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Alaska Ocean Observing System
The Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) is the umbrella regional association for three Alaska regional observing networks (Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Arctic) that are being developed as part of the national Integrated Ocean Observation System (IOOS) under the National Ocean Planning Partnership (NOPP) and Ocean.US. AOOS has been in existence since July 2003 with support from university, federal and private partners, as well as several NOAA planning grants. An interim governance structure and an administrative office have been established; numerous planning workshops held; and user needs identified for the initial program. The purpose or mission of the national IOOS - and that of AOOS - is to develop a unified, comprehensive, cost-effective approach to providing ocean observations (biological, chemical and physical) from a permanent monitoring system and developing the information products based on those observations to meet the needs of users of coastal ecosystems.
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Oil Spill Recovery Institute
The Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) was established by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The mission of OSRI is to better understand the effects of oil pollution on arctic and sub-arctic marine environments, and to seek new techniques and technologies that may prevent, mitigate or recover oil spills in those environments through research, education and demonstration and/or application. OSRI is supportive of marine research that will help develop ecological applications for its ocean observing system, for example, habitat distributions and the functional role of various habitat types on different life stages of important fish, invertebrate and plant species. The OSRI and its partner organizations conduct research in the arctic and subarctic to enable detection and prediction of oil-spill related impacts and subsequent recovery. This mission led to the development of a PWS ocean circulation model coupled to a regional atmospheric circulation model. The modeling program is now rapidly evolving to integrate with the Alaska Ocean Observing System and to take better advantage of real-time data streams from satellites, weather stations, and an enhanced observational oceanography program consisting of moored buoys and seasonal hydrographic surveys.
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Prince William Sound Science Center
The Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC) was founded almost 16 years ago to facilitate and conduct research that will increase our understanding of the ecosystems in both Prince William Sound and the Copper River Delta. The Center is committed to implementing ecosystem-based research programs emphasizing the long-term health and sustainability of resources upon which local residents depend. Current research programs include oceanographic observations, fish and plankton population assessments, food web analysis using stable isotopes, Steller sea lion observations and, on the Copper River Delta, investigations of the intertidal, shorebird and fish ecology.
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