US and Canada to work together on oceans research

Canada and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on ocean research via their respective ocean observation systems. The MOU was signed by the US Consortium for Ocean Leadership and Ocean Networks Canada — the organizations that oversee the US Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) and NEPTUNE Canada and VENUS observatories. In Dec/09, NEPTUNE Canada's cabled ocean observatory went live generating data from hundreds of scientific instruments and sensors installed on the ocean floor in the Pacific Ocean. The MOU will allow scientists, policy makers, students and the public to access continuous streams of data via computing networks and the Internet, complementing ship- and satellite-based approaches to ocean science. Construction on OOI began in 2009 and will be completed in 2014. (see related story on page 7)....