Place holder picture, we can pick any location and we can determine that for geographic balance

A Tale of Oysters and Ocean Acidification

Shellfish and finfish industry representatives across the nation are increasingly concerned with what appear to be large-scale changes in our ecosystems with respect to water conditions.  The west coast industry has been leading the way in trying to uncover the roots of the problem.  Many in the industry are finding high correlations between mortality of oyster larvae and lower pH levels.  They are also finding correlations between mortality and higher partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) levels in coastal waters.  In 2005 along the west coast of the U.S., hatcheries and growers started noticing lower success rates for larval and adult oysters. The Pacific Shellfish Growers Association statistics show a 22% decline in production and 13% decline in gross sales of total shellfish (oysters, clams, geoduck, and mussels) produced on the west coast from 2005 to 2009.  Shellfish contribute about 50% of total commercial fishery dockside revenue in Oregon and Washington, and about 60% in California.  Aquaculture shellfish production accounts for 3,000+ jobs in coastal communities.  So how can observing help this issue.  The IOOS partner CenCOOS has developed indicates for growing conditions which are being consulted daily by local oyster growers.

Challenges Present in Alaska – The United States’ Footprint in the Arctic

Critical national issues are emerging in the Arctic, from environmental threats to economic opportunities to national security. Within the region, some economic sectors such as shipping, tourism, fishing, mining, and energy development potentially stand to gain from increased access to the Arctic due to loss of sea ice, even on a seasonal basis. However, these activities may compete with each other, conflict with existing uses, or place additional stresses on the environment.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF)currently observe the Arctic atmosphere and cryosphere from manned observatories at Barrow, Alaska, and Summit, Greenland.  The United States also have operations in conjunction with many of our international partners in Canada, Norway, and Russia. NOAA performs weekly sampling at many locations to monitor global and high-latitude greenhouse gases to better understand the roles of clouds, aerosol, and radiation in controlling the Arctic climate. Satellites also monitor the Arctic, and now provide a nearly 30-year record of atmospheric temperature, humidity, clouds and surface properties. Satellite-based passive microwave, visible, infrared, and commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images help to track the extent of the Arctic ice cover. The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) regional partner - Arctic Ocean Observing System provides observation systems along the coastal Alaskan waters. In addition to weather and sea ice forecasts, NOAA has long been responsible for providing the Nation with nautical charts and oceanographic information for marine transportation, accurate positioning infrastructure, models, and tools that benefit all modes of transportation, and satellite search and rescue services.

So are we prepared to support operations in the Arctic? No! Current observation and monitoring efforts are too coarse to sufficiently meet user requirements and guide Arctic management decisions. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors provide the best sensing capability within the Arctic. Currently a combination of international and commercial sensors SAR satellites are available[Z1] . While they are great for analyzing the ice extent, they are limited in measuring sea ice thickness. As the Arctic becomes ice-free, increasing resolution of remote sensed observations will be needed to determine if the waters are truly ice-free or nearly ice-free. Higher resolution regional models are needed for guidance on climate change at scales important for planning, mitigating, and adapting. Finally, there are large gaps in tidal datum and tidal current prediction coverage, primarily due to lack of physical support infrastructure.Many ocean ecosystems variables are ready for sustained observations (e.g. nutrients, chlorophyll, oxygen, chemical tracers, plankton, benthos) while others (e.g. marine mammal populations and productivity) require further research to determine optimal observation approaches[5]

Picture of Arctic Observing

Innovation to Address Harmful Algal Blooms

Many of our coastal communities are affected by blooms of harmful algal blooms or HABs. The occurrence, causes and research to forecast occurrence in order to more proactively warn about conditions conducive to HABs has been well documented for coastal areas in New England, along the Gulf of Mexico coast, along the US west coast, and in the Great Lakes. [6]Over 20 different diatoms, dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria are known to have adverse impacts to human and marine ecosystems.  Since the instigator organisms have different lifecycle behaviors and are detected by different means, each one must be studied and appropriate detection methods developed. For example, blooms of Karenia brevis, responsible for neurotoxic shellfish poisoning in the Gulf of Mexico, can be remotely sensed by satellite with in situ measurements to determine extent and to inform daily and 3-day forecasts.  However, blooms of Alexandrium fundyense, responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning in the Gulf of Maine, cannot be detected by satellite remote sensing. Instead, new technologies and observing platforms are being developed. The Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) is one such technology, which permits near-real time automated detection of abundance of Alexandrium.One of these sensors was recently acquired by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) HAB group to work with the regional IOOS partner, Northeastern Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observation System (NERACOOS) through funds from the Environmental Protection Agency and IOOS Program in NOAA. Through a NSF award to WHOI, five additional ESP sensors and the specialized moorings (with the necessary power, communication band width, and instrument stability) will also be available for deployment in the region.[7] Understanding and responding to HABs and their impacts requires innovation and adaptive practices across the United States.

How do we Measure and Monitor?

In meeting the ocean information needs of users, the available types of data collection have resolution constraints, both spatial and temporal. Remote sensing by satellite provides global spatial coverage (multiple times per day) but is limited to surface observations through one of three means: thermal, visible and radar. In situ measurements using moored or fixed platforms provide near-continuous monitoring but only over limited spatial ranges. In situ mobile platforms, like gliders and autonomous underwater vehicles, offer the advantage of sampling over broader geographic ranges, in the water column, using sampling profiles which can be adjusted on a dynamic basis. All observing systems are costly, which is significant in a resource-limited environment, but advances in technology are making some observing technologies more affordable and are expanding the parameters we are able to measure.

Observing Systems

The National Ocean Policy defined observing, mapping and infrastructure as an emphasis area.  This area also included an important point when it outlines the emphasis to integrate Federal and non-Federal observations into a National and International system.

IOOS^® is an end-to-end system that includes in situ and remote-sensing platforms, as well as other collection methods such as trawl surveys, undersea imagery, mobile sub-surface platforms and laboratory analysis of field samples and has the mandate to integrate the data from these disparate sources.  The idea for a national integrated ocean observing system began with the passage of the Oceans Act of 2000.  The Act created the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, which in 2004 recommended the establishment of the IOOS, which was authorized by the law, the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11).   Participants in IOOS span sectors of Fed government, state, local & tribal government, academia, industry and NGOs and this community strongly believes that the new National Ocean Policy recommendation endorses the IOOS efforts over the past 9 years.

The Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) of the NSF, fully funded last year, is working to advance the ocean sciences by developing the infrastructure for sustained ocean observations at key coastal and open ocean locations. Two coastal arrays, four global arrays in the deep ocean, a cabled observatory over the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, and asophisticated cyberinfrastructure comprise the effort.

Projects such as Digital Coast Launched in 2008, is used to address timely coastal issues, including land use, coastal conservation, hazards, marine spatial planning, and climate change. This partnership network is building not only a website, but also a strong collaboration of coastal professionals intent on addressing coastal resource management needs.

The National Water Quality Monitoring Network is an integrated approach toaddressing a range of resourceissues, from upland watersheds tooffshore waters.

Exploring new technology horizons

In 1989 Hank Stommel published an article where he dreamed of fleets of unmanned gliders.  While we have not gotten to the fleet stage we have in fact embarked on a path to get us to his vision.  Today, many of the IOOS Regions and academic partners are beginning to make Glider operations routine.  For example, long-endurance, autonomous gliders developed at the Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, have seen successful operation in an ice-covered environment, occupying a section across the wintertime Davis Strait. In 2009 Rutgers flew a glider across the Atlantic.  Spending 7 months at sea, themission served as a major advancement for ocean data collection technology, allowing critical data collection in the middle of the ocean at lower cost and risk to human life than ever before.  Scientists correlate these data with those from satellite imagery and altimetry and the data sent back directly improved the global oceanographic circulation model by showing that the model was predicting conditions that did not exist.  Along the west coast of the United States, IOOS partners in California are using gliders to track spatial and temporal patterns of algal blooms and forecasting conditions of La Nina conditions.  In the IOOS Mid-Atlantic Regional the gliders have been conducting regional surveys of the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) and in the past three years the glider fleet has conducted 22 missions spanning10,867 kilometers and collecting 62,824 vertical profiles of data.During the response to the Deepwater Horizon MC-252 spill, up to nine underwater gliders were routinely providing data about conditions in the water column to 1,000 meters for up to 100 days without interruption.  The United States Navy awarded a contract to Teledyne Webb Research in 2009 to purchase 150 gliders which they will begin operating in the upcoming year.

We also exploring how to use animals as platforms for ocean sensors to help scientists better understand the organisms and the ocean environment. Animals can travel to regions and depths of the oceans we can’t necessarily get to, either physically or with equipment. By using animals to collect data, we can see their habitats through their eyes and get a more accurate picture about an animal’s behavior, foraging ‘hotspots’, key migration routes, and how these organisms interact with their ocean habitat.

A whole new class of wave gliders that use waves to power them on the ocean’s surface and new classes of unmanned vehicles leaves us the water’s edge to realize Hank Stommel’s vision.

The National Ocean Policy can lead to lasting solutions

So are we there yet, no! The vignettes provided in this article and the respective end to end observing systems such as IOOS, OOI, and NWQMN have all put into place the foundation for meeting the needs outlined in the National Ocean Policy.  All of these systems have set up a means to obtain observations, integrate data and provide solutions for decision makers.  These systems are national in nature and bring together the Federal and Non-Federal partners outlined in the National Ocean Policy.  Projects such as Digital Coast focus on a specific issue and bring together some of the same groups to the table but extend to yet another set of non-Federal partners. 

Many of the same players are involved in the observing systems outline above and work is ongoing to linking all of these efforts but this requires constant attention to make this collaboration work.In its capacity as the lead federal agency, the IOOS program in NOAA has made incremental investments in data management services, specifically a registry, catalog and viewer, with the result of expanding access to and use of data from Federal and non-Federal sources to a wider set of users.  While IOOS has a broad mandate to integrate and delivery information across a broad spectrum of mission areas, the OOI and NWQMN are more focused in answering specific science questions and dealing with the issue of water quality, not the less all 3 programs have agreed to work together to bring a full observing capacity across the Federal and non-Federal partnership.  Projects such as Digital Coast are meeting the needs of a group of stakeholders and is one of the first projects that brings together the socio economic information with the natural environment a critical linage.  The intent between the program managers is there but realities of managing large projects with many resource sponsors and stakeholders make this difficult.

The Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, adopted by the President by Executive Order on July 19, 2010, form the basis of the Obama Administration’s National Ocean Policy.  Calling out the need to integrate observations, mapping and infrastructure across Federal and non-Federal system gives us the opportunity to make real progress in monitoring our Oceans, Coasts and Great Lakes. 

Further, the integration of disparate information is not easy nor is it exciting but it must be done if we want to be able to truly plan along our coasts we are going to have to ensure we do not start again and not build off the foundation of the observing systems that are in place.  The observing systems can not perform all the functions called out in CMPS but they certainly have set up data standards and protocols that can underpin the National Information System.  Secondly each of these systems/projects have brought together State, Local, Tribal governments, academia and industry to focus on our issues along our Oceans, Coasts and Great Lakes.  Systems such as IOOS, OOI, NWQNM and projects such as Digital Coasts should be recognized by the new National Ocean Council.

We should not squander the opportunity that the National Ocean Policy and the momentum it is generating to really bring together the community focused on the problems we face at our Oceans, Coasts and Great Lakes.