Carolinas Coast: A One-Stop Shop for Marine Observations in the Carolinas Funded by the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System A partnership among: Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program NOAA NWS Wilmington Weather Forecast Office

What is “Carolinas Coast” and why is it needed? This information is useful to a wide variety of users, including recreational enthusiasts, the shipping industry, emergency managers, and scientists. “Carolinas Coast” is a web portal that combines diverse coastal and marine observations and information for North and South Carolina.

Who initiated the development of Carolinas Coast? The NOAA NWS WFO in Wilmington, NC was the initiator. They were responding to a constituent need for readily accessible offshore information. Members of the coastal ocean observing community in the Carolinas recognized a key opportunity to deliver ocean observing information to an established target audience. By aggregating real time data and information products on the Wilmington-WFO website, essential data would become more easily accessible to a large maritime community in NC/SC.

What was the approach? To build on information management capacities developed by coastal ocean observing programs in the region (Caro- COOPS, CORMP, and SEACOOS) through: Aggregation of near real- time observations from in-situ platforms, models, and remote sensing Integration of these with NOAA NWS observations and products Leveraging of outreach activities within both NOAA NWS and coastal ocean observing systems

Regional integration and information management expertise provided an essential foundation for the data delivery functions of Carolinas Coast The Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) developed an information management subsystem and some of the sophisticated processes and protocols needed to assemble and visualize data from various observation sites. The Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) developed an information management subsystem and some of the sophisticated processes and protocols needed to assemble and visualize data from various observation sites. Hurricane/Tropical Storm Jeanne September, 2004 Merged wind observations and shore radar

The value of Carolinas Coast to recreational users: A variety of data and information products can be readily accessed through tabs and windows to obtain near real- time conditions for winds, water temperature, and potential hazards. Real time information on coastal and offshore conditions promotes safety and sound planning. 8% of boating fatalities in 2004 were caused by hazardous waters. DHS Boating Statistics

The value of Carolinas Coast to emergency managers: Near real-time observations provide information on winds, waves, and water levels. Hazard information is readily transferred to the general public. Improved preparation, response, and mitigation could reduce average cost of storm-related disasters by 10%, or $700M per year. Evaluation of Erosion Hazards, Heinz Center, 2000.

The value of Carolinas Coast to shipping and commerce: Information on ocean and meteorological conditions aid safe navigation and promote cost-effective decisions More than 95% of US commerce is via ship – this contributes > $742 B to US GDP and creates >13 M jobs. US DOT, 1999.

The value of Carolinas Coast to researchers: Data on oceanographic and atmospheric conditions – both real- time and archived – are valuable for developing an understanding of ocean and atmospheric phenomena, biological processes, and predictive models. OceanUS has identified 40 core variables and 16 supplemental variables that provide information on a variety of oceanographic, atmospheric, biological, chemical, and sociological processes in the coastal region. NORLC, March 2002.

The NOAA NWS Digital Services is a major new operations concept -- data and products will be made available in Internet- accessible digital forms. Focus is on the WFOs, optimum information flow, and collaboration for production of most accurate forecasts and warnings. Carolinas Coast – illustrates how a regional system can work with the NOAA National Weather Service to contribute to the next generation of forecasting products.

Carolinas Coast is a web portal that is intuitive and easy to navigate. The user can access different kinds and levels of information through a combination of menus, tabs, and links. (future address)

Click on “Marine” on the left side of the page which takes you to the new marine site for the NC/SC coasts.

This site includes includes observations, hazards statements, forecast & tide tables.

Click on a yellow dot to see the most recent weather and/or oceanographic data for that location. Each yellow dot represents a real-time data platform.

Click on one of the weather or ocean data points to graph the previous 24 hrs of recorded data. Archived data are viewed in both graph and table formats.

Sea Surface Temps, Radar, Radar Loop, Air Pressure, Wind & Bathymetry overlays can accessed here. Changeable base maps are on the Observations page.

When the Hazards tab is flashing from red to white, there are active marine hazards in the Carolinas. Click on the advisory link to get full details in text format.

Area Tides: Click on the coastline to access tide tables for surrounding beaches and inlets. Links for tide stations within 10 miles are displayed and NOS water level station information is displayed when available.

Click on the marine zone of interest to view the detailed zone forecast. Current conditions, detailed forecast and an enlarged map of the zone, including well- known marine locations, are provided.

Carolinas Coast is scheduled for “roll out” in June Our next steps include…..

Focus Group Review In-house NWS committee regularly reviews the website development and provides feedback and suggestionsIn-house NWS committee regularly reviews the website development and provides feedback and suggestions “Forecasts” tab Integration with NOAA NWS experimental digital forecast products to access “point and click” forecast over coastal waters.Integration with NOAA NWS experimental digital forecast products to access “point and click” forecast over coastal waters. Developing Operational Capacity Establishing protocol for long-term coordination between universities and NOAA NWSEstablishing protocol for long-term coordination between universities and NOAA NWS Improving reliability of data access and aggregation (e.g. mirrored sites/back-up servers)Improving reliability of data access and aggregation (e.g. mirrored sites/back-up servers) Exploring expansion to other local WFOs in the SE region.Exploring expansion to other local WFOs in the SE region. Next Steps