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July 31, 2015 
Aloha from PacIOOS!
We hope you are enjoying the summer with family and friends! For the month of July, PacIOOS has great updates to offer -- be sure to scroll down, or visit us  online .
PacIOOS Instruments and Tools
The U.S. Coast Guard team in Guam supported the redeployment of the Ritidian Point wave buoy.
PacIOOS Wave Buoy off Ritidian Point, Guam,
Back Online
Improved inundation height forecasts for various ocean-facing shoreline segments on Majuro.
Improved Tool to Forecast Potential Wave Inundation on Majuro, Marshall Islands

Based on stakeholder feedback, PacIOOS recently revised the presentation of the Majuro wave inundation forecast to improve usability and readability. Additionally, inundation heights of several documented events have been added as examples to better communicate the potential threat of approaching events. Forecasts for both Majuro and Kwajalein Atoll are updated hourly and provide information up to six days prior to a potential inundation event. Due to the low elevation of the Marshall Islands, communities are vulnerable to flooding.

Voyager News
Global cloud imagery is now available in 1-hour intervals.
Global Cloud Imagery
 

PacIOOS Voyager now provides global cloud imagery in the 'remote sensing', 'satellite data' category. The new map services from RealEarth of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), include hourly infrared (4-km) and visible (1-km) global composites. This improved spatial coverage will allow Voyager users to track cloud patterns associated with tropical storms, hurricanes, and typhoons as they cross the Pacific Ocean. The images are a collection of approximately 14 satellites and are updated hourly. A rolling archive of the most recent 7 days is provided. 

Tracked path of a short-finned pilot whale in 2009.

New Dolphin and Whale Tracks
 

The Cascadia Research Collective (CRC) has provided PacIOOS with new satellite tracking data of dolphins and whales tagged between 2006 and 2012. Tracks include bottlenose dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, Blainville's beaked whales and short-finned pilot whales. All tracks can be found in Voyager under 'fish and wildlife' in the 'tracking' and 'distribution' category, and can be viewed as a still or animated path. Founded in 1979 to conduct research needed to manage and protect threatened marine mammals, CRC has been undertaking surveys for odontocetes and other cetaceans in Hawai'i since 2000. 

Gray shaded areas indicate night time on Earth.
Day & Night Indicator
 

Day or night? Voyager now makes it easy to find out whether it is day or night in different parts across the Earth. The outer edges of this overlay show where sunset and sunrise are currently occurring while regions of twilight (before dusk or dawn) are shaded in light gray. Regions of night are shaded in dark gray. The overlay can be found in Voyager's "More..." map options in the upper-right corner of the map and is automatically updated every minute to keep itself current. This newly added indicator is especially useful for PacIOOS, whose region spans 6 different time-zones across the Pacific Ocean, including the International Date Line. 

PacIOOS Activities
Kapiolani Community College students learn
about wave buoys and marine engineering.

Kapiolani Community College Career Mixer
 
The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawai'i organized a career networking mixer to introduce Kapiolani Community College students to different career paths in ocean and earth science. Professionals from academia and various agencies were invited to talk about their daily tasks and responsibilities. PacIOOS staff Kimball Millikan participated in this speed networking opportunity to share his experiences as a Marine Research Engineer and to offer insights into the PacIOOS wave buoys. The career mixer was a great opportunity to expose college students to the diverse field of ocean and earth sciences.
PacIOOS Partners
Marine Crew of the National Park of American Samoa.
Aloha to New PacIOOS Partner: 
National Park of American Samoa
 
PacIOOS is excited to welcome a new Memorandum of Agreement ( MOA) partner. The National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) , the only National Park Service site south of the Equator, provides habitat for paleotropical rainforests and Indo-Pacific coral reefs. The park's purpose is to preserve and protect the tropical rainforest, coral reefs, archeological and cultural resources of American Samoa, to maintain the habitat of flying foxes, preserve the ecological balance of the Samoan tropical forest, and to provide for the enjoyment of these unique resources  

NPSA's Marine Crew recently assisted PacIOOS in retrieving the American Samoa wave buoy from 8 miles offshore. PacIOOS would like to send a special thanks to the crew - Fa'afetai for your support & dedication!
Marshall Islands Homeowner's Handbook.
Homeowner's Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards in the Republic of the Marshall Islands
 
The University of Hawai'i Sea Grant Program recently published a handbook for homeowners in the Marshall Islands, which provides useful tips on how to prepare for natural hazards. The  handbook includes a discussion of common myths, and provides basic information on tropical cyclones, tsunamis, extratropical storms, King Tides, floods, sea-level rise, erosion, and drought that will allow homeowners to make educated decisions. PacIOOS' forecast for potential wave inundation is also featured in this section. Readers will learn in detail how to protect their families and property. Essential emergency supplies, evacuation kit, evacuation planning, evacuation procedures, and important information from the national and local emergency management agencies and organizations are being discussed. Handy tips on how to prepare and protect properties are offered in the last section of the handbook.

Bringing Real-Time Data to the Classroom

 

Bethany Kimokeo, a 5th year marine science teacher at Kamehameha Schools, is one of PacIOOS' educational collaborators. Bethany has worked closely with the PacIOOS water quality program to integrate PacIOOS tools and data into her curriculum. Infusing classroom materials with real data sets from Hawai'i allows her students to fully understand and connect to oceanography and marine biology concepts. With the support of PacIOOS Voyager, students studied numerous overlays including bathymetry, water quality, benthic habitats, and various others. It is Bethany's goal to include other data sets into her curriculum in the near future.

 

As a University of Hawai'i at Manoa graduate with a B.S. in Marine Biology and a B.A. in Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies, Bethany is no stranger to research labs and oceanographic data. She is planning to return to school for her graduate degree next year, possibly in a Hawaiian language program, which would allow her to develop a Hawaiian language marine science curriculum. Encouraging more Hawaiian youth to pursue science degrees and careers is something Bethany is very passionate about. 

Based within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, PacIOOS is the Pacific Islands regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System ( IOOS® ). PacIOOS is a partnership of data providers and users working together to enhance ocean observations and develop, disseminate, evaluate, and apply ocean data and information products designed to address the environmental, economic, and public safety needs of stakeholders who call the Pacific Islands home.  For more information on PacIOOS, please visit www.pacioos.org . 
PacIOOS | 808-956-8784 | fiona.langenberger@hawaii.edu | www.pacioos.org
1680 East-West Road, POST 815
Honolulu, HI 96822