Ocean Observatory Initiative Underway
Rhonda Moniz
February 4, 2013
The Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) is making strides in the future of ocean exploration. The OOI's networked sensor grid will collect ocean and seafloor data at high sampling rates over years to decades. Researchers will make simultaneous, interdisciplinary measurements to investigate a spectrum of phenomena including episodic, short-lived events (tectonic, volcanic, biological, and meteorological), and more subtle, longer-term changes and emergent phenomena in ocean systems (circulation patterns, climate change, ocean acidity, and ecosystem trends). The OOI is comprised of three levels of ocean observation including coastal, regional and global.