NANOOS Pilot About Page

Partner institutions – Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Oregon State University, South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, United States Geological Survey, University of Washington, and Washington Department of Ecology – propose an important step towards the development of an operational coastal ocean observatory to address the scientific information needs of federal, state and local agencies responsible for natural resource management and land-use planning in coastal communities of the Pacific Northwest (PNW).

Consistent with the goals and charter of the recently created Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), we propose the regional integration and expansion of existing but disparate observation and modeling capabilities for the estuaries and shores of Oregon (OR) and Washington (WA). Through this pilot project, we will explore issues of governance and coordination, certification and quality control, maintenance, expandability, and data dissemination, while seeking an effective balance between (a) local and intra-regional innovation and customization and (b) inter-regional and national standardization and economies of scale.

The proposal reflects the region’s staged approach towards a flexible coastal ocean observatory supporting both operational and research needs, and ultimately covering all estuaries, shorelines and the continental shelf of the PNW. While we focus here only on OR and WA, coordination and technology transfer mechanisms will be developed to facilitate expansion, over time, to estuaries and shores of northern California and British Columbia. Another PNW pilot proposal – with strong institutional overlap – will address the complementary NANOOS sub-system for the continental shelf. A third proposal seeks to extend recently initiated IOOS planning and coordination activities for the PNW region.

Observation efforts will concentrate on five estuaries (South Slough in Coos Bay, OR; Columbia River, OR-WA; Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, WA; and Puget Sound, WA) and on two littoral cells (Columbia River, OR-WA; and Rockaway, OR). The modeling framework will extend to the entire PNW, with enhanced detail for the Columbia River and its littoral cell (CRLC). Data and communication systems will aim at providing quantifiably reliable information to the right user, at the right time, in the right format. During this developmental phase, we will focus on providing data products needed to address three environmental issues that are critical to the sustainable development of the PNW: (a) estuarine water quality; (b) estuarine ecosystem management and restoration; and (c) coastal storms and erosion.