBPS activities that support and promote uncertainty considerations and standards. We plan presentations from those with experience in the development of uncertainty statements, and discussions with others seeking guidance for their uncertainty efforts. Uncertainty estimates can be surprisingly complex, but they must be addressed.

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

  • First Unified Forecast System Users Workshop: NOAA held the first UFS Users Workshop virtually, from Jul 27-29.  The Unified Forecast System is a community-based, coupled, comprehensive Earth modeling system. One component of the UFS that is of particular interest to IOOS is the suite of operational coastal ocean predictions. To support the development and operations of these predictions the UFS Steering Committee recently launched a Coastal Application Team which will ensure that the coastal prediction applications are developed in coordination with the overall architectural design of the UFS.  Several NOS scientists presented during the meeting and from the IOOS Regions, Travis Miles (MARACOOS), Ruoying He (SECOORA) and Joannes Westerink (COMT) led or contributed to presentations that described how the IOOS Community based modeling enterprise is supporting the NOAA UFS. For more information, see https://ufscommunity.org/. 

  • Coastal Visions Workshop: The IOOS Office co-sponsored a Coastal Visions Workshop on Coastal Flooding and Solutions for the U.S. East Coast. Split over two virtual sessions, a community of researchers came together to discuss regional needs and how to integrate resources to best address stakeholder issues. Presentations from RA-funded PI’s were present for the workshop, along with a panel discussion with Debra, Gerhard, Tom, and Carl. Session 1 is up for viewing here. 

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

  • Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) (IOOS PO POC Gabrielle Canonico, Gabrielle.Canonico@noaa.gov):

    • AI for Corals: MBON Partners with University of California San Diego to Train and Use CoralNet: The MBON team is collecting biodiversity observations across rocky shores of the east and west coasts of the Americas (including the US) and working actively with UCSD colleagues to train and use CoralNet (coralnet.ucsd.edu). The team is comparing visual survey records with annotations from CoralNet to determine how effective CoralNet is for characterizing rocky shore communities using standard label sets (CATAMI) for functional groups. Using the CoralNet machine learning algorithm with a standard label set will allow comparisons to be drawn between sites and, in the long run, understand how coastal communities are changing. A case study is currently underway using imagery and survey data from Argentina, Ecuador (Galapagos Islands), Colombia and the Northeast USA (Massachusetts), and all the data and imagery are available for public use on the CoralNet site. CoralNet has been developed with funding from NSF and NOAA. It runs in the cloud and uses convolutional neural networks trained on user uploaded data to support automatic, semi-automatic, and manual point annotation of image data. CoralNet has more than 2,100 users with 1,540 sources (distinct studies) containing 1.5M images and 54M annotations. While the bulk of studies contain benthic images of  tropical coral reefs (Great Barrier Reef, Pacific Islands, Caribbean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean), users are analyzing images from Antarctica, ARMS plates, dock pilings, and other sources.  

    • GEO Blue Planet, IOCARIBE of IOC-UNESCO, AtlantOS, and the Atlantic International Research (AIR) Center announce new “Sargassum Information Hub”: This new resource, available at https://sargassumhub.org/, is intended to provide information about sargassum in the Tropical Atlantic, improve communication among stakeholders, and increase visibility of sargassum activities. Since 2011, large quantities of sargassum have overwhelmed beaches throughout the Atlantic, harming coastal ecosystems and the economies of coastal communities. The hub was developed in response to requests from IO-CARIBE member states and others for a facilitated network including the sargassum community of practice, sargassum monitoring, guidance on best management practices for sargassum events, and a centralized location for all this information.

  • Opportunity to Test OOI Data Lab Notebooks: The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Ocean Data Labs team is looking for instructors of introductory oceanography courses to “test drive” a collection of new online laboratories that focus on important oceanographic themes and topics using OOI data. They are seeking a pilot implementation team of 14-16 faculty to implement two labs with students this Fall.  They are offering a $750 stipend, which includes a training webinar, detailed feedback and evaluation, and a wrap-up session.  The implementation must be completed by December 2020. Read more here:https://oceanobservatories.org/2020/07/opportunity-to-test-ooi-data-lab-notebooks/. Applications are due August 9th, 2020.

  • Live Video from Regional Cabled Array Expedition: For the month of August, you can be a scientist aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson Regional Cabled Array expedition and explore the ocean floor and biologically-rich waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean in real-time. A livestream is being broadcast of onboard activities and from the ROV, as it recovers and deploys instrumentation to maintain the Regional Cabled Array. 

  • NOAA Releases 2020-2029 Ocean, Coastal and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan: NOAA has developed a 2020-2029 Ocean,Coastal and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan  that builds upon acidification science accomplishments made in the last decade and responds to newly emerging requirements in this field. In coordination with international, interagency, and external academic and industry research partners, the present NOAA Acidification Research Plan aims to support science that produces well-integrated and relevant research results, tools, and products for stakeholders. 

  • Hurricane Hardened NWLON Station Weathers Hurricane Hanna (VIDEO): This video shows the Bob Hall Pier in Corpus Christi, Texas, which supports a NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) station, being battered by Hurricane Hanna. The video starts off at the seaward end of the pier showing the ocean and wind damaging the blow out panels of the pier. The NWLON station on the elevated platform (designed to weather these severe storms) continued to operate throughout the storm and provided data when it was most needed, despite heavy waves and losing AC power (going to battery/solar panel backup). CO-OPS Director Rich Edwing noted,  “we've invested significant time and resources over the years hardening our network for situations just like this and it's gratifying to see the results”. Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmtmlAdEF14&feature=youtu.be

  • Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program Unveils New Website: NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey’s (OCS) Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) Program has a newly revamped website. IOCM is the practice of planning, acquiring, integrating, and sharing ocean and coastal data and related products so that people who need the data can find and use it easily. Their slogan, “Map Once, Use Many Times,” is used to outline strategic best practices for sharing data, coordinating survey planning, developing and implementing standards, and facilitating innovation and technological development. The website serves as a hub for various data repositories and features advice on synthesizing data, data-collection coordination strategies, and mapping news.

  • Delay in Publishing Final Determination for Retiring U.S. Survey Foot: To allow additional time to analyze public comments, the planned date for issuing the final determination on deprecating the U.S. Survey Foot has been extended by 90 days, from June 30, 2020, to September 28, 2020. The original October 17, 2019, Federal Register Notice on this action includes a link to the public comments received. The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Office of Weights and Measures and NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) have co-issued a Federal Register Notice (FRN) announcing this extension. For more information, contact michael.dennis@noaa.gov. 

  • NGS Participates in Implementation of Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy: The Alaska Mapping Executive Committee’s newly formed Coastal Subcommittee held a kick off meeting on July 9. Co-chaired by NOAA and the State of Alaska, the group of more than 30 federal and Alaska state representatives met to discuss agency roles and responsibilities and the implementation of the Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy. The committee will serve as the focal point for federal and state agencies to develop an implementation plan in support of the recently released Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy. Implementation plan development includes identifying requirements, priorities, standards, cost/schedule/performance metric estimates, resources and an acquisition campaign strategy. Once the plan is completed, this subcommittee will then focus on the actual implementation. Executive champion is NGS Director Juliana Blackwell. Co-chairs are Ashley Chappell (Office of Coast Survey) and Leslie Jones (State of Alaska). For more information, contact mike.aslaksen@noaa.gov

  • Smaller than Average Summer 'Dead Zone' Measured in Gulf of Mexico: NCCOS-supported scientists have determined that this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone”—an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life—is approximately 2,116 square miles, equivalent to 1.4 million acres of habitat potentially unavailable to fish and bottom species. The measured size of the dead zone is the third smallest in the 34-year record of surveys. This measurement brings the five-year average to 5,408-square miles, which is 2.8 times larger than the 2035 target set by the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force (HTF). Continue reading.

  • COL 2019 Industry Forum Proceedings Available: On October 25, 2019, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, in partnership with the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, hosted its fifth annual Industry Forum in Washington, D.C., entitled Navigating Development of U.S. Offshore Wind: Sustainability & Co-Existence through Science. While current and future investments in offshore wind development will contribute to renewable energy and related segments of the Blue Economy, there are many unanswered questions regarding the potential impacts to marine life, biological and physical ocean processes, and fishing communities. The forum sought to delve into these questions with the help of subject matter experts in their respective fields and identified key science and technology priorities to better understand the potential impacts of this developing industry. These outcomes and priorities are summarized in the newly released proceedings. 

  • Registration is now open: 2020 Americas Symposium (September 7th & 8th): The 2020 Americas Symposium aims to bring communities together to ​identify the synergies ​and paths toward collaboration ​​among​ regional efforts related to ​the integration of​ Geographic, Statistical, Environmental and other information. As a community, we recognize that data integration is the first step toward transforming data into meaningful and valuable information and that a joint effort is needed to achieve this goal. These talks intend to elevate the conversation beyond programmatic updates and facilitate an insightful discussion about multilateral cooperation. Please enter your information to register for the 2020 Americas Symposium. This Symposium of the Americas is presented by AmeriGEO, the regional organization for the Group on Earth Observations, and the United Nations Regional Committee on Global Geospatial Information Management in the Americas, UN-GGIM: Americas. 

  • EMODnet online survey is launched - Help shape EMODnet’s future! EMODnet is gearing up to the next phase where access to all thematic data and data products will be centralised and with further expansion of the data catalogue. Your feedback is essential for our further development to provide you with the data and products you need the way you want them! Please provide your feedback via the online user survey today!

  • New Sargassum Information Hub Launched: Since 2011, large quantities of sargassum have overwhelmed beaches throughout the Atlantic, harming coastal ecosystems and the economies of coastal communities. Member states of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE) requested facilitated networking with the sargassum community of practice, sargassum monitoring, guidance on best management practices for sargassum events, and a centralized location for all this information. GEO Blue Planet, IOCARIBE of IOC-UNESCO, Atlantos, and the Atlantic International Research (AIR) Center developed the Sargassum Information Hub to provide information about sargassum in the Tropical Atlantic, improve communication among stakeholders, and increase visibility of sargassum activities.

  • Grants & Funding Opportunities:

    • ROSES-20 Amendment 30: Ocean Salinity Field Campaign Final Text and Due Dates Released: This Ocean Salinity Field Campaign program is intended to clarify the role of salinity in ocean-ice interactions by characterizing salinity signatures and possible salinity-ice feedback mechanisms in rapidly-changing polar environments. Outcomes of this field campaign are also expected to inform the development of new concepts of future remote sensing capabilities that improve salinity retrievals in cold waters. Notices of intent are requested by August 27, 2020 and the due date for proposals is September 24, 2020. Read more about this opportunity on SARA's ROSES blog.

    • NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research FY2021 Federal Funding Opportunity: The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research has decided to extend the FY21 Federal Funding Opportunity pre-proposal deadline to July 8, 2020 to allow the broadest participation in the funding opportunity. The fall deadline for full submissions remains October 22, 2020. The full announcement for this opportunity may be found online at https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/about/funding-opps/welcome.html.

Delivering the Benefits:

  • Post-Season Update on the 2020 Yukon River Chinook Run Timing Forecast available: The Yukon River Chinook salmon run arrived just about as expected based upon the pre-season run timing forecast. On May 1st, we issued an early look forecast indicating average run timing. The early look forecast is based on the forecast model and the average monthly air temperature at the Nome, AK airport which was slightly above the long-term average of at -3.9°C (long-term average; -6.7°C).  Read the full update here. 
  • Forecasting Wave Inundation for the World's Largest Atoll: Kwajalein is the world's largest atoll, consisting of 97 small islands and with a lagoon encompassing 839 mi² within the Republic of the Marshall Islands. With an average height of less than 6ft above sea level, the islands are vulnerable to inundation, especially if large swells, high wind waves, and extreme high tides coincide. Since a devastating inundation event at Roi-Namur Island in 2008, the Meteorological Support Services not only provide hazardous weather watches but also forecast the potential for inundation. "We found that simply using Wave Watch III model output as a predictor resulted in many false alarms. The PacIOOS Wave Run-up forecasts have become our go to source when we are anticipating possible shoreline inundation," says Jason Selzler (Chief Meteorologist and Site Manager for Atmospheric Science Technology fulfilling the Meteorological Support Services contract requirements to the U.S. Army's Reagan Test Site located on Kwajalein Atoll). The archived model runs have allowed Jason and his team to compare the predicted event to previous events and evaluate the potential impacts. In addition to the Installation Command, the PacIOOS forecast also informs local Marshallese authorities on Kwajalein to prepare the community and help reduce impacts to human safety, infrastructure, and properties. 

Congressional:

  • ICOOS Act Update: S.914 Reauthorization of the ICOOS Act passed in the Senate on July 30th.. The next step for reauthorization is for the House to take up the bill.

  • IOOS Briefing Rep. Marcy Kaptur Staff: On August 11, 2020, the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) program office will brief staff from Rep. Kaptur's staff about the U.S. IOOS' work in the Great Lakes region and how IOOS supports harmful algal bloom forecasting and monitoring.

Communications/Outreach/Education:

  • SECOORA & FACT Network fisheries research grant awarded: Congratulations to Jonathan Rodemann from Florida International University for being awarded the SECOORA and the FACT Network fisheries research grant. Rodemann’s project will evaluate how habitat disturbances are affecting recreationally important fish species communities in north central Florida Bay. To learn more about this project, click here. 

  • NANOOS Presentation for NOAA West Watch: NOAA's most recent West Watch was held on 21 July 2020. The webinar summarized coastal environmental conditions and impacts in the Western Region. The webinar included contributed slides from the NANOOS, CeNCOOS, and SCCOOS regions, who regularly report on their local coastal ocean conditions. The next webinar date is 20 October 2020. Click here to view the slide set.

  • NERACOOS opens survey on the Economic Value of Ocean Observing Systems: NERACOOS is interested in hearing from NERACOOS data users to help NERACOOS and the IOOS Association to better understand the value of the data that they deliver and to plan for improved services in the future. The survey takes about 6 minutes to complete and can be found here.

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? Contact us at: eoto@noaa.gov.

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