Attendees- GCOOS Board of Directors Meeting - September 22, 2016 Jan van Smirren, GCOOS Director Steve Buschang, GCOOS Director Jean May-Brett, GCOOS Director Dave Driver, GCOOS Director and Board Chair Barb Kirkpatrick, GCOOS Executive Director Sara Graves, GCOOS Director Stephan Howden, GCOOS Director Pat Hogan, GCOOS Director Nancy Rabalais, GCOOS Director Gary Jeffress, GCOOS Director Michael S Spranger, GCOOS Director Ruth Perry, GCOOS Director Alyssa Dausman, GCOOS Director Laura Caldwell, GCOOS staff Matt Howard, GCOOS Data Manager Felimon Gayanilo, GCOOS DMAC Chris Simoniello, GCOOS Outreach and Education manager Shinichi Kobara, GCOOS DMAC Marion Stoessel, GCOOS staff Nadine Slimak, Vetter Communications Kayla Evens, GCOOS Intern Porfirio Alvarez, CiiMAR Jeff Francis, Texas One Gulf Daniel Petrolia, LSU Chunyan Li, LSU Josie Quintrell, IOOS Association Andrew Haigh, Society for Underwater Technology
GCOOS-RA Annual Board Meeting September 21-23, 2016 Houston, TX Note: Our apologies but due to an administrative issue, we cannot provide all the presentations from the meeting. The 23 rd Meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS- RA) Board of Directors (BOD) was held on 21-23 September 2016 in Houston, TX. The attendees and their GCOOS-RA roles are listed in Appendix A. The agenda is given in Appendix B. 22 September 2016 Open Meeting Dr. Barb Kirkpatrick, GCOOS Executive Director, and Dave Driver, outgoing Chairman of the GCOOS Board of Directors (BOD), welcomed participants. Introductions were made and a brief overview of the days activities was made, with emphasis on the goal of developing a funding strategy to build monitoring infrastructure in the Gulf. The new Board Chair, Bill Lingsch of Vencore Services and Solutions, Inc. was announced. Major accomplishments since the March 2016 Board meeting were summarized by Kirkpatrick. Activities included completing the first GCOOS Strategic Plan; submission of the IOOS Certification Application package; a widely read commentary in the Marine Technology Society Journal about the state of observing capabilities in the Gulf; and several publications in the peer-reviewed and mainstream literature. Discussion about developing a one page summary of the MTS commentary for political leaders ensued. GCOOS Communication Specialist, Nadine Slimak, informed the group that an editorial version was sent to the states and was picked up by the media in FL, AL, MS and LA. Kirkpatrick then explained allocation of the $1.8 M/yr, five-year IOOS renewal grant. Funds support regional operating costs, data management, outreach and education, existing assets and products, and previous sub-awards who submitted proposals to support HFR, gliders, remote sensing and modeling. Two cost-saving strategies implemented for this grant included having PIs from the same institutions bundle their projects under one sub-award to reduce indirect charges, and negotiating the TAMU off- 1
campus indirect rate for GCOOS staff based in Florida. A graduate student fellow was able to be supported, enabling Justin Saarinen to begin dissertation research in the lab of Dr. Frank Muller-Karger, University of South Florida College of Marine Science. His research will support projects under the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network. GCOOS intern Jen Vreeland, staff scientist at Mote Marine Lab, is assisting with development of a Gulf of Mexico ocean acidification network. RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program Florida: Libby Fetherston, Program Director, Florida RESTORE Act Center of Excellence Program, clarified that the Florida Institute of Oceanography is the state recipient entity for funds and will manage the program but is not the COE. Phil Kramer replaced Bill Hogarth as director of the program management team. They use a peer-review process that includes a RFP, LOI and full proposal review. A wide range of topics is covered. The ~$2.8M RFP I funds supported fisheries and wildlife research, ecosystem models focused on lionfish and Essential Fish Habitat mapping. A RFP II funded project has recently begun investigating a fisheries monitoring tool for determining reef fish stock size using DNA markers in fish eggs. Titles and locations of funded projects are available on their website. The Data Management plan used by the FL COE is similar to GOMRI: data from funded projects go to GRIID C and must be shared within one year. Fetherston stated that they are trying to stand up an internal system for grantees. Funds are provided to GRIIDC by the COE for the service. Mississippi: Stephan Howden presented on behalf of Dennis Wiesenburg, and Chief Scientist Landry Bernard. Funding was received in September to begin science plan development. The plan will be presented to the Department of Treasury for approval. The University of Southern Mississippi leads the effort that includes Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi and Jackson State University. Imposed by the state is inclusion of a consulting firm that is receiving 20% of the budget. Texas: Jeff Francis, Texas One Gulf (TOG), presented on behalf of Larry McKinney. He summarized the five disciplines outlined by the Treasury that could be supported under the COEs. TOG has two strategic goals: understanding the Gulf as a Large Marine Ecosystem and the One Gulf-One Health concept linking human and environmental health. Initial efforts are focused on updating GulfBase; developing the Texas Knowledge Base, a blended access to GCOOS and GRIID C data; a prototype GOM Report Card that evaluates the overall health of the Texas Gulf Coast; and implementing a Texas disaster research pilot project with a 24 hr response time and seed money for rapid response to assess impacts. Other project partners are working on training HAB taxonomists, using marine microbiomes as sentinels for ecological health and establishing baselines of diversity and species composition. Questions arose about international sharing of COE funds. Porfirio Alvarez inquired how Mexico can be better involved with TOG. Because funding is from the Treasury, Mexican colleagues cannot be supported. The goal is to seed projects that show international benefit then seek other sources that can support international projects. Howden asked if money to the governors can support international collaborators. Jeff thought not but explained that Texas One Gulf Network of Experts (TONE) can work overseas as long as there is clear relevance and benefit to Texas. Collaborations might also be possible with the other Texas COE, the Subsea Systems Initiative. Alabama: John Valentine not able to join 2
Louisiana: Chip Groat joined via teleconference. Currently, The Water Institute of the Gulf (TWIG) has a conflict of interest as COE lead. A stop work order from the Treasury was issued until TWIG resolves their role as a managing entity to conduct the RFP process vs. a recipient of competitive funds. The Coastal Restoration and Planning Authority submitted the Louisiana Master Plan for review and content will guide the RFP process, with grants estimated to begin in early 2017. IOOS Association Update Josie Quintrell provided an overview of IOOS Association activities, highlighting the purpose of the increase in association dues to support her assistant and open an office in Washington D.C. She shared the excitement over the certification process stating enhanced RA credibility is opening collaborative opportunities within NOAA. Work is underway to align IOOS activities with administration priorities. Among these are water level, precision navigation, HAB forecasting, offshore energy, blue highway and resilience. The Closing the Gaps campaign continues with a nationally coordinated HFR approach seeking $3.1 M to install 12 HFRs benefitting GCOOS, GLOS, NANOOS and SECOORA. Scenarios for future asks include revisiting the HFR request if not funded; building out the initial HFR network with $3M for 10 additional radars plus operations and maintenance costs on eight radars if the original HFR request is approved; and/or pursuing $3.3 M to fly 17 glider missions in 11 regions to address HABS, spill response and storm forecasting/tracking. Quintrell emphasized the need for GCOOS members to engage their political leaders. There is strong ICOOS support from Senator Wicker (R-MS) while Congressmen Fleming (R-LA-4) and Graves (R-LA-6) did not co-sponsor. GCOOS has key appropriations leaders in place (e.g., Shelby, Cochran, Wicker, Cassidy, Cornyn, Cruz, Nelson and Rubio who is Chair of the Oceans, Coast Guard and Fisheries Committee). Areas of interest to them might be expanding the IOOS Ocean Technology Transfer program and filling critical national need for a deepwater observation network in the Gulf. The economy, jobs and national security will be areas to emphasize. Having constituents talk with them is key research/monitoring work needs to be translated into compelling stories showing societal benefits. Strategic Plan Kirkpatrick provided an overview of the first GCOOS Strategic Plan. The document was required as part of the IOOS certification process. Howden commented that the tables in the document would be useful as a stand-alone item. There is a plan to pare down the document and table with prioritized needs for Congressional visits. Kirkpatrick requested that anyone with high resolution images of their field work send to GCOOS for inclusion in communication and outreach materials. Updates from GCOOS Partners Andrew Haigh, Geophysical Manager, Gardline Surveys Inc., presented Society of Underwater Technology (SUT) outreach activities. The program incorporates SUT/Offshore Sight Investigation and Geotechnics high resolution seafloor images into G3-13 lessons via their Scientists in the Classroom program. Possible collaborations for GCOOS and Gardline include developing a repository where educators can access Gulf-related lessons, translating these lessons into Spanish and packaging 3
materials for broad dissemination. Subject matter experts, capable of engaging students, are needed. Potential people to engage include Jordon Beckler, a National Academies career grant recipient from Mote Marine Lab who is working to create an ocean technology club, and GCOOS Board member Dr. Ruth Perry, a former NSF GK-12 Fellow. Dan Petrolia, Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Economics, provided an update on the BOEM/LSU GCOOS Valuation Project. He explained progress and challenges, many arising from the high personnel turnover at both LSU and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since 2013. Because the survey is federally funded through a cooperative, it must be cleared by OMB. Anna Atkinson, recently hired by OMB, is the new liaison and the project is moving forward. The overarching work determines the value of GCOOS to the public, a complicated question that requires a before and after measure of change and benefit. End users value the outputs of GCOOS, not necessarily the system elements themselves. The work uses survey-based stated preference valuation methods to estimate incremental value of improvements to each product. Survey takers are given scenarios to consider and these must be cleared with OMB, a process that can take more than a year. Perry suggested talking with Rodney Cluck or an internal DOI person to accelerate the time frame for clearance. A companion study is underway with ROFFS and these data will be compared with information gathered from the BOEM/LSU work. Porfirio Alvarez provided an update on CiiMAR activities. Projects discussed included: the first Gulf report card for the state of Yucatan; collaborations with NASA Earth Observations to detect, monitor and respond to Sargassum in the Caribbean Sea; development of an ocean kelp index; and working with the Navy to integrate ocean data from the Pacific, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Alvarez shared that two Kongsberg sea gliders were following a Loop Current eddy off the coast of Tamaulipas and thanked GCOOS data architect Felimon Gayanilo for the assistance he provided via Skype. CiiMAR will hold its 13 th session 23-27 January 2017 in Campeche and will participate in a joint session with GOMURC at the next Gulf States Accord. UPDATES FROM GCOOS STAFF Shin Kobara showed a demonstration of the GCOOS invasive species website with lionfish and tiger prawns. There was discussion of Google s pending transition to ESRI maps. Until now, Google has been free. ESRI provides schools with a free license. Gayanilo informed participants that Google s charge is a function of web traffic and that GCOOS is under the critical mass limit. Alvarez asked if researchers from Mexico are included in the project and offered to introduce Kobara to his colleagues to identify collaborations. A researcher from Yucatan is currently engaged. Chris Simoniello, Outreach and Education (O/E) lead, provided an overview of O/E activities. Highlights included implementation of NOAA Climate Stewards Education Program and Pets in the Classroom grants; curriculum development for two G1-5 Waters of the World gifted student programs; making web-ready a suite of GK-8 lessons for the GCOOS portal; creating two science festivals; conducting activities in conjunction with SECOORA at the St. Petersburg Science Festival; chairing a session at the 2016 National Marine Educators Association Meeting; and collaborating with GCOOS O/E colleague Dr. Rusty Low on a NSF Rapid Grant focused on engaging Gulf citizen scientists in the development of digital recognition software to track the spread of Zika-carrying vectors. The work is being including in a PBS broadcast series titled Crowd in the Cloud. 4
Mathew Howard provided an update on the glider pilot resource termed GANDALF. The online tool, created by GCOOS product developer Bob Currier, displays glider trajectories, data layers and archives information. High school drifter profiles have recently been added to the site. He explained how information on GANDALF is shared more broadly. Currier handles the GANDALF site and plots. Howard clips individual profiles, mainly temperature and salinity, codes to NetCDF and pushes to the GTS. Full records are rarely accepted by the IOOS DAC, though Pat Hogan uses the full product. From the IOOS glider DAC, information goes to NDBC for WMO metadata submission; they provide a number so GCOOS can upload to the GTS where it eventually gets to NCEI. Plans are underway to work with IOOS to expand GANDALF nationally. Subaward Reports Chunyan Li reported on his GCOOS-funded work with the LSU WAVCIS program. Funding is at a critical low. Only three active stations remain. These provide data for their daily real-time forecast weather model (WRF model) that has three levels of grid resolution. It is questionable whether these can be sustained beyond a 12-month period. Felimon Gayanilo, TAMU Corpus Christi and GCOOS Systems Architect, provided an update on the GCOOS Data Portal and the Marine Mammal Health Monitoring and Analysis Platform (MAP). The GCOOS Data Portal currently has 162 local data node stations, 159 federal stations, and 1,655 sensors, with approximately 40% of data coming from oil & gas industry ADCPs. Servers are maintained in College Station, Corpus Christi and virtually. GCOOS was a test site for the 52N Sensor Observation Services, a full system management and documentation product with browsing capabilities, data metrics, discoverability and data assembly centers, and changes in technology stacks to improve data services. To be in compliance with IOOS recommendations GCOOS is also implementing open source Github for sharing code and python codes to convert CSV files to netcdf 4. Work is in progress to meet NCEI end-point requirements. Discussion about tracking data portal usage ensued. While statistics show how much data are exchanged, there is no information about if/how data are being used. Another challenge is that Google analytics does not catch why/how information pulled from SOS services is being used. With more than 80% of GCOOS data flowing machine to machine, tracking use has been an unresolved issue. Oceans Canada might have suggestions as they require documentation of this nature. Sara Graves suggested one way to resolve the data citation issue is to have a DOI request on regional portals requiring source data citations. Gayanilo is also handling System Design and Architecture for the Marine Mammal Commission/NOAAfunded MAP project. The nine-month project is focused on developing an information system to support the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding response program. The modular design has units that can work independently or be integrated for comprehensive analysis. Gayanilo is designing the information system while Axiom Data is developing a prototype user interface. The goal is to be able to map mortality information against data from this project (e.g., stranding information, sightings in ship channels, diseases, genetics, acoustics, CetSound data, etc.). Gayanilo was encouraged to work with TAMU grants and contracts staff to determine his/gcoos liability risks and patent opportunities. 5
Howard provided an update on the Model Data Viewer, a one-year project undertaken by the GCOOS Modeling Task Team with $60K from CASE/EJIP. The viewer provides the first continuous model output for GCOOS, a product glider pilots have been requesting. The final report was made available in October 2016. GCOOS will continue to populate and Pat Hogan is funded to continue serving data for one year. The viewer includes NCOM and Global HYCOM, NRL Ensemble and Pat Hogan s model. Users can refine output by slicing various depths of interest, taking transects across the surface, selecting time series or cross-sections for model output, animations or adding layers. 6
GCOOS-RA Annual Board Meeting September 21-23, 2016 Houston, TX The 23 rd Meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS- RA) Board of Directors (BOD) was held on 21-23 September 2016 in Houston, TX. The attendees and their GCOOS-RA roles are listed in Appendix A. The agenda is given in Appendix B. 21 September 2016 Closed Board Meeting Day 1 Dave Driver, outgoing Chairman of the GCOOS BOD, welcomed participants and Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick, GCOOS Executive Director, gave a brief overview of the days activities. Agenda items included 1) identifying potential candidates to fill a recently vacated state government board seat; and 2) discussing a strategic approach to seek funds to support observing system buildout that addresses state priorities in a regional framework. After a brief overview of the current board composition and rotation schedule for the next election, the Board opted to have further discussions about potential candidates prior to voting for a replacement for Carol Dorsey who recently retired from the Alabama Department of Health. IOOS CERTIFICATION UPDATE On September 20, 2016, GCOOS submitted the certification application to the IOOS Program Office, officially starting the 90-day time frame for a response. Kirkpatrick thanked all the members who provided input to the GCOOS Strategic Plan and informed the group that the plan was available on the memory sticks provided. With IOOS Director Zdenka Lewis retiring in January 2017, Dave Easter has taken on more administrative roles and will be immersed in the review process. STRATEGIC APPROACH TO FUNDING REGIONAL BUILDOUT There are numerous sources of post-spill money but not all allow for building monitoring infrastructure. The GCOOS-RA needs to identify who possible funders might be and identify individuals within each state and at the federal level who can be impactful. Providing these individuals and programs with a clear message about what observations we are seeking, the costs, purpose and benefits is critical. For state pots of money, the observations might be similar, but the why will vary. For example, HFR needs (short range vs long range) and benefits (e.g., ports vs spill response vs saving lives) are different. Initial discussion focused on the Centers of Excellence as sources of funds, but these are relatively small pots of money. However, engaging them for coordinated support across the states might be a mechanism to provide a unified message. If we target state moneys, then understanding by the governors of how each state s contribution fits into the larger system will be important. Alyssa Dausman, RESTORE Council, provided an overview of how each state s funding is divided. There are limits to what can be funded within the various categories. 1
There are seven Trustee Implementation Groups (TIGS): one per state; one state oversight group and one regional (federal) group. Louisiana is getting the majority of state funds. One TIG overseas an Open Ocean pot of money. Anything funded ultimately has to tie back to restoring injured ecosystem resources birds, fish, mammals, turtles. There is an unusual situation in that EPA doesn t typically serve as a NRDA trustee, but is doing so now. While NRDA focuses on living resources, EPA s water mission ties in to habitat for living resources. It is unknown how this well translate to funding from Clean Water Act Penalties, which are split into civil and criminal, the former funding RESTORE Act activities and the latter funding NAS and NFWF. The best option to support observations seems to be NAS GRP. There is a lot of overlap in personnel for the various trustees and councils for example, state leads for National Fish and Wildlife Federation are the same as those who are on the RESTORE and NRDA Trustee Councils. States have most of the control, as long as decisions fit in the framework of the agreement. There are some exceptions: in Florida, money goes to the counties; in Texas, different programs represent RESTORE and NRDA (e.g., TCEQ and Park Service). A precedence exists for funding monitoring, but the purpose has to specifically improve a particular resource and/or benefit constituents. To summarize, requests should be framed to show what is wanted, why it is wanted, what it is going to do-- tied closely to state-specific need, and how long it is going to last. NAS GRP is the main group that has a charge to fund monitoring and elements of the GCOOS Strategic Plan readily connect back to the requirement of benefitting living marine resources, communities, economics and resilience. The group was reminded that each state has a portal to submit project ideas. To gain support for observations, it might be valuable to articulate what spill responders needed for the DWH and still don t have. There is a misconception by many on the Hill that penalty funds have addressed the information gaps. Given limitations on what can be funded by different entities, one scenario might be getting GOMRI to fund hardware and NAS to fund O&M. NOAA RESTORE Act (bucket 4) might also be a good fit to support monitoring instrumentation. Mike Caran stated he can t spend money on capital equipment; John Farrington was able to fund models but not observations. Any request needs to be tied to increasing ability to monitor the impact of restoration work, and tie to the economy and/or infrastructure like ports. NAS and COE missions are most tightly coupled with building monitoring infrastructure that can be sustained long-term. The angle we have not sold well is the risk vs reward for investing in monitoring. It would cost a small per cent of the total budget and have great benefits. There are strict legal issues regarding what can be put in the water and for what purpose. A strong GCOOS partner should be the U.S. Coast Guard; they are on the RESTORE Council but have yet to request funds. Coordinating with them to build the Gulf HFR network could be beneficial. A proposal of this nature might also be coordinated with NOAA who also has a seat on the Council. Following a short break, discussion about a strategic approach to fund monitoring ensued. There was consensus that: We need to better communicate the outcomes of comprehensive HFR networks in the GOM; Emphasis should be on the reactive vs. proactive approach to spill response. Having the information to drive models to better respond is a gap that still has not been filled, particularly deterministic prediction capabilities; 2
Very specific descriptions need to be crafted for NAS and others: the amount we are asking, for what duration, to do what and for what purpose. For example, $3 M per year for five years for comprehensive deepwater observations to improve accuracy of loop current/eddy formation to enhance hurricane forecasts and spill tracking; Draft one-pagers summarizing ask for each state targeted at those who coordinate state funding. In some instances, states depend on consultants, not people in the governor s office. Identify what is being asked, from what pot of money and how each state s contribution both satisfies state needs and contributes to the region as a whole; Ideas for projects put forward include conducting OSSEs for biological systems for GOMRI; addition of hypoxia monitoring stations; filling gaps identified in a national gap analysis for buoys recently completed by Joe Pika; acquiring offshore water level measurements; and testing use of an L-band radiometer on a drone to measure salinity in the coastal zone. The merits of offshore water level measurements was led by Gary Jeffress who stated they are a good indicator of impacts to the coast and provide a means to calibrate satellite SSH measurements. They cost about $50K but there is an issue getting them on offshore platforms. The return on investment would be significant if partnerships could be established with platform operators. 22 September 2016 Open Meeting Dr. Barb Kirkpatrick, GCOOS Executive Director, and Dave Driver, outgoing Chairman of the GCOOS Board of Directors (BOD), welcomed participants. Introductions were made and a brief overview of the days activities was made, with emphasis on the goal of developing a funding strategy to build monitoring infrastructure in the Gulf. The new Board Chair, Bill Lingsch of Vencore Services and Solutions, Inc. was announced. Major accomplishments since the March 2016 Board meeting were summarized by Kirkpatrick. Activities included completing the first GCOOS Strategic Plan; submission of the IOOS Certification Application package; a widely read commentary in the Marine Technology Society Journal about the state of observing capabilities in the Gulf; and several publications in the peer-reviewed and mainstream literature. Discussion about developing a one page summary of the MTS commentary for political leaders ensued. GCOOS Communication Specialist, Nadine Slimak, informed the group that an editorial version was sent to the states and was picked up by the media in FL, AL, MS and LA. Kirkpatrick then explained allocation of the $1.8 M/yr, five-year IOOS renewal grant. Funds support regional operating costs, data management, outreach and education, existing assets and products, and previous sub-awards who submitted proposals to support HFR, gliders, remote sensing and modeling. Two cost-saving strategies implemented for this grant included having PIs from the same institutions bundle their projects under one sub-award to reduce indirect charges, and negotiating the TAMU offcampus indirect rate for GCOOS staff based in Florida. A graduate student fellow was able to be supported, enabling Justin Saarinen to begin dissertation research in the lab of Dr. Frank Muller-Karger, University of South Florida College of Marine Science. His research will support projects under the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network. GCOOS intern Jen Vreeland, staff scientist at Mote Marine Lab, is also being supported part time to assist with development of a Gulf of Mexico ocean acidification network. 3
RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program Florida: Libby Fetherston, Program Director, Florida RESTORE Act Center of Excellence Program, clarified that the Florida Institute of Oceanography is the state recipient entity for funds and will manage the program but is not the COE. Phil Kramer replaced Bill Hogarth as director of the program management team. They use a peer-review process that includes a RFP, LOI and full proposal review. A wide range of topics is covered. The ~$2.8M RFP I funds supported fisheries and wildlife research, ecosystem models focused on lionsfish and Essential Fish Habitat mapping. A RFP II funded project has recently begun investigating a fisheries monitoring tool for determining reef fish stock size using DNA markers in fish eggs. Titles and locations of funded projects are available on their website. The Data Management plan used by the FL COE is similar to GOMRI: data from funded projects go to GRIID C and must be shared within one year. Fetherston stated that they are trying to stand up an internal system for grantees. Funds are provided to GRIID C by the COE for the service. Mississippi: Stephan Howden presented on behalf of Dennis Wiesenburg, and Chief Scientist Landry Bernard. Funding was received in September to begin science plan development. The plan will be presented to the Department of Treasury for approval. The University of Southern Mississippi leads the effort that includes Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi and Jackson State University. Imposed by the state is inclusion of a consulting firm that is receiving 20% of the budget. Texas: Jeff Francis, Texas One Gulf (TOG), presented on behalf of Larry McKinney. He summarized the five disciplines outlined by the Treasury that could be supported under the COEs. TOG has two strategic goals: understanding the Gulf as a Large Marine Ecosystem and the One Gulf-One Health concept linking human and environmental health. Initial efforts are focused on updating GulfBase; developing the Texas Knowledge Base, a blended access to GCOOS and GRIID C data; a prototype GOM Report Card that evaluates the overall health of the Texas Gulf Coast; and implementing a Texas disaster research pilot project with a 24 hr response time and seed money for rapid response to assess impacts. Other project partners are working on training HAB taxonomists, using marine microbiomes as sentinels for ecological health and establishing baselines of diversity and species composition. Questions arose about international sharing of COE funds. Porfirio Alvarez inquired how Mexico can be better involved with TOG. Because funding is from the Treasury, Mexican colleagues cannot be supported. The goal is to seed projects that show international benefit then seek other sources that can support international projects. Howden asked if money to the governors can support international collaborators. Jeff thought not but explained that Texas One Gulf Network of Experts (TONE) can work overseas as long as there is clear relevance and benefit to Texas. Collaborations might also be possible with the other Texas COE, the Subsea Systems Initiative. Alabama: John Valentine not able to join Louisiana: Chip Groat joined via teleconference. Currently, The Water Institute of the Gulf (TWIG) has a conflict of interest as COE lead. A stop work order from the Treasury was issued until TWIG resolves their role as a managing entity to conduct the RFP process vs. a recipient of competitive funds. The Coastal Restoration and Planning Authority submitted the Louisiana Master Plan for review and content will guide the RFP process, with grants estimated to begin in early 2017. 4
IOOS Association Update Josie Quintrell provided an overview of IOOS Association activities, highlighting the purpose of the increase in association dues to support her assistant and open an office in Washington D.C. She shared the excitement over the certification process stating enhanced RA credibility is opening collaborative opportunities within NOAA. Work is underway to align IOOS activities with administration priorities. Among these are water level, precision navigation, HAB forecasting, offshore energy, blue highway and resilience. The Closing the Gaps campaign continues with a nationally coordinated HFR approach seeking $3.1 M to install 12 HFRs benefitting GCOOS, GLOS, NANOOS and SECOORA. Scenarios for future asks include revisiting the HFR request if not funded; building out the initial HFR network with $3M for 10 additional radars plus operations and maintenance costs on eight radars if the original HFR request is approved; and/or pursuing $3.3 M to fly 17 glider missions in 11 regions to address HABS, spill response and storm forecasting/tracking. Quintrell emphasized the need for GCOOS members to engage their political leaders. There is strong ICOOS support from Senator Wicker while Congressmen Fleming (R-LA-4) and Graves (R-LA-6) did not co-sponsor. GCOOS has key appropriations leaders in place (e.g., Shelby, Cochran, Wicker, Cassidy, Cornyn, Cruz, Nelson and Rubio who is Chair of the Oceans, Coast Guard and Fisheries Committee). Areas of interest to them might be expanding the IOOS Ocean Technology Transfer program and filling critical national need for a deepwater observation network in the Gulf. The economy, jobs and national security will be areas to emphasize. Having constituents talk with them is key research/monitoring work needs to be translated into compelling stories showing societal benefits. Strategic Plan Kirkpatrick provided an overview of the first GCOOS Strategic Plan. The document was required as part of the IOOS certification process. Howden commented that the tables in the document would be useful as a stand-alone item. There is a plan to pare down the document and table with prioritized needs for Congressional visits. Kirkpatrick requested that anyone with high resolution images of their field work send to GCOOS for inclusion in communication and outreach materials. Updates from GCOOS Partners Andrew Haigh, Geophysical Manager, Gardline Surveys Inc., presented Society of Underwater Technology (SUT) outreach activities. The program incorporates SUT/Offshore Sight Investigation and Geotechnics high resolution seafloor images into G3-13 lessons via their Scientists in the Classroom program. Possible collaborations for GCOOS and Gardline include developing a repository where educators can access Gulf-related lessons, translating these lessons into Spanish and packaging materials for broad dissemination. Subject matter experts, capable of engaging students, are needed. Potential people to engage include Jordan Beckler, a National Academies career grant recipient from Mote Marine Lab who is working to create an ocean technology club, and GCOOS Board member Dr. Ruth Perry, a former NSF GK-12 Fellow. Dan Petrolia, Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Economics, provided an update on the BOEM/LSU GCOOS Valuation Project. He explained progress and challenges, many arising from the high personnel turnover at both LSU and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since 2013. 5
Because the survey is federally funded through a cooperative, it must be cleared by OMB. Anna Atkinson, recently hired by OMB, is the new liaison and the project is moving forward. The overarching work determines the value of GCOOS to the public, a complicated question that requires a before and after measure of change and benefit. End users value the outputs of GCOOS, not necessarily the system elements themselves. The work uses survey-based stated preference valuation methods to estimate incremental value of improvements to each product. Survey takers are given scenarios to consider and these must be cleared with OMB, a process that can take more than a year. Perry suggested talking with Rodney Clug or an internal DOI person to accelerate the time frame for clearance. A companion study is underway with ROFFS and these data will be compared with information gathered from the BOEM/LSU work. Porfirio Alvarez provided an update on CiiMAR activities. Projects discussed included: the first Gulf report card for the state of Yucatan; collaborations with NASA Earth Observations to detect, monitor and respond to Sargassum in the Caribbean Sea; development of an ocean kelp index; and working with the Navy to integrate ocean data from the Pacific, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Alvarez shared that two Kongsberg sea gliders were following a Loop Current eddy off the coast of Tamaulipas and thanked GCOOS data architect Felimon Gayanilo for the assistance he provided via Skype. CiiMAR will hold its 13 th session 23-27 January 2017 in Campeche and will participate in a joint session with GOMURC at the next Gulf States Accord. UPDATES FROM GCOOS STAFF Shin Kobara showed a demonstration of the GCOOS invasive species website with lionfish and tiger prawns. There was discussion of Google s pending transition to ESRI maps. Until now, Google has been free. ESRI provides schools with a free license. Gayanilo informed participants that Google s charge is a function of web traffic and that GCOOS is under the critical mass limit. Alvarez asked if researchers from Mexico are included in the project and offered to introduce Kobara to his colleagues to identify collaborations. A researcher from Yucatan is currently engaged. Chris Simoniello, Outreach and Education (O/E) lead, provided an overview of O/E activities. Highlights included implementation of NOAA Climate Stewards Education Program and Pets in the Classroom grants; curriculum development for two G1-5 Waters of the World gifted student programs; making web-ready a suite of GK-8 lessons for the GCOOS portal; creating two science festivals; conducting activities in conjunction with SECOORA at the St. Petersburg Science Festival; chairing a session at the 2016 National Marine Educators Association Meeting; and collaborating with GCOOS O/E colleague Dr. Rusty Low on a NSF Rapid Grant focused on engaging Gulf citizen scientists in the development of digital recognition software to track the spread of Zika-carrying vectors. The work is being including in a PBS broadcast series titled Crowd in the Cloud. Mathew Howard provided an update on the glider pilot resource termed GANDALF. The online tool, created by GCOOS product developer Bob Currier, displays glider trajectories, data layers and archives information. High school drifter profiles have recently been added to the site. He explained how information on GANDALF is shared more broadly. Currier handles the GANDALF site and plots. Howard clips individual profiles, mainly temperature and salinity, codes to NetCDF and pushes to the GTS. Full records are rarely accepted by the IOOS DAC, though Pat Hogan uses the full product. From the IOOS glider DAC, information goes to NDBC for WMO metadata submission; they provide a number so GCOOS 6
can upload to the GTS where it eventually gets to NCEI. Plans are underway to work with IOOS to expand GANDALF nationally. Chunyan Li reported on his GCOOS-funded work with the LSU WAVCIS program. Funding is at a critical low. Only three active stations remain. These provide data for their daily real-time forecast weather model (WRF model) that has three levels of grid resolution. It is questionable whether these can be sustained beyond a 12-month period. Felimon Gayanilo, TAMU Corpus Christi and GCOOS Systems Architect, provided an update on the GCOOS Data Portal and the Marine Mammal Health Monitoring and Analysis Platform (MAP). The GCOOS Data Portal currently has 162 local data node stations, 159 federal stations, and 1,655 sensors, with approximately 40% of data coming from oil & gas industry ADCPs. Servers are maintained in College Station, Corpus Christi and virtually. GCOOS was a test site for the 52N Sensor Observation Services, a full system management and documentation product with browsing capabilities, data metrics, discoverability and data assembly centers, and changes in technology stacks to improve data services. To be in compliance with IOOS recommendations GCOOS is also implementing open source Github for sharing code and python codes to convert CSV files to netcdf 4. Work is in progress to meet NCEI end-point requirements. Discussion about tracking data portal usage ensued. While statistics show how much data are exchanged, there is no information about if/how data are being used. Another challenge is that Google analytics does not catch why/how information pulled from SOS services is being used. With more than 80% of GCOOS data flowing machine to machine, tracking use has been an unresolved issue. Oceans Canada might have suggestions as they require documentation of this nature. Sara Graves suggested one way to resolve the data citation issue is to have a DOI request on regional portals requiring source data citations. Gayanilo is also handling System Design and Architecture for the Marine Mammal Commission/NOAAfunded MAP project. The nine-month project is focused on developing an information system to support the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding response program. The modular design has units that can work independently or be integrated for comprehensive analysis. Gayanilo is designing the information system while Axiom Data is developing a prototype user interface. The goal is to be able to map mortality information against data from this project (e.g., stranding information, sightings in ship channels, diseases, genetics, acoustics, CetSound data, etc.). Gayanilo was encouraged to work with TAMU grants and contracts staff to determine his/gcoos liability risks and patent opportunities. Howard provided an update on the Model Data Viewer, a one-year project undertaken by the GCOOS Modeling Task Team with $60K from CASE/EJIP. The viewer provides the first continuous model output for GCOOS, a product glider pilots have been requesting. The final report was made available in October 2016 (Howard). GCOOS will continue to populate and Pat Hogan is funded to continue serving data for one year. The viewer includes NCOM and Global HYCOM, NRL Ensemble and Pat Hogan s model. Users can refine output by slicing various depths of interest, taking transects across the surface, selecting time series or cross-sections for model output, animations or adding layers. 7
23 September 2016 Closed Board Meeting Day 2 The closed board meeting resumed with discussions about candidates for a one-year interim board position representing state government. Considerations included increasing diversity and balancing expertise and state representation. Because voting does not take place until March 2017 there was consensus that follow up discussions could take place via teleconference. The subject of Board formalities arose. Jan van Smirren is working on delegations of authority to provide guidelines on the relations between the Board and Executive Director. Agreement is needed on identifying decisions that require board input and a vote. For example, approval of expenditures greater than $5 K might require Board input whereas lesser amounts do not. For future budget reports, the Board requested dollar amounts instead of per cent breakdown for RA expenditures. Board Rotations Several Board terms are ending in March 2017. Three in government will be open at the same time. Kirkpatrick will review the by-laws and determine how best to modify so that this issue can be avoided in the future. Those with terms ending were asked to decide if they are going to run for re-election. All were asked to think about people to nominate. Joe Swaykos requested that the Election Committee Chair inform folks already on the Board if re-elected or not before the meeting where announcements are made. FUNDING STRATEGY FOR DWH FUNDS Each state s governor and/or their designees are ultimately in charge of restoration funds. However, people on the Hill can influence states and governors so a dual approach is needed. The process to solicit funds needs to include who to ask, what and how much to request, for what purpose/benefit and for what duration. The why is the critical piece. Each state has different needs so one size does not fit all. For example, Texas and Mississippi need short range HFR, not necessarily long range like other states. All need long-term operations and maintenance support. The ask must be realistic and broken down per year typically in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. Discussion of projects and funding strategies ensued. Requests made should support spill response, rescue and/or restoration of habitat and living marine resources. The DART and TAU systems were used as examples of long-funded systems with known value. Similar cases need to be made for other observing infrastructure. Mooring systems are especially challenging because of the perception of their high cost without understanding all they provide. Steve Buschang said that for the first time in his career he is going to have to defend the value of buoys in his 2017-2018 budget. The ask should be framed in a way that explains the suite of things to be delivered for the relatively small amount of money requested. Considering that many non-science people are business minded, an alternative approach might be to show what already exists and how much more will be delivered for a nominal investment. Another suggestion was to propose fixing existing tools that are not working well. Using gliders as an example, a reasonable approach would be to ask for one, demonstrate value, then ask for additional resources for a specific purpose (e.g., spill response, improved modeling, dissolved 8
oxygen, ph, baseline CDOM, model assessment, etc.). Having drifters ready and available for the next event was also proposed. They are inexpensive and can address a wide range of issues, including Argoscale deployments for deep water circulation. A benefit of a small-scale glider ask is that technology is changing rapidly and it would not be desirable to be stuck with old instruments. Other value to specify is the need to keep pilots training. All requests need to be tied to lives, the economy and restoration. A case needs to be made why this information matters, even when storms or spills are not immediately present. END Board Report 9
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