The News Board is a collection of information of special relevance to GCOOS. If you have announcements that you believe should be included here or on the GCOOS Calendar, please contact the web mistress, Susan Martin at srmartin@tamu.edu.
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Integrated Ocean Observing System Bill is Signed into Law
On 30 March 2009, President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which includes the authorization for the Integrated Ocean Observation System (IOOS). After 8 long years, we finally have authorization for the IOOS program!
On March 24, 2009, the House passed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, a bill that includes legislation that will develop the Integrated Ocean Observation System as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The public lands bill passed the Senate last week and now moves to the President for final enactment. The Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 is part of the public land bill. A brief summary of the bill is available.
This legislation is an important step for IOOS. It formally establishes IOOS as a program and the regions as a key component of that program. It extends liability coverage to the regions for data dissemination and includes a provision that allows federal agencies to participate in RA functions. While the bill does not secure funds for the program, it does provide a clear statement from Congress about the importance of the program. Without this legislation, IOOS was vulnerable to the changing priorities of NOAA and the Department of Commerce. We still have our work cut out for us to increase the funding to a reasonable amount.
ACTION: Please be sure to thank you Senators and Representatives for their work on developing, supporting, and passing this legislation. This is critically important!
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Directory of GCOOS Technical Experts
The GCOOS Observing System Committee (OSC) intends to develop a Directory of GCOOS Technical Experts. This directory would be used as a resource within the GCOOS-RA to find help on technical matters associated with operational oceanograpy. The experts should be capable of providing advice on issues about sensors, platforms, what it takes in resources to operate an observing component, and similar issues. The following areas of technical expertise are of interest:
- HF Radar
- Remote Sensing
- AUVs
- Nutrient Sensors
- Sea level gauges
- In-situ optical
- Oxygen
- Waves and currents
- Buoys
- Drifters
- Biological Sensors
- Mapping Sensors
- Data Techniques
At the present time, the OSC is not planning to have the directory be posted to the GCOOS website. However, we will indicate that the directory exists and the GCOOS Office can be contacted if someone is interested in getting contact information for a particular type of specialist. Comments on the directory idea, types of expertise, and whether or not to post it to the public website are welcome.
If you have the necessary technical expertise and would like to be included in the directory, please reply to the GCOOS Regional Coordinator, Ann Jochens (ajochens@tamu.edu), with your name, affiliation, business address, email, phone number, and your area(s) of expertise. Sending this information will be taken as your permission to be listed in the Directory of GCOOS Technical Experts. The GCOOS-RA Board, Councils, Committees, and staff will have access to this list.
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