NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
LEADS U.S. GLOBAL OCEAN DATA EFFORT

The United States has made a major commitment to study the operational use of global ocean data by issuing a call for proposals for the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP).

Proposals are being accepted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on behalf of NOPP.

GODAE envisions a global system of observations, modeling, and assimilation that will deliver regular, comprehensive information on the state of the oceans, making ocean monitoring and prediction a routine activity similar to weather forecasting.

The U.S. GODAE pilot project is designed to demonstrate the utility of near-time ocean data for such areas as climate and seasonal forecasting, marine transportation and safety, fisheries management, Navy applications, and management of offshore and coastal areas.

“This is a major step forward as we look at ways to improve our ability to use information collected from the ocean,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator and vice chair of the National Ocean Research Leadership Council, the governing body of NOPP. “This effort is an important cooperative undertaking by NOAA, the U.S. Navy, NASA, and all the NOPP partners.”

The pilot project will be housed at Ocean.US, the National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations, established by NOPP to lead sustained operational efforts supported by U. S. agencies such as NOAA and the U.S. Navy.

GODAE is an international effort which has been in planning for nearly five years. During this time, a U.S. GODAE Steering Committee was established to organize the U.S. effort. An example of a GODAE project is the current deployment of Argo floats in the world’s oceans by 14 countries and the European Commission.

NOPP is a collaboration of 14 federal agencies and is designed to provide leadership and coordination of national oceanographic research and education programs. The participating agencies are the U.S. Navy, NOAA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Geological Survey, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Mineral Management Service, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of Budget and Management, the Department of State, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

NOPP was established by Congress in 1996 to assure national security, advance economic development, protect quality of life and strengthen science education and communication through improved knowledge of the ocean.

The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through research to better understand weather and climate-related events and to manage wisely our nation's coastal and marine resources.

For more information about NOAA, visit:

http://www.noaa.gov.

Proposals are being accepted by NOAA on behalf of NOPP at:

http://www.onr.navy.mil/sci_tech/ocean?GODAE_NOAA.htm., a Web site hosted by NOPP partner, the Office of Naval research.

Learn more about NOPP at:

http://www.nopp.org.