MACOORA, the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, coordinates and facilitates observations of the ocean and estuaries between Cape Hatteras and Cape Cod as part of a national effort to improve scientific observations of our coastal oceans. MACOORA’s reach encompasses over 66 million people and five major estuaries. For a brief overview of MACOORA and ocean observations click here.

The association’s objective is to engage and educate citizens and businesses about the value and importance of ocean observations to our daily lives and livelihoods. Our many successes have been a direct result of the dedication and vision of our volunteers, members, and leaders. (see MACOORA highlights) Membership is encouraged.

MACOORA’s research arm is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARCOOS), an integrated system of buoys, radar, gliders and other technologies. Key areas of concern include Coastal Inundation, Maritime Safety, Ecosystem Decision Support and Water Quality. Ocean observations are also critical in the discussion of alternative energy, offshore energy, and climate change. Benefits from MARCOOS include providing faster and more precise management tools for port management, search and rescue, power utility restoration, reservoir, storm and waste water management and local and state regulation of beaches and fisheries.

MACOORA News

Testing Cyberinfrastructure and MARCOOS. The Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI) has a large effort to build a mature cyberinfrastructure (CI). The Mid-Atlantic Region Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARCOOS) is a part of the cyberinfrastructure team. MARCOOS is conducting an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) -- our goal is to provide an oceanographic testbed in which the cyberinfrastructure will support field operations of ships and mobile platforms; aggregate data from fixed platforms, shore-based radars, and satellites; and offer these data streams to data assimilative forecast models. For the next two weeks (roughly November 2-November 16), we will be testing several distinct software programs. To follow daily events, read the blog. 

We are utilizing numerical models from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (Avijit Gangopadhyay), Stevens Institute (Alan Blumberg), University of North Carolina (outer boundary condition, Ruoying He), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Pierre Lermusiaux), Rutgers (John Wilkin), and the Jet Propulsion Lab (Yi Chao). A social network site will collate all efforts. Join the network at: http://cyber.marine.rutgers.edu/

Data Management and Communications (DMAC) Workshop Offered at the MACOORA
Annual Conference. What do Data Management and Communications (DMAC) and Education and Outreach (E&O) have in common? They are both offered as workshops at the MACOORA annual meeting, Understanding the Coastal Ocean: Partnerships for a Changing World. Join us November 17 and 18 in Portsmouth, VA for excellent learning and networking opportunities.

Data Management and Communications (DMAC) De-mystified, led by Eoin Howlett of ASA, Inc., will provide a basic overview on the main data management components of an observing system, an explanation of the acronym maze associated with it, some practical demonstrations, and a discussion of the organizational framework that governs the regional association’s data management efforts.

Outreach and Education, led by Fredrika Moser and Jeff Yapalater, will focus on existing products and future development of products for educators and the general public.  Come to this workshop with ideas of how you would like to improve web or other tool product development and how best to reach different users of ocean observation data. Are there ways MACOORA members can cooperate in proposal development? Where should MACOORA focus its efforts in building products for users? Conference registration is complimentary, as are the two workshops, most meals and the evening event at the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame Museum. However, you must be registered to attend. Register online now.

Please Note: The MACOORA hotel room block is completely sold out. Please go to www.tripadvisor.com to book your hotel at an excellent rate.

The Fisheries and the Environment (FATE) program is a research program that develops and evaluates ecological and oceanographic indicators to be used to advance an ecosystem approach to management. Ocean observations are playing an ever increasing role in fisheries management. Developing Ecological Indicators for Spatial Fisheries Management using Ocean Observatory Defined Habitat Characteristics in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (John Manderson, Josh Kohut, Matthew Oliver, Laura Palamara, Steven Gray, John Goff), a FATE project, plans to develop coastal ocean habitat indicators for important fishery resource species. The project applies modern statistical habitat modeling techniques to data collected by the North East Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARCOOS). Initial results indicate that roughly 17% of “explained” species variation was described by IOOS remotely sensed data alone.

As the glider Scarlet Knight heads towards Europe, you can read a near daily account of piloting a glider or view a live video feed. Two gliders [the IOOS glider and the Navy Glider] were both recently recovered from the Mid Atlantic Bight testbed. Both provide subsurface temperatures to compare to fisheries surveys; both provide assimilation data for our three regional dynamical forecast models; and both provide test data from the new Seabird glider CTD.  RU15 remains in the water on the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelf, completing an Office of Naval Research (ONR) optics and data assimilation mission just before the start of the NSF Ocean Observing Initiative Experiment.

MACOORA Signs First Strategic-Partner Agreement with SMART. This summer, the MACOORA Board of Directors approved a strategic partner policy. The purpose of a MACOORA strategic partnership is to foster networking and collaboration on a specific issue or goal and to identify, facilitate and find resources that can support those goals. MACOORA has signed its first partnership with Strengthening the Mid-Atlantic Region for Tomorrow (SMART ) a not-for-profit membership organization that promotes the economic growth and development of technical enterprise, technical education and workforce development in the Mid-Atlantic. SMART supports at least 13 different technology groups. We will work together to promote technology at the legislative level.

MACOORA is looking to develop strategic partnerships with other organizations . If you are interested in discussing the possibilities for such a partnership, please contact Judith Krauthamer.

MACOORA and the OAR Roundtable on Ocean Observations. "All NOAA research is grounded in observations”.  Dr. Richard Spinrad, Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research brought together a diverse group of high-level constituents to discuss how NOAA can sustain and advance our observing systems to meet evolving user needs and applications. Five persistent themes emerged from the discussion including data and information management and communication; the balance between scientific inquiry and user-driven requirements as drivers for sustained observations; incorporation of research requirements when transitioning to operations; public-private partnerships; and messaging. MACOORA participated in the roundtable. Read the summary here.

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