Coastal Services Center

Coastal Observation Technology System (COTS)

Building regional capacity for the collection and application of coastal and ocean information

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The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) is envisioned as a coordinated national and international network of observations, data management and analyses that systematically acquires and disseminates data and information on past, present and future states of the oceans and the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Coastal Observation Technology System (COTS) project grants were initiated in 2002 to further the development of integrated coastal ocean observing systems on a regional basis. The COTS projects are an alliance of congressionally directed and competitively funded projects focusing on regional coastal observation, research, technology and prediction, with an emphasis on data management and integration. In FY06 15 projects were funded by Congressional direction to contribute to the formation of IOOS. These projects cover a wide range of ocean and coastal observations research activities, including ecological forecasting, modeling, and storm surge prediction

The NOAA Coastal Services Center is supporting development grants to establish Regional Associations (RAs) as part of the nation's Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). The RAs will serve as a forum to improve the regional coastal ocean observing systems (RCOOS), by enabling stakeholders to influence IOOS development by identifying and establishing regional observation priorities.

In addition to the acquisition of scientific information by each project, COTS partners have emerged as leaders in data management and data sharing among the ocean observations community. In Novemebr 2004, COTS and Office of Naval Research (ONR) project partners and representatives from each of the nascent Regional Associations (RAs) came together for a focused workshop to enhance coordination and data integration among coastal ocean observing systems. An initial demonstration of the data sharing/access capabilities of an Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) has been the development of a web-accessible data portal that provides access to the most recent sea surface temperature (SST) data from satellites and buoys located in coastal waters of the continental U.S. The COTS projects, and similar efforts funded by the Office of Naval Research play an integral role in the contribution of data and the development of this demonstration.

Each COTS project has listed key accomplishments and highlights of their contributions to IOOS. Click here to access these accomplishment reports.

This site is one of the communication tools used by the COTS participants.