Coastal Services Center

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Coastal Observation Technology System:
Building Regional Capacity for the Integrated Ocean Observing System

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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

• Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS)
• Center for Marine Integrated Technologies (CIMT)
• Center for Integrative Coastal Observation, Research, and Education (CICORE)
• Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS)
• Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMPS)
• Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System (Caro-COOPS)
• Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program (CORMP)
• Ocean-Atmosphere Sensor Integration System (OASIS)
• SURA Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction (SCOOP) Program
• Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT)
• Center of Excellence for Coastal Ocean Observation and Analysis
• Joint Center for Ocean Observing Technology
• Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS)