NOAA Ocean Service

Environmental Information Resource Page

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NOS Education

The education section of this Web site is organized into a collection of Discovery Kits describing the scientific principles underlying NOS major programs. Discovery Kits have been developed for teachers and students at the high school level, but can easily be adapted to the undergraduate or middle school level.

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

NCCOS conducts and supports research, monitoring, assessment, and technical assistance to people managing coastal ecosystems and society's use of them

• Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research: CCEHBR provides scientific information needed to manage and protect coast resources
• Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment: The CCMA mission is to assess and forecast coastal and marine ecosystem conditions through research and monitoring. CCMA conducts field observations on regional and national scales. The center provides the best available scientific information for resource managers and researchers, technical advice, and accessibility to data.
• Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Act: An algal bloom occurs when a single algal species multiplies until it dominates the microscopic plant (phytoplankton) community, reaching such high concentrations that the water becomes discolored. Most harmful algal blooms are considered harmful because the algae can produce potent natural poisons known as biotoxins. These blooms can kill fish and other marine organisms, poison people who eat contaminated shellfish, and cause respiratory distress in susceptible people.
• NOAA's Biogeograpy Program: The Biogeography Program is part of NOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment. The goal of the Biogeography Program is to develop knowledge and products on living marine resource distributions and ecology throughout the Nation's estuarine, coastal and marine environments, and to provide managers and scientists with an improved ecosystem basis for making decisions.
• Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research: The Center provides scientific information to coastal managers useful for their roles as coastal stewards and decision makers. The Center has NOS and NMFS teams conducting research on coastal and estuarine ecology, fishery productivity, and protected species conservation. Ecological research is directed at five types of coastal stressors:
  • Pollution, such as, nutrients and mercury
  • Land and resource use
  • Extreme events, such as, hurricanes and harmful algal blooms
  • Global climate change
  • Invasive species
• Center for SponsoredCoastalOcean Research: The CSCOR/COP is a federal-academic partnership providing predictive capabilities for managing coastal ecosystems. CSCOR/COP seeks to deliver the highest quality science in time for important coastal policy decisions by supporting high-priority research and interagency initiatives related to Coastal Fisheries Ecosystems, Cumulative Coastal Impacts, and Harmful Algal Blooms.

National Geodetic Survey

NGS defines and manages a national coordinate system. This network, the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), provides the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a multitude of scientific and engineering applications. Committed to making transportation and navigation safer, NGS conducts aerial photography surveys near airports in the United States and its possessions to position obstructions and aids to air travel. NGS also maps the coastal regions of the United States and provides data for navigational charts. NGS develops Federal standards for geodetic surveys and helps to coordinate surveying methods. NGS State Geodetic Advisors are stationed in several states to work with local communities to expand surveying capabilities.

Office of Coast Survey

OCS is a component of the National Ocean Service and is known for the useful and necessary navigational products which are required for the safe and efficient maritime commerce in and out of our Nation's ports.

Office of Response and Restoration

The ORR provides tools and information for emergency responders and planners, and others working to understand and mitigate the effects of oil and hazardous materials in our waters and along our coasts.

• Damage Assessment and Restoration: DARP was created after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The program provides permanent expertise within NOAA to assess and restore natural resources injured by oil and hazardous substance releases as well as physical impacts, such as ship groundings.

Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management

OCRM fulfills NOAA's responsibilities under the Coastal Zone Management Act, by working with coastal states and territories to support the development of new Coastal Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves, provide technical and financial assistance to coastal program and reserve operations, undertake projects with program-wide or system-wide benefits, integrate information from all of the Coastal Management Programs and National Estuarine Research Reserves to support activities at the national level, and promote coastal stewardship on a variety of critical coastal issues.

• Clean Marina Initiative: CMI is a voluntary, incentive-based program promoted by NOAA and others that encourages marina operators and recreational boaters to protect coastal water quality by engaging in environmentally sound operating and maintenance procedures. Marinas that participate in the Clean Marina Program are recognized for their environmental stewardship.
• National Estuarine Research Reserve System: NERRS is a network of protected areas established for long-term research, education and stewardship. This partnership program between NOAA and coastal states protects more than one million acres of estuarine land and water, which provides essential habitat for wildlife; offers educational opportunities for students, teachers and the public; and serves as living laboratories for scientists.

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

ONMS serves as the trustee for the nation's system of marine protected areas, to conserve, protect, and enhance their biodiversity, ecological integrity and cultural legacy. Its goals are appropriate to the unique diversity contained within individual sites.

• Channel Islands NMS
• Outdoor Santa Barbara Visitor Center
• Cordell Bank NMS
• Fagatele Bay NMS
• Gulf of the Farallones NMS
• Florida Keys NMS
• Flower Garden Banks NMS
• Gray's Reef NMS
• Hawaii HWNMS
• Monitor NMS
• Monterey Bay NMS
• Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve
• Olympic Coast NMS:
• Stellwagen Bank NMS
• Thunder Bay NMS
  
  
• Long Term Monitoring Program & Experimental Training for Students: LIMPETS is a collaborative effort among the 5 west coast National Marine Sanctuaries: Olympic Coast in Washington, Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay along the northern central California coast and Channel Islands in southern California. Independent student monitoring efforts in several sanctuaries prompted the idea of creating an integrated coast-wide program, utilizing similar protocols and a centralized location for data.
• NOAA and Preserve America: This program encourages federal agencies to step up efforts to: in ventory, preserve, and showcase federally-managed historic and cultural, or "heritage," resources, and f oster tourism in partnership with local communities.
• Reef Restoration: This site provide information about current NOAA Reef Restoration projects.
  

Staff and Specialty Sites

• Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services: CO-OPS collects, analyzes and distributes historical and real-time observations and predictions of water levels, coastal currents and other meteorological and oceanographic data. This is part of an integrated NOS program supporting safe maritime navigation, more productive water-borne commerce, and the needs of the NWS, coastal zone management, engineering and surveying communities. The Center manages the National Water Level Observation Program and the national network of Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems in major U.S. harbors.
• Great Lakes Online: Provides users with immediate graphical and tabular water level and meteorological data from NOS water level stations located along the projected path of severe storms.
• Tides On-line: Provides users with immediate graphical and tabular water level and meteorological data from NOS water level stations located along the projected path of severe storms such as hurricanes.
• Coastal Assessment & Data Synthesis System: CA&DS is a national and regional-level data base and mapping analysis tool being developed by the NOS Special Projects Office.  The CA&DS system provides the coastal stewardship community a capability to access, synthesize, assess, and apply nationwide data sets to priority coastal issues such as estuarine eutrophication, essential fish habitat, coastal monitoring, and sustainable development.
• Coastal and Ocean Resource Economics: CORE conducts marine-related socioeconomic research for a wide variety of applications and geographic areas. The Center is a partner in over 100 ongoing projects geared to resolve site specific coastal issues.
• CoastalServicesCenter: CSC is devoted to serving the nation's state and local coastal resource management programs.
• International Program Office: The IPO serves as a focal point within NOS to coordinate and carry out its international activities. These activities include: improving international capacities to protect, conserve, and restore coastal habitat; improving international capacities to mitigate the impacts of climate change; ensuring safe, efficient, and environmentally-sound maritime navigation in US waters and beyond; and improving international capabilities to reduce impacts from natural disasters on our coastal resources.
• MapFinder: NOS MapFinder service provides one stop shopping for images and data. MapFinder offers interactive mapping tools that allow users to locate specific products in any area in the United States and its territories, and provides immediate access to products that are available on-line
• NOAA and the Estuary Restoration Act: Provides information on activities mandated by the Act, as well as related projects and resources that serve to support the goal of restoring one million acres of estuarine habitat.
• NOAA Coastal Brownfields: Explains NOAA's involvement in coastal brownfields and provides detailed information about specific activities that are currently underway within NOAA.
• No Anchoring Guidelines: Assists coral reef managers and others as they develop, draft and submit proposals to establish no anchoring areas to the U.N. International Maritime Organization.
• Special Projects Office: SPO, a unit within the Ocean Service's Management and Budget Office, provides NOS and NOAA Program and Staff Offices with planning, data synthesis and assessment, and advanced technical services (e.g., GIS and web mapping, database development, and information visualization tools). Special Projects' goal is to promote integration of program capabilities within and across NOS/NOAA to ensure more effective and efficient delivery of products and services to the coastal stewardship community.