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

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From the Director:

Dear IOOS Community,

Welcome to August! As we head into the home stretch for the summer, we also enter peak hurricane season from mid-August to mid-October, and today NOAA issued its mid-season update.  IOOS and our regions have various resources which provide you with visualizations, data portals, forecasting information, and more to help you prepare for and weather the storm.  And for forecasts, warnings, and up to the minute hurricane information, keep up with NOAA's National Hurricane Center.

In other news, I’m pleased to announce the IOOS Association has selected a new Executive Director. Kristen Yarincik has been named to take over the helm in mid-October as Josie Quintrell retires, closing out a remarkable career of 20 years in service to the IOOS Association. We all look forward to working with Kristen on advancing ocean observing priorities for the IOOS both regionally and nationally.

Last but not least, we've updated our IOOS by the Numbers graphic.  Drop by our website and check it out here!

Thanks,
Carl

From the U.S. IOOS Office:

  • The FY23 OTT Project Notice of Funding Opportunity now open: The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System is soliciting proposals for the transition to operations of sensors, data management, and other technical capabilities that will improve our ability to monitor and forecast environmental conditions with greater efficiency. The primary objective of IOOS’ Ocean Technology Transition Project (OTT) is to enhance the successful transition of ocean observing technologies for the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes. This is accomplished by investing in the transition of emerging and promising marine and Great Lakes observing technological capabilities from the mid to latter phases of research into operational status.  More info about the U.S. IOOS Ocean Technology Transition Program can be found here.  In FY 2023-2024, up to $7.5 million/year (estimated) will be available. Awards are for up to $400,00/year for up to three years.  Multiple awards are anticipated, subject to availability of funds. The full announcement can be found here. Letters of Intent (highly recommended, but not required) should be submitted via Google Form by 11:59 PM ET on Friday, October 21, 2022. Full proposals must be received no later than 11:50 PM ET on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.  Please contact Tiffany Vance if you have any questions. 
  • Draft EA for Florida HFR open for comments: NOAA has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) for the installation of a high frequency radar at Hightower Park in Satellite Beach, Florida. We are making the environmental assessment available to the public for review and comment. The draft EA is available online hereand the Federal Register Notice can be seen here. Written comments must be submitted on or before August 25, 2022.
  • UCAR to Become New Home for Consortium for Ocean Leadership’s Programs: The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) will become the new home for programs run by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL), which is set to dissolve at the end of September. The transition marks a historic partnership between the oceanic and atmospheric science communities and will help researchers advance the study of Earth as an interconnected system. Read more here: https://oceanleadership.org/ucar-to-become-new-home-for-consortium-for-ocean-leaderships-programs/ 
  • A celebration for Ru Morrison: When John “Ru” Morrison, founder and former Director of NERACOOS, passed away in November 2020, we couldn't come together in person to celebrate his extraordinary life and share our memories.  So NERACOOS is pleased to announce that the Morrison family has invited any and all of us who were Ru’d [verb: roo-d; positively impacted by Ru Morrison in ways large or small] to gather by the water’s edge “to laugh, to drink, to eat, to sing, to dance, and to remember a wonderful man who is so greatly missed.” The celebration will be held in the evening of August 26th at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH. Visit the event webpage for additional details, to make a donation in Ru’s name, and to RSVP if you plan to attend (or leave a note if you aren’t able to).
  • From the IOOS Association: 
    • Kristen Yarincik named next Executive Director: We are pleased to announce that Kristen Yarincik will become the IOOS Association’s next Executive Director. Kristen brings over 20 years of experience leading and managing programs that advance the ocean community, including a leadership role in developing and supporting community initiatives. She has strived to advance the ocean community through her areas of personal interest and commitment, as demonstrated by her work to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and safety in ocean science. Most recently, Kristen served as Vice President and Director for Research and Education at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership where she provided strategic and programmatic oversight for research and education programs, including the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, the Interagency Ocean Observation Committee, and the National Ocean Sciences Bowl.  
    • Save the Date! The IOOS Fall Meeting - November 8-10: IOOS Fall Meeting will be hosted by CariCOOS in San Juan, Puerto Rico on November 8-10, 2022. Please mark your calendars!

 

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

  • Surface Current Mapping
    • Expanding Surface Current Monitoring on the East Coast of Florida: Two new High Frequency Radars (HF radar) were installed on the east coast of Florida. The new HF radars are filling gaps in surface current monitoring; the data for which is used to assist in search and rescue efforts. Read more here. 
    • Registration Deadline for 12th ROWG Meeting: The 12th Radiowave Operators Working Group meeting will be a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting at the ECU Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese, North Carolina Nov. 2–3, 2022 with a Radar Manufacturer Day on Nov. 4, 2022.  Sept. 15, 2022 is the deadline to sign up to attend using this registration form.  More information is available at https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/hf-radar/ (discounted room rate info for the Holiday Inn Express Nags Head Oceanfront will be posted there within the coming week).
  • Gliders 
    • NOAA and Saildrone Launch Seven Hurricane-tracking Surface Drones: In partnership with NOAA, Saildrone Inc. is deploying seven ocean drones to collect data from hurricanes during the 2022 hurricane season with the goal of improving hurricane forecasting.  For the first year, two saildrones will track hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. This week, Saildrone launched two saildrones into the Gulf of Mexico, one from St. Petersburg, Florida, and another from Port Aransas, Texas. Five other saildrones were successfully launched this summer from the coast of Jacksonville, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands to survey the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Read more here: https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2894/NOAA-and-Saildrone-team-up-to-deploy-seven-hurricane-tracking-surface-drones 
  • UG2 Updates:
  • Buoys & Moorings
    • New Salmon Unlimited buoy begins monitoring waters near Racine, WI:  Salmon Unlimited Wisconsin is headquartered near Racine and focuses on preserving a vibrant Lake Michigan fishery that supports the trout and salmon that many anglers love to catch. But for many members trying to understand the quickly-changing Lake Michigan waters, the nearest buoy was the Atwater 20m buoy, which is deployed north of Milwaukee, over 20 miles away.  So they decided to apply for a GLOS mini-grant in 2021. Read more here. 
    • Lānaʻi Wave Buoy Redeployed: The Lānaʻi, Hawaiʻi wave buoy was redeployed earlier this month after being inspected and refurbished. The buoy, located approximately 2.5 miles off the southwest coast of Lānaʻi (southwest of Kaumalapau Harbor and northeast of Palaua Point) provides wave height, direction and period as well as sea surface temperature observations that are transmitted every half hour. Such information promotes safe transit entering and exiting Kaumalapau Harbor. The Lānaʻi Southwest wave buoy is owned and managed by PacIOOS. Data management is made possible through long-term partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coastal Data Information Program. 
  • Marine Life
    • GOOS BioEco Portal launched! The BioEco Portal of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS BioEco Portal) — an online platform that provides information on the sustained ocean observing programs which deliver information about the health of marine life — has launched. “We now have for the first time a resource in GOOS that allows us to know who is measuring what, where, how and why for marine biodiversity. This is a fundamental starting point to coordinate and enhance observations, including filling the gaps, ” says Ward Appeltans, marine biodiversity expert and manager of the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), who developed the Portal together with the GOOS Expert Panel on Biology and Ecosystems (BioEco). OBIS and GOOS are sister programmes implemented under the auspices of the United Nations, via UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. Read more here. 
    • New Satellite Tag on Shark Provides Ocean Data: Research professor Kim Holland at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, and his team recently placed a satellite tag on a 9.5 foot male tiger shark off the coast of Ko‘olina, O‘ahu. PacIOOS’ Hawai‘i Tiger Shark Tracking site is now providing the shark’s near real-time location as well as ocean depth and temperature profiles. The new oceanographic data will soon be available to scientists working on regional oceanographic and meteorological models. This will be the first time that such near real-time data will be ingested into this type of model, providing an opportunity to improve the model predictions.
    • ATN at the American Elasmobranch Society Annual Meeting: Acting ATN Coordinator, Dr. Tobey Curtis, attended the American Elasmobranch Society annual meeting in Spokane, WA, July 26-Aug 1. He gave a presentation on his research using juvenile white shark telemetry data to model the effects of climate change on their Atlantic nursery habitat. 
    • Three new data layers, and one update, have been added to the MBON data portal! 
    • Here is a link to all the data layers loaded into the map interface.

Data Management and Cyberinfrastructure (DMAC) Subsystem and Tools Built on IOOS Data:

  • GulfHub Data now in GCOOS ERDDAP Server: The GulfHub project, funded by the National Academies Gulf Research Program (NAS-GRP), collected and curated more than 5,300 unique physical oceanographic datasets on an ERDDAP server, including more than 3,500 from deepwater moorings, offshore oil rigs and platforms, and vessels that were previously considered proprietary. The historical data were collected from industry and private holdings and were checked extensively for quality and flagged accordingly. The porting of the curated data from the GulfHub collection to GCOOS ERDDAP server has been completed and published for public access. It is expected that the porting tasks will continue until the end of the year.
  • Morro Bay Oyster Dashboard: Oyster aquaculture along the U.S. West Coast is occurring in a changing ocean where ocean acidification (OA) and deoxygenation are altering growing conditions. To adapt to and/or mitigate the effects of OA on aquaculture production and operations, oyster growers use information on ocean weather and water quality to manage their operations, exposure to risk and ultimately profitability. To improve the delivery of timely, relevant information that oyster growers need, CeNCOOS produces customizable, replicable web-based Oyster Dashboards to deliver actionable data in user-friendly formats. Access the Morro Bay Oyster Dashboard here. 
  • 2023 AMS Meeting: The theme of the 2023 American Meteorological Society meeting is Data: Driving Science. Informing Decisions. Enriching Humanity. The meeting will be held both in person and virtually in Denver in January 2023. The Call for Papers is now open - https://annual.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/2023/program-events/call-for-papers/.  Abstracts are due by 24 August 2022 at 11:59 PM EDT
  • Artificial Intelligence: The GPU AI Metagenomics team made substantial progress on creating new training data and testing data to test the accuracy of the deep learning algorithm developed during the Nividia GPU hackathon. The team will be presenting the results at the 2022 ICES ASC conference in Dublin, Ireland in September.  
  • QARTOD:
    • Ocean Best Practice System Update: The OBPS Steering Group (https://www.oceanbestpractices.org/about/governance/) will hold their fourth annual meeting during 30 Nov - 02 Dec 2022. The hybrid meeting will be held at the IOC facilities in Paris, with support for virtual participation. Meeting objectives include reviews of the OPBS status, adequacy of services provided, methods to improve community awareness, and responses addressing outcomes of the sixth OBPS workshop.

Modeling and Analysis Subsystem:   

  • Unifying Innovations in Forecasting Capabilities Workshop: From July 18th-22nd, the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC), the Unified Forecast System (UFS), and the UFS Research to Operations community came together to deliver a five-day Unifying Innovations in Forecasting Capabilities Workshop. Throughout the week, attendees had the opportunity to explore avenues for their own research development, learned about updates to the UFS, shared their successes and obstacles while contributing to  the UFS, and voiced their thoughts on where the UFS should go from here.
  • COMT Meeting: The Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed (COMT) annual meeting will take place September 9th 2022. COMT teams will share updates during a collaborative virtual meeting.

Around the Regions:

  • Building a collaboration among Puerto Rican organizations to understand and address the intersections of climate hazards, public health, and energy: The University of Puerto Rico and the University of Arizona hosted on June 23, 2022, a workshop entitled “Collaborative Planning for a Resilient Puerto Rico to Cascades in Climate, Energy and Public Health” bringing together organizations from Puerto Rico to discuss and seek strategies that address the relationship between climate, energy, and public health. Read more here.
  • U.S. IOOS at SOST Opportunities and Actions Roundtable: On July 19th SCCOOS Executive Director Clarissa Anderson gave a 3-minute lightning talk at the 2022 Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST) Opportunities and Actions in Ocean Science and Technology Roundtable. The recording is available here and Clarissa is at the 8:38 mark. Additional submissions to the roundtable from GLOS, MBON, and the Backyard Buoys team can be viewed at the respective links.
  • PacIOOS Governing Council Executive Committee Meeting: Members of the PacIOOS Governing Council Executive Committee came together virtually for their annual meeting this month. In a two-session video conference, PacIOOS leadership provided programmatic updates and an overview of the anticipated budget. Committee members discussed approaches to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and community-led conservation into ocean observing. This included a brief update on the Backyard Buoys project, especially in relation to American Samoa and National Park of American Samoa’s efforts toward integrating ocean knowledge from PacIOOS and Indigenous Knowledge to serve communities; and a group discussion on co-development, co-design, stewardship of ocean instrumentation.
  • Request for Proposals to Support Harmful Algal Bloom Observing in the Southeast: SECOORA is soliciting proposals for a competitive opportunity focused on coastal and ocean HAB observing in the Southeast. The scope of this opportunity is broad, but applicants should use the SECOORA Harmful Algal Bloom Plan as a guide to SECOORA’s priorities.  Proposals should address how  the effort can contribute to a regional-­scale enterprise and include measurable engagement with stakeholders. Total funds available are $200,000. SECOORA intends to award between 1 – 3 proposals that will be funded for a 2 year timeline.  Proposals are due September 15, 2022 at 5 PM ET. 
  • Request for Quotes: Logo and Website Redesign: SECOORA is growing and needs a new website and logo that reflects the current and future path for the organization. The primary goals are to update the virtual face and voice of SECOORA, strengthen our online presence, build brand awareness and provide an overview of our organization to increase membership, drive traffic to SECOORA funding opportunities and news stories, expand community engagement, and streamline data discovery and access.  Responses are due August 19, 2022 at 5:00 PM ET. Click here for PDF of the Request for Quotes.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility:

  • NSF Convergence Accelerator/Backyard Buoys: It has been a busy two months on the Backyard Buoys project. The group submitted their application for Phase II funding at the end of May and pitched the NSF panel at the end of June. Selections will be announced in August! If selected, the team will be able to move forward with purchasing over 60 Sofar Ocean wave buoys with Indigenous partners across the three regions (Alaska, Pacific Northwest, and Pacific Islands). A couple of important dates: 
    • The NSF Convergence Accelerator Expo 2022 is open to the public. Researchers, innovators, technology and business practitioners and media from academia, industry, government, nonprofit, and other communities are encouraged to attend. To register for Expo 2022 visit, nsf-ca-expo2022.vfairs.com . The event is free. The Backyard Buoy booth number is E13 and will be staffed 9:30 am and 10:30 am AKDT on July 27, 2022 and 7:00 am, 10:00 am, and 11:00 am AKDT on July 28, 2022.
    • In collaboration with the Barrow Whaling Captains Association, AOOS & AEWC will be hosting a Backyard Buoys Co-production Workshop in Utqiagvik on Aug 16 and 17. Please let Sheyna Wisdom know if you are interested in learning more about this event!
  • ANSEP Intern working on sleeper shark research: This summer, AOOS is supporting a student from the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program to work on a sleeper shark research project under the direction of Dr. Markus Horning. Nadia Barcelona will be sending regular notes from the field. Read her field notes from “Sleeper Sharks: Episode 2”! You can also read her previous notes at the link.

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

  • UN Decade of Ocean Science For Sustainable Development Updates 
    • REMINDER: Third Call for Decade Actions open until 30 August 2022: The scope of the call for Decade Programmes is Challenge 3 – Sustainable Blue Food and Challenge 4 – Sustainable Ocean Economy. Read more and apply here.
    • Five Projects under the GOOS UN Ocean Decade Programmes Officially Endorsed: The latest UNESCO announcement on the endorsement of new UN Ocean Decade actions was great news to several projects under the GOOS UN Ocean Decade programmes - and many more initiatives are well underway in the process. In 2021, GOOS launched three Ocean Decade programmes (Observing Together, Ocean Observing Co-Design programme, and CoastPredict) - large  scale,  multi-year  and  multi-country  initiatives  made  up  of  different projects, activities and contributions that will help transform our ocean observing system and form the foundation for thriving blue economies and sustainable development. Under the Observing Together and CoastPredict programmes, five new projects were endorsed:
      • Fisherman’s Weather Field School - to support understanding of the information delivered by weather and ocean climate services in local fishing communities and improve safety at sea.
      • AtlantOS-Connect - the project aims to identify and foster collaborative partnerships among user communities and ocean observing and data networks in the Atlantic Ocean.
      • PredictOnTime is an integrated coastal ocean observing and predicting project that will deliver new predictive capacities, services and products for the global coastal ocean, focused on observing and predicting natural extreme events accurately and in due time to protect lives, resources and assets.
      • Future Coastal Ocean Climates - will generate innovative, high-resolution decadal to centennial projections of future coastal ocean climates at the local-regional scales necessary for informed decision making.
      • Integrating Coastal Hazard Warning Systems for TAC (Tropical Americas and Caribbean) - through co-design, co-production and co-delivery, the project will promote and facilitate greater integration of existing and new coastal hazard early warning systems and services for the region.
    • Read more about these programs and projects here.
    • Launch of Guide to 'Implementing Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems': On the 1st of July at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and its Expert Team on Operational Ocean Forecasting Systems (ETOOFS) announced the release of a Guide on “Implementing Operational Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Systems”. This guide provides an overview of the entire value chain of an operational ocean monitoring and forecasting system and presents international standards and best practices for setting up such a service. Read more here. 
  • Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) News:
    • Irminger 9 Completes Mission: The R/V Neil Armstrong departed Woods Hole, Mass., on June 20. Under the direction of Chief Scientist Sheri N. White of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the 14-member science party headed to OOI’s Global Irminger Sea Array for the ninth time to recover and deploy moorings and gliders and carry out scientific sampling. Nearly a month later, the ship and science party pulled into the port of Reykjavik, Iceland, on July 16th, having accomplished all of its objectives. Read more here: https://oceanobservatories.org/2022/07/despite-weather-irminger-9-met-objectives/ 
  • Infrastructure Law to Fund National Observing Priorities: This month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo announced funding opportunities from NOAA's $2.96 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to address the climate crisis and strengthen coastal resilience and infrastructure. Over the next five years, NOAA’s targeted investments in the areas of habitat restoration, coastal resilience, and climate data and services will advance ongoing federal efforts toward building climate resilience. The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System is the lead office in the National Ocean Service for distribution of $13.5 million in the first of five years of funding to support ocean and coastal observing systems, flood and inundation mapping and forecasting, and Regional Ocean Partnerships. We are currently working with our 11 Regional Associations and other partners to allocate those funds with year 1 disbursements anticipated in winter 2022. Read more here: https://ioos.noaa.gov/news/infrastructure-funding-observing-systems/ 
  • Building a Climate-Ready Nation - NOAA’s Latest Story Map: NOAA is on the front lines of developing the knowledge, tools and techniques needed to minimize future climate risks and build a healthy, safe and thriving nation. Check out the latest story map from NOAA highlighting how NOAA is building a climate ready nation. 
  • Sarah Kapnick Named NOAA Chief Scientist: On July 8th, The Biden-Harris Administration named Sarah Kapnick, Ph.D., as NOAA’s chief scientist. Kapnick will serve as the senior scientist for the agency, advancing policy and program direction for NOAA’s science and technology priorities. She is the third woman in NOAA’s history to be appointed to this role. Read more here: https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/sarah-kapnick-named-noaa-chief-scientist 
  • 2021 National Ocean Service Science Report Published: Explore summaries of selected scientific projects undertaken by our program offices during Fiscal Year 2021. All of these projects were submitted by each program office for consideration in the 2021 NOAA Science Report, within which many are also featured. Each project summary includes a short description of the research conducted by NOS staff, major accomplishment(s), links to published materials, and online project information. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/about/nos-science-report/2021/ NOS and NSF Collaborate on Unified Forecast System: The Unified Forecast System (UFS) is a proposed community-based earth modeling system designed to incorporate multiple forecast models into a simplified NOAA modeling suite. This unified system should reduce the number of NOAA models and thus reduce development, operations, and maintenance efforts. The UFS Coastal Application Team, which includes members from NOAA, academia, and other government agencies, is focused on identifying coastal applications and evaluation methods for operational models. The evaluation process, which will take place starting this fall, will test models both independently and coupled with other atmospheric and forecast models. This testing will take place on some of the National Science Foundation’s network of supercomputers, including those at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
  • New Software Improves GOES Water Level Data Acquisition: CO-OPS implemented the Open Source Data Collection System (OpenDCS) software to update GOES satellite data acquisition for water levels and meteorological data. OpenDCS is an open-source, community-based data acquisition and processing software for various data transmission methods. Implementing OpenDCS, which is used in various federal and state agencies, is a core part of the CO-OPS data ingestion system modernization strategy. OpenDCS also provides a streamlined way of accessing satellite telemetry and features multilevel redundancy if the data server is unavailable. CO-OPS now uses several different servers for optimum data availability in case one access point fails. With OpenDCS, there is also a slight reduction in the time it takes for data to be available, in addition to a more consistent lag time.
  • Field Test Platform Expanded at Money Point, Virginia: CO-OPS recently established a new conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) multisensor test platform at the Money Point, Virginia, water level station. The station is located less than three miles from the Chesapeake field office, offering a convenient and efficient platform for initial testing of prototype measurement systems and new sensors. This week, the platform was expanded to include CTD sensors in a real-time system configuration to support further testing for Physical Oceanographic Real Time System (PORTS®) applications. Cabled power and communications were added to subsurface CTD sensors along with an integrated data logger, satellite transmitter, and solar rechargeable power system.
  • OCS 2022 Story Map Updated to Include More Projects: The OCS story map featuring 2022 hydrographic survey projects now includes navigation response team projects, presenting a more comprehensive picture of this year’s survey work. Since 2015, OCS has created story maps to describe and illustrate the upcoming field season, but this is the first time navigation response team surveys have been captured in the story map.
  • NOAA Announces Lake Erie HAB Seasonal Forecast: NOAA and Ohio Sea Grant released their annual Lake Erie harmful algal bloom (HAB) seasonal forecast. The forecast gives coastal managers, lake users, and drinking water facility operators a general sense of the potential severity of the upcoming bloom season. NOAA and its research partners predict western Lake Erie will experience a HAB this summer measuring 3.5 on the severity index, with a potential range of 2 to 4. The severity index is based on the bloom's biomass — the amount of its harmful or toxic algae — over a sustained period. Blooms over 5 are larger in size, last longer, and have substantial impacts, with noticeable areas of scum. Blooms over 7 are particularly severe, with extensive scum formation coverage. NCCOS launched a new website to provide the biweekly forecast analysis and daily visualizations.

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