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IOOS^® - EYES ON THE OCEAN^™

From the IOOS Program Office:

• • We need your VOTE & Pass the WORD: Dr. Richard Feely, esteemed NOAA scientist, OA researcher and proud IOOSian, is up for a People's Choice Sammie Award for public service.  You can vote once per day. Submit your votes for our inaugural People’s Choice honoree to be announced at the 2015 Sammies Gala on October 7 in Washington, D.C. People’s Choice voting will close at 11:59 p.m. EST on September 30, 2015. http://servicetoamericamedals.org/

  NOAA Seeks Applicants for Hydrographic Services Review Panel: NOAA is soliciting nominations for membership on the Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP), a federal advisory committee that advises the NOAA Administrator on the agency's hydrographic programs, products, and technology. NOAA’s recent Federal Register notice provides more information.  Applications must be received by August 10.

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

• HF Radar/Radio: (IOOS national coordinator – Jack Harlan; Harlan@noaa.gov): We continue to work with NOAA’s National Weather Service to roll out HFR in AWIPS to all coastal Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) where we have HFR. To date the HFR is available at Boston and Miami and are awaiting the schedule for the other WFOs.
• Ocean Technology Transition Project:
  • A New York Times online video article entitled, "What Oysters Reveal About Sea Change" was published on July 22, 2015.  Written and Narrated by Mark Bittman and filmed in part at the Hog Island Oyster Farm in Tomales Bay, CA, the story gives a good explanation of the ocean acidification issue, its impacts on the shellfish industry, why it is important to conduct OA research and monitoring, and build collaborations between industry and science.  The "National Ocean Observing System" (i.e., IOOS and NOAA OA) funding for the OA monitoring instrumentation at Hog Island Oyster Farm in Tomales Bay, CA and at other sites along the West Coast and Alaska is also mentioned. The video can be viewed here.
  • CONGRATS: FY15 OA project awarded to the University of New Hampshire entitled, “Tracking Ocean Alkalinity Using New Carbon Measurement Technologies (TAACT).
  • CONGRATS: FY15 OTT project awarded to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution entitled, “Transition of Imaging FlowCytobot to Operational Support for Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation and Research.”
• Public-Private Partnership Seeks to Expand Underwater Acoustic Arrays Off Florida and Texas: The partnership includes the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System-Regional Association (GCOOS-RA), Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), the University of South Alabama, Texas A&M University and the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN). Canadian-based OTN helps develop acoustic telemetry projects around the world by providing acoustic receivers and expertise. They are loaning underwater receivers worth $500,000 to FWC — which is leading the iTAG effort. Dr. Jay Rooker (Texas A&M), Dr. Will Patterson (USA) and Dr. Susan Lowerre-Barbieri (FWC) will oversee the receiver arrays deployed throughout the Gulf of Mexico and in the Florida Keys.

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

(Contact Derrick or Rob to get on the list serve for changes - Derrick.Snowden@noaa.gov, Rob.Ragsdale@noaa.gov):

• QARTOD: IOOS compliance checker demonstration during the next DMAC Webinar.  The IOOS Compliance Checker is a Python tool to check local/remote datasets against a variety of compliance standards.  It will be demonstrated by Luke Campbell from Applied Science Associates on August 12th at 3 p.m. EDT.  Please email Ragsdale@noaa.gov if you would like more information about attending.  More information about the compliance checker can be found in our github repository.
• NVS - "THAT’S the way the internet is supposed to work:" A NOAA employee was talking with a fellow commuter about the conditions in Puget Sound, Washington and showed off NANOOS’ Visualization System (NVS) on her iPad. A couple of others riders overheard them talking and the individual gave a mini-demonstration of the NANOOS website. One of them said “THAT’S the way the internet is supposed to work”.  I echo her sentiments that this a great compliment to the NANOOS NVS team!

Modeling and Analysis Subsystem:

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

• COMT Annual Meeting: July 30-31.  In person space is full, but you can still participate remotely.  Please RSVP to Becky Baltes if you plan to participate and have not already notified her. The agenda is available here.
• Coastal resilience workshop: IOOS partner, SURA will host this workshop Oct. 26-28, 2015. The workshop is being conducted during a time when nuisance flooding is anticipated for Broward County, FL.  Attendees will tour selected flood sites, structures, and pumping stations and then participate in a facilitated workshop. More information on the workshop can be found here. If interested contact Reid Nichols.

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

• NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) and Natural Resources Canada (NRC) to Update the Vertical Reference Frame for the Great Lakes: NGS and Natural Resources Canada (NRC) will initiate a geodetic (precise positioning) survey of the Great Lakes beginning in early August to update the vertical reference frame (the reference system for elevation). The survey will monitor elevation changes across the Great Lakes to facilitate the development of the International Great Lakes Datum 2020 (IGLD 2020) to be released in 2025. Similar surveys were conducted in 1997, 2005 and 2010. NGS' survey of the Great Lakes will consist of 52 passive marks and 66 CORS in the United States. NRC observations will include 44 passive marks and 11 CORS in Canada. Observations dates and times are to be coordinated as closely as possible by both agencies. The update is essential to provide accurate geodetic and water level products and services to the Great Lakes community. A common defined elevation reference datum for water levels is a fundamental requirement for coordinated international management of Great Lakes waters. The project is taking place in cooperation with the International Joint Commission, established by treaty in 1909 to prevent and resolve boundary disputes between the U.S. and Canada.
• NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration Released new Fate and Effects prediction software: New software from NOAA could serve as a one-stop rapid response tool to assist spill responders in their assessment of impacts from chemical or oil spills in aquatic environments. The free software, called the Chemical Aquatic Fate and Effects (CAFE) database, estimates the fate and effects of thousands of chemicals, oils, and dispersants. The software includes short exposure risk reports for a select number of chemicals, and a section that allows users to add their own data.

Delivering Benefits:

• NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) updates current predictions in Maine: Boaters navigating through Casco Bay in Maine can now access updated current predictions for the area through the CO­OPS website.
• NOAA awards $88,000 in grant funding to respond to West Coast harmful algal bloom outbreak: NOAA announced today that it is committing $88,000 in grant and event response funding for Washington state to monitor and analyze an unusually large bloom of toxic algae off its coast. NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) provided a $75,000 grant to NANOOS, and an additional $13,000 to support data collection efforts will be distributed among multiple partners. Matching funds and services of approximately $100,000 will come from partners in support of the effort. Read the press release: Kilmer Praises Administration Grant to Help Investigate Washington state’s Harmful Algal Bloom

Congressional

• No update.

Communications / Outreach / Education:

• Steve DiMarco, TAMU gave a local interview about hypoxia and the dead zones in the Gulf that was picked up by Al Roker.  Al Roker invited him to speak on national television and here’s his interview.
• New Book on Ocean Technology Highlights GCOOS Efforts: Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions, a new book from Esri Press, chronicles how more than 50 ocean and coastal science researchers use geographic information system (GIS) tools and other technologies to study, manage, and protect the ocean and precious marine life. Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutionsincludes 16 peer-reviewed papers presented in chapters that showcase the latest and best ocean and coastal science using spatial analysis and GIS. GCOOS is featured in Chapter 16: "Near Real-Time Oceanic Glider Mission Viewers" by Shinichi Kobara, Christina Simoniello, Ruth Mullins-Perry, Ann Elizabeth Jochens, Matthew K. Howard, Stephanie M. Watson and Stephan Howden. The chapter describes how the GCOOS data portal was designed to aggregate and integrate data and model output from distributed providers and offer these and derived products through a single access point in standardized ways to diverse users. One important outcome was the development of a web map application using the ArcGIS platform to show data acquired from the glider deployments. For more info, please see http://gcoos.org.

Upcoming Meetings with IOOS Participation:

• No update.

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