Google Earth (and its revealing Ocean layer) has been a multi-informational tool, providing varying degrees of visual data for the general public, educational, and research users and organizations. The Ocean layer, to which I am honored to be a content provider, has been continually growing in terms of the quantity of content and the level of detail.
On Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a press release a cooperative research and development agreement with Google designed to create state-of-the-art visualizations of scientific data. Working with the software/Internet wizards at Google is a good step towards resolving one of my pet issues with scientific research: getting the data out to the public in a meaningful and useful way thereby better enlightening and motivating the user.
Several initiatives are planned - ranging from improving the undersea topographic data presented in Google Ocean, expanding NOAA's efforts to publish oceanographic data from 
expeditions and observation systems, and enhancing NOAA's educational Earth science display system.
NOAA realizes they have the data and Google has the software muscle to get that data out there in a significant way. It would seem that this could be a great advance in an already productive relationship and I, for one, am looking forward to see what transpires.
If you haven't taken a look at Google Earth/Ocean, it's an easy upload (the program requires an Internet connection to operate). Click here to learn more.
Read the NOAA press release.
After six years of design, preparation and installation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has launched a revolutionary research observatory that will serve as a power station and data link for many deep sea projects. At 3,000 feet deep, perched on the edge of the Monterey Bay undersea canyon, the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) provides organizations with properly configured experimental equipment with the ability to efficiently gather critical data on oceanic conditions - whether it be sealife studies or monitoring water quality or climate change effects.
Where research equipment is often hampered by battery or power limitations and researchers must often wait until data is retrieved, the MARS system will act as a round-the-clock "power strip" and "high-speed internet connection." One of the first experiements to utilize MARS will be one that monitors acidity levels. Ocean acidification is a major issue tied in to the ocean's interaction with carbon dioxide levels. (Read MBARI news release.)
Speaking of ocean acidification, the NGO, the Center for Biological Diversity, has notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its intent to file a lawsuit against the EPA, demanding that the U.S. federal agency act more aggressively regarding the issue of ocean acidification due to increasing carbon dioxide absorption. 
In particular, the suit addresses the need for the EPA to revise its outdated ph standards - set in 1976 - in light of new research regarding acidification. Higher ph levels due to carbon dioxide absorption can have profound negative effects on a variety of marine life and can threaten the overall health of any marine ecosystem. (Read press release.)
“Ocean acidification is global warming’s evil twin,” said Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program. “The EPA has a duty under the Clean Water Act to protect our nation’s waters from pollution, and today, carbon dioxide is one of the biggest threats to our ocean waters.”Let's hope that both MARS and the Center for Biologival Diversity can help to enlightened those goverment agencies that we depend on to make important environmental decisions.
Google Earth (and its revealing Ocean layer) has been a multi-informational tool, providing varying degrees of visual data for the general public, educational, and research users and organizations. The Ocean layer, to which I am honored to be a content provider, has been continually growing in terms of the quantity of content and the level of detail.
expeditions and observation systems, and enhancing NOAA's educational Earth science display system.
If you haven't taken a look at Google Earth/Ocean, it's an easy upload (the program requires an Internet connection to operate). Click here to learn more.
