The Economic Value of Ocean Observing,
NERACOOS Annual Meeting 2012
Zdenka Willis, Director, US IOOS Program Office had the pleasure of participating in the NERACOOS annual meeting on 5 December, which attracted over 60 participants and stakeholders. For a second year in a row, NERACOOS honored one of their members for their dedication and outstanding work in ocean observing in the last ten years. This year, Ru Morrison, NERACOOS Executive Director and Zdenka presented the award to Dr. Frank Bohlen, Dr. James O'Donnell, and the Long Island Sound Integrated Observing System at the University of Connecticut.
The meeting was held at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire where NERACOOS is headquartered. Wendy Lull, President of the Seacoast Science Center, welcomed us and enthusiastically supports the partnership with NERACOOS stating that she was so lucky to have access to the brain trust of NERACOOS to support the informal learning center. Ru gave the State of NERACOOS talk - highlights included: data return for the year in excess of 90; during Hurricane Sandy, web traffic was up 800% proving once again that the Regions are a trusted source of information; expansion of inundation modeling in Hampton, New Hampshire and with the National Weather Service will deliver nearly street level inundation forecasts; and at the recent New England Ocean Literacy Biannual Summit 2012, NERACOOS came in second to Bob Ballard for ocean data in the classroom! WELL DONE.
Hauke Kite-Powell laid out the importance of making the economic case in the second decade of IOOS. Expanding on the survey that NERACOOS conducted on customers usage of the information and web hits, Hauke was able to show that for every dollar invested into NERACOOS, three dollars are returned. The morning concluded with a panel of users. Here is a short recap of their presentations:
Chief Chris Sliver, New Hampshire Fire and Rescue – Spoke about inundation in the area and the importance of the effort between his office and NERACOOS/National Weather Service to provide a predictive capability for Hampton, NH. This effort included the deployment of a local tide gauge, and he discussed how when events happen with enough frequency, they become the norm.
Dr. Bruce Bailey, AWS Truepower – Said they are using US IOOS assets for modeling and mapping for resources offshore.
LT Nate Robinson, US Coast Guard – Stated that NERACOOS and NDBC buoys are used daily for all 11 of their missions.
Matt Lyman, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection – Talked about starting his morning by checking the NERACOOS website at 4 am, grabbing a cup of coffee, and based on the web site either heads to the boat or the office. Basing this decision on the real-time data is critical for their small staff.
Don Anderson, WHOI – Spoke about the critical role that buoys play in calibration of Harmful Algal Bloom models.
In the afternoon, Zdenka presented on the successes and future of the U.S. IOOS. Additionally, participants were introduced to and tested the new NERACOOS ocean and weather climate display. The presentations from this meeting are available at http://neracoos.org/presentations and Zdenka’s presentation is available at http://www.ioos.gov/communications/
Ru Morrison, NERACOOS Executive Director and Zdenka Willis, Director, US IOOS Program Office presenting the award to Dr. Frank Bohlen, Dr. James O'Donnell, and the Long Island Sound Integrated Observing System at the University of Connecticut for their dedication and outstanding work in ocean observing in the last ten years.
(top)
Additional Information:
Northeast Atlantic Region (NERACOOS)
NERACOOS tells the story:
Hit "Like" on our Fan Page
U.S. IOOS Facebook