About HiOOS
The Hawaii Ocean Observing System (HiOOS) is the Hawaiian Islands component of the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)
which is one of eleven regional observing programs in the US that are supporting the emergence of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).
For more information on IOOS, please visit ocean.us.
PacIOOS is being coordinated by the University of Hawai‘i School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) in partnership with the East-West Center and the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program. With funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), SOEST and its partners are in the process of conducting initial PacIOOS development activities.
HiOOS is a coordinated effort among numerous researchers at SOEST as well as various other federal, state, and county agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies. HiOOS seeks to provide accurate, timely and reliable information about the coastal and open ocean. Data collection and product development is currently focused on four main catalyst projects (listed below) in the Hawaiian Islands. A HiOOS database and web interface to access real-time and historical datasets is currently being developed. As data becomes available in the broader Pacific Islands region it will be integrated into the HiOOS dataset and released through this website.
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The HiOOS proposal identified “Coastal Resiliency” as a primary theme. On this website we use the term Coastal Hazards to more directly link to the content provided here. Coastal Resiliency is focused on improving focused on improving community preparedness for marine hazards and the impacts of climate change. A major problem facing island communities is inundation by high water levels associated with extreme tides, high waves, storm surge and tsunami, and rising sea level. Resiliency products will include: frequently updated maps of specific beach safety conditions (see hawaiibeachsafety.org for an early example); coastal inundation and erosion alerts; and vulnerability projections related to sea-level rise, chronic erosion, and high wave and water level events. Resiliency products are designed to improve community development, disaster mitigation planning, and transportation logistics. |
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Marine Ecosystem Stewardship will expand existing fish tracking and cetacean monitoring arrays. Stewardship products will include fishing and marine mammal forecasts. The intent is to provide data to support forecasts of environmental fluctuation and long-term climate change on living marine resources. |
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Ocean & Beach Conditions is focused on the needs of shipping, tourism, coastal management, ocean safety, pollution control, and search and rescue operations. Utilizing an array of high frequency radars along with gliders, wave buoys, coastal cameras, and numerical models this project will monitor, model, and predict channel and nearshore circulation, waves, coastal run-up, and water levels. |
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Automated Water Quality Sensing is expanding and implementing modifications of existing coastal water quality monitoring. Data and products will mitigate the problem caused by delays between the initial identification of potential water quality altering events, sampling and implementation of water quality alerts. In the case of sewage or oil-spills, these delays can lead to unnecessary closure of uncontaminated beaches or failure to promptly close those that are contaminated. |
