Integrated Ocean Observing to Meet Societal Needs

The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) is an interagency partnership program comprising federal and nonfederal partners to gather ocean observations from disparate sources and make them accessible to meet societal needs. Through the IOOS framework, IOOS connects the local and regional to the national and global ocean observing activities. The 11 nonfederal Regional Associations (RAs) that are funded through the U.S. IOOS Office in NOAA are essential to integrating local and regional assets into the IOOS framework. These organizations are largely composed of academic, state/local/tribal government, and private industry groups, and operate a variety of coastal observing assets (moorings, gliders, HF radar, and shore stations) that directly tie to local stakeholder needs. Observations from these assets are hosted on RA data portals, integrated into regional and national products, and are also delivered to the NOAA National Data Buoy Center for dissemination to the WMO Global Telecommunication System for global access.

IOOS works with the data management community to develop and promote data standards that enable interoperability for successful data integration, and these standards are implemented across the RAs. This facilitates the development of information products derived from IOOS observations that have numerous applications to human health, safety, and the economy. For example, the High Frequency Radar surface currents are integrated into the US Coast Guard systems to aid search and rescue operations, and are also used in navigation systems to support maritime safety and navigation. Gliders operated in the mid-Atlantic IOOS region during tropical cyclones are used to characterize ocean stratification ahead of the storm, and research reveals that data assimilation of this glider data into models may improve hurricane-intensity forecasts. Regional applications of integrated remote sensing and in situ observations include HAB monitoring tools and forecasts that enable the shellfish/fishing industry and water managers to make decisions based on risks of toxins that impact human health, and risk of impacts to the local economy. Overall, these integrated datasets provide the tools to continue building operational oceanography capabilities that enables decision-makers.