The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System in a Global Context

Abstract

AbstractThe mission of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) is to deliver socioeconomic benefits through provision of readily accessible, systematic, and timely data and information about the past, present, and future state of the waters of the open ocean, the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, the U.S. coastal waters, and the Great Lakes. The safety, economic, and environmental benefits that can be derived in whole or in part from IOOS data and information are diverse. They range from maritime and coastal zone applications that are the primary mission of the U.S. IOOS endeavor to a broad range of much wider national benefits, such as the contribution of ocean data and information to improved weather prediction and climate projection. Fully realizing these benefits depends on the U.S. IOOS being connected to other domains of earth and atmospheric observation within the United States and to international frameworks and programs. This article outlines the structure and socioeconomic goals of the U.S. IOOS and explores how fulfilling the IOOS mission contributes to and depends upon connections to the Global Ocean Observing System and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.