1. AMS Corporate Forum Session 1: New Sources of Weather & Climate Data Ocean Observations (in situ)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Paul F. Moersdorf, Ph.D., Director
NOAA National Data Buoy Center
Stennis Space Center, Mississippi
22 March 2007

2. Tropical Moored Buoys
Collects profiles of ocean temperature/salinity, air temperature and wind speed/direction data. Short/long wave radiation, barometric pressure and precipitation data is collected on some of the buoys.
Operated
by Japan.
Research array
being started
in Indian Ocean.
TAO is Operational. Real-time
data from 55 moored ocean buoys is available for improved detection, understanding and prediction of weather and climate, especially El Niño and La Niña.
PIRATA is pre-operational.
Data from these moored ocean buoys is available will aid in understanding climate scale dynamics in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean.

3. Argo Floats
Collect profiles of ocean temperature and salinity at 10-day
intervals and provide current speed at 2000 meter drifting depth.
Data from the 2801 floats will aid in understanding the oceans role in climate scale dynamics in the world’s oceans.

4. Acoustic Doppler Current Profiles (ADCP) Oil & Gas Platform Data*
Near real-time and delayed mode quality controlled ADCP data, from deep-water oil platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, is available to all.
* Required of industry by the Minerals Management Service

5. Gulf of Mexico MMS ADCP Data

6. Gulf of Mexico MMS ADCP Data
Delayed mode data ( meters) from platform after Hurricane Katrina.

7. High Frequency (HF) Radar
NDBC became the National HF Radar Node on 2/28/2007 and will receive HF Radar radials from all HF radar sites and generate current vectors.

8. Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis DART
A network of 39 U.S. DART stations is planned. To date, 25 have been established. Both Chile and Thailand have one each. Indonesia and Australia will have one each by the end of 2008.
In the
next week.

9. Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis DART
Made up of (1) bottom pressure unit and
(2) surface communica- tion buoy.
In case of an event, sea level height data transmitted to the two NOAA/NWS Tsunami Warning Centers.

10. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Partners Pacific Northwest Stations
Double click to zoom

11. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Partners Atlantic Southeast Stations
Double click to zoom

12. IOOS Realtime Data* Providers
National Weather Service has 245 stations. The others:
National Water Level Observation Network # Stations 132
Scripps Institute of Oceanography 25
Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System 17 Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System 10
Long Island Sound Ferry
Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory 8
Carolina Coastal Ocean Observation and Prediction System 6
LSU Wave-Current Surge Information System 5
Texas Automated Buoy System
University of Connecticut – MYSOUND
Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network 4
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium 4
Stevens Institute of Technology
Chesapeake Bay Observing System Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute 3
Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program 2
Columbia River Experiment
North Carolina Coastal Ocean Observing System 1 University of Southern Mississippi
* Atmospheric or oceanographic data

13. Sources of Data
New or Potential
Addition of ocean sensors to the NWS’ meteorological buoys and coastal platforms.
Sampling station developed by the International SeaKeepers Society.
Department of Defense towers off the east and gulf coasts.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) are beginning to become data contributors.
Check the web site of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) or its Office of Climate Observations (OCO) for more info.

14. Summary
The number of ocean observations is increasing. As a result of early IOOS efforts the number real time coastal ocean observations has dramatically increased. As important, this data is being centrally collected, quality controlled, and distributed.
Contact Info:
Most of the data shown in this presentation can be found at NDBC’s IOOS Data Assembly Center web site: