JCOMM Data Buoy Cooperation Panel October 16, 2006 National Data Buoy Center 2006 Review: A Year of Growth Paul F. Moersdorf, PhD, Director

National Data Buoy Center Objective: Build and sustain a global observing system and ensure consistently high quality data responsive to the long- term climate and maritime service requirements. Part 1 of brief Part 2 of brief

Part 1: NOOSS NDBC Ocean Observing System of Systems

Observing Growth at NDBC NOAA’s major national and international contributions are through its coastal marine and global climate observation initiatives. NDBC has collected meteorological data in U.S. coastal waters for over 30 years. NDBC now has a global responsibility that includes: Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array Pilot Research Array in the Tropical Atlantic Tsunami detection network Hurricane buoy network

IOOS Required Parameters* Lower Ocean Ocean Atmosphere Surface Sub-surface TemperatureTemperature Temperature PressureSalinity Salinity Wind Currents Currents PrecipitationWave Height / Period Dissolved Oxygen HumidityWave Direction CarbonDioxide RadiationSea Height / Level Chlorophyll FluxesFluxes Nutrients VisibilityRadiation Radiation “Air quality”Ocean color Marine monitoring Sea Ice Bathymetry Toxins / pollutants Acoustic Signals * GREEN parameters can be operationally observed by NDBC.

Wind speed / direction Air temp / humidity / pressure Tracking / communications Navigational beacon Solar panels Magnetometer, compass, computer, batteries, position tracking Wave height, period, direction* Ocean temperature Surface currents Surface salinity Current profiler Mooring Bottom tsunami pressure sensors* Air Water * Not on all buoys

Observing System Platforms C-MAN station 6-meter NOMAD DART II TAO 3-meter discus

Coastal Weather Buoys (May 2006) 92

Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (May 2006) 55

Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis Group 7A (Aug 2006) 19

DART (planned) Stations to be Established Locations Conceptual Stations to be Established Locations Determined Group 7A (Aug 2006) Stations Presently Established

Hurricane Supplemental Buoy (May 2006) 15

Coastal Automated Stations (May 2006) 56

Part 2: IOOS DAC Integrated Ocean Observing System Data Assembly Center

Occupy a leadership role in developing and setting IOOS standards and protocols through workshops, meetings, etc. Obtain marine weather and ocean observations from NDBC and other NOAA platforms, regional observing systems, universities and commercial sites. Ensure the consistent, high quality of these observations in a timeframe consistent with needs of forecasters, mariners, modelers, and archive centers. Disseminate the data to diverse user communities via multiple U.S. IOOS recommended transmission paths. Data Assembly Center Activities

PARTNERS (May 2006)

NDBC IOOS DAC Partners* Present data providers and station numbers: – National Water Level Observation Network – 138 stations – Scripps Institute of Oceanography – 26 – Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System – 17 – Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System – 10 – Long Island Sound Ferry – 10 – Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory – 8 – Chesapeake Bay Observing System – 7 – Carolina Coastal Ocean Observation and Prediction System – 6 – LSU Wave-Current Surge Information System for Coastal Louisiana – 5 – Texas Automated Buoy System – 5 – Weather Forecast Office Green Bay – 4 * Not including oil and gas industry ocean current data sites.

NDBC IOOS DAC Partners (continued) Present data providers and station numbers: – University of Connecticut – MYSOUND – 4 stations – Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network – 4 – Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium – 4 – Stevens Institute of Technology – 4 – Skidaway Institute of Oceanography – 3 – Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute – 3 (includes CIMT) – Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program – 3 – Dauphin Island Sea Lab – 3 – Shell Oil – 3 – CORIE – 2 – Center for Integrated Marine Technology – 1 – North Carolina Coastal Ocean Observing System – 1 – University of Southern Mississippi – 1 – Forest Oil – 1 – SF Beams – 1

Joint Project with Oil & Gas Industry Real-time ocean current data is transmitted from each of the ~50 platforms to NDBC for standard QA/QC processing and distribution. North Central Gulf of Mexico New Orleans

NDBC IOOS Data Assembly Center Katrina TAO O & G

Closing Thoughts This is a good time to be in Ocean Observing! Long term success depends on technology: Low / No cost maintenance; smaller, power efficient, economical (but still accurate) sensors; survivable platforms.

Thank You photo courtesy of MeteoFrance