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IOOS^® - EYES ON THE OCEAN^™

From the U.S. IOOS Office:

• Certification:  AOOS submitted their application.  The IOOS Office has been busy with 4 reviews in progress: SCCOOS, MARACOOS, GCOOS, AOOS
• National IOOS Program Fall Meeting in Alaska: Representatives of all 11 IOOS Regional Associations (RAs) as well as members of the national IOOS Program Office and NOAA’s Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) met in Alaska Sept 25-30. The week began with an RA Director retreat at the Knik River Lodge, followed by two days of meetings at the AOOS offices, a reception at former Governor Bill Sheffield’s house, and field trips to Seward (Alaska SeaLife Center, Alutiiq Pride Hatchery and UAF Marine Center) and Homer (Kasitsna Bay Lab and Seldovia). The meetings focused on collaborative planning with other NOAA line offices on ecological forecasting and the IOOS Association’s “Closing the Gaps” campaign to fill in national ocean observing gaps. A separate report on the suite of meetings will be circulated later.
• Thank you Dalhousie University:  I was honored and humbled by Dalhousie as they presented me an honorary doctorate degree.  Thank you to OTN who nominated me.
• Town Halls and Exhibits: IOOS at Ocean ’16 in Monterey:  Get a full run down and access the presentations at:  https://ioos.noaa.gov/communications/oceans16/,  https://ioos.noaa.gov/communications/oceans16/ioos-oceans-16/

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

• HF Radar/Radio: (IOOS national coordinator, Jack Harlan; Jack.Harlan@noaa.gov):
  • The TRADE (www.tradehf.eu) project ("Trans-regional radars for Environmental applications") is a project approved under the Cooperation Operational Programme Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) with ERDF funding. The project involves the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute, Puertos del Estado of Spain and Cádiz University. The project's main goal is to prevent the risks associated with navigation and port operations in the Gulf of Cadiz, from the Straits of Gibraltar to Cape St. Vincente, considering this maritime corridor is one of the most trafficked for oil products and chemicals. The project supports the preservation of the environment, economy and tourism in the region. Six 13.5MHz CODAR HF radar stations were installed. Four radars cover the Algarve area at Sagres, Alfanzina, Vila Real de Santo António and Huelva, and two more in the Gibraltar area: Punta Tarifa e Punta Carnero. Although the project has ended in 2014, all the institutions integrated their HF stations into an international network, now being fully operational generating hourly maps of surface currents for an area over 16,000 square kilometers.
  • Offshore Wind Turbine Interference: A kickoff telecon was held on 14 Oct among BOEM, CODAR and IOOS Office.  At that meeting CODAR Sensors, Ltd’s draft work plan was approved by BOEM.  The initial effort will entail getting detailed operational parameters from the Deepwater Wind company that operates the turbines; BOEM will facilitate getting that information.  The turbines are set to begin operation in November.  A summary of the results of the turbine parameters investigation is due 22 Dec as a deliverable to BOEM.  Knowing these parameters is essential to understanding the interference seen by the HF radars in the area.
• Ocean Technology Transition: The University of California Santa Cruz Kudela Lab deployed an Imaging Flow CytoBot on a U.S. Geological Survey Research Vessel in the San Francisco Bay on October 11 as part of a U.S. IOOS Funded Ocean Technology Transition Project.  Read More.
• SECOORA Glider Observatory: Four gliders deployed during September 2016 journeyed along the South Atlantic Bight through the footprints of SECOORA funded assets - high frequency radar, buoys and SABGOM model output. Two gliders were deployed in Port Canaveral, Florida and the other two in Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Georgia. The effort was part of the SECOORA Regional Glider Observatory Network composed of experts and gliders from five universities.  Read More

Data Management and Communications (DMAC) Subsystem and Tools Built on IOOS data (DMAC list serve – contact Derrick or Rob - Derrick.Snowden@noaa.gov, Rob.Ragsdale@noaa.gov):

• Testing the Gold Standard: NCEI has developed 12 reports documenting the testing the ‘gold standard’ example netCDF files in various netCDF compliance checkers, including the IOOS web compliance checker. An attempt was made to import and plot the data with some software packages and document the results of those actions. Find the reports at the NCEI-IOOS Google Site.
• ATN (National Coordinator Bill Woodward, Bill.Woodward@noaa.gov):
  • MARACOOS MATOS ATN: Substantial progress is being made by RPS/ASA on the MARACOOS MATOS ATN acoustic data node. The database is developed and user connection and structure is now in place to allow members to create data sharing rings. They are ready to begin uploading datasets from beta-testers through our partners at National Marine Fisheries Chesapeake Bay Office. ASA is working on the GUI development and data visualization tools. MARACOOS Regional Stakeholder Workshop where the MATOS tool will be demonstrated is now targeted for mid-late February 2017.
  • SECOORA-FACT ATN acoustic node:  The node is in place and is ready to populate its database with datasets from the FACT members. We are thrilled that Dr. Joy Young (FWRI) is taking on the task of encouraging and assisting the members with that process. Thanks very much to Joy! Axiom is tasked to create the data connectivity between this node and our ATN DAC later this year.
  • Job posting- Closes Oct 21: Ocean Tracking Network, Senior Project Manager
  • Data Exchange Standard for Acoustic, Archival, and Satellite tags, v1.0: Now registered on the MMI site! The standard is based on the metadata convention developed for acoustic telemetry projects (Payne et al. 2013), the structure of the IMOS Animal Tracking database, and additional metadata information gathered from various projects (e.g. OTN, TOPP, Movebank) (Kranstauber et al. 2011).

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

• ASLO session: Becky and Rick Luettich submitted two abstracts about the Ecological Forecasting Roadmap and COMT to a session she is co-chairing for the upcoming ASLO meeting.  Details for the session titled, “Transitioning Ecological Forecasting Research to Operational Applications,” can be found here.
• COMT Meeting presentations posted here.

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

• NERRS-IOOS Meeting materials posted: The NERRS-IOOS Phase II Workshop action items and draft white papers have been posted here.
• IOOC Glider Task Team Workshop:  The workshop will take place on January 18-19 in Stennis, MS.
• Group on Earth Observation - Blue Planet:  Blue Planet has been approved by the GEO Programme Board for inclusion as an Initiative in the GEO 2017-2019 Work Programme. The Work Programme will be presented for formal approval at the upcoming GEO-XIII Plenary to be held 7-10 November in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. As a GEO Initiative, Blue Planet will allow for direct linkages between the ocean observing community and users within an agreed, yet flexible framework. Over the coming year, Blue Planet will focus on engagement with the ocean observing community, end-users and industry with the goal of expanding its network. For additional information, please see the 2017-2019 Implementation Plan and our new website - www.geoblueplanet.com.

Delivering the Benefits:

• Supporting Hurricane Forecasting and Response: When a Hurricane is threatening the United States, many folks take action. For our IOOS partners (CO-OPS) and IOOS Regional Associations it is not different. Below are examples of how ocean information is used to support NOAA’s National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center and regional managers:
  • CO-OPS QuickLooks and preliminary extreme water level and meteorological data report:  CO-OPS produced this for the region between Vaca Key, FL and Delaware City, DE highlighting extreme water level and meteorological observations during the hurricane. They produced a Highest Water Levels Summary graphic summarizing peak water levels at stations along the coast. This information does very well with the public following storms, as one of the most common questions we get after a storm is, “how high did the water get and did it break a record?” The graphic for Matthew earned a Great Gov Tweet, thanks to its popularity and was picked up by the Capital Weather Gang
  • SECOORA’s Hurricane Matthew Resource Page and Blog: SECOORA partners and US IOOS Regional Associations - CARICOOS, MARACOOS, and SECOORA – captured Hurricane Matthew in real time.  SECOORA set up a resources page and experts are contributing information on the storms progression on their new blog. Use our data portal to overlay multiple data sets for an integrated visualization of coastal data in Matthew's path. Read More 
  • MARACOOS’ Storm Resource Center: MARCOOS also set up a Storm Resource Center that provided a mobile app and a Hurricane Matthew layer in MARACOOS OceansMap, and a link to partner resources.
• Harmful Algal Bloom forecast in Pacific Northwest: NOAA's NCCOS are funding development of a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) forecast in the Pacific Northwest to support management of shellfisheries, clamming beaches, and human health.  The experimental monitoring and forecasting system will launch in 2017, with forecast bulletins predicting bloom location and concentration several days in advance.  This new development is a joint effort between NOAA, members of the Makah Tribe, the University of Washington, the University of Strathclyde, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and NANOOS.  Read the NCCOS article.  NANOOS’ Real-time HABs page can be accessed at http://www.nanoos.org/products/real-time_habs/.
• GLOS Annual Meeting: GLOS celebrated its 10th anniversary and its recent success as the 2nd IOOS Region to receive formal IOOS Certification at its GLOS annual meeting on October 12, 2016.  GLOS enjoyed a successful meeting celebrating their recent milestones and 10th anniversary while hearing from stakeholders about the value of GLOS data and data services that are helping communities across the Great Lakes.  Highlights from the meeting included the crowd favorite “Choose your own data adventure” on the MyGLOS data portal.  Kelly Knee, from RPS/ASA led a live demonstration using audience voting to select which lakes, which data, and which adventure to take.  Another highlight was Scott Moegling’s briefing about the Cleveland Water treatment plans. He explained how GLOS data buoys benefit the Cleveland Water district by allowing them to adjust management practices on an hourly basis to improve drinking water delivery to Lake Erie communities.  GLOS plans to work with Scott to capture this success story for their web site soon.
• Puget Sound marine conditions for the year 2015 available:  Physical, chemical, and biological information ranging from large-scale climate variations to local biota monitoring are summarized to provide an overview of Puget Sound conditions.  The report includes many contributions from NANOOS, the Puget Sound Partnership, and NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center as part of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program.  Read the report.
• Council on Foreign Relations Arctic Strategy Task Force: AOOS hosted a climate science briefing for the co-chairs of the task force – retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen and former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman – on August 22. Fourteen scientists gave the two, as well as 2 CFR staff members, 5-minute briefings on current research in Alaska. In closing remarks, Admiral Allen noted how impressed he was by the way the Alaska research community was working together.

Congressional:  

• No update.

Communications/Outreach/Education:

• Ocean News and Technology: MTS’s World Wide Survey of Recent Ocean Observatory Activities 2016 update features IOOS activities.  This update will be rolled out in two parts, Part 1 page 30 – Europe and the Americas appears in the September issue and Part 2 – Asia and Oceana will appear in the October issue.  Highlighted topics in this issue are:
  • U.S IOOS coordinated Gliderpalooza – separate article – page 20;
  • IOOS’s involvement with the National Animal Telemetry Network;
  • IOOS’s involvement with Marine Biodiversity Observation Network;
  • SCCOOS’s involvement with an Under Keel Clearance Project at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach; and
  • AOOS’ many projects investigating ice and water level observations.
• Why Biodiversity is Good for the Economy: University of Minnesota looks at the economics of biodiversity through a great video.
• Training the Next Generation: Congratulations to Julianna Diehl and Andrew Reid for completing their summer coastal and ocean observing internships with SECOORA, US IOOS and University of South Florida College of Marine Science. Under the mentorship of Dave Easter (US IOOS), Jay Law (USF CMS) and Vembu Subramanian (SECOORA), the undergraduate students learned hands-on the importance of coastal ocean observing by outfitting moorings, acting as chief scientist during an annual mooring maintenance cruise, and becoming a certified American Academy of Underwater Sciences Scientific Diver.  Read more.

Upcoming Meetings with IOOS Participation:

• Marine Renewable Energy Committee releases agenda for November TechSurge:  Marine Technology Societies’ Marine Renewable Energy Techsurge agenda has been published. The TechSurge event takes place in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on November 2-3. The event will kick off on Wednesday afternoon with an offsite tour of the University of New Hampshire Living Bridge, followed by an opening session and welcome reception. Thursday's schedule features a full day of technical presentations and an expert panel. In total, the conference will feature 18 different presentations on topics related to Tidal Energy Devices, Hydrokinetic Energy and Wave Energy.
• San Diego BlueTech Week, Nov 7-10: IOOS and NOAA are once again proud to be a sponsor of this event.  This year’s theme is “Case Studies of Collaboration” as we organize 6 events over 5 days and focus on international partnerships. So whether you’re interested in networking with international partners, rubbing elbows with senior government officials and industry executives, meeting investors, exploring career opportunities in the Blue Economy, or finding new maritime technologies from around the world, San Diego BlueTechWeek will have it all. For all the information and to register: http://www.themaritimealliance.org/events/san-diego-bluetech-week/
• Oceanology International Comes to North America: The OI North America 2017 Conference has a 3-part program that will consist of a series of keynote end-user focused panel discussions, topical technical sessions and a full day dedicated to the Catch the Next Wave conference, all aiming to provide a better understanding of present and future requirements and opportunities of the Blue Economy. Abstracts are being sought now: http://www.oceanologyinternationalnorthamerica.com/en/Whats-On/2017-Conference-

View the IOOS calendar: https://ioosassociation.org/.