Ocean observing: Linking observations to the NWS and marine community

The development of regional and sub-regional "coastal ocean observing systems" under the national NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) initiative has provided opportunities for increased access to meteorological and oceanographic data. One of the most efficient ways for coastal ocean observing systems to disseminate marine information to the public is via partnerships with local NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) since the commercial and recreational marine communities already rely on these offices for their marine observation and forecast needs. The NWS experimental Marine Weather Portal (MWP) was developed by forecasters, web designers, data managers, and outreach personnel working with the University of South Carolina, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of South Florida, Second Creek Consulting, NOAA NWS Eastern and Southern Region Headquarters, NWS Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and NWS WFOs in coastal US states across the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico. The NWS Marine Weather Portal is currently used to disseminate standardized, consolidated marine information for coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas and can be viewed at http://forecast.weather.gov/mwp/. The NWS would like to expand the MWP to include all WFOs and NOAA National Centers for Environmental Protection (NCEP) with marine forecasting responsibility. The National Hurricane Center's Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch, which provides marine forecasts for the Atlantic High Seas, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, has also requested that the Marine Weather Portal include their area of responsibility and incorporate forecast and warning products which they produce. Possible expansion of the MWP into the Caribbean will create the opportunity for the portal developers to include observing data provided through the French government as well as create multi-lingual access to the site. In fact, the NHC is currently experimenting with producing their marine forecasts in both Spanish and French. Providing users with the ability to view marine data from multiple sources is a worthwhile and needed improvement over the previous, WFO specific, marine weather pages. Expansion of the MWP domain would be a valuable enhancement for mariners and other customers by providing "one-stop shopping" for the information they need to safely transit coastal and offshore waters. The consolidation and expansion of marine data strengthens the NOAA brand by reinforcing NOAA's role as the official source of marine weather data.