Program Update: National Oceanographic Partnership Program – March 2012
Staff from the NOPP Program Office attended the annual project review of the Fiscal Year 2009 NOPP topic, Improving Tropical Cyclone Intensity Models, in Miami, Florida in March. Funded Primary Investigators (PIs) gave presentations to update the NOPP Office and Program Managers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on their projects. A summary report will be available soon. More information about projects under this topic can be found on the NOPP website.
The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Partnerships (IWG-OP) met on March 13 at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Greg Easson gave a presentation on behalf of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium. The goal of the consortium is to build and operate a multifaceted project to better understand the hydrocarbon system in the deep marine environment in the Gulf of Mexico. Anna Coffey also updated the group on the last Federal Renewable Ocean Energy Working Group (FROEWG) meeting, held on February 27. The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the release of their wave resource assessment report and their issuance of an Offshore Wind Demonstration Funding Opportunity Announcement. The next FROEWG meeting will be held in conjunction with the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference in April.
The Interagency Working Group on Facilities and Infrastructure (IWG-FI) will meet at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership on April 30, and continues work on completing actions related to the National Ocean Policy (NOP). The Subcommittee on Unmanned Systems (SUS), the subgroup under the IWG-FI, met on March 14. The group continues to revise the Subcommittee on Unmanned Systems Strategy document and submitted a draft to the IWG-FI co-chairs for their review on March 29. With approval of the Strategy, anticipated in June 2012, the group is planning to begin developing an Implementation Plan to follow the SUS Strategy.
The Federal Oceanographic Fleet Working Group (FOFWG), a task force under the IWG-FI, also met on March 12 and continues to make progress in revising the 2007 Fleet Status Report (FSR).
