Definitions

Coastal Ocean – For the purposes of the IOOS, the
coastal ocean encompasses the region from head of tide
to the seaward boundary of the EEZ, including the Great
Lakes.

Data Providers – Individuals or organizations that monitor
the environment and supply the data required by
user groups for applied or research purposes. This includes
both research and operational communities from
academia, private enterprise, government agencies, and
non-governmental organizations.

Data Users (User Groups) – Government agencies (local,
state and federal), private enterprise, the general public,
NGOs, and the science and education communities
that use or benefi t from the marine environment and its
resources or are responsible for their stewardship. User
groups specify requirements for data and data-products
and evaluate IOOS performance.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – An area beyond and
adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the legal regime
established in Part V of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea. This area shall not extend beyond
200 nautical miles from mean low water of the coastline
from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Within this zone, the coastal State has sovereign rights for
the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and
managing natural resources, and other activities such as
the production of energy from water, currents and winds.

Global (Open) Ocean – This region of the oceans is typically
defi ned as the marine environment seaward of the
shelf break front. It includes the deep basins of the world's
oceans where the infl uences of land-based processes are
small compared to coastal waters. Boundaries between
the open and coastal oceans are not fi xed and will vary
depending on the phenomena of interest, e.g., surface
wave spectra, straddling fi sh stocks such as salmon and
tuna, coastal eutrophication, and levels of enteric bacteria
(One size does not fi t all.)

Integrated System – One that (1) effi ciently links environmental
measurements, data communications and
management, data analysis, and applications (to form an
“end-to-end” system); (2) provides rapid access to multidisciplinary
data from many sources; (3) provides data
and information required to achieve multiple goals that
historically have been the domain of separate agencies,
offi ces or programs; and (4) involves cross-cutting partnerships
among federal and state agencies, the private
sector, and academic institutions.

Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) – An international
strategic planning process for the coordinated
development of the Global Climate Observing System
(GCOS), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS),
and the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS). The
IGOS is a collaboration involving UN Agencies (UNESCO
and its IOC, UNEP, WMO, and FAO), the Committee on
Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), integrated research
programs on global change within the World Climate
Research Program (WCRP), the International Geosphere-
Biosphere Program (IGBP), the International Council for
Science (ICSU), and the International Group of Funding
Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA),

Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) – An integrated
system of marine monitoring, data communications
and management and data analysis designed to provide
the data and information required for more rapid detection
and timely predictions of changes occurring in the marine
environment that impact U.S. social, economic and
ecological systems. The IOOS is the U.S. contribution to
the GOOS. The integrated system includes research and
development projects (research, pilot and pre-operational
projects) upon witch the development of the operational
elements of the system depends. The IOOS consists of
three closely linked components (“a system of systems”),
(1) the global ocean component, (2) a national backbone
for the nation's EEZ, and (3) regional systems that provide
an important link to the users of the IOOS. The national
backbone links changes that propagate across global
and regional scales, provides observations and analyses
required by all or most of the regions, and networks the
regions into a national federation. This nested system of
observations not only provides economies of scale, it provides
the means to detect and predict the effects of basin
scale changes in the ocean-atmosphere system on coastal
ecosystems, resources and human populations.

IOOS Subsystems – The IOOS efficiently and seamlessly
links three subsystems: (1) the observing subsystem (measurement
and transmission of data); (2) the communications
network and data management subsystem (organizing,
cataloging and disseminating data and information);
and (3) the data analysis and applications subsystem
(translating data into products in response to user needs
and requirements).

Lead Agency – Agency responsible for coordinating with
participating agencies in the implementation, operation,
evaluation, and improvement of designated elements of
the IOOS.

National Federation of Regional Associations – A nationally
coordinated union of regional partnerships formed
to promote and implement regional observing systems
in U.S. coastal waters, establish geographic boundaries
as needed, promote collaboration among regions
(where boundaries overlap, to enable effective transfer
of technologies and knowledge) and implement national
standards and protocols for measurements and the transmission
and management of data. Regional observing
systems are designed to contribute to and benefi t from
the national backbone by producing and disseminating
ocean data and products that benefi t the nation and user
groups within the respective regions.

National Backbone – See the IOOS above.
Operational – An activity in which the provision of data
streams and data products are routine, guaranteed, and
sustained (in perpetuity) at rates and in forms specifi ed by
user groups.

Participating Agency – Contributes to, takes part in, or
partners with other agencies and bodies in the implementation,
operation and improvement of elements of
the IOOS.

Phenomena of Interest – A broad spectrum marine properties
and processes that infl uence the earth's climate, the
safety and effi ciency of marine operations, the impact of
natural hazards, national and homeland security, public
health risk, the health of marine ecosystems, and the sustainability
of living marine resources. These include surface
waves and currents, sea level, coastal fl ooding and
erosion; presence of human pathogens and chemical contamination;
habitat modifi cation and loss of biodiversity;
harmful algal blooms and invasions of non-native species;
mass mortalities of fi sh, mammals and birds; declines in
marine fi sheries; and aquaculture practices. More rapid
detection and timely predictions of changes in or the occurrence
of these phenomena are required to achieve the
seven goals of the IOOS.

Region – Regions may include, but are not limited to, the
Great Lakes; the Gulfs of Alaska, Maine, and Mexico; the
Southern California, Middle Atlantic, and South Atlantic
Bights; the Pacifi c NW; and Hawaii and the Pacifi c Territories.
These correspond to the regions defi ned for the
Regional Marine Research Program (NRC, 2000, “Bridging
Boundaries Through Regional Marine Research”,
National Academy Press) and are provisional. They are
given here as a means to indicate the spatial scales that
should be considered in the establishment of regional observing
systems. Boundaries between regions should not
be fi xed in that they are likely to vary depending on the
phenomena of interest that are priorities in a particular
region.

Regional Association (RA) – A partnership or consortium
responsible for the development, operation and improvement
of regional observing systems. An RA consists of
representatives of user groups that specify data requirements
and products and data providers responsible for
the design, implementation, operation and improvement
of a regional observing system. In many cases, the same
groups will act as both data providers and users. See Appendix
V for more details.

Regional Observing System – A system that links the needs
of users to measurements of the coastal oceans and the
Great Lakes on regional or sub-regional scales. Like the
global ocean component and the national backbone, regional
observing systems consists of the infrastructure and
expertise required to effi ciently link the three subsystems.
Development, operation, and improvement of the system
are conducted under the auspices of a Regional Association.
This includes oversight, evaluation, and evolution
mechanisms that insure the continued and routine fl ow of
data and information, and the evolution of a system that
adapts to the needs of the user groups and to the development
of new technologies and understanding.