NSF Announcement on OOI Descoping

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Major Facility.

This plan includes the removal of all in-water infrastructure from the Irminger Sea, Station Papa, Endurance and Pioneer Arrays, subject to ship scheduling and other operational constraints. All recovered equipment will be retained by the operating institution pending further guidance from NSF.

The OOI Regional Cabled Array will remain operational for the foreseeable future. NSF intends to ensure continuity of the Data Center capabilities in support of ongoing OOI operations.

We encourage the community to use the ten-plus years of OOI data by including it in proposals, publications, presentations, and conversations with colleagues. Continued engagement demonstrates the scientific impact and wide-ranging applications enabled by the OOI and its data, underscoring its importance as a resource for the oceanographic community.