News from the Region

Demonstration of the New National Glider Asset Map

MARACOOS, NANOOS and SCCOOS are working with Applied Science Associates (ASA) to get their gliders into a single IOOS glider asset map.

During a visit to the Mid-Atlantic Region (MARACOOS),  Becky Baltes and Gabrielle Canonico of the U.S. IOOS Program Office attended a demonstration of the new National Glider Asset Map. The demo was presented by John Kerfoot and Mike Crowley of Rutgers University's Coastal Ocean Observing Laboratory, Eoin Howlett of Applied Science Associates (ASA), and Charleton Galvarino (ASA and SECOORA).  Gerhard Kuska, MARACOOS Executive Director, also participated.
The National Glider Asset Map is a collaborative effort and initially includes all the current and historical glider missions dating back to 2005 from SCCOOS, NANOOS and MARACOOS.

 

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Bycatch-22, MARACOOS Teams Aid Fishermen in the Butterfish Conundrum

Fishermen used a habitat prediction model based on satellite and radar data to fish for butterfish in a field experiment involving UD researchers in December '11.

Read the entire story by Teresa Messmore

Butterfish may sound delicious, but local fishermen would rather keep them out of their nets. The small, silvery fish are protected by fishing limits yet frequently surface in tows when fishermen are trawling for squid.

 

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IOOS Regional Member Site Visit: Rutgers University

Dr. Kathryn Sullivan and and Zdenka Willis, Director, U.S. IOOS visiting Rutgers Univ., August 9, 2011

Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction and Deputy Administrator for NOAA, and Zdenka Willis, Director, U.S. IOOS, learning about the underwater "Gliders" surrounded by students at Rutgers Univ.

 

 

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About the Mid-Atlantic Region (MARACOOS)

MARACOOS seeks to discover and apply new knowledge and understanding of our coastal ocean to help save lives and livelihoods, and maintain the quality of life in the Mid-Atlantic Region. To accomplish this, MARACOOS membership has identified five high-priority regional themes:

• Maritime Safety,
• Ecological Decision Support,
• Water Quality,
• Coastal Inundation, and
• Energy.

A fundamental MARACOOS asset is the diverse expertise of its approximately 1/3 academic, 1/3 industry, and 1/3 non-profit/government membership. MARACOOS has developed a collaborative network of scientific, business, non-profit and government leaders who are dedicated to applying their combined expertise to address priority regional needs. Multiple federal agencies have recognized the combination of expertise, operational capabilities, and opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic with their investments in this region including NOAA, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, Department of Homeland Security (including USCG), NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency. 
To address the primary regional themes, the MARACOOS implementation plan first prioritized and then established six primary real-time observing and forecasting assets:

• An array of High-Frequency Surface Current Radars covering the entire MAB,
• A fleet of underwater gliders able to adaptively sample the entire MAB,
• A network of hardened meteorological stations distributed throughout the MAB,
• Three satellite ground stations acquiring imagery of the ocean, atmosphere and land,
• Coast Guard drifters used for SAR operations and to evaluate the skill of the forecasting systems, and
• An ensemble of both statistical and dynamical ocean forecast models that (a) assimilate spatial data from the satellites, the HF Radar network, and the fleet of autonomous ocean gliders, and (b) are forced by an ensemble of atmospheric models validated with the meteorological network. 

Initial MARACOOS successes have already been demonstrated and communicated. Regional HF Radar-derived surface current data, and the resulting short-term statistical forecasts, are now an operational component of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Search And Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) and through MARACOOS, are helping save lives at sea.  Collaboration with NOAA Fisheries has developed observatory based habitat models for critical species distributed throughout the MAB. Water quality efforts have demonstrated new products for floatables (oil, trash) and rainwater, and have developed regional plans for dissolved oxygen.  Coastal inundation demonstration projects have been conducted in our bays. State support has enhanced regional activities to inform offshore wind energy development.

The 5-year future vision for MARACOOS includes sustained operations of the regional network consisting of the Observing, the Data Management, and the Modeling & Analysis Subsystems, and expanding the Education & Outreach Subsystem activities to include extension to new users. Specifically, we are focusing on two primary goals:

1) Maintain and gap-fill the existing observing, data management and forecasting subsystems focused on the transition from data-generated products to model-generated ensemble forecast products that can be repurposed for multiple users.

2) Expand end-to-end operations across all five regional themes through: (a) broadening IOOS support and leveraging of non-IOOS activities, (b) enhancing the extension components of MARACOOS, and (c) developing and applying IOOS-endorsed metrics to measure and demonstrate success.

 

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Resources

Fact Sheet, 2012 (pdf)

One-Pager, 2011:
IOOS in Action: The Mid-Atlantic (pdf)