Coastal Observation Technology System:
Building Regional Capacity for the Integrated Ocean Observing System
The Coastal Observation Technology System (COTS) is a partnership of
projects that are establishing regional capacity for coastal and ocean
observations. Together, these projects contribute nationally to the
Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and globally to the Global
Earth Observing System of Systems.
Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
COTS projects are making new advancements in technology, providing timely
and useful data and information products, and improving data sharing
and integration procedures. These projects cover a wide range of ocean
and coastal applications, including ecological forecasting, circulation
and wave modeling, storm surge forecasting, monitoring of ecological
processes, and examining public health concerns.
From fiscal year 2002 through 2006, the congressionally directed COTS
projects have varied in number (7 to 14 annually) and in the annual
amounts received by each project ($500,000 to $ 3 million). Projects
have been funded from 1 to 5 years.
As the federal entity in charge of the COTS program, the NOAA Coastal
Services Center has a strong interest in working with regional observing
systems and partners to achieve integration into a national system.
COTS projects have contributed to this goal by establishing regional
observing capacity, sharing expertise regionally and nationally, working
directly with the users in their region, and supporting the development
of IOOS Regional Associations. In partnership with the national backbone
and the Regional Associations, the COTS projects are helping to build
the regional foundation for IOOS.
Each COTS project has listed key accomplishments and highlights of their
contributions to IOOS, and the NOAA Coastal Services Center has used
this information to create individual accomplishment reports. These
reports do not represent a comprehensive list of each project’s
activities, but only a selection of those activities that have contributed
to the regional development of IOOS.
COTS Accomplishments