Download The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System:

The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System:
10 years of protecting and preserving the Gulf
From the Executive Director
Plan. This comprehensive
document was developed
with input from hundreds
of stakeholder groups
and addresses the need to
maintain and enhance our
existing Gulf observation
tools, to bring new
measurements online and to
fill the largest data gaps.
Dear Friends,
A decade ago, the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System
was in its infancy — more than an outline on paper but still a long
way from the comprehensive system envisioned as part of an
international network of ocean observation systems.
In those early days, many organizations in the Gulf were using
ocean instrumentation to gather data, but hosting it individually
with little ability to share real-time and near-real-time information
quickly and easily among users. But visionaries like Worth Nowlin
wanted to change that and so they led dozens of workshops that
brought together the Gulf’s best and brightest minds. Together
they developed a plan for the creation of a comprehensive regional
observing system and began putting the pieces into place that would
bring it to life.
Thanks to this foundational work, GCOOS today has 132 members,
representing the academic, industry, governmental and
nongovernmental sectors. Sixteen organizations are streaming data
to the GCOOS online portal and thousands are using it in their dayto-day operations. In those early days, we were almost begging for
data streams; today, with our limits in funding, we occasionally must
turn away potential partners.
All in all, this is a good problem to have — one that proves the
importance of our focus on providing a home for unique data sets
and on our attention to outreach and education across all sectors,
along with the general public, so that potential users can put these
data streams to good use.
As we celebrate our 10th anniversary year in 2015, we are also
looking forward to the future and continue to update our Build Out
The need to fulfill these
priorities was clearly evident
during and following the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon
oilrig — the biggest man-made disaster in the nation’s history. The
disaster illustrated the critical need for support to maintain and
enhance our observing capabilities in the Gulf. At GCOOS, we are
working hard to find cost-effective ways to bolster our observing
capabilities.
The Gulf of Mexico remains one of the world’s most important and
productive bodies of water and, as the Deepwater disaster proved,
we need assets in place to protect it for us all.
Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick
Executive Director
About GCOOS
The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association is a
501(c)3 organization responsible for developing a network of business leaders,
marine scientists, resource managers, governmental and non-governmental
organizations and other stakeholder groups that combine their data to provide
timely information about our oceans — similar to the information gathered by
the National Weather Service to develop weather forecasts.
With members from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida,
GCOOS has established a sustained observing system for the Gulf of Mexico to
provide observations and products needed by users in this region for:
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Protecting public health and safety;
Supporting healthy ecosystems and water quality;
Mitigating the effects of storms and man-made disasters;
Ensuring safe and efficient marine operations;
Monitoring the Gulf for long-term changes and environmental trends.
GCOOS is one of 11 regional associations that
partner with the Integrated Ocean Observing
System, U.S. IOOS®, a federal, regional, privatesector partnership committed to tracking,
predicting, managing and adapting to changes in
our ocean, coastal and Great Lakes environments.
An Ocean Observing Visionary
If anyone could be called the father of ocean observing systems, it would
probably be Dr. Worth Nowlin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of
Oceanography at Texas A&M University. In 1988, Dr. Nowlin was asked
by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO,
the World Meteorological Organization and the International Council
of Scientific Unions to lead a group of experts in the creation of a
plan for a global ocean observing system that would provide marine
meteorological data (including air-sea exchanges), ocean circulation
patterns and property distributions within the ocean. This year, after 17
years, he will step down as a member of the GCOOS Board of Directors.
“The need for ocean observing systems was really driven by the
need for safe and efficient marine transportation and to have a better
understanding of the role of the ocean in climate,” Dr. Nowlin said. “We
needed to develop a global overview of what we should measure and
why. We had six years of meetings all over the world and eventually
developed a plan that is still being implemented today.”
But many recognized that having a global plan and instrumentation
wasn’t enough — attention was also needed in coastal zones where
people lived and worked and played. In the U.S., that led to the
development of an umbrella organization called the Integrated Ocean
Observing System, made up of 11 regional associations that covered
each of the nation’s ocean regions and the Great Lakes. Dr. Nowlin
spearheaded the creation of GCOOS-RA covering the Gulf of Mexico.
“We knew there were 25 or 30 groups that were collecting data around
the Gulf, and what we needed was to develop software that would easily
allow these datasets to be queried by machine. And that’s how we
started,” he said.
Today, the GCOOS-RA includes members from all sectors of the
community — from industry to academia — and focuses on data
collection and dissemination. And, unlike some other regional
associations, it has included a strong outreach and education
component from the beginning.
“It was really visionary of Dr. Nowlin and the early organizers to focus
on data integration along with education and outreach when they
created GCOOS,” said David Driver, Chairman of the GCOOS Board
of Directors. “That has given
GCOOS the ability to support
experts throughout the Gulf in
the development of new ocean
observing tools, in maintaining
observing instrumentation and
in making sure that the ocean
community is aware of the tools
available to help them in their
day-to-day operations. Many in the
ocean community, and especially
those in the Gulf, are extremely
grateful for his service and vision
and we are so grateful for his many
years of service.”
Special Thanks
Developing the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean
Observing System would not have been possible
without the input and support of those volunteers who
have served on our Board of Directors. We’d like to
thank all of them for their service.
Current Officers
President David Driver, BP America, Inc.
First Vice President Jan van Smirren, Fugro GEOS
Second Vice President Terry McPherson, LMI
Secretary Joe Swaykos, NOAA National Data Buoy
Center
Treasurer Worth Nowlin, Texas A&M University*
Current and Former Board Members
Ann Jochens, GCOOS Regional Coordinator 2005-2012 &
GCOOS Executive Director 2012-2014
Charlene Bohanon, Galveston Bay Foundation
Steven Buschang, Texas General Land Office
Cortis Cooper, Chevron*
Alyssa Dausmann, U.S. Geological Survey
John Dindo, Dauphin Island Sea Lab*
Carol Dorsey, Alabama Public Health Laboratory
Sara Graves, University of Alabama — Huntsville
Alan Hart, Continental Shelf Associates
Lars Herbst, Minerals Management Service*
Pat Hogan, Naval Research Laboratory
Stephan Howden, University of Southern Mississippi
Gary Jeffress, Texas A&M University — Corpus Christi
Barb Kirkpatrick, Mote Marine Laboratory*
William Lingsch, Vencore Services and Solutions, Inc.
Mark Luther, University of South Florida*
Robert (Buzz) Martin, Texas General Land Office*
Chris Oynes, Minerals Management Service*
Alfredo Prelat, Terralliance*
Nancy Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine
Consortium
Don Roman, University of Southern Mississippi*
Pat Roscigno, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Michael Spranger, University of Florida
Robert Sullivan, Chora Creative*
Raymond Toll, Science Applications International
Corporation*
Sharon Walker, University of Southern Mississippi*
Jennifer Wozencraft, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers*
*Denotes former board member
Among the most notable successes during the first decade of GCOOS is
the fundamental change in how ocean monitoring is conducted in the Gulf
of Mexico. There has been a shift from stand-alone systems that acquire
proprietary data to interconnected and coordinated systems that publicly
share data in real-time. This change has led to real improvements for
those who live, work and play in the Gulf region.
2
Since 2007, GCOOS-RA has been working with partners from the Florida Department
of Health and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance to coordinate a Harmful Algal Bloom
Integrated Observing System Plan for the Gulf. The collaboration resulted in the
widely popular A Primer on Gulf of Mexico Harmful Algal Blooms and several pilot
projects to advance understanding of HABs and waterborne pathogens.
Harmful Algal Blooms and Public Health: Supporting New Technologies and Integrating Existing Data
The most frequent and widespread harmful algal bloom in the
Gulf of Mexico is caused by Karenia brevis, which produces
neurotoxins that can become airborne in sea spray and can also
make shellfish toxic. If people eat affected shellfish, they can get
neurotoxic shellfish poisoning; when carried on marine aerosols,
Karenia toxins can cause respiratory illness, especially in people
with chronic lung diseases, resulting in increased emergency room
visits for a vulnerable population.
Other species of algae — particularly Dinophysis and
Gambierdiscus — are also proving to be emerging threats to human
health in the Gulf states.
Imaging Flow CytoBot (IFCB), a tool that combines high-resolution
video and a flow cytometer to capture images of plankton species and
identify harmful varieties. By feeding real-time data to the GCOOS
portal, the IFCB has successfully provided early warning for six toxic
HABs between 2008 and 2013 and has provided new insight into the
seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton species along the Texas coast. In
2008, the IFCB also provided evidence of the first Dinophysis bloom
in the Gulf. This organism produces okadaic acid, which accumulates
in oysters and other filter feeders and can cause diarrhetic shellfish
poisoning in humans. Thanks to the IFCB’s early warning, oyster
harvests were closed and public health was protected.
Early Warning for Harmful Blooms
Protecting Beachgoers
Texas A&M University, the University of Texas and Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution are creating the Texas Observatory
for Algal Succession Time Series with their main instrument, the
The Beach Conditions Reporting System (BCRS) was created in 2006
by GCOOS member Mote Marine Laboratory. The reporting system
uses beach sentinels to provide daily reports on several parameters
14 MILLION People call the U.S. Gulf coast home 33 Florida beaches covered by the Beach
Conditions Reporting
System
15,000 Species call the Gulf home
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas
GCOOS covers16,000 coastline miles in Florida, Alabama,
that indicate whether a Karenia bloom is present on 33 Florida
beaches. The information is reported online through GCOOS’ data
portal and widely available to the public, allowing them to decide
whether a visit to a particular beach is a good idea.
GCOOS also assimilates information from the Florida Department
of Health’s Healthy Beaches program — which monitors for
bacterial levels in water — into its data portal.
or the shells of many commercially important shellfish.
GCOOS is working with CenGOOS and Liquid Robotics to test a
new wave glider platform equipped with a new device developed
by NOAA’s Pacific Marine and Environmental Laboratory that
can measure pH levels. The project is investigating the feasibility
of using the wave glider platform to expand spatial coverage and
groundtruth the technology.
Forecasting Bloom Movements
With support from GCOOS, Mote Marine Laboratory and the
University of South Florida conduct missions using autonomous
underwater vehicles — underwater robots — equipped with optical
phytoplankton discriminators to monitor for blooms and to map
the size and location of existing blooms. These data, combined with
information from fixed monitoring stations and satellite-based
observations led to the creation of a HAB forecast developed by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2006.
This forecast is publicly available and provides an early warning of
bloom formation and movements to coastal communities in Florida
and on the Texas coast. Teams are also testing the boundaries of the
underwater robots’ capabilities to track hazardous materials and
the potential to put them to use in search and rescue operations
— making them a critical component of a fully developed Gulf
observation system.
Hypoxia and Ocean Acidification
GCOOS also supports a coastal monitoring subsystem, Central
Gulf Observing System (CenGOOS), operated by the University
of Southern Mississippi. This system is critical to monitoring the
hypoxic, or low oxygen, zone caused annually at the mouth of the
Mississippi River by excess nutrient runoff from the 33 states that
drain into the Gulf through the river. CenGOOS has also been a testbed for new technologies that are measuring ocean acidification,
which occurs when oceans absorb excess carbon dioxide from
manmade sources, making the pH of seawater more acidic. This
chemistry change can make it more difficult for marine life to form
and maintain calcium-rich structures such as the skeletons of corals
Imaging Flow CytoBot (IFCB)
1.3 BILLION
Pounds of commercial fishery landings in the Gulf annually
$943 MILLION Value of the Gulf’s commercial fishery
40 percent of all U.S.
recreational fishing
takes place in the Gulf
Education and Outreach: A Key GCOOS Mission
Integrating real-time and near-real-time data streams collected from
many scientific partners throughout the Gulf of Mexico and providing
it in a single, easy-to-navigate website is at the heart of the GCOOS-RA
mission. But since its beginning days in 2005, GCOOS organizers knew
that collecting information was only one piece of developing a robust
and interactive coastal ocean observing system. Of equal importance
was providing information to the public in a way that was useful for end
users in all sectors — from government, to industry to environmental
educators and the general public.
That led to the creation of the GCOOS Outreach and Education Council
(OEC), whose primary goal is to help the public make decisions about
working, playing and living in ocean and coastal waters and estuaries.
The OEC provides a two-way service — educating user communities and
residents about GCOOS products to increase overall ocean literacy to
have a positive impact on the region and informing product developers
about the types of products needed by different audiences so they can
make meaningful use of the data.
GCOOS partners Nature’s Academy and the Galveston Bay Foundation
are featured in a Ranger Rick magazine photo shoot
2015 Gulf Guardian award winners student Cory Diaz and her
teacher Renee Hale
Since its inception, GCOOS has been the only regional coastal ocean
observing system in the nation to provide continuous funding for
outreach and education. More than 7,000 children have participated in
GCOOS-supported classroom and field sessions and we have engaged
more than 100,000 people at science fairs and festivals.
“The GCOOS Outreach and Education Council provides opportunities for us to see how raw scientific data are being processed and interpreted in formats appropriate for a
broad audience. This gives us first-hand experience to work with many other professionals — scientists, educators and graphic artists — to combine concepts of psychology,
graphics, video, gaming and common sense to create products with rich interactive content. In the end, we are able to see how the seeds that GCOOS sowed — the raw data
— are bearing fruit to enhance the public’s understanding of the complex Gulf of Mexico environment.”
— Lei Hu, Data Manager at Dauphin Island Sea Lab & GCOOS Data Management Committee Liaison to the Outreach and Education Council
132 GCOOS-RA members
318 Stations feeding data
into GCOOS data portal
1,900 Sensors on GCOOS member data stations
3 Gulf Guardian awards earned by GCOOS-RA
Engaging Citizen Scientists
Creating Eco Heroes
In 2011, the OEC began working with GCOOS-RA partners to develop
an interactive game that would help make Gulf of Mexico research
more relevant to residents’ everyday lives.
The 23-member OEC worked with partners at informal learning
centers — The Florida Aquarium, Dauphin Island Estuarium,
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Texas State Aquarium and the
Institute for Marine Mammal Studies’ Center for Marine Education
and Research (IMMS-CMER) — to develop an interactive game
called Eco Hero that educates players about the societal value of realtime coastal and ocean information and supports informal science
education on topics related to water quality, nutrients and nutrient
reduction, coastal community resilience, habitat conservation
and ecosystem integration and assessment. MindClay Creative,
Inc., partnered with IMMS-CMER and GCOOS to render the game
characters and help translate the science in a fun, engaging way.
During the game, players have the opportunity to explore how their
everyday lives and livelihoods are connected to the Gulf and learn
how their choices and actions affect the health of this important
body of water and the lives of its human and non-human residents.
The game is now available at seven informal learning centers, and
we have a portable version for public outreach events. Eco Hero is
also being adapted for use by the National Aquarium in England.
Hundreds of groups Gulf-wide are monitoring their local
environments, collecting important data about how conditions are
changing over time. But where is all that information going? Often
the answer is that the information is gathered and archived locally
but isn’t shared with other organizations or agencies that could
make use of it.
For the GCOOS-RA, the next big thing in community engagement
is launching a new citizen-science data portal that will help make
information that citizen-science groups gather more accessible to
a wider audience. GCOOS already provides a one-stop-shop online
clearinghouse for environmental data gathered by scientists from
all U.S. Gulf of Mexico states. Our latest project is adding citizencollected information to the mix beginning with the Galveston Bay
Foundation in Galveston Bay, Texas, Nature’s Academy in Bradenton,
Fla., and The Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Fla. The citizen-science
data portal is now being beta tested; our goal is to increase the
information available from locations throughout the Gulf region.
Information for Boaters and Fishermen
Numerous agencies, organizations and the maritime industry
utilize the GCOOS-RA data portal to share data about oceanographic
conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. But our audience is wider still
— with data important to commercial fishermen and recreational
boaters and anglers. We provide web pages designed with
the boating and fishing communities in mind — giving them
information that will keep them safe while they’re playing and
working in Gulf waters — whether that means knowing wind speeds
and water currents or gaining information about the locations of
invasive lionfish populations.
7,000+ Students participated in GCOOS classroom/field lessons
100,000 People reached through festivals and science fairs
GCOOS-RA supports an observational
subsystem in the central Gulf called
CenGOOS, which includes a buoy in the
Mississippi Bight. During Katrina, the
buoy’s sensors survived winds in excess of
170 mph and transmitted a continuous record
of meteorological and oceanographic data as
the storm passed. This is an extremely rare
— and valuable — data set that has been used
to improve subsequent storm modeling and
forecasting.
Hurricanes and Human Safety: Improving Forecasts
Nearly 400 named tropical storms and hurricanes have formed in
contaminant plumes that were critical for post-hurricane surveys.
the Atlantic basin since 1890, with many of the most intense and
The GCOOS network also proved critical when the National Data
costliest storms making landfall in the five Gulf states.
Buoy Center’s web system was rendered inoperable for three days
Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in 2005, is the most memorable
following Katrina. Thanks to our established partnerships, which are
in recent history in the cost in human lives and in economic damage in
geographically distributed and include a great diversity of observational
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Katrina’s aftermath left
capabilities, GCOOS maintained access to needed data streams. This
more than 1,800 people dead and caused an estimated $108 billion in
proved the importance of having an independent back-up for the federal
economic damage, making it the costliest hurricane in human history.
system during a catastrophic event.
Weathering the Storm: GCOOS Data Integration Proves Invaluable
GCOOS funding has also helped partners at the TAMU Conrad
GCOOS-RA began aggregating and integrating data from its
Blucher Institute develop several specialized products using
partners in 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina arrived. During the
storm, the U.S. Navy had a telecommunications failure that rendered
information from the Texas sub-system, Texas Coastal Ocean
Observation Network (TCOON). The first product is software that
wind data unavailable. Fortunately, the GCOOS network was up and
enables the Corpus Christi National Weather Service office to
running, allowing the NOAA Hazardous Materials team to use our
integrate near-real time data into its weather forecasting system to
data streams to develop circulation models to predict the trajectories
more accurately predict the conditions of oncoming storms; another
of storm debris and pollutants. These same data streams also
application for mobile devices provides real-time information on
allowed our partners at the University of South Florida, Louisiana
ocean water levels and currents for harbor pilots and ship captains
State University and Roffer’s Ocean Fish Forecasting Service, Inc., to
navigating the Houston Ship Channel. A third mobile app provides
continue to generate forecast models, plume trajectories and track
coastal users with real-time wind measurements.
19 high frequency radar (HFR) stations in the Gulf and Southeastern Atlantic
105 high frequency radar (HFR) stations needed
The Gulf is ranked 9th in size among all the world’s bodies of water
In 1980, a freighter lost
its way in the Tampa Bay
shipping channel after its
radar failed in storm-force
winds and heavy rain. The
ship steered into a main
support of the Sunshine
Skyway Bridge, collapsing
the roadway and killing
35 people. This famous St.
Petersburg Times photo
shows a car just 14 inches
from plunging into the Gulf.
Navigating Gulf Waters: Safer Shipping
The Gulf of Mexico and Southeastern Atlantic have the United
States’ highest density of energy activities and are home to 13 of
the nation’s top 20 U.S. ports by tonnage. With an estimated 50
percent of transported goods being hazardous materials, ports are
vulnerable to contaminant spills. They’re also just plain vulnerable.
Locations where PORTS is operational have seen:
• A 59 percent reduction in groundings;
• 37 percent less property damage;
• 45 percent fewer injuries;
• 60 percent fewer deaths.
In 1980, a 200,000-ton freighter in Tampa Bay lost its radar on a
crucial turn during tropical-storm force winds and heavy rain,
steered out of the navigation channel and into a main support pier
of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, collapsing the road and sending 35
people plunging 150 feet to their deaths.
The Tampa Bay PORTS is the first NOS support tool developed
to improve the safety and efficiency of maritime commerce by
integrating real-time environmental observations, forecasts and
geospatial information. Since its development in 1991, six other
systems have been implemented throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
Today, the buoy observations, model forecasts, bathymetry data
and satellite products derived from GCOOS-funded partners, staff
and regional stakeholders are critical to the observations and
predictions of water levels, currents, salinity, winds, atmospheric
pressure and air and water temperatures that mariners need to
navigate safely.
Improving Navigational Safety
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapse led to the development of a
new system designed to provide real-time information on water
levels, currents, waves, bridge height clearances and visibility to
harbor pilots and freighter captains, giving them the information
they need in making decisions on when and how to navigate
shipping lanes and channels. This system, developed by the National
Ocean Service and called the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time
System (PORTS), has proved invaluable to the maritime industry.
$234 Billion Economic impact
generated annually by the Gulf
11 Of the top 20 U.S. ports (by
tonnage) are located in the Gulf
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas would be ranked 9th
in global Gross Domestic Product if they were their own country
Developing Gulf Circulation Models to Manage Spills: A key factor
in cleaning up spilled oil is having a better understanding of where
the oil is likely to move once it is released. GCOOS, along with several
consortiums of universities and energy companies began testing the
Gulf of Mexico Pilot Prediction Project in 2010. This 2.5 year, $1.56
million project funded by the Department of Energy was designed to
evaluate and demonstrate a new computer modeling system to predict
the circulation patterns in the Gulf of Mexico.
Energy Management and Oil Spill Response: Tomorrow’s Needs
The oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico is a vital energy
resource not only for Gulf residents, but also for the entire nation.
More than 40 percent of the total U.S. petroleum refining capacity
is located along the Gulf coast, as is 30 percent of total U.S. natural
gas processing plant capacity. There are more than 4,000 oil and
gas platforms in the region, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management is opening new leases that will result in others coming
on line. If placed end-to-end, existing Gulf oil and gas pipelines could
wrap around the Earth’s equator, exceeding
nearly 25,000 miles (more than 40,000 km).
enough? With the current level of oil and gas production in the Gulf,
and more leases expected in the future in the U.S. and in Mexico,
there are simply not enough tools in place that will allow us to
adequately respond to another spill.
That’s why GCOOS and its sister organization in the Atlantic —
the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association
(SECOORA) — are calling for new and sustained funding for the
operation of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and the major
expansion of the high frequency radar (HFR) system in the Gulf of
Mexico and along the Southeastern Atlantic coast.
When the Deepwater Horizon exploded in 2010, it led to the largest
• HFR is a system of transmitters and radio antenna receivers
man-made disaster in the history of the U.S. and pumped 200 million
along coastlines and oil platforms that transmit radio signals
gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. Eleven men died in the explosion.
that are relayed to receivers after bouncing off the ocean’s
And while the DWH disaster
surface. The signals are related to the
was the largest, it wasn’t
“The Gulf of Mexico is a treasure to our nation with cherished marine habitats speed and direction the currents are
the only spill in the Gulf.
moving and wave heights. Because the
and species. It is also a national asset for its energy production and maritime
Since 1979, there have been
information comes in near-real time, it
operations. If another spill occurs, we will need to answer the same questions:
six significant spills and
is vital for developing accurate, timely
Where is the oil? Where is it going? We have an opportunity now to develop a
numerous smaller spills.
forecast models that are crucial during
During Katrina alone, more
comprehensive observing system in the Gulf so that we are fully prepared to
response efforts when lives, habitat and
than 146 spills were recorded; answer those questions and can quickly respond to protect our resources.”
property are at risk. There are 19 HFR
113 offshore platforms were
— Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, GCOOS-RA Executive Director. stations in the Gulf and Southeastern
destroyed, and 457 pipelines
Atlantic coast — with no HFR coverage
were damaged.
at all in Louisiana and Texas. A new plan developed by the
Today, 10 years after GCOOS’ creation and five years after the DWH
explosion, some of the world’s best researchers are leading scientific
studies looking at the after-effects of the spill, its long-term impacts
on the Gulf ecosystem and even developing restoration projects
designed to improve the Gulf and its coastal habitats. But is that
GCOOS-RA and SECOORA calls for 105 stations along coastlines
and in major ports. The cost to expand the system is estimated
at $19.9 million, with an annual maintenance cost of about $1
million for the coastal HFR stations and $11.8 million to outfit
the ports.
• Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are also known as
gliders. They are torpedo shaped, untethered instruments that
use buoyancy to move up and down in the water column in a
zig-zag pattern, taking in water to descend and expelling water to
ascend. They are equipped with radio and satellite transmitters
that send data on things such as water temperature, salinity,
water currents and other conditions that can reveal water
quality and the effects of storms to researchers in a laboratory.
Gliders can be outfitted with various types of instruments to
detect things such as harmful algal blooms and oil or other
contaminants. Sensors on these platforms were tremendously
valuable in locating oil below the surface during the DWH
spill and in subsequent tracking of its movement following the
explosion.
2015 Financial Snapshot
Income $2,191,076
73% US IOOS
1% JIP DeepC Viewer
5% GCOOS for GoMRI
3% Mote IT
1% IFCB (pending)
3% Texas One Gulf
3% GOMA H-N portal
9% NASA ROSES
2% NOPP MBON
Expenses $2,151,000*
31% Observations
5% Model/Analysis
15% Outreach/Education
5% Program Management
16% Development/Engagement
4% Organizational Support/Governing
24% Data Services/Support
*Reserve fund accounts for difference in income vs. expenses.
Become a GCOOS Member
The GCOOS Regional Association is one of 11 that comprise the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, created to track,
predict, manage and help us adapt to changes in our oceans, along our coasts and in our Great Lakes. GCOOS combines
instruments on buoys, satellites, ships, drifters and underwater vehicles to make integrated, sustained observations of the
ocean and uses datasets and computer models to understand environmental changes and make ocean forecasts. GCOOS
members come from industry, academia and governmental and nongovernmental organizations and help set the
direction for the organization to provide the most public benefit across all sectors of society.
Email [email protected] for information about becoming a member.
GCOOS Members
Aanderaa Instruments, Xylem
Alliance for Coastal Technologies, Gulf of
Mexico Partner
Aquatrak Corporation
Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary
Program
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Center of Higher Learning, University of
Southern Mississippi
ChevronTexaco Energy Technology
Company
COAPS, Florida State University
Conrad Blucher Institute, TAMUCC
Cousteau Divers
CSA Ocean Sciences Inc.
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Dialytics, Inc.
Exocetus Development LLC
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Florida COOS Consortium
Florida Department of Environmental
Protection
Florida Institute for Human and Machine
Cognition
Florida Institute of Oceanography
Florida International University
Florida Sea Grant Program
Forristall Ocean Engineering, Inc.
Fugro GEOS
Galveston Bay Foundation
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory-Marine
Education Center
Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research
Consortium, University of Mississippi
Gulf of Mexico University Research
Collaborative
Horizon Marine
Individual Contributor
Individual Contributor
Information Technology & Systems Center
of University of Alabama in Huntsville
Institute for Marine Mammal Studies
The International Seakeepers Society
Liquid Robotics, Inc.
Louisiana State University – Earth Scan
Laboratory
Louisiana State University – WAVCIS
LUMCON
MacArtney Underwater Technology
Marathon Oil Co.
Mission-Aransas National Estuarine
Research Reserve
Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources
Mississippi Enterprise for Technology,
Inc.
Mississippi State University
Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant
Consortium
Mote Marine Laboratory, Inc.
The Nature Conservancy
Nature’s Academy
Naval Research Laboratory
NEOSgeosolutions
NortekUSA, LLC
Nova Southeastern University
Oceanographic Center
Optical Oceanography Laboratory, USF
Oyster Sentinel
PAR Government Systems Corporation
Radiance Technologies, Inc.
Roffer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting
Service
RPS Evans Hamilton, Inc.
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
SeaTech, Florida Atlantic University
Secrets of the Sea Marine Exploration
Center and Aquarium (Pier Aquarium)
Shell Global Solutions US Inc.
Shreveport Sail & Power Squadron
Society for Underwater Technology
SRI International
Summer Vacation Charters
Tampa Bay Estuary Program
Tampa Bay PORTS
Teledyne ODI
Teledyne RD Instruments
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University Department of
Oceanography
Texas Automated Buoy System (TABS);
GERG
Texas General Land Office
Texas Sea Grant College Program
ThinkBlue Solutions LLC
Titan Partners
TowBoat U.S. Tampa Bay to Crystal River
Tulane/Xavier Center for
Bioenvironmental Research and LEAG
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Gulf of Mexico Program
University of Florida
University of Miami – Rosenstiel School
University of Miami Center for
Computational Science
University of South Florida, College of
Marine Science
The University of Southern Mississippi
University of Texas Marine Science
Institute
Vencore Services & Solutions, Inc.
WeatherFlow Inc.
Woods Hole Group, Inc.
Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System
3146 TAMU | College Station | TX | 77843-3146 | 979-845-3900 | Online at gcoos.org | email [email protected]
Cover photo by Todd Kihle, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC/Galveston Lab, reused under CreativeCommons Attribution license.
For more detailed discussion of the topics in this report, see Chapter 23: “One System, Many Societal Benefits,” by Christina Simoniello,
Stephanie Watson, Barbara Kirkpatrick, Michael Spranger, Ann E. Jochens, Shinichi Kobara, Matthew K. Howard in Coastal Ocean
Observing Systems, Academic Press, edited by Liu, Kerkering, Weisberg.