NCCOOS

The North Carolina Coastal Ocean Observing System

NC-COOS Observing Platforms: One of the primary goals of NC-COOS as it grows is to develop a robust set of Ocean Observing platforms. Having a system that is flexible and robust will allow us to observe the ocean and the atmosphere in real-time using a variety of host platforms. These include offshore buoys and Navy towers, estuarine profiling platforms, a rooftop development package, and a remotely sensed surface current radar. To learn about each of these platforms and see the observations that they collect, follow the Platforms link.

Merged Observation Maps: Throughout the North Carolina coastal region, observations are collected in real-time and presented in a series of graphics. Parameters presented include wind velocity, surface water temperature, surface water velocity, water level and surface salinity.

Ocean and Atmospheric Forecasts: Thanks to a series of Oceanic and Atmospheric physical models, forecasts are made available in real time. Forecast products include winds, surface water temperature, surface water velocity, and water level. All model results are considered experimental, and NC-COOS is not responsible for confirming the accuracy of the results. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

DODS/OPeNDAP Access: As part of an Ocean.US national initiative, NC-COOS provides data through a DODS (Distributed Ocean Data System) / OPeNDAP server interface. This allows users to easily subset the data and view ancillary information without downloading the entire file. Supported DODS clients include Ferret, GrADS, IDL, MATLAB, and Excel. Data can also be easily subset in your browser by constructing a url that tells DODS what to do.

Data File Access: To access data files directly (in NetCDF format) follow the file access link. Data is in a simple directory structure, and ancillary information is recorded within the data files. Data sources include NC-COOS platforms as well as national providers that have coverage in the region. All data from national providers can also be found at seacoos.org.

North Carolina Coastal Ocean Observing System