Winter 2020 Issue
Director's Article
Upcoming Events & Program Updates
2020 Arctic Report Card Released
Arctic Research Cruise Reveals Warm Ocean Temperatures, Active Ecosystem
2020 Global Carbon Budget Released
2019 Surface Water Carbon Database (LDEOv2019) Published
Powering the Blue Economy Ocean Observing Prize: DEVELOP Competition
Internship Opportunity: William M. Lapenta Student Internship Program
Call for Spotlight Presentations
News from Around NOAA
ICYMI
New Publications
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Director's Article
This year concluded with a significant level of external engagement. We saw multiple AGU sessions addressing GOMO foci (and I was pleased to see our Sea Grant fellows Ann and Cheyenne co-chairing sessions). During the AGU meeting, NOAA’s Arctic Report Card, now in its 15th year, was rolled out generating a plethora of stories in the media (and increasingly penetrating social media) due to the remarkable changes we are seeing in the Arctic and subsequent impacts on the ecosystems and populations in the North and beyond. Finally, I had the pleasure of interacting with Capitol Hill offices that authorize and appropriate funds to NOAA, and/or have interest in our activities. It was a terrific opportunity to speak to your efforts and future opportunities in support of national needs for ocean information, as well as interests of individual Senators and Representatives. The discussions reflected genuine interest in supporting GOMO’s activities (e.g. we quickly scheduled a briefing on the Arctic Report Card to Alaska’s delegation). I am very enthusiastic about future engagements with these supporters of NOAA and GOMO.
It has been a remarkable year for many reasons. The enthusiasm and resilience of the ocean observing system has enabled many of our activities to continue, often involving creative solutions and/or perseverance and collaboration. New discoveries and knowledge are generated every day from our collective efforts. And I can still count on the value of extended weather and climate forecasts due in part to the efforts of the GOMO enterprise. I hope that the holiday season provides an opportunity for some rest, recuperation, fellowship and joy in anticipation of what I’m sure will be a very exciting 2021.
From all of us at GOMO, best wishes for a wonderful holiday season!
-David Legler
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Upcoming Events & Program Updates |
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Workshop: Integrating Ocean Observations to Improve NOAA’s Hurricane Intensity Forecasts: Jan. 26-28, 2021. Learn more and register.
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Congratulations to all our fellow NOAA colleagues who were honored in the NOAA Research Awards Ceremony this December. The GOMO Program received an EEO/Diversity Award. Read about all the Diversity Award recipients and more in this month's Connections newsletter from NOAA Research's EEO Program Office.
Congratulations to Chidong Zhang from NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory for being selected as one of this year's AGU Fellows!
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Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing News |
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“The transformation of the Arctic to a warmer, less frozen and biologically changed region is well underway,” said Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist with the International Arctic Research Center, and one of three editors of this year’s report card.
On December 8, 2020, the 2020 Arctic Report Card was released at the AGU Fall Meeting in a press conference. This 15th annual Arctic Report Card catalogs the numerous ways that environmental change continues to transform and disrupt the Arctic region, with impacts on weather, climate, fisheries, ecosystems, and Indigenous communities. It was compiled by 134 scientists from 15 countries. The press conference generated strong coverage and more than 55 stories from major US and international outlets. Read the highlights of the Report Card, the full report, the 15 year retrospective, watch the video, and learn about the editors. Watch the AGU press conference video.
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This October's Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) Cruise returned with surprising results leading to media coverage in the Eureka Alert (AAAS) and Alaska Native News. Researchers found warmer air and water temperatures, open water where an icebreaker ship is usually required and an active ecosystem. Arctic researcher Jacqueline Grebmeier is quoted in the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science news release. Read more here.
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The 2020 Global Carbon Budget was released December 11th by the Global Carbon Project. While lower emissions were observed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this had little effect on the atmospheric CO2 concentration or uptake by the oceans. This release comes ahead of the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to limit global warming.
NOAA research efforts contributed significantly to this global assessment. GOMO provided funding support for ocean carbon observation data collected by researchers at AOML and PMEL. NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory provided atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration data. Read the full article and release.
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The Global Ocean Surface Water Partial Pressure of CO2 Database (LDEO Database Version 2019) has been published at OCADS/NCEI. The most recent LDEO databased contains approximately 14.2 million measurements of surface water partial pressure CO2 (pCO2) made over the global oceans and coastal waters between 1957-2019. This version contains an additional 567,632 data points from 158 cruises collected on ships that operate primarily in high latitudes in both hemispheres and have built decades long records in these areas. The global pCO2 data set is available free of charge as a numeric data package from the OCADS. Learn more here.
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The GOMO-led Extreme Events Ocean Observations Task Team is organizing the workshop: Integrating Ocean Observations to Improve NOAA's Hurricane Intensity Forecasts, which will be held virtually from January 26-28, 2021. This workshop will focus on upper ocean and air-sea interface observing, analysis, and modeling by developing a framework for coordinated ocean observing in support of hurricane intensity science and forecasting. We aim to bring together leaders in the observational and modeling communities to discuss ways to improve integration, coordination, and communication across NOAA as it relates to hurricane intensity forecasting. A workshop report will be written and published that will summarize discussions, key findings, and practical actionable recommendations. Learn more and register here.
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Powering the Blue Economy Ocean Observing Prize: DEVELOP Competition |
The DEVELOP competition series was announced on October 19th, a new contest within the Ocean Observing Prize originally announced by U.S. Department of Energy and NOAA at OceanObs’19.
The DEVELOP Competition focuses on a single theme: hurricane monitoring. The competition challenges contestants to develop their ideas into a functioning prototype through three contests: DESIGN, BUILD, and SPLASH. The DESIGN contest of the competition is now open and will close on February 16th, 2021. Learn more here.
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Internship Opportunity: William M. Lapenta Student Internship Program |
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In recognition of the many contributions of Dr. William (Bill) Lapenta to advance NOAA science and services and his dedication to training the next generation of scientists, NOAA established the William M. Lapenta Student Internship Program in 2019. The program builds on the highly successful National Weather Service (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Internship which Bill created in 2017. NOAA is offering paid summer internships targeted towards current 2nd and 3rd-year undergraduate and enrolled graduate students to work in areas that will provide robust research and/or operational experience that will prepare students for further study in NOAA fields. For more information on this opportunity, please click here. The deadline to apply is February 1, 2021.
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Call for Spotlight Presentations
Are you looking for a way to build excitement and support for your research? Consider signing up to deliver a Spotlight Presentation at an upcoming Senior Management Meeting! During each weekly NOAA Research Senior Management Meeting, there is an opportunity for scientists and program managers to showcase their research with a high level (virtual) presentation. The NOAA Research Communications team offers a guided practice session to help you prepare. Please contact your program manager and/or our Communications Specialist, Jessica Mkitarian to sign up.
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AGU: Recorded sessions from AGU Fall Meeting will be available to registered participants until Feb. 15, 2021. Catch up on AGU sessions from the GOMO team here.
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Scannell, H. A., Johnson, G. C., Thompson, L., Lyman, J. M., & Riser, S. C. (2020). Subsurface evolution and persistence of marine heatwaves in the Northeast Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2020GL090548. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090548
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Happy Holidays from the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing team! |
If you're still looking for holiday cards, be sure to check out this assortment from the NOAA Office of Education and underwater holiday cards from NOAA Research's Ocean Exploration and Research team!
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As always, for the GOMO Community, by the GOMO Community.
Do you have news to share with the GOMO Community, or beyond?
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NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program | 1315 East-West Highway
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