The coastal component of the U.S. integrated ocean observing system

The combined effects of human activities and natural variability present significant challenges to the goals of protecting, restoring, and sustaining coastal ecosystems. Meeting these challenges and resolving conflicts in an informed fashion will require: (1) more timely detection and prediction of environmental changes and their consequences; and (2) more timely access to relevant environmental information. The achievement of these goals depends on the development of a sustained and integrated coastal ocean observing system (ICOOS) that insures timely access to the data and information required to improve: (1) climate predictions and the effects of changes in the weather on coastal populations; (2) efforts to sustain and restore healthy coastal marine ecosystems and living marine resources; and (3) compliance monitoring and evaluations of the efficacy of environmental policies. Although the responsible federal and state agencies all require similar environmental information, many separate programs have evolved for collecting, managing, and analyzing data for various purposes. Consequently, there is too much redundancy; access to diverse data from disparate sources is limited and time consuming; and individual programs are inevitably underfunded and too limited in scope. A system is needed that coordinates and integrates many of the elements of these programs to minimize redundancy, be more comprehensive, provide more timely access to data and information, and satisfy the information needs of a greater number of user groups in a more cost-effective fashion. This is the purpose of the ICOOS.