OER Coordinating NOAA Participation in Ocean Sampling Day on June 21
June 16, 2015
Maunalua Bay site, Hawaii: Jon Martinez collecting environmental data at the site. Image courtesy of NOAA.
For the second year in a row, several NOAA offices and laboratories from three different Line Offices, including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the National Ocean Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, will be participating in International Ocean Sampling Day on June 21.
Samples of ocean, coastal, and estuarine waters will be collected from a uniform depth of one meter throughout the world and analyzed for marine microbes using standardized protocols. In addition, environmental data such as water temperature and salinity will also be collected at the sampling sites to assist in the interpretation of the results.
The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is coordinating NOAA efforts at 15 sites distributed around the country. In addition, three of these sites will be hubs for citizen science activities; the public will be able to collect samples using standardized kits provided by European colleagues.
At the international level, this effort was initiated three years ago by a group from the Max Plank Institute (Germany) and the analyses are supported by funds from the European Union.
This effort will provide a baseline of information on marine microbial diversity and activity against which future changes can be evaluated.
More Information
NOAA Participates in Ocean Sampling Day
AOML Enlists Citizen Scientists for International Ocean Sampling Day 2015