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The third meeting of the U.S. Global Ocean Observing System Steering Committee (USGSC) was called to order at 8:30 am on June 29, 2000. Steve Weisberg welcomed members and guests to the offices of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Program and described the activities of his organization.
The provisional agenda (Appendix 1) was reviewed and adopted. Attendees at the meeting are listed, with affiliations, in Appendix 2. The report of the second meeting of the USGSC (Appendix 3) had been circulated in advance of the meeting and was approved. For information, the report of the first meeting of the USGSC is also included in Appendix 3.
Consideration of the purposes of the USGSC continued from the third meeting. It was generally agreed that, although the initial plans for the global module (climate change and marine services) of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) are essentially complete, much remains to be done to complete the implementation and integration of the U.S. components of this module. The Committee understands that most of those activities must be carried out by Federal agencies, and that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Navy, and other agencies in the National Oceanographic Partnership Program are actively committed to completing and integrating the needed global scale observing system components for climate and marine services. It was agreed that the Committee should continue to work toward the implementation and integration of U.S. elements of the global module of GOOS. Overarching issues in need of further oversight include assuring open access to data, integration of observing system elements, and coordination of U.S. elements with international GOOS structures.
The planning for the coastal module of GOOS, though not yet complete, is advancing rapidly under the leadership of Tom Malone and Tony Knap. The Committee acknowledged that the coastal ocean observing system will be built as a federation of regional systems. Within the U.S., the needs and responsibility for environmental data and products related to the coastal ocean are divided among a wide group of entities, including federal agencies, industry, state and local government, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These varied groups must be brought together by region in order to plan and implement the regional systems. The Committee decided that important and productive Committee activities at this time are those that will facilitate the development of the U.S. national coastal ocean observing system. Consideration of such activities continued throughout the meeting.
Guest representatives of California state government agencies, local southern California governmental agencies, the transportation industry, NGOs, and the media arrived and were introduced. Nowlin then gave a general overview of the international Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The remainder of the first meeting day was devoted to presentations by the guests representatives and follow-on discussions:
These representatives described the responsibilities and activities of their organizations, their needs for marine data and information, and actions of their organizations to obtain such data and information. It was quite clear that substantial ongoing monitoring efforts already are underway in the region, many funded by the organizations represented and that those efforts might form the basis of a regional coastal observing system. However, it was equally clear that (1) many common needs (e.g., improved wave and weather forecasting) were not being met, (2) no mechanisms exist for exchange and archive of the data and information now being obtained, and (3) no regular exchange of plans and discussion of alternatives were taking place.
The Committee prepared a list of priority needs for Southern California Bight users based on presentations and discussion at the meeting. That draft list (included as Appendix 4) will be reviewed by meeting participants and then circulated to Southern California Bight users for information and comment.
The Committee meeting promoted mutually beneficial exchanges between the guest providers and users of coastal ocean
data/products and the planners of U.S. regional ocean observing systems. The regional observing system representatives learned much
from the individual data providers and users. Representatives of three regional observing systems discussed their plans on the second day:
• Phil Mundy representing Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Monitoring and Research Program (GEM),
• John Blaha representing the Northern Gulf of Mexico Littoral Initiative (NGLI), and
• Evan Richert representing the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS).
Each speaker described the evolution, management, strategy, and present level of planning or activity of their respective regional
systems. The contrasts were large and served to illustrate the likely diversity of future successful regional systems.
These presentations were informative to all attending and proved a source of useful shared information among the observing system representatives. They recommended an annual meeting of regional U.S. coastal observing system operators under the auspices of the U.S. GOOS Steering Committee. The Committee agreed to organize the first annual coastal monitoring workshop to include representatives of ongoing and nascent regional U.S. coastal ocean observing systems, e.g.: Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, DODS Hub, LEO, and Southern California. The workshop should include: lectures on best practice for observing technologies and quality control, data and information management, and modeling (including data assimilation and prediction). This workshop might be held just before the next meeting of the USGSC in January or sometime after March 2001.
On behalf of the H.J. Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, Tom Malone reviewed the status of the effort to assess the State of the Nation's Ecosystem. In the longer term, this exciting and necessary effort could be advanced greatly by the implementation of an effective national coastal ocean observing system.
The remainder of the meeting was attended by Committee members, Federal agency representatives, and representatives of the three regional observing systems. It was focused principally on (1) the future thrusts of the Committee and (2) a vision for development of a U.S. national coastal ocean observing system. Of course, these are highly related.
While not precluding efforts to further development of open ocean elements of U.S. GOOS, it was agreed that the U.S. GOOS Steering Committee give increased focus on the development of coastal elements. These suggested thrusts are:
After much discussion, a preliminary vision statement for the development of the U.S. national coastal ocean observing system was agreed. The preliminary statement agreed at the meeting is given below; a more expanded version will be prepared under the guidance of the Committee. That document is entitled "Toward a National, Cost-Effective Approach to Predicting the Future of our Coastal Environment".
The U.S. coastal ocean observing system is envisioned as a national network that is built upon existing observations and products planned and implemented for regional and local priorities. It is the role of the Federal government to fill in the needed generic observations (e.g., winds, temperatures for specific regional needs, or ocean currents) and with data and information management, modeling and other tools necessary to produce the widest array of products needed by users-government, industrial, NGOs, academia, and the public. In addition, the Federal government should assume responsibility for coordination and integration among the U.S. regional observing systems.
Already there exist scattered observing system elements along our nation's coasts. An incubator system is needed that will assist in developing and connecting these into collaborative regional coastal observing systems.
The needed 'incubator' system is envisioned with two principal thrusts:
In summary, the U.S. GOOS Steering Committee has plans and capabilities that will permit assistance in many ways with the planning and coordination of U.S. components of a sustained, integrated ocean observing system. The Committee is willing to work with combinations of government, academia, industry or non-governmental organizations.
The meeting concluded on the afternoon of 30 June 2000 with sincere thanks to Stephen Weisberg and his staff for their work in promoting a successful and enjoyable meeting.
Thursday, June 29, 2000
8:00 Coffee and rolls/juice
8:30 Welcome
Adoption of Agenda; Logistics
Approval of report from USGSC-II
10:00 Arrival of guests; Overview of GOOS
10:30 Needs for GOOS products; Perspectives of various organizations with discussion
California State Government
10:30 Dr. Michael Martin, California Department of Fish and Game
11:00 Dr. Jack Gregg, California Coastal Commission
Local Government
11:30 Blake Anderson, Orange County Sanitation District
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch (brought in)
Local Government (continued)
1:00 Steve Aceti, California Coastal Coalition
Transportation Industry
1:30 Doug Thiessen, Port of Long Beach
2:00 Nancy Wheatley, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
NGO's
2:30 Chris Evans, Surfrider Foundation
3:00 Coffee Break
3:15 Linda Sheehan, Center for Marine Conservation
Media
3:45 Garry Robbins, Orange County Register (via phone)
4:30 Wrap up; Consideration of priority user needs
5:30 Adjourn
Friday, June 30, 2000
8:00 Continental breakfast
8:30 Continued discussion of coastal GOOS development
9:00 Review of three U.S. regional monitoring initiatives
• Gulf Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM); A sentinel monitoring program for the conservation of the natural resources of the northern Gulf of Alaska - Phillip R. Mundy
• The northern Gulf of Mexico Littoral Initiative (NGLI) - John Blaha for Landry J. Bernard III
• Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System - Evan Richert for Josie Quintrell
Review of Heinz Center project to design a report on the State of the Nation's ecosystems; coordination with GOOS development - Tom Malone for the Heinz Center
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch (brought in)
1:00 Committee discussions
4:30 Adjourn
U.S. GOOS Steering Committee Attendees
Committee members Margaret Davidson, NOAA Ed Harrison, NOAA Tom Malone, Horn Point Jim Mjelde, TAMU Worth Nowlin, TAMU Zack Powell, UC Berkeley Steve Weisberg, California Coastal Water Research Project Agency representatives Muriel Cole, NOAA Paul Pan, EPA Thursday speakers Michael Martin, California Dept. of Fish & Game Jack Gregg, California Coastal Commission Blake Anderson, Orange County Sanitation District Steve Aceti, California Coastal Coalition Doug Thiessen, Port of Long Beach Nancy Wheatley, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Linda Sheehan, Center for Marine Conservation Chris Evans, Surfrider Foundation Garry Robbins, Orange County Register Friday speakers Phillip Mundy, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (Alaska) John Blaha, U.S. Navy (Stennis, Mississippi) Evan Richert, Director of the State Planning Office (Maine) Observers Bill Teague, Naval Research Laboratory (Stennis, Mississippi) Guangyu Wang, SMBRP Marlene Noble, USGS George Robertson, Orange Co. Sanitation District Christopher Minakowski, Aide to Representative Dana Rohrabacher |
U.S. GOOS Steering Committee Report of Initial Meeting
U.S. GOOS Steering Committee Report of Second Meeting
At the third meeting of the USGSC in Huntington Beach, CA, presentations were made by local and state users and providers of environmental data from the coastal ocean. Based on those presentations a preliminary list of priority products was prepared and will be refined through further discussions in the region. The preliminary list is:
| GSC-I | GSC-II | GSC-III | GSC-IV |
| GSC-V | GSC-VI | GSC-VII | GSC-VIII |
| GSC-IX | GSC-X | GSC-XI | GSC-XII |
| GSC-XIII |
Contact: Susan R. Martin (srmartin@tamu.edu)
Updated: 26 September, 2006
URL: http://ocean.tamu.edu/GOOS/GSC3/GSC3.html