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Ocean Observatories and Information: Building a Global Ocean Observing Network

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Earth System Monitoring

Abstract

Ocean observatories are collections of networks of sensors that are deployed to sample the ocean physics, chemistry, and biology. The goal of these networks is to overcome chronic undersampling of the oceans by providing sustained measurements in space and time. The data collected by these networks are used to address a range of basic and applied research questions, hindered by a lack of data. The ocean observatories represent collections of platforms capable of collecting data over a range of scales. The platforms include ships, satellites, radars, and a range of Lagrangian systems. Data from the individual platforms are aggregated by sophisticated cyberinfrastructure software systems, which when combined with global communications allow for two-way communication between the shoreside personnel and the networks that can be deployed anywhere in the world. This two-way communication allows the networks to be adaptively configured to improve sampling of specific processes. The maturation of these systems comes at a fortuitous time as the oceans are increasingly showing evidence of changes in the physics, chemistry, and biology over the last few decades. Understanding those changes will require the data collected by the ocean observatories.

This chapter was originally published as part of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology edited by Robert A. Meyers. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3

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Abbreviations

Ocean observatory:

A collection of platforms that collect data over a range of spatial and temporal scales.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coastal Ocean Observation Lab, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    O. Schofield & S. M. Glenn

  2. Center for Marine and Coastal Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA

    M. A. Moline

  3. School of Marine Science and Policy, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of Delaware, 700 Pilottown Rd., Lewes, DE, 19958, USA

    M. Oliver

  4. Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, E4L 1A7, Canada

    A. Irwin

  5. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    Y. Chao

  6. Scripps Institution of Oceanography & Calit2, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    M. Arrott

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  1. O. Schofield
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  2. S. M. Glenn
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  3. M. A. Moline
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  4. M. Oliver
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  5. A. Irwin
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  6. Y. Chao
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  7. M. Arrott
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Correspondence to O. Schofield .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Scripps Insitution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Gilman Drive 9500, La Jolla, 92093, California, USA

    John Orcutt

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Schofield, O. et al. (2013). Ocean Observatories and Information: Building a Global Ocean Observing Network. In: Orcutt, J. (eds) Earth System Monitoring. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5684-1_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5684-1_14

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