Showing posts with label oceans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oceans. Show all posts

Friday, June 17, 2011

USGS Scientist to participate in 26th Session of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Assembly

On June 28, Mark Fornwall, Manager USGS OBIS-USA, will participate as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Twenty-sixth Session of Assembly of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). As chair of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) ad hoc Steering Group, he is needed to participate in consideration of the Group’s recommendations adopted this past March to integrate the OBIS project office within the IOC’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) program. Dr. Fornwall manages OBIS-USA, the US component to the international OBIS effort. OBIS serves as the global focal point for the management and integration of marine biogeographic. The OBIS data schema (extension of Darwin Core) is an international standard for sharing and integrating marine biological data (e.g. presence-absence-abundance). OBIS-USA and partners are building a national data resource that will help to address important ocean science and societal issues (climate change, minerals and energy, ecosystems, hazards, health, coastal marine spatial planning are a few examples). USGS; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE); U.S. Navy; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and National Science Foundation (NSF) are key contributors and have supported the program with both data and funding.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Ocean Biogeographic Information System-USA (OBIS-USA)

Following successful completion this year of the Census of Marine Life (COML) – an international effort to catalog the diversity, abundance, and distribution of life in the Earth’s oceans – the NBII has emerged as a critical leader for marine biodiversity data. OBIS-USA, which the NBII coordinates, represents an important accomplishment of the U.S. effort in COML. In collaboration with other agencies and partners, the NBII has succeeded in securing bridge funding (within the United States and other countries) to continue COML and OBIS efforts through the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. OBIS-USA has focused on data mobilization, partnership development, and improving functionality in this second year of implementation. Recent highlights include:
  • In a letter to USGS Director Marcia McNutt, the Marine Mammal Commission commended USGS for OBIS-USA as a location for the nation’s marine mammal data.
  • In an ongoing partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA has provided a list of 292 databases for OBIS-USA and funded NBII participation in a project to expand the current OBIS data schema to support the Integrated Ocean Observing Information System.
  • Data from USGS science centers are being added and the NBII is coordinating with the coastal marine geology program to integrate environmental data with biodiversity data, and allow improved spatial planning in marine areas.
  • Over four million records are available for searching, viewing, and downloading data from Large Marine Ecosystems. (See the test site.) The data schema is being expanded to include richer datasets than Darwin Core currently offers.
Access the OBIS-USA portal.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

USGS-NBII Scientist to Participate in Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Executive Council Meeting

Mark Fornwall, NBII's OBIS-USA node manager, will participate in the U.S. delegation during negotiations related to the transfer of the international Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) from its current status as a part of the global Census of Marine Life to a more permanent home in the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The move, approved by IOC members at the Assembly last June, will ensure the continued existence of OBIS and foster integration with other oceanographic data systems within the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) program. The development of regional nodes and the adoption of international standards and protocols for the interoperability of marine biogeographic data within OBIS, is a great successes for the Census of Marine Life.  For the first time, marine biodiversity can be mapped and investigations can be conducted on the biogeography of the world’s oceans, changes in species distributions can be monitored, and causal factors affecting biodiversity can be investigated.

(Photo: Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawaii. Photo by Paul Wang. Photo courtesy of the USGS Newsroom).

Monday, May 10, 2010

NBII Named "Portal of the Month" By NOAA

The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) was named "portal of the month" in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monthly e-newsletter, Information Exchange for Marine Educators. The newsletter is distributed to formal and informal science educators.

The newsletter mentions the NBII's focus on wildlife biology and issues surrounding wildlife such as ecosystems, land cover, habitats, and how each topic major category (Plants, Animals & Other Organisms, Habitats, Ecological Topics, Geographic Perspectives, and Toolkit) opens to a myriad of useful resources.  Ecological Topics alone includes bird conservation, fire ecology and management, invasive species, threatened and endangered species, and more.  NOAA also highlights OBIS-USA under the topic Habitats-Marine. OBIS-USA is a one-stop source for biogeographic data collected from U.S. waters and oceanic regions.  It gives the world's most comprehensive data base on marine biogeographic data a permanent home and places OBIS-USA in an optimal position to integrate marine biogeographic data with other oceanographic data for use by ocean scientists and resource managers. OBIS-USA is the U.S. regional node of the International Ocean Biogeographic Information System (iOBIS). OBIS-USA was organized by USGS under the NBII as a part of the NBII mission to provide the nation with a mechanism for accessing the vast amount of existing biological resources data, information products, and analytical tools that support and enhance science-based decision-making.

Along with biological information on wildlife and other issues, the NBII provides access to a host of images, which are available for most noncommercial uses. NBII Library of Images From the Environment (NBII LIFE) offers different categories, special collections, and even a kids section with games, stories, coloring pages, projects, and more. NBII LIFE is a collaborative platform for agencies, organizations, and individual partners to share high quality, authoritative images of our natural world. Subjects cover species, species interactions, landscapes, research, management, and environmental topics. The goal is to manage images as scientific records and ensure they are useful for future research and decision-making.

Thank you, NOAA, for recognizing the NBII as "Portal of the Month."

(Photo: Sea angel (Clione limacina), the most common shell-less pteropod of arctic waters. Courtesy of the census of Marine Life Arctic Ocean Diversity project, © Kevin Raskoff.)

Monday, April 5, 2010

NBII Briefs U.S. National Committee for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)

On March 25, 2010, Mark Fornwall of the National Biological Information Infrastructure's (NBII) OBIS-USA provided a briefing to the US committee on the transition of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) to the IOC's International Oceanographic Data Exchange (IODE).  His remarks covered the results of a planning session convened last fall at the IODE headquarters in Belgium.  The adoption of OBIS by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) gives the world's most comprehensive data base on marine biogeographic data a permanent home and places it in an optimal position to integrate marine biogeographic data with other oceanographic data for use by ocean scientists and resource managers.  OBIS-USA is the U.S. regional node of the International Ocean Biogeographic Information System (iOBIS). OBIS-USA was organized by USGS under the NBII as a part of the mission to coordinate the development of the nation’s repository for data on national biological resources.


Photo: Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawaii. Photo by Paul Wang. Photo courtesy of USGS.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

New One-Stop Source for Scientific Information about U.S. Oceans and Waters

A one-stop source for biogeographic information collected from U.S. waters and oceanic regions is now available from the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Program OBIS-USA website offers a unique combination of tools, resources, and biodiversity information to aide scientists, resource managers and decision makers in the research and analyses critical to sustaining the nation’s valued marine ecosystems.
OBIS-USA was established in 2006 in cooperation with the U.S. National Committee for the Census of Marine Life a committee composed of renowned marine community leaders. OBIS-USA – a partnership of state, federal and scientific organizations -- is the United States’ contribution to the International Ocean Biogeographic Information System, an effort led by the Census of Marine Life to provide “open access” to global biodiversity data on the myriad of marine life that inhabits the ocean.
“The world’s ocean is critically important, not only because of how it influences the climate, but also because it provides the resources for commercial, recreational, cultural, scientific, conservation, and national security activities,” said John Mosesso, OBIS-USA co-lead. “At the same time, the ocean is threatened by a variety of changes, including warming temperatures, increasing ocean acidity, invasion by non-native species, overharvesting, and loss of habitat for species of concern.”
OBIS-USA provides data and functional tools to address key questions and information needs related to scientific understanding of sustainable and resilient ecosystems, marine spatial planning, climate change, ocean acidification, invasive species, and managing the nation’s fisheries. To address these ocean threats requires access to critical information on marine biodiversity, Mosesso noted.
OBIS-USA data holdings comprise millions of individual records supplied by marine data sponsors from across the nation. The site provides a work space for visitors to search and manipulate that data. This is accomplished in collaboration with data providers to produce a compilation of data in a common format. Data are interoperable and can be consistently viewed and applied by researchers, decision makers and resource managers.
Users can search and download data and metadata describing when and where species were observed or collected. The site’s offerings are available through an atlas (where users can review and select specific data sets). Individual or composite data sets (user-created selections from the entire holdings) may be viewed through several functions, including:

  • data dashboard - provides a pictorial view of data attributes that lets users assess their utility;
  • data richness - assesses how well the data are populated for selected elements;
  • data quality - provides key data collection information;
  • duplication status - indicates if a data set may contain duplicate records;
  • general metadata – displays the Federal Geographic Data Committee data record;
  • geographic coverage – displays data collection sites spatially;
  • participants - names OBIS-USA participants, with the option to connect back to the atlas, dashboard, and metadata functions; and
  • taxonomic depth - table shows the levels of taxonomic hierarchy for each organism.
OBIS-USA goals this year include an increase to over 10 million total data records and expanded functionality to address needs such as integration with non-biological data and further capability regarding species distributions.
To learn more about OBIS-USA, including growing its list of data and exploring partnerships, contact the NBII’s Mark Fornwall or John Mosesso.
Coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey, the NBII is a broad, collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on the nation's biological resources.


(Photos: Sea angel (Clione limacina), the most common shell-less pteropod of arctic waters. Courtesy of the census of Marine Life Arctic Ocean Diversity project, © Kevin Raskoff. (Full size image)
Nardoa rosea sea star as seen from the underside. Photographed during Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs) research, Heron Island, Australia. Gary Cranitch © 2008. (Full size image)

Monday, November 30, 2009

USGS-NBII Scientist Invited to Address Marine Mammal Commission

OBIS-USA Node Manager Mark Fornwall of the USGS-National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) has been invited to address the Marine Mammal Commission at their annual meeting. The Commission has requested an update on the NBII marine theme, OBIS-USA , and its ability to serve as a repository for marine mammal data. The Commission is very supportive of early efforts to capture marine mammal data and provide access from one location. The meeting will take place December 2-4, 2009, in Honolulu, HI.

Monday, November 9, 2009

USGS NBII Scientist To Attend Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) International Meeting

OBIS-USA Node Manager Mark Fornwall of the USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) has been invited to attend the Management Committee Meeting for the International OBIS program. The OBIS is a programme within the UNESCO International Ocean Commission, to provide access to marine biogeographic data. The meeting is part of a reorganization of OBIS within International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE). The meeting will develop terms of reference and a plan of work for integrating biogeographic data contained in OBIS with the other data currently exchanged within the IODE. The meeting will take place in Ostende, Belgium, November 16-20, 2009 and travel is being partly covered by UNESCO.