Ocean Observatories Initiative Research Articles

Geomagnetic observatory operates at the seafloor in the northwest Pacific Ocean

The need to establish seafloor observatories has been important for decades. Multidisciplinary efforts aimed at establishing such observatories [e.g.,Beranzoli et al., 1998] are now culminating the ongoing Ocean Observatories Initiative [Copley, 2004].This article reports on how the world's first seafloor geomagnetic observatory NWP (North‐Western Pacific) is producing data that are compatible with those obtained by satellite Ørsted and the existing geomagnetic observatory network. In particular, the article reports on the remarkable agreement between the satellite‐predicted and actual secular variation, which ensures the accuracy of the geomagnetic measurements both in space and at the seafloor.

Marine Geological and Geophysical Roots of the Ocean Observatories Initiative

Marine Geological and Geophysical Roots of the Ocean Observatories Initiative

The Ocean Research Interactive Observatory Networks (ORION) program

Ships have served oceanographers through the years, ably supporting measurements and sampling using a wide range of disciplines. The use of ships, coupled with the intimate mingling of physics, chemistry geology and biology, have fostered the interdisciplinary growth of oceanography ultimately leading to a major new effort in ocean sciences research.The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a proposed project of the U.S. National Science Foundation, seeks to establish a permanent presence in the ocean to improve our capacity to measure physical, chemical, biological, and geological parameters on multiple time and spatial scales. This NSF Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MRE‐FC) project will provide the initial investment in infrastructure necessary for this major new approach in oceanography.

The Ocean Observatories Initiative: A Continued Presence for Interactive Ocean Research

Global processes that actively shape the Earth and ultimately impact society must be investigated over the spatial and temporal scales at which they occur. To characterize the temporal behavior of dynamic processes occurring in the ocean, new types of infrastructure are needed that are capable of providing long-term, high-resolution observations of critical environmental parameters. With funding from the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account, the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences plans to initiate construction of an integrated observatory network that will provide the oceanographic research and education communities with a new mode of access to the ocean. The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) has three elements: 1) a regional cabled network consisting of interconnected sites on the seafloor spanning several geological and oceanographic features and processes, 2) several relocatable deep-sea buoys that could also be deployed in harsh environments such as the Southern Ocean, and 3) new construction or enhancements to existing facilities leading to an expanded network of coastal observatories. The scientific problems driving the need for the OOI are broad in scope and encompass nearly every area of ocean science. Once established, the observatories constructed as part of this initiative will provide earth and ocean scientists with unique opportunities to study multiple, interrelated processes over time scales ranging from seconds to decades; to conduct comparative studies of regional processes and spatial characteristics; and to map whole-Earth and basin scale structures.

Academy report encourages NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative

The U.S. National Science Foundation should move ahead with plans and funding for its Ocean Observatories Initiative, a committee of the U.S. National Research Council recommended in a 21 July report. The committee chair and the NSF program director of ocean technologies and interdisciplinary coordination said the report amounts to an endorsement of the initiative.The Ocean Observatories Initiative is envisioned as a program to help the U.S. ocean science research community make sustained, in‐situ observations and measurements in the oceans and on the sea floor. The research‐driven initiative is one of a number of national and international efforts to establish a global ocean observing system; these efforts also include a proposed U.S. Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observing System, an operational observing system.