Northeastern Regional Association of Ocean Observing

The Northeastern Regional Association of  Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) is one of eleven U.S. regional associations developed to support NOAA’s IOOS program (U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System). IOOS is a system of systems that routinely and continuously provides quality controlled data and information on current and future states of the oceans and Great Lakes from the global scale of ocean basins to local scales of coastal ecosystems. The region includes the coastal waters of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

The ultimate goal of the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) is to establish and maintain, in the Northeastern Region, a comprehensive system that achieves the mission established for the Integrated Ocean Observing System.

NERACOOS will provide the primary framework to coordinate ocean observing activities and is responsible for the design and coordinated operation of sub-regional coastal ocean observing systems within their respective geographies.  Members of NERACOOS work with user communities at the state and local levels to ensure that the regional system is designed to be as useful as possible.