The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS): An arsenal of tools to build ocean observing system capacity

Since the early 1990s when dialogue about a Global Ocean Observing System began in the United States to the early 2000s when plans and legislation for the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) ramped up, coordinated observations to benefit society have been at the forefront of discussions. The Regional Associations (RAs) of IOOS embraced the challenge of building a nested systems of people and assets who work together to provide tools and forecasts to improve public safety, protect the environment and enhance the economy. In the Gulf of Mexico, the entity meeting this challenge is the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS-RA). The process by which the GCOOS-RA has built regional capacity to share expertise, improve observing infrastructure and facilitate collaborations across diverse communities is highly relevant to others who are trying to achieve similar goals. Examples of several projects and their applications will be presented to demonstrate some of the strategies implemented. These include capacity-building projects such as the Gulf AUV Network and Data Archive Long-term storage Facility (GANDALF) to aid the Gulf glider community; HABscope, a tool for use by citizen scientists to provide early warning of respiratory irritation due to Florida’s red tide; the All Things Beaches app to enhance public health and safety of beach-goers; and outreach aimed at promoting environmental stewardship. Together, these examples and the recommendations for best practices gleaned from them can prove valuable for global communities with nascent observing capacity seeking to improve their monitoring infrastructure in the decade ahead.