About

Coastal Observing

From the cold waters of the Arctic to the tropical Pacific Islands to the world’s largest system of freshwater lakes, U.S. regions are incredibly unique.

Coastal observing systems help us understand these ecosystems, their conditions, and how those conditions impact people, wildlife, and our coastal economies on a daily basis.

In the U.S., 11 IOOS Regional Associations design, maintain, and operate the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), the largest federally-certified network of these observing systems. Each system uses many tools to gather information, which can be turned into useful products that meet local and regional needs.

IOOS Regional Associations deploy and monitor technologies — buoys, gliders, high-frequency radar, shore stations, and a variety of sensors — throughout our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. Like vigilant eyes on the environment, observing technology provides near-real-time updates on waves and currents, temperature, flooding and rip tides, water quality, conditions like pH and salinity, species abundance, and other biological data.

The Regional Associations make this information publicly available and, with input from local ocean information users and partners, develop data information products and decision-making tools to help communities adapt to coastal threats. IOOS data can be used in a wide variety of applications, including to support resource management, detect harmful algal blooms, support disaster response, improve search and rescue, predict floods and storms, monitor rip currents, identify safe routes for boaters and maritime commerce, support oil spill responses, and to understand how marine organisms use their ocean habitats.

IOOS is managed by the U.S. IOOS Program Office, a national office within the National Ocean Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

About the IOOS Association

The IOOS Association is a nonprofit organization established to support the national IOOS network. We facilitate collaboration across IOOS Regional Associations, the broader ocean observing community, and ocean users around the nation. The Association also works to communicate the value of ocean observing as a tool to support everyday decisions and long-term prediction and planning, and to ensure services are delivered to an array of users.

Board Members

  • AOOS |Sheyna Wisdom, Steve White

  • CARICOOS | Julio Morell

  • CeNCOOS | Henry Ruhl, Eric Bjorkstedt

  • GCOOS | Jorge Brenner, Kim Yates

  • GLOS | Jennifer Boehme, Heather Stirratt

  • MARACOOS | Gerhard Kuska, Cecily Steppe
  • NANOOS | Jan Newton, Andrew Barnard
  • NERACOOS | Jake Kritzer, Rhonda Moniz

  • PacIOOS | Melissa Iwamoto, Doug Harper

  • SCCOOS | Clarissa Anderson, Libe Washburn

  • SECOORA | Debra Hernandez, Patrick Barrineau

  • Bylaws

Board Members

  • AOOS |Sheyna Wisdom, Steve White

  • CARICOOS | Julio Morell

  • CeNCOOS | Henry Ruhl, Eric Bjorkstedt

  • GCOOS | Jorge Brenner, Kim Yates

  • GLOS | Jennifer Boehme, Heather Stirratt

  • MARACOOS | Gerhard Kuska, Cecily Steppe
  • NANOOS | Jan Newton, Andrew Barnard
  • NERACOOS | Jake Kritzer, Rhonda Moniz

  • PacIOOS | Melissa Iwamoto, Doug Harper

  • SCCOOS | Clarissa Anderson, Libe Washburn

  • SECOORA | Debra Hernandez, Patrick Barrineau

  • Bylaws

Staff

Kristen Yarincik, Executive Director

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Gabrielle Hillyer, Program Specialist

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Anna Barboza, Program Specialist

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Georgia Gayle, Office Administrator & Finance Coordinator

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Center for Ocean Leadership, Ocean Obs Team

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