A U.S. commitment to building ocean partnerships and an integrated ocean observing system

In March 1995, the U.S. Congress held hearings on leveraging national oceanographic capabilities. Subsequently, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) was established in 1997, in part to ensure that optimal use is made of the oceans and coastal areas. NOPP is a formal collaboration of twelve U.S. government agencies that support oceanographic research and education. Through NOPP these agencies identify broad issues of importance to oceanography and fund activities that involve partnerships from academia, government, industry and non-profit organizations. Areas of specific interest include fostering the development of capabilities for ocean observing systems, data assimilation and modeling, and pre-college education. Particular emphasis has recently been given to developing a plan for a U.S. integrated ocean observing system that would meet national needs, while also serving as the U.S. component of a global ocean observing system. During the past year, two reports were completed under the auspices of NOPP which provide the basis and strategy for moving forward with a balanced, integrated long-term approach for ocean observations, including management. While details of such a strategy are still under development and review, some basic concepts and elements have been identified.

The system will be a federation, distributed in space, with standardization and quality control overseen by an office staffed by representatives of the oceanographic funding agencies and user communities, as appropriate. Initial actions that will be critical to its success are: 1) identification and enhanced funding, where needed, for existing elements of the system in various agencies; 2) initiation of concept demonstration projects for open ocean and coastal portions of the system; 3) establishment of common approaches for data management, dissemination, and assimilation; and 4) identification of the critical needs in new technology for observations. An implementation office (OCEAN.US) is being established under the auspices of NOPP to develop the next steps for moving forward to solidify a national commitment for an integrated, sustained ocean observing system. The status of the management of the system, and details on its initial elements, and proposed demonstration projects will be discussed.