Great Lakes National Program Office Role in Developing the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS)

Paul Horvatin 1

Program Manager, Great Lakes National Program Office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

To date in the Great Lakes region, multiple, independent systems have been created to collect, transmit, store and retrieve physical, chemical and biological data. An integrated Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) is desired by a host of users including ecological researchers, fisheries managers, emergency responders, water quality specialists and those involved in invasive species control GLOS is planned to be a regional node of NOAA's multi-year, national Integrated Ocean Observing System OOOS) initiative.

The GLOS business plan, slated to be released in fall 2004, will propose governance for a regional collaborative of data providers and users, and will outline the operational characteristics for the system, and funding mechanisms to sustain data collection, integration and retrieval. The effort is being coordinated by the Great Lakes Commission, in conjunction with the International Joint Commission's Council of Great Lakes Research Managers, as well as a range of federal, state and provincial agencies, academic institutions, and relevant nongovernmental organizations.

The EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) is expected to play a key role in the GLOS regional association, as a data provider of limnologic, chemical, and biologic data collected by marine fleet operations and from grantees who are conducting specialized research across the system.

Great Lakes National Program Office Role in Developing the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS)

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