Building a window to the sea : Ocean Research Interactive Observatory Networks (ORION)

Author Posting. © Oceanography Society, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 17, 2 (2004): 113-120.For centuries, oceanographers have relied on data and observations about the ocean and the seafloor below gathered from ships during cruises of limited duration. This expeditionary research approach has resulted in major advances in understanding global ocean circulation, the energy associated with mesoscale circulation, plate tectonics, global ocean productivity, and climate-ocean coupling. These and many other successes have expanded our view of Earth and ocean processes, and have demonstrated a need for sampling strategies spanning temporal and spatial scales not effectively carried out using ships. To address this observational gap, community efforts in the United States consistently have recommended that funding agencies support development of the capability to maintain a continuous sampling and monitoring presence in the ocean.MKT is grateful for support from a WHOI Deep Ocean Exploration Institute fellowship