what is the ooi?

EU - US Research Infrastructure October 1, 2010

Ocean Observatories Initiative

Building collaborations in ocean observing:

The view from the OOI

Tim CowlesPrincipal Investigator, Program Director


What is the OOI?

A system of systems that will document,

for 25-30 years,

air-sea, water column and seafloor processes,

across full ocean depths, using the best technical

solutions available.

Funded by NSF, managed by Consortium for Ocean Leadership


OOI timeline 2000-2009

Project office formed

Conceptual Design Review

Baseline review

Preliminary Design Review

Final Design Review


OOI timeline 2000-2009

Project office formed

Conceptual Design Review

Baseline review

Preliminary Design Review

Final Design Review

Guided by scientists

Guided by systems engineering and funding

realities


OOI Science Themes

• Ocean-Atmosphere Exchange• Climate Variability, Ocean Circulation, and Ecosystems• Turbulent Mixing and Biophysical Interactions • Coastal Ocean Dynamics and Ecosystems• Fluid-Rock Interactions and the Sub-seafloor Biosphere• Plate-scale, Ocean Geodynamics

Overarching Science Foci

• Climate change• Carbon cycling • Ocean acidification• Ocean ecosystem health


Science Requirements arise from Science Themes

• Science Question

• Processes to be observed

• Spatial Scale

• Temporal Scale

• Measurements Required

• Sensors Required

• Sampling Requirements

• Site(s) Required for Science

• Experiment Description

Requirements drive the

infrastructure and its

capabilities


Baseline Design

• 4 Global sites

• 3 Regional cabled sites in the NE Pacific

• 2 Coastal arrays: Mid-Atlantic Pioneer Array, PNW Endurance Array

• Each scale incorporates fixed and mobile assets

• Cyberinfrastructure: enables adaptive sampling, custom observatory views, collaborative analysis

• Interfaces for education users


OOI in the Global Context

Global CO2 flux Takahashi et al (2009)


EU - US collaboration in ocean observing

Challenges

•We are building infrastructures at different times and at different rates that must have many types of ‘interoperability’



Challenges


•How to share ‘lessons learned’ from planning, initial engineering, etc



Challenges


•How to share ‘lessons learned’ from planning, initial engineering, etc

•Lack of visibility/awareness by the creative designers (scientists) of the administrative barriers



Overcoming Challenges

Build upon existing relationships among programs

•Within IOC

•Within WMO

• Informal interactions: for example, OOI investigators

serve on advisory committees for OceanSITES and

EuroSITES, attend meetings of ESONET, EMSO



Key opportunities during observing system

development

• Interoperability across systems

•Data protocols - work progressing in several areas

•Open access to data - established policy for the OOI

• Instrument interfaces (hardware and software) - requires

substantial technical specification and collaboration



Successes in interoperability lead to

Shared outcomes for collaborative partners

•Products of non-recurring engineering

• Integration of engineering systems with common

standards and protocols

• Integration of data systems with common standards and

protocols


Collaboration Opportunities

Successful observatory collaborations will build

upon...• Shared or coordinated timetables for planning, approval,

and funding

• Facilitation of intergovernmental / interagency processes

• Open exchange of information - scientists, engineers,

agency managers

• Explicit opportunities for scientific participation by the ocean

sciences community


Recommendations

•Create opportunities for exchange of technical details of observatories - beyond the current scientist to scientist collaboration

• Formalize the outcomes of the informal interactions regarding ‘interoperability’

•Extend the discussions of open access to observatory data


Acknowledgements

Progress in ocean observing is due to over 20 years of

creative thinking by the international community of ocean

scientists, and the support of the various funding agencies

that have taken risks to enable dreams to be transformed into

working infrastructure.

Particular thanks to the National Science Foundation for its

commitment to the development of the Ocean Observing

Initiative

EU - US Research Infrastructure October 1, 2010 19

Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN)

Global

Pioneer

Endurance


Regional Scale

OOI assets off PNW coast are unique

Cable provides high power and bandwidth to

- Instrumented nodes on Juan de Fuca plate

- full water column moorings at Axial Volcano and Hydrate Ridge

- 2 moorings of Endurance Array connected to the cable


Creates an interactive ocean laboratory integrated by a leading-edge, multi-scalar software tools.

Creates an interactive ocean laboratory integrated by a leading-edge, multi-scalar software tools.

Cyberinfrastructure

open access...

fueling science, education, and policy

open access...

fueling science, education, and policy


Construction Challenges

Transition from planning to building

•Must have systems engineering practices in place

•Make sure business processes can accommodate 5

to 10-fold increase - contracts, funding, personnel

Preparing for the pace of construction

•Sufficient numbers of skilled staff

•Vetted schedules

Planning team may not be the building team

what is the ooi?

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