Meeting Summary
PacIOOS American Samoa Stakeholder Workshop
Pago Pago, American Samoa
June 28, 2010 9am-1pm
Summary of Meeting
- Chris Ostrander and Abe Coughlin welcomed everyone to meeting and gave two presentations introducing PacIOOS, showcasing development to date in Hawaii and the insular Pacific region, and explaining a timeline for upcoming funding. Copies of these presentations are posted on the PacIOOS website.
- Chris Ostrander and Ephraim Temple facilitated the discussion of three questions regarding PacIOOS development:
•What are outstanding model/observational needs/gaps that PacIOOS could deploy assets to address in American Samoa?
• Are there specific data products PacIOOS should be producing? At whom should those products be targeted?
• How can PacIOOS enhance existing projects/partnerships and increase leveraging opportunities in American Samoa?
Question 1: What are outstanding model/observational needs/gaps that PacIOOS could deploy assets to address in American Samoa?
Observations of waves and currents around archipelago are needed to:
Track pollutants
Model larval dispersal
Identify sources and sinks of water in the archipelago
Drifter studies would be useful to elucidate biological connectivity within the island chain.
A tide guage on the northern side of Tutuila would be useful to validate tsunami modeling.
A wave model would be useful in the region---could build on CRED bathymetry already collected and being served.
The development of an ocean atlas for American Samoa would be very useful. It would show seasons trends in oceanographic conditions and could be populated from existing studies and data sets. Would build off on format of Hawaii Ocean Atlas.
Nutrient sensors could be added to nearshore sensor array(s) to provide a better snapshot of water quality. CO2 sensors to monitor acidification and primary productivity would also be useful.
PacIOOS should put together an instrument pool for insular jurisdictions to use for short time-scale process studies. (AUV surveys, ADCPs, T-LIDAR, etc)
Question 2:Are there specific data products PacIOOS should be producing? At whom should those products be targeted?
Flat screen TVs showing real-time and predicted ocean conditions would be useful in public places (library, government building, airport, Governor’s Office). Explanation of what the information means is essential for the public to readily use.
CRED ADCP needs to be analyzed to determine general circulation patterns.
Preparation of reports that translate the results of scientific process studies to the lay public and resources managers is needed. There is a good amount of existing data from CRED and other projects that needs to be synthesized into reports for easier use.
Question 3: How can PacIOOS enhance existing projects/partnerships and increase leveraging opportunities in American Samoa?
American Samoa has a GIS users group that meets regularly. They could benefit from the customized GIS training the PacIOOS has done in the RMI.
The National Park is beginning work on tracking fish using acoustics (similar to HiOOS effort). PacIOOS could expand their fish-tracking efforts through a partnership with the local NPS office.
NOAA is working to generate expanded LIDAR maps for the island. PacIOOS has a T-LIDAR system that could, with appropriate funding and partner assistance, be used to expand the small-scale LIDAR measurements.
Attendees
Chris Ostrander, PacIOOS
Abe Coughlin, PacIOOS
Ephraim Temple, PacIOOS
Peter Craig, NPS
Doug Fenner, DMWR
Christin Reynolds, DOC
Hideyo Hattori, CRAG
Kevin Grant, NOAA
Phil Wiles, American Samoa EPA