World Oceans Day turned into a whole month full of celebrations to raise awareness about the ocean! Continue reading below to find out what we were up to during the month of June. Visit our website or Voyager to access tools, data sets, and more.
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PacIOOS was awarded more than $2.75 million in competitive grant funding through U.S. IOOS. |
Continued Funding for PacIOOS
PacIOOS was awarded more than $2.75 million in
competitive grant funding through NOAA's Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). The funding is
for the first year of a five-year cooperative agreement to enhance and sustain coastal and ocean
observing efforts throughout the U.S. Pacific Islands region.
Guided by stakeholder input, PacIOOS will continue to support its implementation as an ocean
information system. By collecting observational ocean data, predicting future events, and serving
a wide variety of ocean data, PacIOOS helps to increase ocean safety, protect public
and environmental health, and support the economy. PacIOOS is one of eleven regional associations to receive funding from IOOS. Regional associations address and coordinate local coastal and ocean observing and decision-support projects, which benefit the local area and integrate into the national U.S. IOOS. Over $31 million was awarded this year across the U.S. IOOS system.
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PacIOOS Featured in Marine Technology Society Journal
PacIOOS, along with IOOS and other regional associations, is part of the latest volume of the
Marine Technology Society Journal, titled "
Data Impacts and Lessons Learned from Ocean Observing Systems Worldwide." In the
article, lead author Melissa Iwamoto discusses how PacIOOS addresses stakeholder needs for ocean data and information in a cost-efficient and effective manner throughout the Pacific Islands region. Under a framework of stakeholder-driven priority setting, PacIOOS continuously gathers user feedback to evaluate needs and the potential for positive impact. The development and successful implementation of
wave run-up forecasts for the Marshall Islands and the deployment of
wave buoys throughout the Mariana Islands are two case studies illustrating this approach.
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PacIOOS Instruments and Tools
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PacIOOS wave buoy off Ritidian Point, Guam. |
Ritidian Point Wave Buoy Back in the Water
PacIOOS successfully redeployed its wave buoy located 3.5 miles outside of Ritidian Point, Guam. The wave buoy provides information on wave height, direction, period, and sea surface temperature in near real-time. Wave buoy data from Ritidian Point and Ipan are available online as graphs, tables, spectra and in a combined forecast (WaveWatchIII). Users can also access recent and historic wave buoy data through PacIOOS Voyager.
Based on the latest wave data, federal, state and county officials, as well as ocean users (such as fishermen, surfers and boat operators) can make well-informed and safe decisions
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Data are managed by the Coastal Data Information Program (
CDIP
) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Long-term partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and CDIP enable data streaming.
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Scalloped hammerhead shark in Hawaiian waters.
Photo credit: Mark Royer. |
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Lunch Time Lecture Series
Throughout the month of June, PacIOOS held three lunch time presentations at the Waikīkī Aquarium as part of World Oceans Month. PacIOOS staff highlighted observation efforts and data tools for each part of the Pacific Islands region. The Nearshore Water Quality group shared information about the nearshore sensor network and monitoring efforts in Hawai'i. Coinciding with Shark Week, staff from the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) presented cutting-edge technology that is being used to examine the behavioral ecology and physiology of tiger sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and deep sea bluntnose sixgill sharks.
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Families learn about water quality monitoring. |
World Ocean's Day Celebrations
In celebration of World Oceans Day, PacIOOS participated in the 5th annual North Shore Ocean Fest at Turtle Bay. The event was hosted by the North Shore Ocean Education Coalition (NSOEC) and provided a fun atmosphere for approximately 5,000 community members and visitors to learn about the importance of our oceans. The PacIOOS booth highlighted nearshore water quality monitoring and offered hands-on activities for children and their families. The activities included learning about salinity in our ocean and measuring turbidity by using secchi disks.
PacIOOS also participated in the 10th Annual Kewalo Basin Park Clean-up and Fundraiser with an educational water quality booth hosted by the PacIOOS Nearshore Water Quality group. The
Friends of Kewalos mission is to protect, preserve and mālama Kewalo Basin park for future generations.
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| Environmental Sensor Map is part of the IOOS Catalog. |
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Data Management and Communications Team Annual Meeting
The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (
IOOS
) Program Office gathered Data Management and Communication (DMAC) leads from the regional associations, including PacIOOS, for its annual DMAC meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland. During the two-day meeting, participants discussed the vision and goals for the IOOS DMAC and a path for the next 5-years. In addition, updates and enhancements of the
IOOS Catalog
were shared, as well as the implementation of quality assurance standards, compliance checker, and regional archiving. Attendees also learned more about the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), Animal Telemetry Network (ATN), and Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) and exchanged lessons learned.
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Nawiliwili Boat Harbor experienced high water levels on July 30, 2015. |
Call for Action: Citizen Scientists Needed!
The University of Hawai'i Sea Grant College Program is looking for citizen scientists to support the Hawai'i and Pacific Islands King Tide Project. If you are interested to help document water levels during king tides, this is your chance to participate in a great photo survey. The next opportunity is coming up on July 3 and 4, 2016 -- get your cameras ready! For full details and instructions, as well as more information on the program and how to participate, please visit the project webpage.
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| Echelle Burns on the Southern California Marine Institute's research vessel. |
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Located at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (
SOEST) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, PacIOOS closely works with faculty, technicians, postdoctoral researchers, and students of all levels. Building capacity, supporting innovative research, and fostering the next generation of scientists is an important component of PacIOOS' efforts. Let's take a look at one of our former student assistants and see what she has been up to lately!
Echelle Burns joined PacIOOS' Data Management team as a first year undergraduate student and provided data support for while pursuing her undergraduate degree in Marine Biology. Earlier this year, Echelle moved to California to prepare for her Masters degree in Biology at the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), under the supervision of Dr. Chris Lowe. Echelle will be tracking three bottom-dwelling fish species off the Orange County Sanitation District 120" sewage outflow pipe that lies in the waters off Huntington Beach. Fish will be tagged with small, internal transmitters, and receivers will be placed in grids on the ocean floor at two locations: close to the outflow pipe and at a location upcoast of the pipe. In order to better understand variations in fish contamination levels, the project aims to determine fish movement patterns and which habitats they prefer. For the past six months, Echelle has been working on the research vessel at the Southern California Marine Institute, and she has been volunteering her time to assist other researchers at CSULB
. We are looking forward to following Echelle on her academic path and finding out how she applies the knowledge gained at PacIOOS to the great projects lying ahead of her!
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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
.
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Copyright © 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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