SEACOOS for Regional Coastal Observation

In 2002, ASG began collaborating with the University of South Carolina’s Belle W. Baruch Institute to help develop a system for regional coastal and ocean observation for the Southeast. The project establishes a partnership among universities in four states, as well as federal, state, and local agencies and other regional users.

The Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) plans to build connections to create an integrated system for North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. This regional information system will promote exchange of information for understanding coastal ocean processes and coastal ecosystems.

The project plans to link several sub-regional observing systems, including Caro-COOPS, a system for North and South Carolina. SEACOOS will also enhance operational observing systems in the Southeast region, establish test-beds to foster technology development, assess data models, and exchange information across a wide range of user communities.

Additional information is available at www.seacoos.org.

Structure of SEACOOS

SEACOOS will support the collection, collation, and distribution of information through three major coordinated subsystems.

  • Observing Subsystem - Will deploy measurement platforms, initiate pilot studies, collaborate with regional remote sensing groups, and develop and/or test new technologies
  • Modeling and Products Subsystem - Will continue development of models for SEACOOS sub-regions, providing information products for observation, and establish means for exchanging model fields
  • Data Management Subsystem - Will integrate new, existing, and planned platforms using data exchange tools, establish access portals to observations, model output, and more refined data products, and construct a gateway to initiate national information exchange

Regional Component

The long-term intent of SEACOOS is to establish a regional coastal and ocean observing system that will be part of the coastal component of a national Integrated Ocean Observing System envisioned by Ocean.US.

Information products will be created for scientific users and an outreach effort with the regional Sea Grant offices will establish a dialog with non-scientific users, identify their information needs and the preferred formats and modes of information delivery.

An effort will be made to extend the broad, regional working partnership with federal entities concerned with various aspects of operational coastal oceanography. This partnership will allow SEACOOS to link into the national backbones for observing, modeling, and data management systems and connect SEACOOS to federal environmental and emergency management applications.

SEACOOS Plans

  • Deploy new instrumentation
  • Integrate datastreams from a range of providers
  • Establish a regional web-based data portal
  • Initiate coordination of a series of subregion-scale circulation models
  • Lay the groundwork for extending the observing system into nearshore systems