GCOOS Board of Directors Meeting 19 August 2008 Corpus Christi, TX

Reports on U.S. IOOS and GCOOS April 2008 RA Assessment

Attendees NOAA & NOAA IOOS Program Office –Zdenka Willis, Director, NOAA IOOS –Jeff Payne, CSC and NOAA Regional Collaboration Team Lead –Mary Culver, NOAA CSC –Roger Zimmerman, NOAA/NMFS GCOOS-RA –Worth Nowlin, Chair, GCOOS Board –Ann Jochens, GCOOS Regional Coordinator –Matthew Howard, GCOOS Data Coordinator –Chris Simoniello, GCOOS E/O Coordinator CaRA –Julio Morell, CaRA Executive Director & PI –Jorge Corredor, CaRA Stakeholder Council Chairman & Co-PI –Roy Watlington, CaRA US Virgin Islands Coordinator & Co-PI SECOORA –Rick DeVoe, Chair, SECOORA Board –Parker Lumpkin, SECOORA Interim Executive Director –Harvey Seim, Vice Chair, SECOORA Board –Samuel Walker, SECOORA IM Coordinator NFRA –Josie Quintrell, NFRA Executive Director

Meeting Purpose & Objectives Objectives to understand: 1.RA governance and structure 2.Current activities and stakeholders 3.Benefits of the RAs to the regions 4.The mix of funding (NOAA, other Fed, and non-Fed) that supports RA activities 5.Outcomes of the first set of RA coordination agreements 6.RA future objectives/plans (FY08-12) 7.Active and potential coordination across RAs 8.Best practices and lessons learned Purpose to help NOAA IOOS to: 1.Better justify and program long-term funding for the IOOS regional investment 2.Enhance internal advocacy for the entire regional investment, including RA support

Key Comments of Willis NOAA plans to use Cooperative Agreements for future funding of RCOOS development. The business case for IOOS (and RCOOSs) has not been made at the OMB level. Transitioning elements to the national backbone is not likely to occur. LMI report findings: closer interaction between NOAA & RAs on issues related to performance and management. NOAA is building a common IOOS identity with core themes: Environment, Economy, Safety NOAA IOOS is all one team: IOOS Program Office + CSC + NDBC + others

NOAA IOOS Proposal Schedule No FY 2009 call for proposals (will use FY 2008 proposals if have funds) FY 2010 schedule: –Dec. 2008: Make decisions regarding FY2010 call for proposals –Apr. 2009: Write call –Jul. 2009: Issue call for proposals –Sept./Oct. 2009: Proposals due

Actions/Issues NOAA IOOS Program Office would like statements of stakeholder needs for surface currents (what are the requirements, why are they needed, what is cost, what is maintenance cost). What products might be available from local forecast models around Houston? How can we use (at RA meetings) the presence of upper level NOAA administrators? Should we have a focused stakeholder workshop for utilities? Should we engage our Stakeholder Council by asking priorities on stakeholder needs as assessed to date? NOAA Regional Collaboration Team (Roger Zimmerman for Gulf): How can we improve the visibility of our RA/RCOOS to the feds? How do regional data and products address needs? Revising the GCOOS 2-pager. Develop special versions for specific stakeholder groups.

Feedback from NOAA IOOS on GCOOS-RA Briefing Strong Points –Working with SECOORA to implement DIF –Outreach & connection to GOMA –Balanced private/academic communities Areas for improvement –Better coordination of IOOS activities in region –Enhance engagement with the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Regional Team –More balanced geographic representation –Clarify what observations GCOOS considers to be within the domain of the RCOOS –Continue to reach out across the Gulf to fully develop GCOOS as a robust and representative contributor to the U.S. IOOS