OOI Observation and Sampling Approach Now Available Online

The Endurance Array Oregon Inshore Surface Mooring deployed in 25m of water off the coast of Newport, OR. The mooring consists of the buoy, an instrument frame 5m below the buoy, and a multi-function node at the seafloor, which together carry 19 oceanographic instruments that transmit near real-time data to shore. (Photo Credit: Tom Kearney, Oregon State University)As the construction phase of the OOI moves toward completion and the operation phase is on the horizon (June 2015), data is on the mind of the OOI team and users alike.

Now available online is the OOI Observation and Sampling Approach documentation that will provide the user community with information on the operation of the various in situ sensing elements of the system (sensors and mobile platforms).

“It is vitally important to establish and maintain the conversation between the institutions deploying the OOI instruments, the team managing and evaluating OOI data, and the scientists, educators, and public who will use that data,” commented Mike Vardaro, OOI Data Manager. “We aim to make our deployment, quality assurance, and instrument setup methods transparent and easily accessible, and we are eager to hear from the community any suggestions regarding how to improve our sampling strategies and data quality.”

The document has two purposes: 1) to guide project personnel involved with the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the observatory, and 2) to inform potential users about how observations are routinely collected. As the project completes construction and moves into operations, the document will evolve as needed, for example to focus on defining the optimal, sustainable sampling rates for scientific discovery.

To access this document click here.

If any of the procedures or processes seem unclear, please let us know via the links below, and we’ll keep the lines of communication open. Recommended changes to this document from the external community should be sent to the OOI Data Manager, Mike Vardaro. All other OOI inquires should be submitted here.