Global Partners

IOOS is only one part of global Earth observing efforts. These efforts are organized into ocean and full-Earth focuses, as well as national and international components. Click image for larger view.

IOOS is the U.S. contribution to an international ocean observing partnership, known as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).  GOOS is a global system for sustained observations of the ocean and represents the oceanographic component of an even larger system called the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). GEOSS includes not only the ocean observing systems around the world, but also the land-based and atmospheric measurements, as well.

These international efforts are important to the study of climate patterns and other environmental phenomena, as these patterns are not adequately measured or managed according to national borders. GEOSS is dedicated to building an integrated, comprehensive and sustained "system of systems" from the many thousands of individual Earth observation technologies around the globe.

The U.S. is a founding member of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), which is developing GEOSS. Retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, represents the U.S. and also serves as a GEO co-chair along with South Africa, China and the European Commission. The U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO), a subcommittee of the President's National Science and Technology Council, coordinates U.S. government participation. USGEO is supported by 15 Federal agencies and three White House offices. NOAA has a major stake in national and international Earth observing systems, including IOOS.

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