News from PacIOOS

News and Updates from PacIOOS

Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System

August 5, 2011

Draft Strategic Priorities Plan

As a foundation for detailed implementation planning, the PacIOOS Governing Council has approved a draft Strategic Priorities Plan for 2011-2016. This document details the thematic areas of PacIOOS effort, priorities within each theme, expected outcomes, and general measures of success. Information provided during hundreds of meetings and consultations with partners and stakeholders over the past four years were used to inform the development of these priorities. This document will remain in draft form until the completion and of detailed implementation plans for each theme within the next year.

New PacIOOS Partners

We are pleased to welcome two new partners to the PacIOOS family: the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources and the Maui Ocean Center. If you would like to join the PacIOOS program as a partner please sign and return our Memorandum of Agreement.

Satellite Data Overlays now in PacIOOS Map Viewer

Our data and information management team recently completed the initial integration of daily and historical satellite data into the PacIOOS Map Viewer. Daily information, as well as multi-day composite images and historical archives can be selected along the left-hand side of our Map Viewer. Clicking a location on the map, once an overlay is selected, will provide the most recent data for that location as well as the option to download data at that spot for up to the last 30 days. Currently, recent and historical data from ASCAT, AVHRR, GOES, Jason-1, MODIS Aqua, QuickSCAT, and SeaWiFS are available. If you have a preferred satellite data set you would like to see included please do not hesitate to let us know!

Monk Seal Tracks available in PacIOOS Map Viewer

In partnership with the NOAA Monk Seal Research Program we have made available select tracks and information on monk seals in the Hawaiian Islands. These monk seal location data are the first wildlife data to be integrated in PacIOOS, with many more tracks of tuna, turtles, and sharks across the region to be available in the very near future. Through our PacIOOS Map Viewer, you can plot monk seal locations, animate movement patterns, and explore how seal movement ties in to the physical environment.

Maui Water Quality Monitoring Maui Shoreline

In response to community, agency, and partner priorities, PacIOOS is moving forward with permitting and installing real-time water quality sensors at two locations on Maui. Within the coming months data will be streaming from the nearshore waters off Kalama Beach Park (Kihei) and Keka'a Landing Pier (Kahekili). These systems will be managed by PacIOOS and UH Maui College Marine Option Program as a collaborative effort, in part, to train students on how to collect oceanographic observations.

PacIOOS is the Pacific Islands regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Our mission is to provide timely, reliable, and accurate information on the open and coastal ocean waters of the Pacific Islands to ensure a healthy, clean, productive ocean and resilient coastal zone. For more information on PacIOOS or to become a partner please visit www.pacioos.org or contact the PacIOOS Director, Chris Ostrander, at chriso@hawaii.edu.