Carolinas Coast: A One-Stop Shop for Marine Observations in the Carolinas Funded by the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration A partnership among: Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System NOAA NWS Wilmington Weather Forecast Office

Most users of information prefer “one stop shopping” – it is inefficient to have to go to multiple places to get different sets of information What is “Carolinas Coast” and why is it needed? Information on offshore conditions may be needed rapidly sound decisions and safe operations in coastal waters. “Carolinas Coast” is a web portal that combines diverse observations and and information products on coastal and offshore conditions in the Carolinas

How was the development of Carolinas Coast initiated?  Wilmington WFO wanted to add new marine observations into their “marine” webpage for the maritime community in NC/SC.  The coastal ocean observing community in the SE region wanted to enhance cooperation in meeting user needs There were two main drivers:

What was the approach? We built on information management capacities developed by the regional coastal ocean observing programs Caro-COOPS, CORMP, and SEACOOS, including : Aggregation of near real-time observations from in-situ platforms, models, and remote sensing Aggregation of near real-time observations from in-situ platforms, models, and remote sensing Integration of these with NOAA NWS observations and products Integration of these with NOAA NWS observations and products Leveraging of outreach activities within both NOAA NWS and coastal ocean observing systems Leveraging of outreach activities within both NOAA NWS and coastal ocean observing systems

To use the Carolinas Coast “one- stop” portal, go to: which will bring up……..

Next click on “Marine” on the left side of the page

This takes you to the new Marine site for the NC & SC coasts, which includes observations, hazards statements, & tide tables

Click on a yellow dot to see the most recent weather and/or oceanographic data for that location Each yellow dot represents real-time data

Click on one of the weather or ocean data points to graph the previous 24 hrs of recorded data This allows you to view changes in conditions

Sea Surface Temps, Radar, Radar Loop, Air Pressure, Wind & Bathymetry overlays can be accessed. Changeable base maps are on the Observations page

When the Hazards tab is flashing, there are active marine hazards in the Carolinas for which boaters should be aware.

Click on the advisory link to get more details.

Click on the coastline and view the tide table for surrounding beaches and inlets.

Carolinas Coast is ready for “roll out” but development will continue to build in enhancements and additional capacity Continuing steps…..

Focus Group Review Focus Group Review In house NWS committee reviews the website development and provides feedbackIn house NWS committee reviews the website development and provides feedback The next meeting will review the suggested changes to the Observations & Hazards tabs and will unveil the new Tides tab.The next meeting will review the suggested changes to the Observations & Hazards tabs and will unveil the new Tides tab. “Forecasts” tab “Forecasts” tab Integration with NOAA NWS experimental digital forecast productsIntegration with NOAA NWS experimental digital forecast products Developing Operational Capacity Developing Operational Capacity Establishing protocol for long-term coordination between universities and NOAA NWSEstablishing protocol for long-term coordination between universities and NOAA NWS Improving reliability of data access and aggregation (e.g. mirrored sites/back-up servers)Improving reliability of data access and aggregation (e.g. mirrored sites/back-up servers)