News
OOI Community Workshop: Cabled, Endurance, and Station Papa
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) infrastructure is operational and ocean scientists can now integrate OOI observations into their research proposals and projects. The UNOLS Ocean Observing Science Committee (OOSC) along with OOI’s Science Oversight Committee (SOC) are organizing a workshop that will focus on current and future science addressed by the extensive OOI infrastructure in the Northeast Pacific. This includes the OOI Cabled, Endurance, and Station Papa Arrays. Early science successes from OOI will be highlighted, as well as Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and NOAA projects focused on furthering scientific understanding of coastal and offshore processes.
The workshop will inform the oceanographic research community of the science capabilities of the Cabled Array, Endurance Coastal Array and the Station Papa Array. An overview of the OOI science themes as they relate to these Arrays will be reviewed as well as a report from Ocean Networks Canada and NOAA. An overview of the Cyber Infrastructure (CI) applications, data products, user interfaces, and system features will also be provided along with hands-on demonstrations. The workshop program will include a discussion on how to include OOI and other observational data in both proposals and publications. OOI Program Team members and NSF representatives will be on hand to answer questions and provide information on OOI operations and governance.
This community workshop will provide a forum to facilitate science collaborations and identify strategies for engaging future users of OOI. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback on their initial experiences in working with the OOI systems and data. There will be opportunities for discussions about possible future additions of sensors and national-international partnerships.
The Workshop will be held at the University Place Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, OR on September 27-29, 2016.
(Cross posted from Maritime Professional / Joseph R. Fonseca)
[feature]The application deadline for in-person participation at the workshop has passed and we cannot accommodate additions at this time. However, you are welcome to participate in the workshop virtually via web conference. To register for web conference participation,
please complete this very brief on-line form.
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Cabled Array Webinar Friday 6/24, Staff Consultations 7/6
Cabled Array Webinar
Date: Friday, June 24th
Time: 1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific
Cabled Array staff will provide an overview of the Cabled Array infrastructure currently deployed as well as engineering specifics including connectors, communication capabilities, testing procedures, and general timeline. The goal of the webinar is to provide researchers interested in adding instrumentation-infrastructure onto the Cabled Array the information required to submit an NSF proposal, which includes a letter from the Cabled Array team on technical feasibility.
[button link="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Swd4NOgM1yF2EBxoEY-k4P-nRmBvWvejSrJbXe3_AZo/viewform?c=0&w=1"]Register for this Webinar[/button]Please Register by Thursday 6/23 12:00pm PT.
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Cabled Array One-on-One Meetings
Date:Wednesday, July 6th
OOI Operations Staff are available to meet with potential investigators who wish to submit proposals to deploy instruments on the OOI Cabled Array. Investigators can schedule an appointment to meet virtually with OOI Operations Staff to discuss technical requirements, testing, and answer any other questions researchers might have regarding adding instrumentation to the OOI arrays.
To sign up, please contact the HelpDesk with times you are available.
For more information, check out the Staff Consultations page.
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Read MoreWorld Oceans Day: Bring the seas into your home; exploration is one click away
When the HMS Challenger set sail in 1872, researchers made discoveries that laid the foundation of the science of oceanography. These early scientists couldn’t have imagined that more than a century later, the secrets of the sea could be discovered by almost anyone, even those thousands of miles from the coastline.
Today with the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), the ocean is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to anyone with an Internet connection.
“The OOI is placing as much ocean data online as possible and making it available in real-time,” says Roger Wakimoto, NSF Assistant Director for Geosciences. “In addition to scientific discovery, we hope to spark the public’s interest in the sea and contribute to the safety of those who make their living on the water or vacation along the coast.”
Permanent scientific presence
The OOI is a permanent scientific presence in the ocean. It consists of 83 platforms with more than 830 instruments providing more than 100,000 scientific and engineering data products. These platforms and instruments are spread across seven arrays located in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The OOI Data Portal opened its doors for the first time in early January to allow users -scientists, educators, and the public – to freely access OOI data. Over the past five months, the quantity of data available and tools for downloading and plotting data have steadily increased, and the OOI continues to expand its data availability.
“Much like the Challenger crew, the OOI is employing new technology that we hope will revolutionize our understanding of the ocean,” says Greg Ulses, the OOI Director at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, which manages the OOI Program for NSF. “We are doing that by focusing on our online data delivery. We live in a time of constant Internet connection – your computer, your tablet, your phone – so we’re giving people access to the ocean by meeting them where they are, online.”
Data from the OOI will foster scientific advancements by helping researchers gain a better understanding of earthquakes and shifts in tectonic plates; hydrothermal vent and methane seep species; climate and weather phenomena such as El Niño; ocean acidification; the upwelling that fuels productive coastal fisheries; and the links between ocean circulation and climate.
Benefits to public
Scientists aren’t the only ones benefitting from the OOI. A suite of online tools, including data visualization exercises and lesson plans, allows educators to engage students in scientific inquiry on oceanographic concepts. In addition, commercial or recreational fishers may monitor offshore conditions by checking data from nearby buoys.
Anyone with an Internet connection can download and view plots of OOI data from all arrays, or watch a live-streaming, high-definition video from a hydrothermal vent 250 miles off the coast of Oregon.
Tales of krakens, whirlpools, and passages to foreign lands have long united people and kindled interest in the mysterious forces of the sea. This year on World Oceans Day and beyond, celebrate by connecting with the ocean live – without even getting wet.
More about the OOI
The OOI is a network of platforms and sensors that track the oceans’ physical, chemical, geological, and biological properties from the seafloor to the sea surface. The OOI consists of seven arrays located across the North and South Atlantic and Pacific, including one cabled, two coastal, and four global arrays. Using undersea robotics, moorings, fiber-optic cables, and specialized instrumentation, the OOI links technology and advanced engineering capabilities to an intricate cyberinfrastructure, bringing ocean observing data to shore. In the decades ahead, oceanographers, educators, and the public will use the observatory and its components to conduct research and interact with the ocean in a way never before possible.
Funding for the Ocean Observatories Initiative is provided by the National Science Foundation through a Cooperative Agreement with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. The Consortium for Ocean Leadership has overseen the construction and initial operations of the OOI through meaningful partnerships with WHOI, OSU, UW, and Rutgers. The OOI is an integrated infrastructure of science-driven platforms and sensor systems that measure physical, chemical, geological, and biological properties and processes from the seafloor to the sea surface. OOI data are made available free of charge to the user communities of oceanographers, scientists, educators, and to the public; some data are provided in near-real time.
For more information on the OOI please visit the OOI Website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, its budget is $7.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Cross-posted from NSF Press Release 16-062.
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas
National Science Foundation
(703) 292-7734
cdybas@nsf.gov
Leslie Smith
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
(202) 787-1613
lsmith@oceanleadership.org
Welcome Aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong
Welcome the newest member of the nation’s research vessel fleet, the R/V Neil Armstrong! Christened after the legendary explorer Neil Armstrong, the new ship will seek to follow his legacy of exploration and scientific discovery. Capable of ranging up to 11,500 nautical miles, the Neil Armstrong is 238 feet long, is equipped with two full-sized labs, and can support up to 44 scientists and crew.
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is excited to be amongst the first to use this vessel as the R/V Armstrong recovered two OOI Moorings during its “Science Verification III (SVC III)” Cruise from Virginia to Woods Hole, MA. These moorings were the Coastal Pioneer Array Central Surface Mooring and Upstream Inshore Profiler Mooring located on the continental shelf south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Home-ported at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Armstrong will be enlisted for future Pioneer Array maintenance cruises, as well as cruises to the Global Irminger Sea Array southeast of Greenland.
The Coastal Pioneer and Global Irminger Sea Arrays are the OOI’s two arrays in the North Atlantic. The Coastal Pioneer Array is one of two coastal arrays and is located along the continental shelf-break front off the coast of New England. The Pioneer Array’s oceanographic and meteorological observations from the highly productive region along the continental shelf-break off the coast of New England. This array allows scientists and educators to examine several important coastal processes, including shelf break fronts, frontal upwelling, and the role of filaments and eddies in cross-shelf exchange of parameters such as nutrients, heat, and biomass.
The Global Irminger Sea Array is one of four global sites in the OOI focusing on the critical, yet under-sampled, high-latitude regions of the Pacific and Atlantic. It includes a network of moorings that will support sensors for measurement of air-sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum; physical, biological and chemical properties throughout the water column.
The OOI, a project funded by the National Science Foundation, is an integrated infrastructure of science-driven platforms and sensor systems that measure physical, chemical, geological, and biological properties and processes from the seafloor to the sea surface. It was designed to provide data to address scientific challenges such as climate and ecosystem health.
Please continue to visit the OOI Website for the latest news on the program, sign up for our Mailing List, or submit comments or question through the HelpDesk.
Read MoreCoastal & Global Array Overview Webinar March 3rd
Date: Thursday, March 3rd
Time: 3:30pm Eastern/12:30pm Pacific
The CGSN and EA teams will host a Webinar Thursday, March 3rd at 3:30 pm ET to present an overview of the Coastal Pioneer, uncabled Coastal Endurance and Global Array infrastructure. This is will cover the configuration of the Array, descriptions of the various platforms, and engineering details including power, communications, etc. A brief opportunity to answer questions will also be available. The session is scheduled to last up to 2 hours.
National Science Foundation Dear Colleague Letter: February 9, 2016
This week, the Ocean Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation (NSF/OCE) released an important update on OOI. As part of a previously planned and anticipated series of events connected with the transition of OOI from construction to operations NSF/OCE will carry out a recompetition to manage and operate the Ocean Observatories Initiative. Details below.
The Ocean Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation (NSF/OCE) will carry out a recompetition to manage and operate the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) through an open, merit-based external peer-review process. The forthcoming solicitation is expected to result in award of a five to ten-year Cooperative Agreement (CA) for the management and operation of the OOI.
[button link="http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf16041"]For additional information visit website[/button] Read MoreStaff Consultations Next Week: Coastal and Global Arrays
OOI Operations Staff are available to meet with potential investigators who wish to submit proposals to deploy instruments on the OOI. Investigators can schedule an appointment to meet virtually with OOI Operations Staff to discuss technical requirements, testing, and answer any other questions researchers might have regarding adding instrumentation to the OOI arrays.
For more information, check out the Staff Consultations page.
Pioneer and Endurance Array meetings are scheduled for Feb. 2-3. Global Array meetings are scheduled for Feb. 4-5. The following times are currently available. (all times are Eastern).
Pioneer and Endurance Array One-on-One Meetings
Times listed in bold are available for the Pioneer and/or Endurance Array. Other times are for the Pioneer Array only.
Tuesday, February 2: 0900, 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400 1500
Wednesday, February 3: 0900, 1000, 1100, 1600
Global Array One-on-One Meetings
Thursday, February 4: 0900, 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400 1500
Friday, February 5: 0900, 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400 1500
Please contact the HelpDesk with your top 2 preferred times to schedule an appointment. We will send you a confirmation.
For more information, check out the Staff Consultations page.
Read MoreSuccessful Turn of the Irminger Sea Array
The 2015 Irminger Sea Array cruise marked the first “turn” (recovery & reinstallation) of the moorings and gliders as well as a first look at the data collected during the first year.
Read More2015 Cabled Array Cruise, A Success for OOI Infrastructure and Scientific Discovery
The 2015 Cabled Array cruise marked the completion of installation at the Cabled Array, provided a first look at the April 2015 Axial eruption site, and led to the discovery of a new seep site on the continental slope.
On August 7th, the OOI Cabled Array team, along with 21 students and the remotely operated vehicle ROPOS, completed installation of the OOI Cabled Array, as well as its first maintenance cruise. A total of 118 instruments are now streaming data from the Juan de Fuca plate through 540 miles of fiber-optic cable to shore.
The R/V Thompson set sail on July 4th from the University of Washington on a 3-Leg, 35-day cruise with the objective to 1) deploy Deep Profiler Moorings on the continental slope, at the slope base off of Oregon, and at the base of Axial Volcano and 2) recover and reinstall junction boxes, mooring science pods, and instruments at the 6 cabled study sites comprising the Cabled Array. Over the course of the cruise, 13 platforms and 112 instruments were installed and ROPOS completed 55 dives. (more…)
Read MoreOOI Team First to See April 24, 2015 Eruption of Axial Seamount
At 7:33 p.m. PST on July 26th, 2015, after descending ~1840 m beneath the oceans surface, the remotely operated vehicle ROPOS and the University of Washington OOI Cabled Array team set first eyes on the April 24th, 2015 voluminous eruption of Axial Seamount during the VISIONS’ 15 cruise.
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