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U.S. GOOS Program Overview
The United States Global Ocean Observing System (U.S. GOOS) is an international program with the primary goal of providing practical benefits to society. The main elements are the sustained collection of ocean observations and the timely distribution of those data and derived products, including analyses, forecasts, and assessments. The U.S. GOOS effort consists of a growing number of activities in data collection and management, hindcasts, estimations, forecasts, assessments, warnings, and advice.
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Program Management
The U.S. GOOS Steering Committee was formed at the request of Dr. D. James Baker, Jr., Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere at NOAA, on behalf of interested Federal agencies. The group was requested to help in the development of information concerning options on how to match the needs of user groups with the observations and products required to meet those needs, addressing what is working well, what is not working well, the impediments we face at present, and the opportunities we face for the future. A complete list of the members of the Steering Committee as well as meeting reports are available on their website. The U.S. GOOS is still under development.
Ocean.US, the National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations, was established by the Congressionally-created National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP). It is the U.S. contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).
The establishment of a U.S. GOOS Office for global-scale observations recognizes the global commonality and nature of many environmental problems and challenges related to the ocean, including issues of climate variability, marine meteorological and oceanographic services, health of man and the marine ecosystem, and using and sustaining marine resources.
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Program Goals
The broad goals of global GOOS are to promote more systematic and comprehensive ocean observations in support of needed products, that include descriptions of conditions and changes, assessments, predictions and other information of socio-economic impact. To these ends, the U.S. GOOS Office will promote and support planning activities required to:
- Encourage, assist with the implementation of, and assess U.S. contributions to the climate module based on the existing design, with prioritization, for this module;
- Attempt to better define requirements for GOOS measurements and products by the private sector [both business/industry and environmental];
- Assist with the planning and implementation of U.S. contributions to Argo and a Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) as a GOOS pilot project;
- Assist with development and integration of U.S. regional contributions to the coastal ocean observing system;
- Work to publicize and increase the use of NOAA observing system products to be assembled and offered through a new Global Ocean Observing System Center at AOML; and
- Monitor activities of the new ENSO Observing System Steering Group being formed at the request of the NOAA Administrator with the purpose to ensure that resources are used as effectively as possible to support improvements in ENSO forecasting (including additional research as required) and to coordinate with other NOAA research and operational activities.
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