Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS): an institutional arrangement in support of coastal ocean research

The Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System is the nation's first demonstration of a regional, user-driven, integrated coastal ocean observing system. The demonstration has two major components: the physical component, by which data and observations will be collected, processed, synthesized into useful products as determined by market research, archived, and served to the public in real time; and the institutional component, by which the entire arrangement will be governed. It is perhaps this institutional component that represents a breakthrough in the concept of building a national federation of autonomous coastal ocean observing systems. GoMOOS is organized as a nonprofit corporation whose members represent the array of users of the Gulf: research institutions, the fishing industry, state/provincial and federal resource managers, the shipping industry, search and rescue operations, the military, and educational institutions. GoMOOS is not itself a research organization. It is more properly thought of as a utility. The evolution of the organization has been instructive: from a research organization that needs infrastructure to an infrastructure organization that will support research in an impartial, comprehensive manner. This approach has enabled many different interests to participate with the confidence that GoMOOS will be a shared platform for many. GoMOOS is conceived of as part of a larger Northeastern Ocean Observing System that will cover much of the East Coast of the United States.