GCOOS Products & Services Committee

Terms of Reference

The Products and Services Committee will be responsible for identifying the products and services necessary to meet the requirements of the GCOOS user community. The Committee will define the initial user input and feedback processes and develop the products and distribution mechanisms. The Committee also will make recommendations to the Board on research or pilot projects that are needed to sustain and enhance the products and services provided under the coastal ocean observing system. Members will be appointed by the Board of Directors. The Products and Services Committee also is responsible for recommending to the Board updates to the business plan for user services and products. The chair will be elected by the members of the Committee and will work with the chairs of the DMAC and Observing Systems Committees, the Stakeholder Council, and the Education and Outreach Council to closely link the work of the committees and councils.

Products & Services Committee

Member Affiliation Sector Represented
Frank Bub NAVOCEANO G
Richard Crout National Data Buoy Center G
Mark Dortch Vicksburg District, USACE G
Patrick Hogan Naval Research Laboratory G
Chuanmin Hu IMaRS, University of South Florida A
Joe Jewell Mississippi Department of Marine Resources G
Alexis Lugo-Fernandez Minerals Management Service G
Patrick Lynett Texas A&M University A
Steve Morey Florida State University A
Rost Parsons (Interim Chair) NCDDC G
Mitch Roffer Roffer's Fishing Service P
Joe Stinus (observer) NOAA/NESDIS/NCDDC G
Richard Wilkens Wilkens Weather P

* Sectors: A = Academic; G = Government; P = Private

Meetings & Reports

The first meeting of the Products & Services Committee was held 26-27 April 2006 in Biloxi, MS. The second meeting was 27-29 November 2007 in New Orleans, LA. The meeting report is available.

Action Plan and Recommendations 2007-2008

ACTION PLAN

  1. Reconstitute membership (send names, contact information, and brief biography of nominees to Ann Jochens; target February 15)
    1. GCOOS Board to solicit interest from stakeholders
    2. Russ Beard to contact (1) DMR for proxy for Joe Jewel, (2) Mobile Bay Chamber of Commerce, and (3) NGI representative
    3. Rost Parsons and Joe Stinus to contact Fisheries and Sea Grant (e.g., LaDon Swann, David Nieland)
    4. All members suggest: NGO, Port Authority, Offshore Terminals nominees
    5. GCOOS Office to ask missing PSC members about their continued interest

    GOALS:
    10 to 12 members
    one from each state
    membership to emphasize stakeholders
    links with Stakeholder Council & Education/Outreach

  2. Catalog current products and services available through or affiliated with GCOOS (target March 31)
    1. Joe Stinus to draft solicitation email, including an example or two (December 15)
    2. GCOOS Office to send to GCOOS list serve and additional names provided to Ann Jochens
    3. Not a data inventory
    4. Inputs to Joe Stinus and Rost Parsons for compilation

    Continual collaboration with GOMA focus areas, e.g., habitat.

  3. Review and distill existing gap analyses relative to products and services (target April 15)
    1. Rost Parsons to provide documents listing by mid-February
      GCSC, GOMA, Hypoxia Task Force, GCOOS Stakeholder Conferences, etc.
      Include GCOOS internal requirements (e.g., socio-economic study) and Mississippi State University analysis of best data sets for socio-economic indicators for Gulf
    2. Ann Jochens to arrange posting of studies on GCOOS web site when received (target February).
    3. Rost Parsons to identify a volunteer or give assignment to review each study (from committee membership and GCOOS Board)
    4. Russ Beard will send socio-economic white papers (NRC benefits of observing systems) to committee
    5. Rost Parsons will collate
       
  4. PSC to provide list of potential integrated product categories
    1. Derived from portal data streams
    2. Based on stakeholder requirements and gaps; cost/benefit
    3. Examples
      Now Cast
      Data assimilation into models
      Tropical weather for 2008 season (weather committee members)
      http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov (click CSIDE icon)

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. PSC Recommendations Regarding the GCOOS Data Portal

  1. Utilize NOAA Services (NESDIS)
    IT requirements (e.g., security)
    Interoperable with REDM (Regional Ecosystem Data Management) NOAA will ensure archival services at appropriate national data center
    Integrated West Coast processes into GCOOS data portal (automated, automated, automated)
  2. Plan for O&M (if no 2nd year); utilize NOAA Services
  3. Focus on select data streams for year 1
    Utilize ontologies (e.g., NOAA SMECS)
  4. Ergonomics – lessons learned from SEACOOS
  5. Mash-up approach – distributed data not necessarily stored at GCOOS
  6. Modular – different scales of delivery/products

B. PSC Recommendations Regarding High Priority GCOOS Projects

  1. Link projects to data portal effort where possible.
  2. Initially select projects with highest cost/benefit ratio
  3. PSC to provide list of potential integrated product categories (see Action Item 4 above)

Previous Action Plans