STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
The ocean can be a vast and treacherous place. Working with a diverse array of partners, NERACOOS operates a robust ocean observing system that makes it safer for everyone, supporting maritime safety, national security, coastal preparedness, strong economies, and ocean life.
At the heart of our Strategic Framework lies a core set of themes and goals that define the identity of NERACOOS. These objectives guide the services we provide to support communities, businesses, and people throughout the Northeast.
National Security
New England is the U.S. gateway to the Atlantic Arctic and North Atlantic regions, areas of vital geostrategic importance to the nation. Ensuring our national security requires protecting shoreside military installations from severe weather and dangerous seas, informing training exercises in Gulf of Maine and Southern New England waters, improving threat detection capabilities, and enhancing situational awareness across the continental shelf and beyond.
Maritime Safety
New Englanders know all too well the ferocity of the sea during a Nor’easter or hurricane. Life on the coast doesn’t pause for less than ideal conditions, but the stakes are intensified when navigating a heavy fog or surfing a winter wave. Our dynamic ocean reinforces the need for tracking and predicting conditions.
Strong Economies
Commercial fishing in the Northeast is a deeply embedded component of our regional and national heritage and the source of cod, lobster, scallops, and other regional delicacies. Aquaculture is expanding the region’s rich seafood offerings, while the seafood sector works alongside cargo shipping, tourism, energy, telecommunications, and other vital maritime industries. The success of our ocean economy as a whole requires advanced planning, assessment of impacts, and managing competing uses.
Ocean Life
The Northwest Atlantic is teeming with an abundance of flora and fauna that breathes life into our economy and culture. The vibrant relationship between our region and nature has long been reflected in the naming of our coastal communities from Cape Cod to New Hampshire’s Squamscot River – or “place of the salmon” to Abenaki people – to Oyster Point. As shifting influences of the Arctic and Gulf Stream affect our marine system, keystone species give us insights to inform sustainable management of our resources and support local industries.
Coastal Preparedness
When severe weather stirs up the ocean, the impacts rarely stop at the coastline. Storm surge and flooding threaten peoples’ wellbeing, homes, businesses, and infrastructure. Our ability to predict how the ocean affects coastal communities on the scale of hours, days, and years will determine how effectively we are able to execute evacuation plans and emergency response in the near term, and make good coastal planning decisions in the long term. Doing those jobs right can spare lives and millions, if not billions, of dollars in damages from the impacts of natural disasters.
GOALS
Observation • Data • Collaboration
OBJECTIVES
- Ensure the durability of an established ocean observing network through consistent service and upgrades of sensors and platforms.
- Maintain and expand a suite of reliable models that predict physical, chemical, and biological processes that influence decisions.
- Capitalize on emerging technologies and sensor innovations that can improve the efficiency and reliability of the system and collect new types of data.
OBJECTIVES
- Maintain and continuously enhance data governance and management practices to support accurate, secure, and accessible data.
- Optimize ocean data products to unlock users’ ability to discover and access information we provide.
- Utilize artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and other tools to amplify analysis and information returns.
OBJECTIVES
- Work with users to best serve current and future consumers of ocean observing information.
- Form novel public-private partnerships with commercial and industrial leaders to optimize investments in infrastructure, technology, and the workforce.
- Lead collaborative networks of partners who work together to synthesize knowledge and inform robust outcomes.