Regional Associations: Essential Components of the US IOOS

1. Regional Associations: Essential Components of the US IOOS Dr. Harvey Seim, University of North Carolina and NFRA Board Member Molly McCammon, NFRA Board Chair and AOOS Director Josie Quintrell, NFRA Executive Director Graphic courtesy of GoMOOS

2. 12 GOOS Regional Alliances

3. GEOOS GOOS 12 GOOS Regional Alliances EuroGOOS, Med GOOS, Black Sea GOOS, NEAR GOOS, Pac Is GOOS, Indian Ocean GOOS, IOCARIBE GOOS, GOOS-Africa, US IOOS, SEA GOOS, OCEANTLAN, GRASP US IOOS Coastal Global National IOOS Regional IOOS

4. US territorial waters are diverse: US IOOS covers 10 Large Marine Ecosystem (LMEs) Provides the higher resolution observations and model outputs for regional needs Addresses diversity of regional needs from the Caribbean to the Great Lakes to Alaska Provides a forum for understanding user needs from multiple sectors Why a regional approach to US IOOS? • Builds synergies among researchers and federal, state and local agencies • Can be flexible, agile, and responsive • Provides a test bed for transitioning from research to operations • Increases provide access and integration of data from regional sources such gov’t, academic, NGOS and others

5. RAs link between Users and Federal Partners US IOOS NFRA and 11 RAs Regional Users and Scientists Mariners, managers, search and rescue personnel, researchers

6. National Network of Regional Associations 11 RA s serve the entire US Coastline, including Great Lakes, the Caribbean and the Pacific Territories RAs are the legal entities that seek out user needs, design and implement the Regional Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (RCOOS)

7. Regional Associations • Engages stakeholders to understand needs and identify products • Collaborates with regional partners (including regional offices of federal agencies) on setting priorities, designing and implementing RCOOS • RCOOS include: • observations from a variety of platforms • buoys, HF Radar, gliders, ships, satellites • Data management and integration. • Data portals for accessing regional data • Modeling, analysis and product development • Circulation, waves, storm surge, ecosystem • Decision support tools, websites, visualizations

8. RA are building an informed and engaged IOOS constituency 482 partners and counting … • Federal Agencies (106) • Business and Industry (66) • Shipping (18) • Researchers and Universities (149) • State agencies (59) • Non-governmental Organizations (58) • International Organizations (11) • Local and Tribal governments (8)

10. Regional Real Time Data 2,800 obs. at 776 location from 30 data providers

11. National Federation of Regional Associations (NFRA) A non-profit association dedicated to: • Representing the needs of the 11 Regional Association to IOOS partners and others • Developing “one voice” for the regional perspective • Educating through communication of lessons learned, success stories • Governed by Board of Directors appoint by RAs • Represent regional perspective on IOOS policy issues • Advocate for national legislation and funding

12. Prince William Sound: RA Conceptual Framework Meteorology Sea Surface Conditions Oceanography Water Quality Precipitation Currents PWS Weather DataAssimilation FieldValidation Experiments PWS ROMS Real time data Data DataAssimilation Model Ancillary 3D Model 3D Model Retrieval & Retrieval & Data Data Assimilation Assimilation Processing Processing PWS Waves Application Application Research Research Server Server Server (GIS) Server (POET) Public Feedback Economic models Fishery management Education Communities

13. Case Study: Tropical Storm Ernesto : Sept 1-3 2006 Regional forecast (RU-WRF) provided the most accurate real-time forecast of Tropical Storm Ernesto after landfall. Used by Researchers, by Regional, State & Local Managers, by Power Companies, by Agriculture Extension. The most significant difference with operational models was improved physics. This is a common storm track for the Mid-Atlantic States. MACOORA

14. Southern California

15. SE Data Exchange Illustration

16. Challenges • Enhancing the coastal observation system, requires adequate funding • Balancing expectations – users are becoming disillusioned • Developing the standards and tools to achieve a national data management system is non-trivial and time consuming. • Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of federal government and regional associations, particularly for enhancing and maintaining operational systems and regional scale models. • Lack of oceanographic forecasting capacity similar to weather forecasting that routinely uses observations to develop forecasts and predictions. • Liability concerns for non-governmental agencies disseminating predictions and forecasts. • Communication is an unnatural act – always difficult, always time consuming but critical

17. In summary …. • Regional approach is demonstrating success • Building a network of engaged users • Regions are overcoming political and institutional barriers to develop regional priorities • Data partnerships are making data from a variety of sources, accessible and interoperable. • But, still more to do … • Key part of IOOS, enhancing the observation network, is lagging (in fact, some assets are being removed). Without increased observations, can not produce the high resolutions products needed.