Emily Smail, Ph.D.
Executive Director, GEO Blue Planet Initiative
University of Maryland Earth Science Interdisciplinary Center
NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Application and Research
1st Operational
Satellite Oceanography
Symposium
June 20, 2019
College Park, MD
Who is GEO Blue Planet?
Global network of ocean and coastal-observers, social scientists and end-user representatives from a variety of stakeholder groups
Secretariat
• Advance and exploit synergies among the many observational programmes devoted to ocean and coastal waters
• Improve engagement with a variety of stakeholders for enhancing the timeliness, quality and range of services delivered
• Raise awareness of the societal benefits of ocean observations at the public and policy levels.
GEO Blue Planet’s Mission
What does GEO Blue Planet Do?
GEO Blue Planet promotes, partners and leads activities that support the initiative’s mission.
Cross-Cutting Thematic
What does GEO Blue Planet Do?
Information Needs
Information Needs
• Type of data/product/tool needed
• Required geographic coverage
• Required temporal resolution
• Required spatial resolution
• Desired processing and visualization
Data Provider Expectations
Information Needs
Reality
• These are the decision I need to make
• Can ocean observation data help me?
• Longer textObservations
• Publications on value of coastal and ocean observations
• GIS based web catalogue of ocean observing, measurement and forecasting benefits
• Mapping the ocean and coastal observation and services “oceanscape”
• How accurate are the satellite products in my region?
• I know data is out there but I can’t find it.
• Which product should I use?
• The data is difficult to download and use.
Data and Products
Stakeholder questions and feedback
Data and Products – GEO Knowledge Hub Concept
GEO Work ProgrammeCommunity
Knowledge Identification
Knowledge Collection
Mediation
Ingestion
GEOSS Platform
connection
Discover, Learn, Reuse
DMPs Status Report
Knowledge Building
Users and Community
Findable
Accessible
Interoperable
Reusable
Data and Products – GEO Knowledge Hub Concept
• Coral Reef Knowledge Hub
• Fisheries Knowledge Hub
• SDG 14 Knowledge Hub
GEO Blue Planet Knowledge Hubs
Data and Products
Supporting development of methodology for and available data for SDG indicator 14.1.1
Data and Products
Supporting development of methodology for and available data for SDG indicator 14.1.1
Producing a white paper for UN Environment in collaboration with IEEE/OES, WWF and other partners on a concept for a global monitoring platform for marine litter
https://form.jotform.com/91395440653157
Provide a publicly available monitoring and forecasting system for oil spills and sargassum based on publicly available data (e.g. satellite data and in situ data from countries with open data sharing policies).
Decision Support Tools
Multi-hazard information & forecasting system for the Wider Caribbean
Provide coastal flood forecasts from the present up to 180 hours into the future at a 3-hour interval, with the forecasts being updated once every 6 hours
Decision Support Tools
Wave-driven Flood-forecasting of Reef-lined Coasts Early warning system (WaveFORCE)
Demo: on 8th of December 2008, Kwajalein Atoll experienced a severe flood event
Decision Support Tools
Wave-driven Flood-forecasting of Reef-lined Coasts Early warning system (WaveFORCE)
Decision Support Tools
What makes them operational?
• Hosting and maintenance –industry or university partner v.s. operational agency
• Routine and sustained – what does this mean?