Eyes on the Ocean™ - IOOS Newsletter - 1 August 2024 - The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) (2024)

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Dear IOOS Community,

As we head into late summer, the IOOS Office is preparing for the end of the fiscal year, but work to advance the IOOS mission is showing no signs of cooling off anytime soon. The last two weeks for me included travel to American Samoa for the PacIOOS Executive Committee meeting followed by some much needed vacation for some personal ocean observing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

We also held the summer IOOS Federal Advisory Committee meeting last week in Washington, D.C. This meeting was the last in person meeting of this Committee as 9 of the 14 members will come to the end of their second term in September. I want to convey my appreciation to the IOOS Advisory Committee Chair Scott Rayder and Vice Chair Sara Graves for their leadership and dedication to the Committee and to advancing IOOS over the last 6 years. I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Spinrad has selected ten new members to serve on the Committee and he has appointed Debra Hernandez, SECOORA Executive Director to Chair the Committee. Debra’s extensive experience with the IOOS Enterprise will enable her to hit the ground running, leading the committee through their next term. Debra also will be the first woman to serve in this role. We look forward to setting up the new Committee for success as they work to provide critical advice to the NOAA Administrator and the IOOC to set priorities for advancing the IOOS Enterprise.

Lastly, we want to hear from you! For August through October, we’re running a survey (Paperwork Reduction Act approved!) to find out what you like about our newsletter, what you don’t like, and how you think we could improve it. It’s seven questions and should only take a few minutes to complete. I hope many of you will take a few minutes to give us your feedback: https://touchpoints.app.cloud.gov/touchpoints/6ba91930/submit

Thanks,

Carl

• Give us your opinion! Is this newsletter useful to you? Could it be better? Do you have an idea that could improve the experience? We’ve put together a short seven question survey to find out what we do well and what we could do better. You can access the survey here, and we’d be grateful for your feedback! https://touchpoints.app.cloud.gov/touchpoints/6ba91930/submit

• CMTS Seeking Input on Resilience Challenges for Ports: The U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register to identify what planning guidance, data sources, and grants U.S. ports have used in planning for long-term environmental change, and to identify if there are any barriers to action in planning for the future. Ports face a variety of challenges when it comes to environmental change. Many are already subjected to inundation from storm surge and other coastal flood factors, problems that will only be exacerbated in the near future. Absent accelerated revision in the use of expert resilience guidance and quality environmental data, U.S. competitiveness and operational efficiency in the marine transportation system will be negatively impacted. The RFI will be open for 45 days, and the CMTS welcomes input from port managers and planners, firms contracted by ports, academic institutions that work alongside ports, and others who conduct work in or related to this space. We encourage you to share this RFI broadly with your networks to get as robust of feedback as possible. The RFI can be found online at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/15/2024-15356/request-for-information-to-identify-barriers-to-planning-for-climate-resilience-in-us-ports.

• Successful U.S. IOOS Advisory Committee Meeting: The IOOS Advisory Committee met July 24th and 25th in Washington D.C. It was a very successful meeting which included briefings from NOAA Leadership including Dr. Rick Spinrad and Nicole LeBoeuf, discussion on the IOOS budget, and discussion and initial response on the Committee recommendations to NOAA and the IOOC on Marine Life and engagement with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. In September, nine of the current committee members will come to the end of their second term and rotate off of the Committee. Five current committee members are eligible for a second term. NOAA has selected 10 new committee members who will begin their term in September. Dr. Spinrad and Nicole both thanked the outgoing committee members for this work and dedication to advancing IOOS.

• From the IOOS Association:

• Recording Available - NHABON's 11th Webinar: Synergies in HAB Observations across UN Ocean Decade Programmes: If you missed the June 26th webinar, you can now watch a recording here.

• Surface Current Mapping
  • Revolution Wind, LLC HF-Radar WTRIM MOA signed: On July 9, 2024 the U.S. IOOS Office and Revolution Wind, LLC fully executed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the wind turbine radar interference mitigation (WTRIM) of mission-degrading offshore wind (OSW) turbine interference to IOOS oceanographic high-frequency (HF) radars by the Revolution Wind Farm. This effort, led by IOOS Surface Currents Program Manager Brian Zelenke, is the second HFR WTRIM MOA between IOOS and OSW developers Ørsted and Eversource (first was for the South Fork Wind Farm). This Revolution Wind Farm, off the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island, impacts 11 HF-radar sensors, which are used by NOAA IOOS in support of mission objectives including informing U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue, tracking and predicting the movement of spills of oil and other hazardous materials, monitoring water quality, and predicting sea state for safe marine navigation. The MOA requires Revolution Wind to share surface current velocity, wave data, and other oceanographic measurements from their met-ocean buoy, and from additional wave and current microwave radars mounted on the offshore sub-stations of both this Revolution Wind Farm and the nearby South Fork Wind Farm. These additional data will be used by IOOS to mitigate the turbines’ interference to the HF-radar signal. Similar MOAs with other OSW developers are being established by Brian Zelenke for wind farms around the U.S. coast.
  • High-frequency radar for Florida’s east coast: The Florida Institute of Technology and UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography recently installed four high frequency radars on the east coast of Florida. These systems measure the speed and direction of ocean currents, which is helpful for offshore search and rescue efforts, the tracking of oil spills and marine debris, and ocean modeling. Florida Institute of Technology and UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography recently installed four high frequency radars (HFR) on the central east coast of Florida. A huge shout-out to SECOORA's Jen Dorton and Debra Hernandez, and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography's Catherine Edwards (and her entire lab), and HFR technician CDR James Bird (USN ret.) for all of their hard work in getting this done. Read all about it here.
• Gliders
  • Seaglider Mission Launched: This month PacIOOS embarked on its first autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) mission supporting hurricane intensity forecasts for the Hawaiian Islands. Using Seagliders, PacIOOS will patrol the waters East and South of the state while monitoring ocean conditions down to 90 meters depth. Although 2024 is considered a La Nina year, with the number of tropical storms in the Central Pacific projected to be small, monitoring the ocean around Hawaiʻi with Seaglider AUVs is a research effort PacIOOS plans to conduct annually during the region's hurricane season (Jun-Nov). The Seagliders can stay out to sea for over three months and monitor a variety of parameters, including ocean temperature, salinity, oxygen concentration, and various wavelengths of light which help scientists evaluate phytoplankton communities. In conjunction with meteorological forecasters at the National Weather Service, the data collected will help improve our understanding of a pending storm's strength and trajectory as it approaches the islands. The data collected is publicly available and can be found on PacIOOS Voyager and SOEST Ocean Gliders current missions as Seaglider 512.
  • UG2 Updates:
    • 2024 Glider Workshop: Registration has been extended for the UG2 Workshop which will be hosted at the University of Michigan Palmer Commons from September 10 - 12, 2024. This workshop will bring together the global underwater glider community to strengthen international collaboration through community dialogue, exchanges of information, sharing of experiences, and development of best practices to support the glider community. The event will consist of plenaries, break out sessions, town halls, networking happy hours, poster sessions, and vendor booths spread out over three action-packed days.
      
      • Click here to access the registration form
      • Check the website for updates and information
    • Please visit the UG2 website (www.underwatergliders.org ) for upcoming events, job opportunities and UG2 updates. Please send us any photos, resources, jobs, or events that we can showcase.
    • Click here to join UG2
    • Check the website for job opportunities
• Buoys & Moorings
  • Backyard Buoys All-Hands: In February, the Backyard Buoys project held an All-Hands meeting in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The meeting brought together U.S. IOOS regional associations and Indigenous partners from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and the Pacific Islands to share lessons learned, engagement strategies, and to strengthen the bonds formed through a commitment to ocean safety. Read the All-Hands meeting report here.
  • The Saipan buoy is back online! Mahalo to PacIOOS CNMI liaison Robbie Green, and the Captain and Crew of the Lucky Harvest for a successful deployment. This buoy measures waves approximately 5 miles offshore Tanapag, on the west coast of Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. To access the data visit: pacioos.hawaii.edu/waves/buoy-tanapag/
  • Two New Buoys Deployed in California: Thanks to BIL funding, two additional buoys were purchased and deployed off San Onofre and Ventura. The buoys are successfully collecting and transmitting real-time air temperature, sea surface temperature, acoustic transmitter detections, as well as seafloor temperature, chlorophyll-a, and dissolved oxygen. The transmitted shark detections and environmental data are essential for California lifeguards for public safety. The data is ingested and updated daily on the CalOOS data portal.
  • Shore Station replaced at Santa Monica Pier: Due to tropical storm Hilary, which made landfall in southern California in August 2023, and large winter storm events of 2024, the SCCOOS Automated Shore Station at Santa Monica Pier power and data cables broke, and the conduit (conduit install left picture) that houses cables that run from the pier deck to the sensors underwater cracked. This caused the Santa Monica Pier to be offline for weeks, impacting local recreational swimmers. Thanks to BIL funding, Melissa Carter and team installed new data cables, pier conduit, and an air blaster system at Santa Monica Pier Automated Shore Station in May and June 2024.
• Harmful Algal Blooms
  • SCCOOS supports the California HAB Early Warning System, which includes ten operational Imaging Flow Cytobots. In May 2024, an IFCB was successfully deployed at Stearns Wharf after an extended period of repairs. The IFCB collects data in near real-time and is currently being integrated into the HAB Data Assembly Center. In July 2024,the Bodega Bay IFCB, operated by UC Davis, was redeployed and is again collecting data in near real-time, the images are classified on a taxonomic level deep learning algorithms and are currently being integrated into the HAB Data Assembly Center (HABDAC) for the generation of daily HAB alerts. The California HAB Early Warning System is a highly leveraged network with support from the CA Ocean Protection Council, IOOS NHABON funds, and IOOS BIL funding.
  • Developing a HAB forecast for Kodiak, Alaska: Scientists from NCCOS, Alaska Sea Grant, and Kodiak Area Native Association completed the second of three mapping surveys of an Alexandrium catenella bloom in the coastal waters surrounding Alaska’s Kodiak Archipelago as the first steps in developing a harmful algal bloom, or HAB, forecast. The area has historically high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, and reported 25% of all state PSP cases in 2022. The outbreaks of this potentially fatal illness are caused by neurotoxins produced by the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella, which accumulate in consumable shellfish when HABs occur in the spring and summer months. In-water sample collection and mapping informs HAB forecasts by helping researchers determine cell and Alexandrium cyst distribution patterns and when and where blooms will occur. The forecasts alert communities to the HABs’ location and severity.
  • Lightfish's first operational mission with the UW-APL Water Sampling System was huge success: Last week the Lightfish, a self-powered autonomous surface vehicle (ASV), without aid and under its own power, completed a ~60 nautical mile, 27-hour loop to the south, collecting 8 whole water and 7 filtered samples along the route. This mission undoubtedly represents a significant leap forward in the ability to quickly collect critical offshore HAB information, supporting timely and informed public safety and resource management decisions. The observations from the mission will be made available for the HAB Bulletin and resource managers.

    NHABON Webinars:

    • NHABON Webinars: Please join us for our next webinar on September 18, 2024 from 3:00-4:00 PM EST on The role of satellite observations in NHABON and exciting advances in space-based HAB detection. A registration link is coming!
• Marine Life
  • Virtual Panel on the U.S. Biodiversity Strategy: Lead authors of the U.S. National Ocean Biodiversity Strategy released in June by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will come together in a virtual panel in August to discuss the essential ingredients and on-the-ground partnerships needed to effectively implement the Strategy on behalf of communities. Thursday, Aug. 7 at 1 p.m. ET, click here to register now!
  • Ocean Biodiversity TechSurge Keynote & Program Revealed - October 1-2, 2024: We're thrilled to announce the keynote speaker and program framework for the Ocean Biodiversity TechSurge coming up on October 1st and 2nd, 2024 at the Sheraton Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD! Dr. Sarah Kapnick, NOAA Chief Scientist, will kick off the conference with an opening keynote. Following the keynote, the meeting program will involve a comprehensive exploration of ocean biodiversity conservation technology through a series of facilitated panel discussions on the two days of the meeting. Day 1 will focus on “Benefits of a Globally Scaled Marine Biodiversity Knowledge Network” and include discussions around the value of biodiversity, aggregating demand for development and conservation, and technology and data innovations for biodiversity monitoring, reporting, verification, forecasting, and integration. Day 2 discussions will focus on “Powering Solutions: Advancing Ocean Biodiversity Technologies for Applications from Finance to Conservation” with continued discussion on technology and data innovations, financial tools to scale biodiversity conservation, and implementation of next steps. Don't miss your chance to be part of this crucial conversation! The Call for Abstracts and Registration are now open. Learn more here: Ocean Biodiversity TechSurge
  • Acoustic receivers deployed in Southern California: Thanks to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding and the hard work from CSU Long Beach SharkLab, two additional acoustic receiver buoys were purchased and deployed off San Onofre and Ventura (right picture). The buoys are successfully collecting and transmitting real-time air temperature, sea surface temperature, acoustic transmitter detections, as well as seafloor temperature, chlorophyll-a, and dissolved oxygen. The transmitted shark detections and environmental data are essential for California lifeguards and public safety.

• The final steering committee call for the Reaching for the Cloud (RFTC) project carried out by TetraTech/RPS and the IOOS Association in partnership with the IOOS Office was held on Tuesday, June 25. This project has resulted in many positive outcomes for IOOS, such as new collaborations on cloud-native data management for model data with the NOAA Open Data Dissemination (NODD) and the Office of Water Prediction. NODD is hosting several new public datasets that were developed by RPS either as part of the Reaching for the Cloud project or using the approaches developed by it. The new NODD datasets include:
• NOS Operational Forecast System (OFS) and National Water Model virtual forecast aggregations: https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-nodd-kerchunk/
• NOAA Coastal Ocean Reanalysis (CORA): https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-nos-cora/

Additionally, new software tools and capabilities have been developed as part of the RFTC project, specifically the Xpublish package and related plugins to assist in management and dissemination of ocean model data to IOOS’ users. The Xpublish software is already being used by RPS in the IOOS Model Viewer site as a replacement to better access and serve cloud-based large data stores like NOS’ ocean models to users.

• 105th AMS Annual Meeting - January 12-15, 2025 - Submit an Abstract! Submission of abstracts for the American Meteorological Society’s 2025 meeting in New Orleans in January is open. Abstracts are due 15 August (though the deadline may be extended by a week). See https://annual.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/2025/program-events/conferences-and-symposia/41st-conference-on-environmental-information-processing-technologies/ for sessions that might be of particular interest. Examples include:
  • This session aims to bring attention to those applications, technologies, or techniques that are well advanced with respect to the Technology Readiness Level continuum. These applications, technologies, or techniques have not yet been made officially operational by organizations such as the National Weather Service or the National Ocean Service, but are being produced regularly in an "operational like" manner and made available as a sustained service for general use.
  • Weather imposes constraints on human activity. As a consequence, most decision-makers/planners seek awareness to mitigate or eliminate weather impacts. As datasets become larger and larger, new and improved tools to work with Big Data are critical. This session welcomes contributions from research fields such as scientific visualization, information visualization or visual analytics that are applicable to large data sets from climatology, meteorology or related disciplines. Presentations on using cloud computing for analyzing satellite and model data for weather, ocean, or climate relevant applications will also be welcomed.
  • Environmental data, from historical observations to upcoming missions and field campaigns, is becoming increasingly more accessible in the cloud. Cloud access supports the broader community goal of open science as data are more readily accessible and can be accessed across organizations. Operating within the cloud still primarily supports experienced users and is difficult for new users to navigate. This session encourages submissions that address the challenges faced by new users to systems and tools that have been created to enhance the user experience with these data whether for data discovery, visualization, or analysis. The presented work may include, but is not limited to: data recipes, data and information curation efforts, data processing (transformation/subsetting) and analysis tools/APIs, science notebooks, structured document database development, data discovery tools, and software tips among developers.
• Advanced Products and Technologies That Can Be Used Now and Their Path to Quasi-Operational or Sustained Operations: The View from the Dry and the Wet Side
• Cloud Computing for Big Data in Atmosphere, Ocean, and Climate
• Cloud-Based User Services to Support Data Use in the User Community

• New Video Tutorial for Tuna Fishers: Want some guidance on how to stay safe and find tuna? NANOOS has developed a new video that walks users through various data products on the NVS Fishers app, developed to help visualize where ideal and safe fishing conditions occur, including combined sea surface temperature and surface currents, pycnocline, and thermocline forecasts… Just in time for tuna season! Watch the video now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDyKEWvqTe4

• QARTOD

• No update.

• Artificial Intelligence

• 6th NOAA AI Workshop: You are invited to join the 6th NOAA AI Workshop that will be held as a hybrid event during the week of September 16–20, 2024. This year’s workshop focuses on fostering collaborative development within the community around the theme of heat resilience. You are invited to complete the expression of interest form for this year's workshop by Friday, July 26, 2024. Further communication regarding the workshop will be provided in late July.

• The SCCOOS and CeNCOOS supported Multivariate Ocean Climate Indicator (MOCI) has been published online and on the CalOOS data portal for the 2024 winter and spring quarters.

• The CARICOOS general assembly on June 21, 2024, held at the Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort in Puerto Rico, convened a diverse group of users and collaborators from various sectors in the US Caribbean. Key themes of the assembly included coastal resilience and ocean heat waves, reflecting the pertinent issues facing the region. Updates from the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Office and the IOOS Association were shared, alongside insights from CARICOOS executive director Julio Morell on the Caribbean observing system's progress.

• Webinar Recording: “Hurricanes, NWS and GCOOS”: In June, GCOOS and the National Weather Service (NWS) joined forces to talk about the 2024 hurricane season outlook and preparedness measures, as well as changes to “the cone” and how data gained by gliders and shared via GCOOS helps to improve hurricane activity forecasts. The webinar also covered GANDALF, the GCOOS glider piloting dashboard. Didn’t have the chance to attend? Watch now!

• NANOOS Seasonal Coastal Deployments: The spring deployment cruise off the coast of La Push, WA recently took place aboard the University of Washington’s R/V Robertson. Winter Cha’Ba was recovered and Summer Cha’Ba, NEMO-Subsurface moorings were deployed in 100m of water. These moorings support instrumentation for measuring temp, salinity, dissolved oxygen, water current, chlorophyll, and pH from near the seabed to the sea surface, in addition to surface water and air pCO2 (in collaboration with NOAA PMEL) and meteorological variables. The Environmental Sampling Processor (ESP) that monitors HAB biotoxins was deployed and is currently collecting archived samples. Also deployed on this cruise was another spotter buoy by the PNW Backyard Buoys team. This was a timely deployment since the Quileute Tribe are geared up for the 2024 Treaty halibut fishery and being able to gauge conditions on the ocean prior to departure is what the project is all about. The Quileute Tribe will be deploying an additional spotter south of La Push in the near future, stay tuned.

• New papers & reports:
• Experimental Weekly Sargassum Inundation Risk (SIR v1.3) July 2-8, 2024
• Experimental Weekly Sargassum Inundation Risk (SIR v1.3) July 9-15, 2024

• IOOS Enterprise in the News:
• Safety First: Taking water dangers seriously (GLOS), The Daily Mining Gazette, 7/3/24
• How to Account for Offshore Wind Impacts on Oceanic Wildlife? Make a Plan. (U.S. IOOS), The Good Men Project, 7/3/24
• More Whale Falls Found off Los Angeles than in the Rest of the World Combined. (mentions SCCOOS PI Eric Terrell), Hakai Magazine, 7/3/24
• Hurricane Beryl's rapid strengthening is 'rewriting the history books in all the wrong ways' (CARICOOS), NOLA.com, 7/6/24
• UM Earns $936,000 Federal Award to Study Ocean Acidification (U.S. IOOS), University of Montana, 7/18/24
• University to lead new partnership on Great Lakes biodiversity (U.S. IOOS), University of Michigan Record, 7/22/24
• Hurricane Beryl: An opportunity for collaborative research (U.S. IOOS, CARICOOS), NOAA Research, 7/24/24

• SACNAS National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference, Oct 31– Nov 2, 2024: NOAA will participate in the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country: the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference, Oct 31– Nov 2, 2024, Phoenix, AZ. Get involved! See https://www.sacnas.org/conference for more information about the conference or reach out to rosa.gonzalez@noaa.gov with any questions.

Click here for upcoming meetings, webinars, funding opportunities, and job postings!

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