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,

This week I am attending the 9th Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) Regional Alliance Forum in Tokyo, Japan. I serve as the head of the U.S. IOOS GOOS Regional Alliance (GRA). The GRA Forum, held every 2 years, brings together the leaders of the 13 GOOS Regional Alliances (GRAs), the IOC GOOS Project Office, and other ocean experts.

The Forum is an essential tool for the efficient operation and planning of GOOS and provides an opportunity to foster cooperation of the programs of the GRAs, build GOOS, and enhance regional activities. The meeting allows for wide ranging discussions on the role of the GRAs in furthering GOOS principles and will be used to cooperatively identify common projects, activities, funding strategies, and practical implementation steps for development of global coordination of the GOOS Regional Alliances and the Global Ocean Observing System.

In addition to giving the U.S. IOOS GRA report on progress since the last forum, I also presented on "Biological Observing Networks in a GRA” highlighting the ATN and MBON as examples and their linkages to emerging global networks. We will share the meeting report when it is available.

Best Wishes,
Carl

From the U.S. IOOS Office:

  • Marking 20 Years of IOOS! We will celebrate 20 years of IOOS in conjunction with the upcoming OceanObs’19 meeting in September in Honolulu, HI. In preparation for this celebration, we want to hear your memories of IOOS.  Has IOOS helped you, were you a part of building the System, or do you have photos, videos, or documents of the last 20 years that you can share with us? Please contact us at eoto@noaa.gov to share your memories or ask for more details on how to share information.
  • U.S. IOOS Ocean Technology Transition Funding Opportunity: U.S. IOOS Program, in conjunction with NOPP, is seeking to fund projects, subject to the availability of funds, which advance new or existing technology-based solutions that address long standing and emerging coastal observing, product development, and data management challenges. See the bullet under “Grants & Funding Opportunities” below for more info. View the full notice here.
  • Farewell Sabra Comet: Last week, U.S. IOOS said farewell to former Sea Grantee Sabra Comet.  Sabra joined IOOS in 2018 and remained with us after her fellowship year supporting legislative affairs.  She's transitioned to a new home at NOAA NESDIS, so she is still in our extended ocean observing family. We want to share her farewell to IOOS here, written as part of an office Upgoer 5 Challenge.

I came from far left of big land, a way of life very different. More trees than people, more rain, less water.  People of the pink long water animal. But then came a chance of important work far away.

Looking at the big blue water with not-human eyes was different, and opened a new world. Although the eyes were not human, people behind them show such love for water. The eyes see so much humans can not, and bring us together to see the big picture. 

One year: I watched, listened, learned. Went to many places and met so many people that love the big blue water, are excited for their not-human eyes, and give their all to keep their eyes clear and fit. 

Although the far right land is hot and has many people, those people have been nicer than I ever imagined. I am happy to be here, sad to leave, but will still be with those that gaze with not-human eyes.

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

  • ACT Open Calls for New Technology Evaluations: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) currently has two open calls for new technology evaluations. 
    • 1. Accepting preliminary applications from developers and manufacturers of commercially available Total Residual Oxidant (TRO) instruments used to monitor TRO in shipboard ballast water treatment applications.
    • 2. Call for applications from individuals or 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. 
    • Applications for both calls are due by August 31, 2019.
    • For further details please see: http://www.act-us.info/rft.php 
  • Surface Current Mapping: (IOOS PO POC, Derrick Snowden, Derrick.Snowden@noaa.gov):  
    • Guidelines on how to sync your High Frequency Radar (HFR) data with the European HFR node: This document is a step-by-step guide to start transferring HF radar (HFR) data from your network to the EU HFR node Guideline_SYNC_HFRdata_to_EU_HFR_node_v1.0.pdf
    • Saildrone is First to Circumnavigate Antarctica in Search for Carbon Dioxide:An unmanned saildrone has completed a 13,670-mile journey around Antarctica alone, at the mercy of the most hostile seas on the planet. Despite a run-in with an iceberg that wrecked some of its sensors, Saildrone 1020 completed its mission on August 3 having successfully collected oceanic and atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements with an instrument developed by NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The 196-day voyage was the world’s first autonomous circumnavigation of Antarctica — a technological feat that was unfathomable just a decade ago. Read the full story here: https://www.noaa.gov/news/saildrone-is-first-to-circumnavigate-antarctica-in-search-for-carbon-dioxide
    • No update.

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

  • 2019 DMAC Code Sprint: Planning for the 2019 DMAC Code Sprint (Oct 8 - 10, Ann Arbor, MI) is ongoing.  We have 35 registered so far! Next phase of planning is to get volunteer sprint topic leaders together to help plan what to tackle and how to go about it.  We’re really pleased with the interest so far, however there is still funding available for IOOS RA personnel or other IOOS grant recipients to attend with travel expenses fully reimbursed.  We’re extending registration for a few more weeks to give an opportunity for anyone that missed the initial cut-off to sign up - please use this form to register. Reach out to Micah Wengren (micah.wengren@noaa.gov) for general Sprint questions or David Fitch (david@glos.us) and Becky Pearson (bpearson@glos.us) for travel, reimbursement procedures, or other logistical questions.  It should be a great event, see you in Ann Arbor in October!
  • IOOS Presents at OAR Cloud Computing for Research Workshop: Tiffany Vance (along with Robb Wright of ORR, Felimon Gayanilo from GCOOS and Tim Kearns from GLOS) presented a talk on NOS activities in the cloud to the OAR Cloud Computing for Research Workshop on July 31st.  The Workshop objective was to gain an understanding for how OAR Laboratories and Programs are currently using the Cloud and determine how to leverage those capabilities across the organization so that effective use of the Cloud serves the organization’s future research needs.  The workshop focused on discussions of current experiences for scientific Cloud computing research, discussed the essential components and infrastructure for the Cloud that are required to achieve scientific research objectives, and discussed NOAA Cloud policies, technology limitations, and systems needed to build a Cloud environment.   See slides at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wei95aGeYx7mNkK01W7jNFIgl57J3DFOFhPLlOlcsYQ/edit#slide=id.g5ef379afdb_0_94
  • QARTOD (National Coordinator Mark Bushnell, mark.bushnell@noaa.gov):
    • pH manual status: The draft manual has completed a series of three reviews and is undergoing final editing. We expect to finalize and publish this 13th QARTOD manual in the next few weeks. We are grateful to everyone who contributed and reviewed this document – thank you!
    • Ocean Best Practice System Community Survey: The OBPS was created to improve access to best practices. We are looking for your thoughts on the use of these best practices in ocean observing and also guiding the evolution of the OBPS. Best practices and are a common approach to further consistency in ocean data and information. The definition for an Ocean Best Practice is – “a methodology that repeatedly produces superior results relative to other methodologies with the same objective; to be fully elevated to a best practice, a promising method will have been adopted and employed by multiple organizations”.  Best practices may come in many forms such as “standard operating procedures,” manuals or guides. The Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS) brings together documentation for technological solutions and community practices. (see Pearlman et al, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00277) The UNESCO International Data and Information Exchange (IODE) is now hosting the OBPS including its repository of best practices. This survey is being done in preparation for the OceanObs19 meeting in September 2019. The survey should take approximately 10-12 minutes to complete. Due to the ways this survey is being distributed, please excuse multiple requests. Please use the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OBPS-Survey to take the survey. We thank you for your support. We would also like to thank Christoph Beuthner and Henning Silber (GESIS) and Miriam Marumbodoro (South African Weather Services) for their guidance for the survey.

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

  • COMT Annual Meeting: The COMT Annual Meeting will be held October 22-34rd in Silver Spring, MD. More details coming soon.
  • IOOS at the NAIS Annual Meeting: Aijun Zhang attended the 17th North American Ice Service (NAIS) Annual meeting from July 22 through Thursday at NCWCP Building. The conference theme was “Advancing NAIS ice and iceberg analysis and forecasting”. 
  • ROMS 4DVAR Workshop: ROMS developers from Rutgers University will provided a ROMS 4DVAR workshop at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction building from July 29- August 2, 2019. This workshop gave modelers an opportunity to learn best practices by combining lectures and hands-on training.

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

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

     

    • MBON Contributes to Global Biodiversity Observations Paper Published by Frontiers in Marine Science: U.S. and global MBON partners along with many global community members participated in preparation of the "Global observational needs and resources for marine biodiversity" community white paper for OceanObs19.  The paper was published in Frontiers in Marine Science as part of the research topic: Oceanobs 19: An Ocean of Opportunity (Canonico et al., Front. Mar. Sci. 6:367. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00367). To view the online publication, please click here.

       

  • OceanObs’19 Updates and Planning:
    • OceanObs’19: Registration Is Open! For more information on fees, deadlines, posters, and event registration, visit here. 
    • OceanObs'19_OceanArt: Calling all ocean-inspired artists: OceanObs’19 organizers would like to provide a platform for people who have made art that is inspired by the ocean. We know that many scientists or other OceanObs’19 conference goers and their guests may have an artistic streak that they would be willing to share. This can be any art form: poem, music, painting, sculpture, fashion, stories, comedy stand-up etc. We will have a stage in the Exhibition Hall that will be open from 5:00-5:30 on the Tuesday-Thursday of the conference for people to sign up for time slots. Please fill out this form and submit to hold your space!
    • Register for Breaking Waves, Breaking Barriers at OceanObs'19: Celebrating Women's Instrumental Role in Ocean Science, Leadership, and Mentorship: This event will bring together ocean scientists from across the globe to discuss the important role women have served in shaping oceanography. As part of the OceanObs'19 conference week, this event will include a discussion and reception as we pay tribute to great women scientists and inspire the future generations for a more inclusive, robust, and forward-leaning discipline. Learn more and register here.
  • Save the date: Ocean Obs RCN Annual Meeting - February 16, 2020, San Diego, CA: The Ocean Obs Research Coordination Network (RCN) will host an OceanObs’19 Conference follow-up meeting on February 16, 2020, in San Diego, CA, immediately preceding the AGU/TOS Ocean Sciences Meeting (https://www.agu.org). The OceanObs’19 Conference (Hawaii 16-21 September, 2019; https://council.science/events/oceanobs-19/) will be the third conference of this series, held once every ten years. The Ocean Obs RCN annual meeting on 16 February 2020 will be dedicated to the synthesis of threads and recommendations emerging from the OceanObs’19 Conference. Of particular interest will be focusing the community on the planning for the implementation of initiatives emerging from OceanObs’19. The meeting will advance links between observation networks and operational users to facilitate the delivery of critical information to stakeholders, and to address critical policy issues that require multidisciplinary ocean observing systems.
  • NOAA Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) Meeting - August 27-29, 2019, New Orleans, LA: The next NOAA HSRP public meeting will be held in New Orleans, LA August 27-29. 
  • Saildrone launched with seafloor mapping capabilities in the Gulf of Mexico shows promise for remote Arctic mapping: “The operational deployment of multibeam technology on a Saildrone in the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent data output puts us closer toward the use of autonomous systems to map critical areas such as the Arctic,” said Rear Adm. Shepard M. Smith, director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, “the potential for ocean mapping is extraordinary.” The Saildrone USV was deployed into the Gulf on June 25 for its initial data collection mission and ran for 8 days. After evaluating the data collected by the USV and making some software improvements, USM launched the vehicle again on July 19 and recovered on June 22. Read more here: https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/updates/saildrone-launched-with-seafloor-mapping-capabilities-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-shows-promise-for-remote-arctic-mapping
  • NOAA completes hydrographic surveys following Hurricane Barry: On July 11, Office of Coast Survey’s Gulf Coast Navigation Manager, Tim Osborn, received requests from U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local ports for resources to confirm navigational depths in Louisiana waters. Once a navigation manager receives requests for hydrographic surveys, Coast Survey formulates logistics to complete these requests. In the case of Hurricane Barry, Coast Survey’s navigation response team (NRT)- Stennis mobilized to respond to Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s southernmost port. Port Fourchon supports significant petroleum industry traffic coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, furnishing about 18% of the U.S. oil supply. Read more here: https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/updates/noaa-completes-hydrographic-surveys-following-hurricane-barry/
  • 2018 State of High Tide Flooding and 2019 Outlook: Read the new story map from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services and the full report on high tide flooding for 2018 and the 2019 outlook. Coastal communities across the U.S. continued to see increased high tide flooding last year, forcing their residents and visitors to deal with flooded shorelines, streets and basements — a trend that is expected to continue this year. The report shows that the national annual frequency of high tide flooding reached 5 days (median value), tying the historic record set in 2015. See the story map and read the full report here. 
  • 11 Free training workshops announced for the Open Sea Lab II Hackathon: It’s only five more weeks to the second edition of the EMODnet Open Sea Lab II Hackathon. The organisers are delighted to welcome OVH and MSP Challenge Simulation Platform to hold workshops at the second edition of Open Sea Lab! At least 11 different workshops will be held, ranging from Data Visualisation and Machine Learning, to Solution Design and How to Pitch. Furthermore, some great prizes have been confirmed by Greenbridge and OVH. The winning team members will not leave empty-handed! Finally, the EMODnet Secretariat has made available 20 rooms for students for three nights to attend Open Sea Lab II – apply now!
  • Grants & Funding Opportunities
    • U.S. IOOS Ocean Technology Transition Funding Opportunity: The U.S. IOOS Program, in conjunction with NOPP, is seeking to fund projects, subject to the availability of funds, which advance new or existing technology-based solutions that address long standing and emerging coastal observing, product development, and data management challenges. The projects will be focused on those technologies for which there are demonstrated operators who commit to integrated, long term use of those technologies and open data sharing. A Transition Manager for the project should be identified and a Transition Plan will be a Year One deliverable. View the full notice here.  
    • Funding Opportunity:  Socioeconomic Impacts of Florida Red Tide: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS-RA) are pleased to announce a funding opportunity for projects to assess the socioeconomic impacts of the 2017-2018 Florida Red Tide and to improve future bloom assessments. The research is funded by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science as part of our larger effort to understand, detect, predict, and mitigate the impacts of harmful algal blooms. To apply for this funding, a required Letter of Intent (LOI) should be sent to barb.kirkpatrick@gcoos.org, and must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, on August 15, 2019.  Full applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on September 13, 2019. For more information and details, please read the full funding opportunity. 
    • Notice of Funding Opportunity: NOAA’s Climate Program Office FY2020: NOAA’s CPO supports competitive research through three major program areas: Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM); Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI); and Communication, Education and Engagement (CEE). Through this announcement, CPO is seeking applications for 10 individual competitions in FY20.
    • DARPA BAA: This new BAA invites proposers to submit innovative basic or applied research concepts in the following technical domains: Frontiers in Math, Computation & Design; Limits of Sensing & Sensors; Complex Social Systems; Anticipating Surprise. The research topics of interest within each domain are described in the BAA. 

Delivering the Benefits:

  • GCOOS Director Barb Kirkpatrick appointed to Florida Red Tide Task Force: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday the appointments of 11 expert researchers and leading scientists to the recently re-organized Red Tide Task Force. The Governor was joined by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Noah Valenstein and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Executive Director Eric Sutton. Read more here. 
  • Expanding Red Tide Warning Systems: A new study published in the peer-review journal PLoS ONE shows that citizen science volunteers using a relatively low-cost tool can help increase the size and accuracy of a red tide monitoring network to better protect public health from the impacts of toxic algae in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more here. 
  • UW-Milwaukee researchers inform Lake Michigan management with help from a GLOS buoy: How much phosphorus should flow into Lake Michigan? This question means millions for the economy around the lake and has huge implications for its underwater ecosystem. And researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee led by Professor Harvey Bootsma are working to help answer that question with the help of a GLOS buoy. Read more here. 
  • Sargassum outlook update, July 2019:  The July 2019 situation is similar to June 2019 for all regions. For the full update, click here. 
  • June CA HAB Bulletin is live: Please check out the June CA HAB Bulletin for the latest collection of model output, observations, and advisories. 
  • Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Moored Observatory (GEO) deployed: AOOS PI Seth Danielson (UAF-CFOS) and the crew of the Sikuliaq successfully deployed the new GEO on July 11. This mooring array consists of 3 moorings and is designed to collect concurrent datasets spanning multiple trophic levels. A variety of sensors will measure the biological and physical environment with high temporal and spatial resolution, including the under-sampled and poorly-understood winter season when waves, wind, and freezing spray often preclude ship-based sampling. Observations will bring unprecedented views into the biogeochemical pump and major ecosystem components in the Gulf of Alaska to facilitate the monitoring, detection and diagnosis of ecosystem change. This project is the result of successful funding collaborations with the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, AOOS, UAF, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council, and the National Science Foundation. Real-time data from this mooring array is available on the Ocean Data Explorer.
  • AOOS Kodiak Wave Buoy: AOOS has successfully engaged in a loan agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to maintain and operate a DataWell wave buoy currently deployed offshore of Kodiak Island. This buoy was deployed in February 2018 to make observations of the wave and current fields for a renewable energy project. AOOS has agreed to take over the operation and maintenance of this valuable asset in order to keep it in the water another 2 years. The Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) that operates wave buoys nationwide is partnering with AOOS by providing processed and quality controlled real-time data services. Other partners include the U.S. Coast Guard in Kodiak, who have agreed to support a site visit this fall to swap the buoy. Special thanks to Levi Kilcher (NREL) and Julie Thomas (CDIP) for proposing this opportunity. Real-time data from this wave buoy is available on the Ocean Data Explorer.
  • Hot Water in the Pacific Northwest: Check out the NANOOS NVS Climatology app and see that some of the buoys are registering temperatures much warmer than the long-term average (in excess of 2 standard deviations). Here are links to a few: Cape Elizabeth; Columbia Bar; Tillamook.  These buoys have 32, 35, and 15 year records, respectively. 

Congressional:

  • No update.

Communications/Outreach/Education:

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!