[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 15, 1997)] [Notices] [Pages 2135-2136] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-891] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Coastal Ocean Data Workshop AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of workshop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and the Coastal Services Center (CSC) of the National Ocean Service (NOS) in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) are co-sponsoring a NOAA Coastal Ocean Data Workshop on March 11-13, 1997. The purpose of the workshop is to enhance NOAA's ability to meet the requirements of its customers in the coastal ocean community regarding data and information management; and to encourage formation of additional partnerships and joint ventures. DATES: The workshop will take place on March 11-13, 1997. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. on the 11th, and end at 12 noon on the 13th. ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at J. Seward Johnson Marine Education and Conference Center at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, FL. Parties interested in participating in the workshop should contact Roz Cohen (NODC) at 301-713-3267 x146 by close of business on January 30, 1997. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roz Cohen (NODC) at 301-713-3267 x146. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the workshop is to enhance NOAA's ability to meet the requirements of its customers in the coastal ocean community by: --Providing a forum for individuals in the coastal ocean community to present their requirements regarding data and information management, product development, and synthesis; --Increasing knowledge and awareness of NOAA's activities within the coastal ocean community in the areas of data and information management, synthesis, and product development; --Providing additional opportunities for NOAA to form partnerships and joint ventures with its partners in the coastal ocean community; and --Being responsive to the new Ocean Partnership Program. The workshop will include about 80 participants from Federal, state, and local government agencies, academia, the private sector, and the general public. It will consist of a series of plenary and smaller working group sessions. The major areas addressed will be (1) identification of data required to address major regional and national coastal ocean issues and scientific research priorities; (2) identification of specific data management requirements: data types, levels of precision, national and international standards, levels of quality control metadata and documentation, formats, accessibility, timeliness, synthesis products, etc.; and (3) potential partnerships, joint ventures, and networking to implement the recommendations. The National Oceanographic Data Center is one of several environmental data centers managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The headquarters office of NODC is located in Silver Spring, MD. There are five field offices collocated with major government or private oceanographic laboratories in Woods Hole, MA; Miami, FL; La Jolla, CA; Seattle, WA, and Honolulu, Hawaii. NODC houses the world's largest collection of publicly available oceanographic data, including coastal ocean holdings. The primary mission of NODC is to ensure that oceanographic data collected at great cost are maintained in a permanent archive that is easily accessible to the world science community and to other users. NODC does not conduct any data collection programs of its own; it serves solely as a repository and dissemination facility for data collected by others. In this capacity, NODC acquires, processes, archives, analyzes, and disseminates global oceanographic data; and develops analytical and descriptive products to meet user requirements. NODC also operates World Data Center-A for Oceanography and the NOAA Library. Each year the NODC responds to thousands of requests for oceanographic data and information from national and international customers in Federal, state, and local government agencies, the private sector, non-profit [[Page 2136]] organizations, academia, and the general public. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Coastal Services Center is a coastal resource advisory center that draws on the expertise of NOAA and its partners to address critical coastal resource issues. Established in 1994, in Charlestown, South Carolina, the Center's mission is to identify, develop, and facilitate the use of technologies and information that support sustainable use and management of coastal resources. The Coastal Services Center bridges the gap between coastal scientists and resource managers by bringing Center staff, technologies, and outside partner expertise to bear on national problems related to coastal ecosystems and economies. The Center focuses primarily on issues of resource management, land use impacts, and habitat loss as well as coastal hazards and cumulative secondary impacts of coastal development. Clients of the Coastal Services Center include coastal resource managers, policy makers, scientists, environmental organizations, coastal and marine science educators, and private business people. The Center delivers information to the coastal resource community through advisory services, Internet World Wide Web service, information bases, summary reports, training workshops, short courses, conferences, seminars, fact sheets and publications. The Graduate School of Oceanography of the University of Rhode Island is one of the largest and most widely known graduate schools of oceanography in the United States. It has joined with NOAA as a partner in establishing a national coastal data network because it has particular strengths in coastal oceanography and in distributed ocean data systems, has one of the largest marine science libraries in the world, and is the location of the Sea Grant Depository. The University has been a national Sea Grant College since 1971, and in 1989 it was designated a NOAA Center of Excellence in coastal marine science. Dated: January 9, 1997. Ronald L. Fauquet, Deputy Director, National Oceanographic Data Center. [FR Doc. 97-891 Filed 1-14-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-08-M