Excerpt from GEOSS *Strategic Plan:
Observing systems for ocean resources are in various stages of development and maturity. Some systems have been in place for over 100 years such as water level networks; others such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and ocean carbon monitors are relatively new. Observing system assets are available in various levels of operation and reliability. Research and pilot efforts are also in progress, either planned or transitioning from development efforts into the operational systems. New scientific knowledge has established the importance of monitoring the global blue water, in addition to our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), inland seas, rivers and watersheds. Also critical is the concept of ecosystem management.

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy Report and the U.S. Ocean Action
Plan call for the integrated ocean/coastal observing system (IOOS) to be coordinated among Federal agencies, academics and regional ocean information groups. The National Oceanographic Partnership Program’s (NOPP) National Research Leadership Council (NORLC) formed the Ocean.US Executive
Committee (EXCOM) that oversees the activities of the Ocean.US office, which is now coordinating the development and implementation of the U.S. IOOS. Reducing the impacts to ocean resources will require better global datasets and improvements in now-casting, in addition to forecasting effects of weather, climate, and human activities on the coastal ocean, its ecosystems, and living resources. These drivers will require additional ocean observing capabilities, and extensive data management efforts, along with links to other ocean observing systems.

SERVIR Ocean Link

• Red Tides
• Sea Surface Temperature (SST)