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NOAA and the Alaska Ocean Observing SystemContributions to the National Backbone and Regional Needs

This article was preparedby Allen Macklin, of

NOAA’s Office of Oceanicand Atmospheric

Research; Gary Hufford,of NOAA’s National

Weather Service; BernardMegrey, of NOAA’s

National Marine FisheriesService; Rebecca Smyth,

of NOAA’s NationalOcean Service; and Molly

McCammon, ExecutiveDirector, Alaska Ocean

Observing System.

The Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS)will improve Alaska’s ability to detect changes inmarine ecosystems and living resources, predictfuture changes and their consequences for thepublic, and enable stakeholders to make betterdecisions about use of the marine environment.AOOS partners include:

• Federal agencies, such as the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), theU.S. Geological Survey, the Minerals Manage-ment Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard;

• Federal–State agencies, such as the ExxonValdez Oil Spill Trustee Council;

• State agencies, such as the Alaska Depart-ment of Fish and Game, and state academicinstitutions, including the University of Alaska;

• Research organizations, such as the NorthPacific Research Board, the Alaska SeaLifeCenter, the Prince William Sound ScienceCenter, the Arctic Research Commission, and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium; and

• Industry groups, including fisheries andmarine navigation associations.

AOOS is one of 11 regional associations devel-oping across the country to ensure that observingsystems meet regional needs as part of the U.S.Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).Nationally, the effort to establish IOOS is led bythe Ocean.US Office under the National Oceano-graphic Partnership Program. Legislation creatingthe national system and associated regional sys-tems, such as AOOS, is currently pending in theU.S. Congress. IOOS, in turn, is part of the GlobalOcean Observing System and ultimately will bethe U.S. ocean contribution to the Global EarthObserving System of Systems.

Implementation of AOOS started in 2002. Apilot project, employing elements of the PrinceWilliam Sound Ocean Observing System thatincludes NOAA platforms, will be the first on-lineoperational element, delivering information thisyear. When fully developed, AOOS will:

• Serve as the Alaska regional node for thenational network of observing systems(IOOS);

• Systematically deliver real-time informationand long-term trends about Alaska’s oceanconditions and marine life;

• Provide public Internet access to cost-freedata and information on coastal conditions;and

• Supply tailored products to meet the needsof mariners, scientists, industry, resourcemanagers, educators, and other users ofmarine resources.

Implementing AOOS presents an enormouschallenge because of the vastness of the region.Alaska’s nearly 44,000 miles of coastline consti-tute about two-thirds of the total U.S. coastlineand support a wide variety of habitats and usercommunities. NOAA, with a strong statewidepresence in research, monitoring, and forecasting,is well positioned to help establish AOOS.

To make the challenge of implementation moretractable, AOOS’s first approach is to organizealong three large marine ecosystem boundaries:Arctic, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands, and Gulf ofAlaska. These regional classifications tend to benatural divisions that are differentiated by physi-cal and biological characteristics, managementschemes, and use by stakeholders. Even the sizeof these three regions, however, poses challenges.

Because of Alaska’s remoteness and extremeweather conditions (frigid temperatures, precipita-tion, storms, high sea state, and sea ice), designing,installing, and operating an ocean observing sys-tem throughout the three Alaska regions is moredifficult than in any other shelf area in U.S. waters.The extremely long distances render any plan forperiodic servicing or unscheduled maintenanceand repairs of observing arrays very costly andlogistically often impractical. The dearth of nearbyinfrastructure, such as villages or other semiper-manent settlements, makes power availability,

This document has been archived.

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real-time data retrieval, and routine equipmentmaintenance extremely demanding for almostevery installation. Winter conditions challengeinstrument capabilities because of the extremetemperature changes and the high winds andseas, ice, snow, and fog that accompany them.Extensive cloud cover associated with frequentpassage of storms also contributes to the lackof ocean color, AVHRR, and other visible remotesensing products that are typically available inother coastal areas.

In spite of the challenges of establishing anintegrated ocean observing system in Alaska, theopportunities and needs warrant national atten-tion. Presently, the Alaska fisheries provide morethan 40% of the U.S. and about 5% of the worldharvest of fish and shellfish; Bristol Bay supportsthe world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery; andthe snow crab fishery is currently the largest crus-tacean fishery (by weight) in the U.S. In additionto supporting a large portion of the nation’s fish-ery production, Alaska waters also support morethan 80% of the U.S. seabird population. Anothercrucial point for implementing AOOS is thatgreenhouse-gas-related global warming is thoughtto be amplified in polar regions, making Alaskaconditions a harbinger for climate change.

NOAA’s MissionNOAA also shares many of Alaska’s concerns.

NOAA envisions an informed society that uses acomprehensive understanding of the role of theoceans, coasts, and atmosphere in the global eco-

system to make the best social and economic deci-sions. NOAA’s mission is to understand and pre-dict changes in the earth’s environment and con-serve and manage coastal and marine resources tomeet our nation’s economic, social, and environ-mental needs.

To achieve its mission, NOAA’s focus through2010 will be on four mission goals and a missionsupport goal:

• Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastaland ocean resources through an ecosystemapproach to management;

• Understand climate variability and change toenhance society’s ability to plan and respond;

• Serve society’s needs for weather and waterinformation;

• Support the nation’s commerce with informa-tion for safe, efficient, and environmentallysound transportation; and

• Provide critical support for NOAA’s mission.In an effort to build specific core strengths,

NOAA has selected five cross-cutting prioritiesfor the 21st century that it recognizes as essentialto support its mission goals. Three that pertainparticularly to efforts to develop AOOS are:

• Integrating global environmental observa-tions and data management;

• Ensuring sound, state-of-the-art research; and• Promoting environmental literacy.

StakeholdersBy partnering, NOAA and AOOS can address

common themes and provide benefits to their

AOOS’s three regions(left), which are similar tothe Large Marine Ecosys-

tems of the area (right).

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stakeholders. The stakeholders cover a broadrange of subsistence, commercial, cultural, andeconomic interests. User groups include a widearray of commercial and recreational fishers; sub-sistence hunters and fishers; marine transporta-tion interests such as barges, ferries, cruise ships,and oil/gas tankers; oil and gas developers; coastalcommunities and their residents; and resourcemanagers, including the U.S. Coast Guard perform-ing its full range of regulatory, safety, and securitymissions.

The user groups have a wide range of needsfor data and information products. For example,some of these groups require precise navigationand real-time information, yet others need onlyrudimentary knowledge of currents and watermasses. While these needs exist today, others liein the future, such as possible Northwest Passagetransits under reduced Arctic ice cover. Increasedsurveillance, security, and safety of transportationand commercial shipping activities (offshore, inports, and in sea lines of communication betweenAlaska and the continental U.S.) are recent andemerging areas of concern for the U.S. that will beaddressed by many of the proposed AOOS activi-ties. All of the above information needs are closelytied to forecasting weather and oceanographicconditions, as most weather systems, includingextreme events, transit across marine watersbefore entering Alaska.

The use of AOOS observations and productsfor science applications is also important, espe-cially for developing a better understanding ofthe variability of Alaska’s ocean waters and thediverse ecosystem dynamics that produce thenation’s most abundant fish and shellfish har-vests, as well as important bird and marine mam-mal populations. Many of the science applicationsare directed toward the sustainability of commer-cial and subsistence fishing, especially in theBering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaskaregions. Other examples of how AOOS productswill contribute to scientific understanding includeaddressing the need to better understand thebiophysical processes (for example, wind mixing,upwelling, and eddy formation) that contribute tothe sustained high productivity of the shelf andcontinental slope waters, as well as improvedassessment of biota. Weather and climate fore-casts will benefit greatly from a much larger setof real-time observations in coastal areas wherethey are presently missing. Modeling long timeseries data would result in an improved andmore comprehensive understanding of icing

phenomena, shelf currents, shoreline erosion,tsunami hazards, and the evolution of catastrophicspill trajectories. In addition, longer-term climatechange scenarios will become more “testable”given a more comprehensive and complete setof observations.

Statewide Priority NeedsThere is a need throughout Alaskan waters

for a system to acquire, process, integrate, andpresent remote sensing products, some of NOAAorigin, that incorporate wind, sea surface height,sea ice cover, ocean color, wave height and direc-tion, water column current, water column salinity,and water column temperature data. An immediaterequirement that NOAA will address is the needto obtain a density of data buoys comparable toat least half that along the rest of the U.S. coast.

Additionally, Alaska needs data managementand communications systems that provide real-time data for use by Alaska stakeholders. Thesystems must include the assimilation of data intomodels that provide information products suchas ocean circulation patterns (taking into accountwaves, eddies, and fronts) and improved near-shore forecasts to minimize impacts of coastalerosion on development. These data systems alsomust store the data and metadata from the observ-ing network in formats that provide ready accessto researchers, regulators, educators, and publicand commercial users.

Finally, Alaska must develop:• Models that assimilate data to simulate circu-

lation, predict wave heights and storm surges,and nowcast/forecast changing sea ice condi-tions;

• Systems that connect marine data and modelswith terrestrial data, especially given theimportance both of freshwater input into themarine system and anadromous fish suchas salmon that rely on both freshwater andmarine waters;

• Comprehensive coastal and offshore mappingand charting; and

• Shore-side capabilities to develop, stage,deploy, operate, and maintain observingsystems, including AUVs, cabled and mooredsystems, and ground- and air-based remotesensors throughout Alaska.

Besides these statewide needs, AOOS also willaddress specific requirements of the Arctic, BeringSea, and Gulf of Alaska regions. These are docu-mented on the AOOS web site (www.aoos.org).

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NOAA’s Role in AOOSBecause of NOAA’s long-term involvement in

Alaska, NOAA is already a major contributor tothe development of AOOS. NOAA efforts rangefrom service on the Governance and the DataManagement and Communications committees toprovision of funds, observations, and products.Existing and planned activities by NOAA compo-nents are detailed in the subsections below.

National Environmental, Satelliteand Data Information Service

To properly understand the Arctic environ-ment, an observing system must consist of bothspace-based and in situ observations. The back-bone of present space-based observations is theoperational system of polar-orbiting satellites,

such as NESDIS’s Polar Operational Environmen-tal Satellite (POES) series. The five AVHRRsatellite-borne sensors offer a cost-effectivemeans of gaining large-scale information from thesynoptic to mesoscale in a systematic, repetitivemanner over remote, data-sparse, polar regions.With two operating POES satellites, a pass over aportion of the Arctic can be obtained about everytwo hours. The POES series of satellites providesa long-term (more than 30 years), consistent data-base to detect and monitor spatial and temporalvariability, necessary for distinguishing climatetrends from natural “noise.” The POES series willcontinue until 2012, when a new generation ofsatellites called the National Polar-Orbiting Opera-tional Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)will be launched.

NPOESS will consist of a number of advancedsensor arrays to provide higher resolution and

Contributions of NOAA’s major line organizations to the Alaska Ocean Observing System. Early,direct contributions are designated by a check. With ongoing commitment, all boxes will eventuallybe checked.

AOOS ActivityNOAA Line Modeling and Data Management Education Governance

Organization Observations Analysis and Communications and Outreach and Planning Funding

NESDIS √NMFS √ √ √ √ √NOS √ √ √ √ √ √NWS √ √ √ √OAR √ √ √ √ √

A NOAA Polar Opera-tional Environmental

Satellite (POES), whichcollects global data on

cloud cover; surfaceconditions such as ice,snow, and vegetation;atmospheric tempera-

tures; and moisture,aerosol, and ozone

distributions. They alsocollect and relay

information from fixedand moving data

platforms.

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more accurate measurements of the atmosphere,clouds, aerosols, the earth radiation budget, clear-air land/water/ice surfaces, sea surface tempera-ture, ocean color, ocean surface wind speed anddirection, ocean surface topography, and tempera-ture and moisture profiles. (See htpp://npoess.noaa.gov/index.html for detailed information onsensor type and expected performance.) The majorchallenge will be to integrate the satellite sensorinformation with the in situ observations, includ-ing calibration and verification of sensor data tothe surface observations.

Another area in which NESDIS is committed toAOOS is the implementation of Climate ReferenceNetwork (CRN) observing stations across Alaska,including coastal sites. The CRN stations willreduce the uncertainty in the observed climate sig-nal for surface temperature to less than 0.1°C percentury and precipitation to less than 1% per cen-tury on regional scales. Approximately 29 CRNsites will be located in Alaska, with about 10 sitesalong the coast. Two sites, at Fairbanks and Bar-row, are already operating. Four more sites will beinstalled during the summer of 2005, and it is antic-ipated that four sites will be installed each summeruntil the installation is complete. The coastal CRNsites will provide an important tie to the ocean–land system.

National Marine Fisheries ServiceNOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service

(NMFS) conducts biological, ecological, and eco-

nomic research to provide information for theneeds of regional fishery management councils,interstate and international fishery commissions,fishery development foundations, governmentagencies, and the general public.

NMFS, through its research and monitoringactivities, seeks to understand and predictchanges to marine ecosystems and their sub-systems affecting living marine resources, fisher-ies, habitats, ecosystem condition, productivity,aquaculture, and the generation of net nationalbenefits. NMFS develops the scientific informa-tion base required for fishery resource conserva-tion, fishery development and utilization, habitatconservation, protection of marine mammals andendangered species, and the impact analyses andenvironmental assessments for management plansand international negotiations. It also pursuesfisheries oceanographic research from a marineecosystem standpoint to answer specific needs inthe subject areas of population dynamics, fisheryeconomics, fishery engineering, food science, andfishery biology.

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)conducts ecosystem-based research and assess-ments of living marine resources, with a focus onthe North Pacific, to promote the recovery andlong-term sustainability of these resources and togenerate social and economic opportunities andbenefits from their use. Since the early 1970s, theAFSC has conducted annual scientific fishery sur-veys to measure the distribution and abundanceof approximately forty commercially important fish

National Marine FisheriesService survey of com-mercially valuable and

associated fish, shellfish,and marine mammals in

the Gulf of Alaska,eastern Bering Sea,

and Aleutian Islands.

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National Ocean Servicewater level observing

station at Valdez. Stationssuch as this one arelocated at 18 sites inAlaska, and six new

stations are planned.

and crab stocks in the Gulf of Alaska, eastern Ber-ing Sea, and Aleutian Islands. Surveys in the Ber-ing Sea are conducted annually on a regular sam-pling grid, while surveys in the Gulf of Alaskaoccur every other year using a stratified randomsampling approach to estimating abundance.

The research surveys utilize a wide range ofsampling techniques, mensuration equipment, andfishing gear, including underwater video systems,autonomous submersibles, hydroacoustic tech-nology, and midwater, bottom trawl, ichthyoplank-ton, longline, crab pot, and pot sampling gear, aswell as tagging studies. Often physical oceano-graphic measurements are taken concurrently withbiological samples.

Data derived from these surveys and othersampling programs are analyzed by AFSC scien-tists, and the results and outcomes from theseactivities are supplied to fishery managementagencies and to the commercial fishing industry,where they are used in making resource manage-ment decisions.

NMFS and the AFSC, through their regularexecution of large-scale fisheries surveys, will bean important source of biological information forAOOS. In turn, AOOS will provide much of thephysical and chemical information needed byNMFS for ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Besides the valuable survey information thatNMFS will provide to AOOS, NMFS is a majorpartner in the development of AOOS, providingfunds and personnel who serve in governanceand data management capacities.

National Ocean ServiceNOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) works

to balance people’s use of the coast with conser-vation of the nation’s coastal and ocean resources.Thus, NOS’s mission is to manage society’s usesof coastal ecosystems to sustain their naturalresources and services. This mission is undertakenin a variety of ways: supporting commerce andmarine transportation navigation; protecting,restoring, and managing coastal and marineresources; and building the capacity of regional,state, and local partners to undertake both theseactivities. A key component of these activities isto observe coastal and ocean conditions andresources, either directly or by building the capac-ity of regional, state, and local partners.

NOS is conducting or has planned a number ofactivities that will expand or enhance IOOS-relatedactivities in Alaska. NOS will expand the multi-mission National Water Level Observation Net-work (NWLON) in Alaska (18 existing locations)with six new NWLON stations, primarily to helpstrengthen the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.NOS will continue to conduct tidal current sur-veys in Cook Inlet and southeast Alaska to updatetidal current predictions, as well as hydrographicsurveys using in-house and contract capabilities.NOS also will deploy a high-frequency surfacecurrent mapper during the summer of 2005 to com-plete its data collection requirements in the CookInlet area.

NOS also provides financial and technicalassistance to Alaskan partners to aid in the devel-opment of regional observing capabilities. Grantsto AOOS have helped fund the development ofthe regional governance needed to establish theregional association, including outreach and datamanagement. Additional grants starting this fallwill aid the Alaska region in implementing datamanagement, visualization, and pilot observingsystems around the state and in developing edu-

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cation, outreach, and business plans. Over thepast two years, NOAA has provided resources toaid in developing coastal observations along theGulf of Alaska. The system-wide monitoring pro-gram of the National Estuarine Research Reserves,part of the national backbone, which includes long-term data on water quality and weather at frequenttime intervals, provides resources for the Kache-mak Bay Reserve to participate in the system-wideprogram and the regional efforts. In addition, NOSis working with other parts of NOAA and withtheir partners, including AOOS, to coordinate andprovide technical assistance for data management.

National Weather ServiceThe National Weather Service (NWS) has

nearly 100 land observation stations acrossAlaska that report hourly. NWS also has over 150

cooperative observation sites (many near thecoast) that provide daily minimum and maximumtemperatures and total precipitation. In addition,Coastal-Marine Automated Network (C-MAN)stations are being installed along the coast, espe-cially in the Gulf of Alaska. C-MAN was estab-lished by the NWS in the early 1980s to continuemeteorological observations previously made bythe U.S. Coast Guard until automation of manyCoast Guard navigational aids ended that practice.Over the last few years, the number of fixed oceandata buoys has increased from 3 to 13, providingnew information in data-sparse areas. Several ofthese buoys will be instrumented with subsurfaceocean instruments in the coming year as part of anational effort to increase the data generated bythis system. The data from all these sites form thebackbone for the long-term surface observationsin Alaska.

Locations of nearly 115land and marine stationsoperated by NOS, NWS,and OAR. The observa-tions from these stations

represent NOAA’sprimary contribution to

AOOS. In addition, about150 more stations (notshown) operated by the

Federal Aviation Adminis-tration, the Department ofDefense, and commercial

interests report throughthe NWS network.

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Biophysical mooring,operated jointly by OAR

and NMFS, that measuresa suite of environmental

variables (pressure, wind,radiation, humidity, air

and sea temperature,current, salinity, nutrients,and indicators of primary

and secondary produc-tivity), some of which are

reported in real time.

As funding becomes available, NWS will con-tinue its efforts to expand marine observationalsites, especially for the northern waters of theBering and Chukchi Seas and the Arctic coast, astechnology provides a buoy that can withstandsea ice conditions. With climate change occurringaround Alaska, forecasters are observing increas-ing frequencies and intensities of ocean storms,shifts in storm track, and more formation of stormsin the Arctic. The recession in sea ice cover is pro-ducing larger areas of open water, which is result-ing in greater air–sea interaction. Large wavesfrom these storms are not only affecting vessels atsea, but they are also creating increased coastalerosion and coastal flooding. In addition, subsis-tence activities are being disrupted. Longer leadtimes are required for short-term forecasts andwarnings so that affected towns and villages can

prepare the best they can. There is a need for moreand better Arctic atmospheric and oceanic obser-vations, both in situ and remotely sensed, andimproved numerical weather and ocean predictionmodels that will incorporate the observations andbetter handle advances in high-latitude meteorol-ogy and oceanography.

Office of Oceanic andAtmospheric Research

The major contributors to AOOS from NOAA’sOffice of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research(OAR) are the Pacific Marine Environmental Labo-ratory (PMEL) in Seattle and the Arctic ResearchOffice. PMEL helped fund early planning forAOOS and has provided representation and lead-ership to the AOOS Data Management and Com-

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munications Committee. The Arctic ResearchOffice also has been instrumental in planningAOOS and is represented on the GovernanceCommittee. OAR marine observations and prod-ucts will come largely from PMEL. PMEL, togetherwith the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, is a leaderin the deployment of biophysical moorings in con-tinental shelf and slope waters of the Arctic andsubarctic. Several of these are planned for AOOS,including moorings in Cross Sound (southeasternAlaska), Shelikof Strait (western Gulf of Alaska),across the Alaska Stream south of the AleutianIslands, in passes of the Aleutian Islands, and inthe eastern Bering Sea. Biophysical moorings mea-sure a suite of environmental variables (pressure,wind, radiation, humidity, air and sea temperature,current, salinity, nutrients, and indicators of plank-ton biomass), some of which are reported in realtime. These observations may be reported directlyby AOOS or incorporated into marine productsthat are disseminated through AOOS. PMELalso is working cooperatively with AOOS to planand produce ocean circulation models of coastalAlaska.

NOAA funds the U.S. portion of the ArgoProject. The Argo Project is building an array of3,000 profiling CTD floats that, when completed,will measure the temperature and salinity of theupper 2 km at a spacing of roughly 3° latitude by3° longitude and at 10-day intervals. The U.S. ispresently contributing about half of the floats for

Locations of Argo floats,which provide a new

source of data from thetop 2 km of the ocean.

There were 1894 activefloats as of June 13, 2005.

The robotic floats spendmost of their lives at

depth but surfaceregularly to make temper-

ature and salinity profilemeasurements. Many

countries contribute thefloats, and all data are

freely available. Achallenge for the Argo

program will be thedeployment of floats in

Arctic waters. NOAAfunds the U.S. Argo

component.

the array, which was over 60% complete as of mid-June 2005. North of 45°N and east of 180°W in thePacific at that date, there were about 49 Argofloats, and about 15 of these were U.S. floats. Nofloats have been deployed in the Pacific Arcticregion. OAR’s PMEL and Atlantic Oceanographicand Meteorological Laboratory are key contribu-tors to the U.S. Argo effort.

SummaryNOAA and AOOS is a strong partnership.

NOAA’s line organizations are present and operat-ing in each of the three AOOS regions, offering arich mixture of marine and atmospheric measure-ments. AOOS and its constituents benefit fromthe information and services that NOAA supplies.Many of these will now be delivered to and dis-seminated by AOOS, as well as through existingNOAA channels. NOAA benefits from AOOSthrough the enriched flow of Alaska marine infor-mation that NOAA scientists and managers willhave at hand for formulating analyses and deci-sions concerning regional marine issues. More-over, discussions and exchanges between NOAAand AOOS foster an increased understanding ofmutual problems and aspirations that can furtherimprove cooperation between the organizations.Because of ongoing cooperation, NOAA andAOOS will be stronger and better able to serve theregion and nation.