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PacIOOS' partners participate in the 10-Year Anniversary Sail. |
PacIOOS 10-Year Anniversary
Joined by governing council members, partners, ocean users, co-investigators, researchers, and staff, PacIOOS celebrated its 10-year anniversary with an afternoon boat excursion along the South Shore of Oʻahu. Participants visited ocean observing assets and learned from PacIOOS users and partners how coastal and ocean observations and forecasts are incorporated into everyday decision-making. A congratulation letter from Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was also shared with participants onboard. Mahalo to all our partners for supporting and guiding PacIOOS through a decade of ocean observations in the Pacific!
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10 Years of PacIOOS --
10 Stories from Our Users
To celebrate a decade of ocean observations in the Pacific Islands region, PacIOOS will highlight ten users in the coming months who utilize PacIOOS' data, products, and tools on a regular basis. To kick off the series, please check out our first web story, featuring Captain Rob Moylan from Atlantis Adventures. Find out how PacIOOS' surface currents forecast helps Captain Rob to assess predicted ocean conditions and to inform his decision-making.
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Governing Council members gathered for the annual meeting in Honolulu. |
PacIOOS Governing Council Meeting
PacIOOS Governing Council members came together at the beginning of November for the annual Governing Council meeting in Honolulu. Members participated in the 10-Year Anniversary Sail to visit ocean observing assets and to learn from PacIOOS users, partners, and staff. On the second day, members discussed PacIOOS program updates, performance measures, the new Strategic Framework, and the Operational Plan outline. PacIOOS co-investigators and staff also provided insights into the work of the data management team and the nearshore sensor group.
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Aloha to the Division of Aquatic Resources
PacIOOS is pleased to welcome the State of Hawaiʻi, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources as the newest addition to our Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) partners. The mission of the Division of Aquatic Resources is to manage, conserve, and restore the state's unique aquatic resources and ecosystems for present and future generations. Major program areas include commercial fisheries and aquaculture; aquatic resources protection, enhancement and education; and recreational fisheries. PacIOOS is looking forward to partnering with the Division of Aquatic Resources to explore mutual research opportunities and to enhance data sharing.
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Multi-Scale Ultra-high Resolution sea surface temperature for Hawaiʻi Island. |
New and Enhanced Data Sets in PacIOOS Voyager
PacIOOS Voyager now offers Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution (MUR) sea surface temperature in the "remote sensing" menu. These global, near real-time, satellite-derived data sets are available at daily and monthly time spans at approximately 1-km resolution. MUR replaces the Global 1-km Sea Surface Temperature (G1SST) product and extends from June 2002 to present.
NOAA's Shallow-Water Benthic Habitat Maps have been added to PacIOOS GeoServer as individual data sets by island. This migration allows for a much faster display of all benthic habitat map layers in PacIOOS Voyager, including biology, geomorphology, and geography. All 37 individual layers can also be accessed through the PacIOOS data catalog.
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Coral at And Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia. Credit: Jason Biggs.
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Grant Opportunity: Identification and Application of Acidification Thresholds in Coastal Ecosystems
NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) are soliciting proposals for the Identification and Application of Acidification Thresholds in Coastal Ecosystems. The goal is to develop a threshold detection and warning capability for ocean acidification in concert with other stresses; identify how social and economic thresholds may be associated with ecological thresholds; refine ecosystem models; and provide a better understanding of factors that interact with ocean acidification to cause a threshold effect. Letters of intent are required by December 8, 2017, and full applications are due on February 13, 2018.
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Bringing Shark and Pelagic Fisheries Research to the Next Level
Dr. Kim Holland is a Research Professor at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and the founder of the Pelagic Fisheries and Shark Research Group at HIMB (also known as the "Holland Lab"). He serves as one of PacIOOS' co-investigators. The Holland Lab spearheaded the concept of using "sharks as oceanographers." Kim and his team equip sharks with cutting-edge electronic tags in order to collect near real-time profiles of ocean temperature and oxygen concentration. In addition, Kim's lab continues to test new types of electronic tags to increase the understanding of marine animal movements and the physical and biological factors that shape their behavior.
Over the years, the Holland Lab has been responsible for several scientific and technological "firsts." This includes describing the influence of fish aggregating devices (FADs) on the movements of tuna; how tuna maintain body temperatures above that of ambient seawater; and showing that tiger sharks in Hawaiʻi are highly nomadic. The lab also developed a "business card" tag that allows multiple tagged animals to "talk" to each other in the open ocean, as well as tags that can detect feeding events in sharks. Away from the lab, Kim is a keen sport fisherman and golfer, and a tireless pursuer of craft beer.
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