An important compilation of community science goals and issues in developing ocean observing networks as highlighted at the San Juan ORION Workshop is now available in its final form. The report may be downloaded in sections from
http://www.geo-prose.com/projects/orion_report.html
or in its entirety here (PDF, 11.6 MB).

Cover letter (PDF) from Workshop Co-chairs Oscar Schofield and Margaret Tivey

Background:

The NSF-sponsored ORION Workshop (San Juan, Puerto Rico; Jan. 2004) brought together 300 scientists, engineers, educators, program managers and representatives from eight countries to articulate the scientific and educational priorities and challenges to be addressed using ocean observatories. Compared with previous workshops and planning meetings, participants were deliberately not constrained by specific scientific or sub-disciplinary focus, geographical footprint or observational platform type.

Workshop activities included science, technology, engineering and educational overviews, together with agency panel discussions. A series of workshop discussion groups met to discuss in detail how access to bi-directional communication, sustained data recording and augmented power requirements could be used to further scientific understanding of Earth structure, plate dynamics, fluid-rock interactions, air-sea fluxes of physical quantities such as heat, moisture and momentum, transport of chemical constituents and gases, biogeochemical cycles from rivers to continental slope, benthic water-column coupling, global ocean circulation and climate, global biogeochemistry, small-scale mixing and nearshore processes, marine food webs, impacts of humans on marine ecosystems and marine ecology. Working groups were asked to refine and evolve the scientific focus, and challenged to identify:

• the most exciting research opportunities that could be provided by ORION, but would not be addressed using traditional assets and techniques
• the spatial and temporal scales required
• priority measurements and parameters
• education and outreach opportunities
• timelines for addressing the question or experimental focus

Workshop Steering Committee

Pre-Workshop Documents

• Agenda
• Background (Science and Technical)
• Event Description Template (.rtf)
• Evolving Science Questions
• Final Participant List (.pdf)
• Information Papers
• Participant Statements of Interest - last updated 18 December 2003
• Poster Session Information
• Pre-Workshop Reading Material
• Working Groups and Checklist (final)