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IOOS^® - EYES ON THE OCEAN^™

From the IOOS Program Office:

• National Ecological Observatory Network visits IOOS PO: Brian Wee and Russ Lea from NEON, the National Ecological Observatory Network visited IOOS 6 Feb and met with Gabrielle, Derrick, Hassan, Rob, and Howard Diamond.  They spoke briefly about the current build out status of NEON but were most interested in finding opportunities to explore the integration of NEON stations with coastal observing systems such as NERRS and the IOOS RA infrastructure.
• IOOS Ocean Enterprise Study: IOOS, ERISS Corporation, and The Maritime Alliance are making progress with the next phase of the study and the development of the survey tool. The second phase of the study will begin in April and will focus on surveying the approximately 600 companies identified in phase 1 of the study. For more information, or if your company would like to get involved, please visit: http://www.usworks.com/usioos/
• Shellfish growers meet with IOOS Deputy Director: Members from the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA) and the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association (ECSGA) visited the IOOS PO on 2 Feb to meet with Carl Gouldman and Jen Rhoades. The group discussed continued partnership opportunities and reviewed program budgets during their annual visit to DC to meet with members of Congress. IOOS confirmed the ongoing strong partnership with the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and noted positive progress on the Ocean Technology Transition projects that support shellfish growers.
• GCOOS needs your help:  The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association is seeking nominations for its Board of Directors, which helps to guide the priorities and direction of the organization. Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Feb. 18. GCOOS-RA - which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year - is a nonprofit organization with members from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that is tasked with establishing a sustained observing system for the Gulf of Mexico to provide ocean information needed by end-users. Self-nominations are welcome. Nominations should include a short biography; indicate the member organization and its sector (government, academic, industry, education/outreach, etc.). Nominations should be emailed to BOTH Alyssa Dausman, adausman@usgs.gov, Chair of the GCOOS-RA Membership Committee, AND Susan Martin, susan.martin@gcoos.org. For the full call for nominations, see http://gcoos.org

Observation Subsystem and Sensor Technologies:

• High Frequency Radar/Radio: (Lead Jack Harlan, Jack.Harlan@noaa.gov):
  • New York Harbor added to CO-OPS Surface Current Web Product: Using data from the U.S. IOOS, CO-OPS has recently added New York Harbor as a third site for the High Frequency (HF) Radar web product, which provides near-real time surface current  observations and tidal current predictions in estuarine and coastal locations.  The product offers broad spatial coverage of surface currents in areas vital for marine navigation and is available at Chesapeake Bay and San Francisco Bay in addition to New York Harbor. The HF Radar web product also supports NOAA’s Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®), a system that provides real-time water level, currents and meteorological observations for save navigation. For more information, contact Greg Dusek (CO-OPS) (gregory.dusek@noaa.gov) or Jack Harlan (IOOS) (jack.harlan@noaa.gov).

•  Gliders: (Lead Becky Baltes, becky.baltes@noaa.gov):
  • Glider deployment in Puerto Rico: AOML has deployed two gliders off the coast of Puerto Rico on their second mission of a multi-institutional effort that brings together the research and operational components within NOAA and the university community. The goals of the mission are to implement and carry out sustained and targeted ocean observations from underwater gliders in the Caribbean Sea and southwestern tropical North Atlantic Ocean and in support of CariCOOS (Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System).

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
  • Final comments were received from the original dissolved oxygen QC manual committee and reviewers, addressing updates to the document. A draft of the updated manual has been produced and has been circulated to RA Directors, the DMAC committee, the QARTOD Board of Advisors, and US IOOS colleagues for further review. Work continues on the draft ocean optics QC manual, now out for review by the RAs.
  • A QARTOD white paper has been produced for distribution at the 2015 IEEE/OES Eleventh Currents, Waves, and Turbulence Measurements in March.
  • Discussions continue with DMAC members working to implement QC tests, who may provide test result graphics for use in manual updates

Modeling and Analysis Subsystem:

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

• COMT: The COMT project teams submitted six oral and poster abstracts for the Testbeds and Proving Grounds Annual Meeting so we expect to have a strong presence at the meeting in Boulder, CO Apr 14-16.  There was at least one submission from every team focusing on how their work is meeting this year’s theme of Environmental Intelligence.
• West Coast Operational Forecasting System: The WCOFS project technical team met last week and they continue to engage with RA modeling liaisons to ensure the project is meeting both federal and regional requirements.  If you are interested in learning more, please contact Becky Baltes, becky.baltes@noaa.gov

Interagency and International Collaboration/News:

• • Interagency Ocean Observation Committee Meeting, 1/26/2015:
  • • Carl presented the IOOS annual report to the IOOC on January 26. The report will be posted shortly to the IOOS website.
    • At the request of the IOOC co-chairs, Paul DiGiacomo presented an overview of NOAA’s observing capacity. This was the 4th in a series of agency presentations on IOOS activities.
  •  NOAA Fisheries EDM will be hosting a meeting next week to discuss improving access to NMFS bottom trawl surveys. Alaska Fisheries Science Center will be presenting their web tool designed to make trawl surveys data publicly accessible. The group also will conduct a comparison between NMFS trawl surveys data/metadata content and IOOS DMAC BDS data services.
  • Your Support Needed:  The Nutrient Sensor Challenge is under way. Led by the IOOS’ partner Alliance for Coastal Technologies and the Challenging Nutrients Coalition, the Challenge aims to accelerate the development of affordable, reliable sensors for measuring nutrients in aquatic environments. Key to the Challenge is demonstrating to developers that there is a robust market for sensors that are more affordable, accurate, and reliable. A large market not only reduces risk for manufacturers, but also encourages competition and innovation that can reduce costs for you – the sensor users.  Preliminary research shows a high demand for affordable, accurate sensors by agencies, states, utilities, watershed managers, and researchers all over the world. Are you part of this market?  Indicate your support and answer a few simple questions – your input will make a difference!

Delivering Benefits:

• CeNCOOS Governing Council Winter Meeting Presentations Posted: Presentations from the governing council meeting have been posted on the CeNCOOS website.
• Verification of Ballast Water Compliance Tools Opportunity Announcement: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT), in association with the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (USCG RDC), Maritime Administration (MARAD), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC), and Great Ships Initiative (GSI), is currently accepting applications from developers and manufacturers of commercially available compliance tools that use variable fluorescence to determine concentrations of live organisms in ballast water and to identify non-compliance with international and national ballast water discharge standards. This Performance Verification will follow the ACT Technology Evaluation model with a Protocol Workshop in the Washington DC area in March 2015, and subsequent controlled laboratory and field testing at 3 to 4 sites in the US in spring and summer 2015.  Participation in this effort will be open to all qualifying applicants, and results will be made available to the public in individual summary reports.
• Please visit www.act-us.info/rft.php for more information on this Performance Verification and to download application forms.  Initial applications are due February 27, 2015.  Questions can be directed to Dr. Mario Tamburri (tamburri@umces.edu) or Dr. Lisa Drake (lisa.drake@nrl.navy.mil).
• CariCOOS: University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez student receives Excellence in Poster Presentation Award at APS Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics: CariCOOS congratulates Dr. Aponte's student Jaynise Perez for receiving the "Excellence in Poster Presentation" Award at the APS Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics. Her poster "CariCOOS Real-Time Data Validation of High-Resolution WRF Model" was presented in January at Rutgers University.
• AOOS glider marks its 30th day in Antarctic waters: An underwater autonomous glider supported by AOOS and operated by UAF is on its 30th consecutive days of flying through Antarctic waters.  The AOOS glider is one of five gliders measuring salinity, currents and photosynthetic activity in the Antarctic water column near the Palmer Research Station to help identify water convergence zones.
• NERACOOS buoys and forecast system deliver critical information during North East Blizzard: Read more: http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8dcea9cdf5&id=704a1f0f59#Blizzard
• SECOORA hosts Stakeholder Beach Water Quality Meeting in Sarasota FL: SECOORA hosted a meeting to discuss stakeholder’s needs and concerns about the beach water quality application, How’s the Beach. Attendees included representatives from Florida Department of Health Sarasota County, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Florida Gulf Coast University, University of South Florida, Manatee County, National Weather Service, Mote Marine Laboratory, Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association and more. Read the full story here: http://secoora.org/bwq_meeting
• GCOOS Board Member Selected to Serve as 2015 Cohort with the Kettering Foundation: The GCOOS-RA congratulates Dr. Mike Spranger, and his colleague, Dr. Muthusami Kumaran, both University of Florida faculty members, for their recent selection to serve as 2015 cohorts with the Kettering Foundation. Read more: http://gcoos.org
• NANOOS - Ice in Hood Canal?: Check out the new NANOOS educational blog post (http://nanooseducation.blogspot.com/) to find out what their field engineers encountered last winter while performing buoy maintenance.
• PacIOOS - Get a Glimpse of the Deep Sea in Real-Time: Last month Voyager brought you live audio and other measurements from the ALOHA Cabled Observatory (ACO). This month brings you a live video feed from the ACO site! Since June 2011, the ALOHA Cabled Observatory has been providing real-time oceanographic observations from a depth of 4,800m via a submarine fiber optic cable that comes ashore on O'ahu. A video camera was added to the ACO instrumentation during a cruise in November 2014, and is now streaming online. Check out the video on Voyager, and you may spot a sea cucumber, shrimp, jellyfish, squid, or other deep sea life!

Congressional

• No update.

Communications / Outreach / Education:

• IOOS Ocean Enterprise Study in the news: “First Phase of The Ocean Enterprise Concluded,”  http://www.marinetechnologynews.com/news/first-phase-ocean-enterprise-508092
• WCRP Polar Challenge: WCRP has recently launched the “WCRP Polar Challenge” intending to reward the first team able to complete a 2000km mission with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) under the sea-ice in the Arctic or Antarctic. Bonus awards would be delivered for demonstration of regular measurements of sea-ice thickness or draft, and successful under-ice transmission of position and environmental data onto operational networks. A web page is available at http://www.wcrp-climate.org/polarchallenge with more information.

Upcoming Meetings with IOOS Participation:

• U.S. Hydro 2015 Conference: Presented by The Hydrographic Society of America, U.S. Hydro 2015 will be held at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor, MD, on March 16-19, 2015. U.S. Hydro 2015 is a continuation of the series of hydrographic conferences that alternate between the United States and Canada. This is the fifteenth U.S. Hydrographic conference and follows on the very successful U.S. Hydro 2013, held in New Orleans, LA. More info here: http://www.hypack.com/ushydro/2015/
• Announcing the 2nd Blue Planet Symposium - Following the success of the inaugural Blue Planet Symposium held in Ilhabela, Brazil in 2012, we are pleased to inform you the 2nd Symposium will be held in Cairns, Australia, May 27-29 2015. The 2nd Symposium seeks to bring ocean observations to users by connecting leaders and representatives of various international organisations and networks, research scientists and postdoctoral and graduate students to:
  • Learn about the various relevant on-going activities
  • Coordinate better the ocean-related tasks within Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
  • Speak with a collective voice to GEO member nations and participating organisations
  • Raise awareness of societal benefits of ocean observations to the broader community, targeting in particular policy makers and funding agencies
  • Seek new avenues for enhancing implementation of ocean observation systems
  • and Promote capacity building globally, especially in developing countries.

   

  The call for presentation and poster abstracts is now open and we encourage your submissions around the Blue Planet Components. Submit through the Blue Planet website, abstracts are limited to 2000 characters.

  Submissions will close on 13 February, 2015. 

  The symposium program will be organized according to the Blue Planet Components:

  • Sustained Ocean Observations
  • Sustained Ecosystems and Food Security
  • Ocean Forecasting and Services
  • Services for the Coastal Zone
  • Ocean Climate and Carbon
  • Developing Capacity and Social Awareness

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