Building support for an integrated ocean and coastal ocean observing system

Timely advances in our knowledge of the oceans are limited by a lack of sustained observations over extended periods and large areas. Current efforts to build support for an integrated ocean and coastal observing system represent the culmination of more than 20 years of planning. Numerous user groups will benefit from a sustained observational presence in the oceans, including academic researchers, educators, the general public, government agencies at all levels, marine fisheries, maritime transportation and the energy industry. Each of these communities has different motivations and requirements for ocean information. Fundamental research topics that require a sustained presence in the oceans include global climate change, dynamics of ocean circulation and mixing, relationships among physical processes and life in the ocean, and fluxes of sediments, carbon and contaminants in the coastal zone. Operational interests include such diverse needs as improving climate and weather forecasts, increasing national security, sustaining living resources, and facilitating safer maritime operations. As these examples indicate, an observing system will need to obtain, on a routine basis and depending on location, an extremely wide range of information covering the entire spectrum of ocean disciplines. From a programmatic perspective, the issue now is how to translate growing consensus on the need for an integrated ocean and coastal observing system into support and understanding by Congress and the federal government, the oceanographic community and public that is necessary to make it reality. Over the past two decades, we have seen successful planning and implementation of a number of large federal interagency efforts to support environmental research, monitoring and prediction. Three in particular - weather service modernization, global change research, and the converged polar-orbiting meteorological satellite program - offer case studies for identifying common elements of a successful program that can be applied to the ocean and coastal observing system.