Building the GCOOS Maintenance of Observing Elements Ann Jochens GCOOS-RA Annual Meeting of the Parties & Board of Directors February 2009 Orlando, Florida

Building the GCOOS Inventory of Observing Elements: Real-Time Data

Inventory on IOOS Observation Registry

8 Non-federal Local Data Nodes (excludes our 2 satellite nodes)

National Data Buoy Center

Building the GCOOS Inventory of Observing Elements: Historical Data

Historical Observations Many Sources Access & Maintenance Variable NDBCNODC Academic Institutions Other Federal Agencies State Agencies Industry – Often proprietary

Update of Inventory of Non-federal Observations in the GCOOS Request purposes are to provide 1.A solid description of the extant building blocks toward a Gulf observing system operated by non-federal entities. 2.Needed information to be compared with identified stakeholder needs so an analysis of needed enhancements can be formulated. 3.An inventory of the status of our regional system that is necessary for IOOS leveraging.

Update of Inventory of Non-federal Observations in the GCOOS Requested are 1.Summary of the observations, products, and/or models. 2.Information on the users of the observations or products. 3.Current annual costs to sustain the operations and the sources of support. 4.Plans (details, costs, schedules) for regional enhancements justified by users/uses.

Building the GCOOS Impacts of Hurricanes

Hurricane Impacts Quick post-storm surveys were done right after landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in No surprise: Damage was incurred by many GCOOS elements – functioning knocked-out, but repairable – total instrument loss – total platform loss – vessels to survey damage in short supply

Hurricane Impacts Lessons Learned Data sets were provided to many entities (local, state, federal government, media, public, academics) before, during, and after storms for a myriad of uses. GCOOS members contributed resources that provided back-ups for federal data streams. Replacement of instruments and gear was highly dependent on eccentricities of state and/or federal risk and emergency management funding rules. Replacement process was lengthy.

Building the GCOOS Maintenance of Operational Systems

For Consideration: Operational Systems Each of the GCOOS elements is designed for purposes other than the IOOS. Each depends for funding on continuation of the need for data for those purposes. Maintenance of each element is not secure. Maintenance funding is not always available after installation. Funds for maintenance/replacement are not presently available through the GCOOS-RA. What actions are needed to assure that deployed observing elements will be maintained?

For Consideration: Storm Damage The GCOOS elements contribute greatly to the information needs of many before, during, and after hurricanes and other severe storms. How can the GCOOS be maintained in an operational state if there is no reliable way to rapidly replace resources damaged or demolished by storms? How can the GCOOS assets be made resilient to impacts of storms? How can our community better convey the message on the value of the GCOOS to the public, federal and state agencies, and the media?

Building the GCOOS Discussion