From rivers to the coastal ocean: A model for integrating observing systems on the west Florida shelf

The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (U.S. IOOS) is an end-to-end integrated and operational System of Systems aimed at providing oceanographic and meteorological data and products to a variety of stakeholders. Using the vision of U.S. IOOS for coastal ocean observing, the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) Regional Association has begun a pilot project to build an integrated water quality network in southwest Florida that extends from the coastal ocean into the adjacent estuaries and rivers under tidal influence. The pilot consists of four phases: identification of federal and non-federal near real-time observing resources in the pilot area; development of data sharing practices with the area's participating data providers; and integration of the data sets and fusion of data types into products useful to a range of local, state, and federal stakeholders. If successful, the fourth phase of the pilot - expansion throughout the Gulf - will be pursued. The project will be adjusted and then expanded southward through the Florida Keys, northward to the Big Bend, and westward through the Florida panhandle to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Through data integration, the individual, single-purpose oceanographic systems will be combined in ways that will improve the decision-support information and tools necessary for coastal managers, communities, and others at the local, state, regional, and national levels.