News and Updates from PacIOOS

Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System

by observing we learn

November 2012

Upcoming Webinar with live demonstration of PacIOOS Voyager on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. (HST)

Example map created in Voyager of high resolution bathymetry, bottomfish protected areas, model currents at 200m depth, and more.

PacIOOS Voyager is an interactive online mapping platform

(http://pacioos.org/voyager) released last month. Voyager allows ocean users to dynamically combine, view, download, and query thousands of data layers across the Pacific for free. This powerful, yet easy-to-use interface serves as a decision-making portal at all levels- from the individual planning a fishing trip to a region facilitating large-scale planning efforts. Data overlays of recent, historical, and forecast data are available, and both dynamic and static data sets are included.

Click here to register for the webinar. Upon registration, you will receive email confirmation with additional information about the webinar.

New Wave Buoys Deployed in Guam, Saipan, and Kāneʻohe Bay

Location of new wave buoy off Guam with direct link to real-time data on PacIOOS Voyager

Our PacIOOS wave buoy team has been extremely busy. In the past month, they have deployed three new wave buoys in as many jurisdictions! PacIOOS now has Datawell Mark II Waverider buoys reporting real-time information from Ritidian Point off Guam, Tanapag, Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi.

These buoys join the existing PacIOOS network of eight real-time wave buoys in Hawaiʻi, Guam, and the Marshall Islands to provide streaming data on wave height, direction, period, and water temperature to the PacIOOS Voyager, the PacIOOS website, to the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and via Twitter. Data streaming is made possible through long-term partnerships between PacIOOS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and CDIP. Click here for a view in Voyager of all our PacIOOS buoys across the Pacific.

PacIOOS Governing Council Convened in Honolulu

The PacIOOS Go verning Council, with representatives from various sectors including transport ation, tourism, fisheries, resource management, local and national government and non-government organizations, met in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi on October 16-17, 2012, at the Outrigger on the Beach Hotel. The purpose of the meeting was to review program progress towards milestones, discuss future planning and implementation priorities, and explore potential partnerships and initiatives. Click here for a list of the current PacIOOS Governing Council members.

PacIOOS Welcomes Two New Partners

We are excited to welcome two new institutional partners to the membership of PacIOOS partners: United States Coast Guard (USCG), District 14 and the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC). If your organization would like to become a PacIOOS partner, please download, s ign, and return our Memorandum of Agreement.

The members of the United States Coast Guard, District 14 are the Guardians of the Pacific, a dynamic organization of dedicated professionals serving our nation's maritime interests with excellence. They provide quality services to the maritime community and the public in maritime safety, maritime security, protection of natural resources, maritime mobility, and national defense.

Pacific Disaster Center provides applied information research and analysis support for the development of more effective policies, institutions, programs, and information products for disaster management and humanitarian assistance communities worldwide.

PacIOOS Welcomes New Director

On November 1, 2012, Heather Kerkering transitioned into the position of PacIOOS Directo r. Heather has been serving as PacIOOS Deputy Director for the past 10 months , and she is excited to continue her efforts to strengthen partnerships and move the program forward.

Heather has comprehensive experience in ocean observing, having worked as the program manager for the Cental and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) for six years prior to joining PacIOOS in January. Heather replaced Chris Ostrander, who has transitioned to Assistant Dean and Director of Strategic Initiatives and External Relations for the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Based within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai'i 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.