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,

Next week, the IOOS Federal Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting to discuss their work plan activities and hear briefings from experts on NOAA’s Priorities for the New Blue Economy, Climate Services, and Diversity, Inclusion & Service Equity. I’m looking forward to speaking at the meeting and encourage you to join to listen in on these important discussions. Information on how to register and join the meeting can be found below. 

A programming note - the IOOS Eyes on the Ocean newsletter will change to a monthly format beginning today. You can expect to see the newsletter hit your inboxes the first Thursday of each month going forward. 

Thanks,
Carl

From the U.S. IOOS Office:

  • IOOS Advisory Committee Public Meeting - May 11th and May 13th, 2022: The next public IOOS Advisory Committee meeting will be held May 11th and May 13th, 10am-5pm ET. The meeting will be held virtually and is open to the public. You can access the Federal Register Notice here. Please register for the meeting and submit public comments ahead of the meeting using this form or by sending an e-mail to Laura Gewain, Laura.Gewain@noaa.gov. The agenda for the meeting includes panel discussions focused on NOAA’s priorities - Growing the New Blue Economy, Climate Services, and Diversity, Inclusion, and Service Equity. The agenda and other meeting materials will be available on the Committee Meeting webpage. 
  • From the IOOS Association: 
    • Help find the next IOOS Association Executive Director: The IOOS Association Board of Directors is leading a search for a new Executive Director. The IOOS Association’s long-time Executive Director, Josie Quintrell, is retiring this fall, starting a leadership transition over the next few months. This is a tremendous opportunity to grow the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System. The Executive Director position is now open. To learn more about the position and how to apply, click here.

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

  • Surface Current Mapping
    • Save the Date! 12th ROWG Meeting: The ROWG Planning Committee is pleased to announce that the 12th Radiowave Operators Working Group (ROWG) meeting will be a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting at the ECU Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese, North Carolina (https://www.coastalstudiesinstitute.org/)!  The meeting will take place Nov. 2–3, 2022 with a Radar Manufacturer Day on Nov. 4, 2022.  This will be an opportunity for manufacturers to give presentations and field questions from operators. Please save the dates and stay tuned for agenda and registration details to follow. We are so excited for an in-person meeting, but for those who cannot travel, we are including a virtual component.  We had great participation with the 2020 virtual ROWG meeting and would like to continue this connection with a wider audience.  Feel free to forward this announcement to interested parties who may not be members of this list.
  • Gliders 
    • UG2 Updates:
      • UG2 Workshop Seattle ’22: We are excited to announce the registration for the 2022 UG2 Workshop (Seattle, September 20 - 22) is now open! This workshop will bring together the global underwater glider community to strengthen international collaboration through community dialogue, exchanges of information, sharing of experiences, and development of best practices to support the glider community. The event will consist of plenaries, breakout sessions, glider lab tours, and poster sessions and vendor booths spread out over 2.5 days. We welcome all abstract submissions relevant to the broader underwater glider community. Register/Submit Abstract Now! Workshop location: University of Washington Botanical Gardens | NHS Hall and Merrill Commons, Seattle, WA. We look forward to meeting with you all at the 2022 Workshop in Seattle. If you have any questions, please reach out to info@underwatergliders.org.
      • Click here to join UG2
      • UG2 Glider Related Job Postings
  • Buoys & Moorings
    • Hilo Water Quality Buoy Redeployed, Providing Data: The Hilo Bay Water Quality Buoy, located inside Hilo Harbor, was redeployed recently and is now providing data including temperature, salinity, turbidity, chlorophyll and oxygen levels. The buoy was pulled out of the water for repairs and to replace the communications and data logger. Moored one-half mile offshore, within the plume of the Wailuku River, this buoy monitors coastal water conditions to help provide early indications of potentially polluted run-off from storm drainage, sewage spills, and soil erosion from land-based waterways that lead directly into the ocean.
  • Marine Life
    • Monterey Bay Aquarium Shares a Treasure Trove of Data About Young White Sharks: You’re gonna need a bigger USB drive.The Monterey Bay Aquarium and its collaborators have released a cache of data about great white sharks they’ve been collecting for over 20 years. Earlier this month, an international team of scientists and aquarists led by John O’Sullivan, the director of collections at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Chris Lowe of CSU Long Beach published a dataset (https://bit.ly/3MvQlwU) containing decades’ worth of information about juvenile white sharks. Researchers all over the world can now use the data to help them understand where white sharks go during their seasonal migrations, what ocean conditions they prefer and how they interact with other fish. They also published a scientific paper (https://go.nature.com/3xSAX9y) that describes how the data was collected and organized. Read more here: https://www.montereyherald.com/2022/04/25/monterey-bay-aquarium-shares-a-treasure-trove-of-data-about-young-white-sharks/ 
    • Video series: Exploring environmental DNA: Have you ever wondered what animals might be present in a particular habitat or traveled through a certain area of the ocean? Scientists are able to use environmental DNA or “eDNA” sampling to help answer those questions. NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) has recently released a new educational video series, “Exploring Environmental DNA”, on their website and YouTube channel. Read more here: https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/news/exploring-environmental-dna/
    • Explore Underwater Sounds within U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries: NOAA and the U.S. Navy are working to better understand underwater sound within the National Marine Sanctuary System. For the next few years, these agencies will work with numerous scientific partners to study sound within seven national marine sanctuaries and one marine national monument, which includes waters off Hawai’i and the east and west coasts. Standardized measurements will assess sounds produced by marine animals, physical processes (e.g., wind and waves), and human activities. Collectively, this information will help NOAA and the Navy measure sound levels and baseline acoustic conditions in sanctuaries. This work is a continuation of ongoing Navy and NOAA monitoring and research, including efforts by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Read more here: https://sanctsound.ioos.us/ 
    • Ocean Biodiversity Information System Workshop: Sarah Bingo, a biological data standards specialist with PacIOOS, helped organize and lead a Marine Biological Data Mobilization Workshop aimed at migrating marine biological observation datasets to the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). This workshop was a hands-on, interactive, virtual experience focused on helping data providers standardize their data using Darwin Core, a common vocabulary to facilitate sharing information about biological diversity.

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

  • GLOS Seagull platform is live!  Seagull is a new cloud-based platform for Great Lakes data and information.  It streamlines the process of connecting a data source so you can visualize it, learn from it, and share it. Monitor a whole fleet of observing assets and track their health, position, data streams, and hardware.  Beyond buoys and weather stations, the platform will also support forecast and predictive models, bathymetric surfaces, streaming internet of things (IoT) data, and a variety of other data formats, sources and metadata.
  • SAVE THE DATE and Request for Input! 2022 IOOS DMAC Meeting - June 14-16, 2022: We are pleased to announce that the 2022 DMAC Meeting will take place virtually on the afternoons (1:00 - 5:00 PM ET) from Tuesday, June 14 through Thursday, June 16. Please save these dates in your calendars.  Similar to last year, this year's meeting will consist of two parts each day. The first part will be presentation/plenary style sessions, composed of several 15-20 minute presentation slots. The second part will be breakout discussion groups where the group can dig into specific topics of interest. To help us identify topics of interest to the IOOS DMAC community, we've created a document which you can populate with your topics, who a presenter might be, the time needed, and the suggester's name. The deadline to provide input on the agenda is Friday, May 6. If you have any questions, please contact data.ioos@noaa.gov. 
  • Artificial Intelligence Update:  Hassan Moustahfid in collaboration with GCOOS (Felimon Gayanilo) and others submitted a session proposal for the AGU Fall 2022 Meeting entitled: AI for Ocean and Climate Change.
  • 4th NOAA Workshop on Leveraging AI in Environmental Sciences: September 6-9, 2022: This year’s interactive workshop will focus on collaboration building and active development of AI-powered applications and community standards. We invite developers, data scientists, domain experts, social scientists, and downstream users to form small teams around different use cases that are relevant to NOAA mission areas. you are invited to express your interest in the workshop using this Google form. If you have any questions, please contact ai.workshop@noaa.gov. For more information about NOAA Center for AI, please visit https://noaa.gov/AI.
  • QARTOD
    • Ocean Best Practice System Update: The OBPS has announced the Ocean Practices Workshop VI will take place virtually with plenaries 5, 6, and 19 October 2022 (each three hours long). Working Group sessions will meet in between, at times of their own choosing. The workshop will cover a broad range of topics proposed and selected by session leads and workshop coordinators. For the plenaries, there are two general themes: 1) Guiding technology evolution and use, and 2) Capacity development/sharing, with an emphasis on developing countries. Let us know if you are interested in participating, or in proposing a theme or session for a Working Group, by filling out the Interest to Participate short form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5MEiuWVNa5JXah47qoIdhKrDopmcY2bEzBcVu2MLrAATHJQ/viewform.

Modeling and Analysis Subsystem:   

  • No update.

Around the Regions:

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility:

  • IOOS DEIA at CHOW: IOOS Association DEIA Fellow Ashley Peiffer will be attending Capitol Hill Ocean Week 2022 (SEA: The Future) June 7-9th in Washington, D.C. If you are in the area and interested in meeting with Ashley to discuss IOOS’ DEIA initiatives, please contact Ashley directly at ashley@ioosassociation.org. 
  • Bringing Spotter Buoys to Indigenous Communities on the Front Lines of Climate Change: In order to provide Indigenous communities with wave data, increased mindshare and funding is paramount, and Sofar Ocean and its strategic partners have heeded this call to action. As part of a community-led ocean observing project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator program, Sofar is partnering with three regional systems of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System — PacIOOS in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Pacific Islands, NANOOS in the northwest U.S., and AOOS in Alaska — as well as Indigenous partners from the Pacific Islands, Washington coast, and Alaska, to launch Backyard Buoys.

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

  • UN Decade of Ocean Science For Sustainable Development Updates 
    • Third Call for Decade Actions Now Open: The new Call for Decade Actions No. 03/2022 is an open invitation for partners worldwide to request endorsement for transformative Decade Actions that contribute to the Ocean Decade vision. Coinciding with the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, the scope of the call for Decade Programmes is Challenge 3 – Sustainable Blue Food and Challenge 4 – Sustainable Ocean Economy. Building on the impact of the Ocean Decade since its launch in January 2021, the call aims to continue addressing thematic and regional gaps and to encourage transformative science to achieve the outcomes identified for the next ten years. Read more here: https://forum.oceandecade.org/news/734676 
    • Save the Date! Sixth Ocean Decade Laboratory - An Accessible Ocean - 10-12 May: From 10 to 12 May, the sixth Ocean Decade Laboratory will take place on the topic of the Ocean Decade Outcome “An Accessible Ocean”. It will be hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Learn more and register for the event here: https://www.oceandecade-conference.com/en/an-accessible-ocean.html 
    • African Conference on Priority Setting & Partnership Development for the UN Decade - 10-12 May: The African Conference on Priority Setting & Partnership Development for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development is hosted by the Government of Egypt through its Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, and co-organized with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO through its Sub-Commission for Africa (IOCAFRICA) and in partnership with a wide range of partners in the region. The three-day conference will be held from 10-12 May 2022 in a hybrid format with a limited physical presence in Cairo, Egypt. It will present the results of the pre-conference workshops, the regional gap analysis, and national surveys, showcase endorsed Decade Actions in the region and will be featuring high-level support from UN agencies, governments, regional organizations as well as other stakeholder groups to these regional initiatives. These discussions will feed into the regional gap analysis that will support the development of the regional Ocean Decade Action Plan to deliver the Science We Need for the Ocean We Want in Africa. For more information: https://www.oceandecade.org/events/74456-african-conference-on-priority-setting-partnership-development-for-the-un-decade-of-ocean-science-for-sustainable-development/ Register here: https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_peAFfLh5Sg-MMmIgp6xCCQ 
  • Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) News
    • In Spite of Weather, Endurance 16 Delivers: Weather did not deter the Endurance 16 cruise to recover and deploy ocean observing equipment to ensure the continuance of data to shore for the next six months. When heavy weather closed in at the end of the second leg, he science party and crew aboard the R/VSikuliaq, met the challenge, accelerated their schedule, and arrived back in Newport, Oregon on April 2, several days earlier than scheduled. Spring in the North Pacific brought with it pretty high winds and seas. When the Endurance 16 team had good weather, they pressed on through long days. Shown above is team members Alex Wick and Kristin Politano getting a subsurface float into position during an evening mooring deployment. Read more here: https://oceanobservatories.org/2022/04/in-spite-of-weather-endurance-16-delivers/
    • Efforts to Standardize Data Continue: The OOI Data Teams have recently made great strides in ongoing efforts to standardize data, making it easier for users to understand what OOI data and metadata are available. Efforts have focused on improving labeling, descriptions, and correcting units to ensure consistency. A major improvement underway is matching variable naming conventions with those governed by Climate and Forecast (CF) metadata standards. Read more here: https://oceanobservatories.org/2022/04/efforts-to-standardize-data-continue/ 
  • It’s That Time Again: Hurricane Preparedness Week is Here! Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 1-7, 2022. Be ready for hurricane season. Today you can determine your personal hurricane risk, find out if you live in a hurricane evacuation zone, and review/update insurance policies. You can also make a list of items to replenish hurricane emergency supplies and start thinking about how you will prepare your home for the coming hurricane season. If you live in hurricane-prone areas, you are encouraged to complete these simple preparations before hurricane season begins on June 1. Read more here: https://www.noaa.gov/hurricane-prep
  • NOAA Provides Support, Helps Free Grounded Container Ship Ever Forward: The large container ship waylaid in the Chesapeake Bay for weeks was back on the move by early morning on Sunday, April 17. The MV Ever Forward went aground in the mud close to Annapolis, Maryland, on March 13 after traveling south out of the Port of Baltimore. Soon after the grounding took place, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region contacted the NOAA scientific support coordinator (SSC). At the Coast Guard's request, NOAA provided scientific support and modeling to assist in the response, including detailed weather and water level information. The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the grounding. NOAA’s team from the Office of Response and Restoration worked with the Coast Guard throughout the past few weeks to get the large vessel safely back into the proper shipping channel and on track to deliver its containers to Norfolk, Virginia. Both government agencies worked together with the state of Maryland and the responsible party, the company that owns the ship, in a unified command effort close to the ship’s location. Read more here: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/apr22/mv-ever-forward.html 
  • Podcast - Water Level Stations and their Role in Tsunami Detection: Tsunamis pose a threat to our nation’s coastal communities and can have devastating impacts to lives and property. These powerful forces of nature can be caused by events like earthquakes, landslides, and even volcanic activity like the January 2022 eruption in the Tonga Islands region. Although they can’t be stopped, detecting and monitoring these waves when they occur can help warn the public of possible danger. In this episode, we speak with Paul Fanelli, Lead Oceanographer for NOAA’s National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services to learn how water level stations provide critical data to help issue alerts, and about the unique wave caused by the Tonga eruption. Listen to the podcast: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/mar22/nop54-tsunami-support.html 
  • OCS Supports IHO's Empowering Women in Hydrography Project: OCS is contributing to the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO’s) Empowering Women in Hydrography project by hosting three foreign nationals aboard NOAA ships for a hands-on experience during the 2022 survey season. Candidates have been selected from Nigeria, Suriname, and Japan. The candidates will learn about NOAA’s ships and hydrographic operations, survey specifications and deliverables, and data management processes and procedures. They will also get experience operating commercial hydrographic equipment and software. This IHO professional development opportunity will help strengthen hydrographic offices around the world, while empowering women in the hydrographic field.
  • Train the Trainer Geodetic Leveling Session: In April, staff at the NGS Testing and Training Center near Fredericksburg, Virginia, provided training on geodetic leveling data collection and blue-booking procedures to the director of the Texas Spatial Reference Center and the field crew operations chief of the Conrad Blucher Institute. The director and operations chief can now train others interested in these geodetic procedures back in their home state of Texas. Since March 2001, NGS has worked with regional stakeholders to help them obtain updated height information for dynamic areas like southeast Texas.
  • Check out the Ocean Acidification Resource Collection: The ocean absorbs the extra carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and methane gas, and that changes the chemistry of the ocean. We call this “ocean acidification.” The change in chemistry is reducing the amount of calcium carbonate in the ocean. Just as humans need calcium to build their bones, sea creatures need calcium carbonate to build strong skeletons and shells. Ocean acidification changes the chemistry of the ocean and causes “osteoporosis of the sea,” which prevents animals at the bottom of the food chain from building and maintaining the protective shells they need to survive. Read more here: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/teachers/ocean-acidification/ 

Do you have suggestions for new things you would like to see in the Eyes on the Ocean? Contact us at: eoto@noaa.gov.

Find out what's happening around NOAA's National Ocean Service: check out the NOS Assistant Administrator Weekly Newsletter.

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