Global Ocean Observing System
Connecting U.S. Ocean Observations to the Global Community
The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
IOOS is one of 12 established Global Ocean Observing System Regional Alliances (GRAs) that work to implement GOOS at national and regional levels. The GRAs facilitate collaboration, observing effort, and data sharing and interoperability to enable delivery of ocean information needs for multiple sectors.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) collaborates with dozens of international programs and organizations to coordinate global-scale efforts transitioning oceanographic science to operational oceanography services and products providing societal benefits and protecting the environment. The Global Ocean Observing System, GOOS, is the overarching coordination tool for these observation systems.
GOOS is a system of programs, each working on different and complementary aspects of establishing an operational ocean observation capability for all of the world’s nations. International cooperation is always the first priority of GOOS.
GOOS Mission
- Describing the current state of oceans and marine resources
- Offering continuous sea condition forecasts
- Supporting global ocean observations, modeling, and analysis
GOOS Delivers Global Benefits
GOOS is designed and being implemented to embrace the oceans as a single entity, to provide a global view of the ocean system. It is a permanent global system for observations, modeling, and analysis of marine and ocean variables to support operational ocean services worldwide.
GOOS provides accurate descriptions of the present state of the oceans, including living resources, continuous forecasts of the future conditions of the sea for as far ahead as possible.
GOOS is designed to:
Predict Weather and Climate
Monitor, understand and predict weather and climatology.
Describe and Forecast the Ocean
Describe and forecast the state of the ocean, including living resources.
Improve Resource Management
Improve management of marine and coastal ecosystems and resources.
Reduce Harm from Hazards
Mitigate damage from natural hazards and pollution.
Enhance Scientific Research
Enable scientific research.
Protect Life and Property
Protect life and property on coasts and at sea.
How GOOS is implemented
GOOS is implemented by member states via their government agencies, navies, and oceanographic research institutions working together in a wide range of thematic panels and regional alliances.
The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) GOOS Regional Alliance is the GOOS IOC interface to U.S. IOOS.
U.S. IOOS data partnership
In June 2026, the U.S. IOOS Office was accepted as an IOC/IODE Associated Data Unit to facilitate the transition of OBIS-USA from USGS to NOAA.
The Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is a global alliance dedicated to understanding Earth’s complexities. The United States actively participates in several GEO Work Programme activities, with a focus on disaster risk reduction, agriculture and food security, One Health and ecosystems and biodiversity.
U.S. IOOS supports a number of priorities in the GEO context, including support to GEO Blue Planet, the GEO Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) through the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), and the Global High-Frequency (HF) Radar Network.
Global HF Radar Network
A global high-frequency radar (HFR) network was established to share important ocean current data between nations. U.S. IOOS is a significant contributor to this community, fostering collaboration among coastal HFR operators, supporting a national HFR network of sensors and its data assembly center known as HFRNet, developing procedures that govern operations, and providing recommendations to users, developers, manufacturers, and program managers.
Further details are available through U.S. IOOS HF radar resources and our U.S. IOOS-funded partner’s Global HF Radar Network website.
The "Blue Planet" Task
Under the auspices of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), a task has been submitted for the 2012–2015 Work Plan of GEO, entitled “Blue Planet”. The intent is to provide sustained ocean observations and information to underpin the development, and assess the efficacy, of adaptation measures (such as those related to vulnerability and impacts of sea-level rise).
Read the Full Blue Planet Task Document
Key Objectives
Enhance Global Coverage
Improve the global coverage and data accuracy of coastal and open-ocean observing systems (remote-sensing and in-situ).
Improve Data Processing
Coordinate and promote the gathering, processing, and analysis of ocean observations.
Expand Forecasting
Develop a global operational ocean forecasting network.
Create Information System
Establish a global ocean information system by making observations and information, generated on a routine basis, available through the GEOSS Common Infrastructure.
Provide Training
Provide advanced training in ocean observations, especially for new partner countries.
Raise Awareness
Raise awareness of issues in the ocean impacting the variety of marine life.
Global Ocean Observations
The global ocean observing system measures the climatology of marine and atmospheric systems and contributes to the global in-situ component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Implemented cooperatively by over seventy countries worldwide, it serves multiple applications and has achieved about 61% of its initial design goal.
The U.S. contribution is implemented as an interdependent set of observational subsystems that constitute about half of the more than 8,000 observing platforms deployed by the world community.
Supporting Critical Applications
While designed to provide information that is critical to NOAA’s weather and marine forecast missions, global ocean observations also support:
Coastal Ocean Applications
Marine Hazard Warning Systems (e.g., Tsunami Warnings)
Transportation
Marine Environment and Ecosystem Monitoring
Naval and Other Applications
Scientific Focus Areas
This system strives to deliver continuous instrumental records and global analyses of the following phenomena, which serve as scientific drivers of the observing system:
Sea Surface Temperature and Surface Currents
To identify significant patterns of ocean variability
Ocean Heat Content and Transport
To better understand the extent to which the ocean sequesters heat, to identify where heat enters the ocean and where it emerges to interact with the atmosphere, and to identify changes in thermohaline circulation and monitor for indications of possible abrupt changes and storm events.
Air-Sea Exchanges of Heat, Momentum, and Freshwater
To identify changes in forcing functions driving ocean and atmospheric conditions, and to elucidate oceanic influences on the global water cycle.
Sea Level
To identify changes in trends and variability that may impact coastal structures and communities.
Ocean Carbon Uptake and Content
To better understand the extent to which the ocean sequesters CO2 and how cycling among ocean-land-atmosphere carbon reservoirs varies on seasonal-to-decadal time scales.
Sea Ice Thickness and Extent
To elucidate variability and rapidly changing conditions at high latitudes.