Summit on Long-Term Monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone: Developing the Implementation Plan for an Operational Observation System
January 30-31, 2007
Stennis Space Center, Mississippi
Agenda
Tuesday, January 30
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Russ Beard, NOAA National Coastal Data Development Center
Alan Lewitus, NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
David Shaw, Mississippi State University
Session 2: Relevance of existing programs and assets for implementation
Moderator:
Sharon Hodge, Mississippi State University
History of long-term monitoring; existing monitoring programs (include NECOP/NGOMEX and SEAMAP)
Nancy Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
USEPA existing monitoring in the Gulf and resources available for implementation
Rick Greene, EPA Office of Research & Development
Cooperative Institute relevance and resources available for implementation
David Shaw, Mississippi State University
Gulf Alliance and member states relevance and resources available for implementation
Phil Bass, EPA Gulf of Mexico Program
Bryon Griffith, EPA Gulf of Mexico Program
Real - time Monitoring and predicting the Bio-Optical and Physical properties in the Gulf of Mexico
(Available upon request due to large file size)
Bob Arnone, Naval Research Laboratory
National Data Buoy Center relevance and resources available for implementation
Don Conlee, NOAA National Data Buoy Center
NOAA's Integrated Ocean Observing System: Initial Operating Capability
Zdenka Willis, NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center
GCOOS status and plans
Worth Nowlin, Texas A&M University
Session 3: Defining the drivers and system requirements
David Whitall, NOAA Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment
Drivers:
Needs for assessing efficacy of management actions
Needs for improving management capabilities:
- Characterization of hypoxic zone
- Understanding causes of hypoxia
- Understanding impacts of hypoxia
- Supporting predictive models
System requirements for:
- expansion of the spatial boundaries of shelf-wide monitoring to
increase coverage east, west, nearshore, and offshore;
- increased frequency of shelf-wide monitoring surveys to improve
resolution of seasonal and storm-related variability in hypoxia
development, duration, and extent;
- increased focus on hypoxia volume to provide an alternative (to
areal extent) indicator of the magnitude of hypoxia;
- greater use of moored observation systems for fixed site temporal
resolution, including outfitting of existing instrumentation arrays
and establishing new moored systems;
- other
Session 4: New Tools and Technologies
Jim Ammerman, Rutgers University
This discussion will focus on emerging technologies relevant to
characterization of the hypoxic zone and its causes and impacts.
Topics include:
- in situ sensors (e.g. oxygen, nutrients, pigments)
- biological indicators
- integrated observation systems (e.g. integrated sensor packages,
real-time monitoring, data telemetry)
- towed vehicle systems
- AUVs
Wednesday, January 31
Developing the Implementation Plan
End-to-End Data Management for Operational Observing Systems
Sharon Mesick, National Coastal Data Development Center
Charge to Working Group:
David Shaw, Mississippi State University
Sharon Hodge, Mississippi State University
Review of drivers/system requirements
Review of existing assets and resources
Charge to Working Group:
William Corso, NOAA National Ocean Service
Russ Beard, NOAA National Coastal Data Development Center
Sharon Hodge, Mississippi State University
Alan Lewitus, NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
David Shaw, Mississippi State University
David Whitall, NOAA Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment
Putting the pieces together: How can we develop long-lasting partnerships
to align existing assets into a long-term observation system that addresses hypoxia-related needs?
The Implementation Plan will be developed under the following framework:
1. Guiding Principles:
- What are the short- and long-term goals and objectives of the Observation System?
- What are the priority needs?
- What are the applications, and who are the users?
- What are the societal benefits?
2. Building the Observation System -- short-term vs. long-term phases:
- What is the timeline in extension of spatial and temporal coverage by ship surveys, integrating new sensors to existing buoy systems, establishing new buoy systems, and other components?
- How will integrated data management (discovery, access, delivery) be accomplished?
- Who will be responsible for implementation?
- What are the roles of federal and state agencies, and academia in programmatic and funding resources to support implementation?
3. Continue with Implementation Plan framework section ("Building the Implementation Plan")
4. Ensuring progress:
- What mechanisms will ensure maintenance and strengthening of partnerships through the implementation phase?
- What are the barriers to implementation?
- How will progress be measured/monitored?
- What are the short- and long-term performance measures and outcomes?
Conclusion
Alan Lewitus, NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research