Developing the U.S. sustained and integrated ocean observing system

Serious planning for a U.S. component of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) began in 1998 with the establishment of a U.S. GOOS Steering Committee. With the establishment in October 2000 of the Ocean.US Office by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) that planning has greatly accelerated. That interagency office is charged to integrate existing and planned activities to achieve a U.S. integrated and sustained ocean observing system (IOOS) to meet long-term needs of operational and research users. In March 2002, the Ocean.US Office held a national workshop to provide the basis for an initial plan for the IOOS. Attendees represented all sectors of potential system users and scientific and technical disciplines involved in its implementation. General consensus was reached on the vision for the observing system, the core elements of the system that should be federally supported, and an approach to planning the data management and communications subsystem. A report form the workshop and the initial plan for the system have been prepared by the Ocean.US Office; they have or will be reviewed by the cognizant agencies and submitted to Congress. The U.S. IOOS will obtain the observations and provide the data management and communications subsystem required to produce needed products and services. The U.S. IOOS will consist of two major components. (1) A global, open ocean component will be of primary interest to users in the climate, defense, research, and maritime commerce sectors. (2) A coastal component, consisting of a federation of regional observing systems, will focus on products and services from the estuaries to the edge of the nation´s EEZ and will be of interest to the aforementioned sectors plus others, including resource management, public health, recreation, and energy. The user base for such a system is large. To complete the planning and implement the observing system needed to meet the vision many activities will be needed. Key activities are described and briefly discussed in the paper.