2025 NOAA EDMW

In the next few years, all data with associated locations, including every map, survey, lidar point cloud, aerial image, digital elevation model, environmental observations, and other critical geospatial datasets and products, will have outdated coordinates. For the first time in over 30 years, NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will release a modernized version of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), the authoritative system of latitude, longitude, heights, and the national shoreline that serves as the foundation for all US federal maps and geospatial products. Not only will the modernized system provide billions of dollars worth of benefits through increased accuracy, national consistency, workflow efficiency and data interoperability, but federal law requires that federal agencies comply with this type of accepted scientific standard. This change will have far reaching implications for the use of federal funds for surveying, mapping, production, and management of geospatial data and products. The positioning information for all geospatial data sets (latitude, longitude, heights, etc.) will all need to be adjusted (re-surveyed, reprocessed, or transformed) using tools provided by the National Geodetic Survey. NGS is here to help, with a wealth of outreach and educational material available and subject matter experts that can be called upon for guidance. Evaluating and addressing the impacts of these changes for your existing data, products, and geospatial workflows will require time and resources, so now is the time to begin planning for the transition to the modernized system.

In an increasingly data-driven world, metadata has become the cornerstone of effective data management. This session explores the landscape of metadata, its expanding role in modern data environments, and the vital connection to data governance frameworks. Metadata is not just an afterthought—it's the key to unlocking actionable insights and ensuring data integrity. We'll dive into how metadata management plays a critical role in data governance, serving as the bridge between data sources, usage policies, and compliance requirements.

While conventional in-situ sensor data from buoys and floats, discrete sample data, and satellite data dominate NOAA’s ocean data landscape, there are many unique data types that provide important contributions to global ocean observing. To optimize the impact of these data, it is essential to carefully consider data processing, archival, and product delivery pathways. This session invites NOAA programs, labs, and partners that are actively engaged in the use of uncrewed systems (UxS) such as Saildrone, ‘omics data including eDNA, passive acoustics data, or other unique data or emerging technologies to present case studies that highlight current data management workflows. Presenters are encouraged to share successes, challenges, and lessons learned during the data planning and integration processes. The session broadly invites discussions of how NOAA can develop improved and consistent data management pathways for similar observing methods across the agency to gain the most value from these “odd duck” data.

The General Counsel Litigation Database (GCLD) is a secure, cloud-based case management system developed to support NOAA's Office of General Counsel (OGC) in managing and tracking litigation matters involving the agency. Its core purpose is to centralize legal case data, facilitate effective legal analysis, and enable coordinated responses to inquiries from Congress, the White House, fisheries councils, and other government entities.

Key functions of GCLD include:

• Litigation Management: Tracks a wide range of legal matters including environmental litigation, employment actions, enforcement cases, and property disputes.
• Case Support: Assists NOAA attorneys and paralegals with legal research, document preparation, and client communication.
• Legal Analytics: Leverages AI-powered tools to generate insights that inform legal strategy and risk assessment.
• Centralized Access: Offers quick, streamlined access to case information, enhancing efficiency and responsiveness.
• Collaboration & Compliance: Facilitates coordination across NOAA’s legal teams while ensuring compliance with legal standards and safeguarding Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
• Data Quality & Governance: Emphasizes the importance of accurate, consistent data to support effective litigation strategy, e-discovery, and compliance with federal legal requirements.

The GCLD plays a critical role in strengthening NOAA’s legal operations, promoting data-driven decision-making, and supporting NOAA’s mission through efficient, well-informed litigation support. 

This talk will be an overview of the structure, goals, and progress of NMFS’ advanced technology Strategic Initiatives. These 7 teams were stood up in 2023 to operationalize the use of social science and six priority technology areas (UxS, active acoustics, passive acoustic monitoring, ‘omics, optics, and remote sensing) in NMFS’ data acquisition enterprise. This is a key step in modernizing and diversifying the options available to inform agency management decisions.

The Strategic Initiatives (SIs) are a major agency priority and are supported by $50.2M in Inflation Reduction Act funds under the Climate-Ready Fisheries umbrella. There has been widespread interest within NMFS in the work being done by the SI working groups, which includes acquiring and deploying new uncrewed platforms, developing AI/ML analytical pipelines, and migrating data storage and processing environments to the cloud to support national collaboration.

This session will share progress with interested attendees outside of NMFS, and will tie in with another proposed session on the data management challenges and lessons learned as part of the SI efforts.

This panel discussion will focus on the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) Microsoft Azure Data Lake pilot project in collaboration with Active Acoustics which is one of the seven NMFS’ advanced technology Strategic Initiatives. The Strategic Initiatives (SIs) are a major agency priority and are supported by $50.2M in Inflation Reduction Act funds under the Climate-Ready Fisheries umbrella.

Topics that we are considering for discussion will be transfer rates and data volumes from ship to shore (cloud platform). This is part of an ongoing pilot project with OMAO and Active Acoustics, from this discussion we can tie in the NCEI archival part which will help to underline the importance of metadata and data quality along with lessons learned for moving data across Line Office cloud buckets. This discussion may seem specific to the Active Acoustics pilot project; it could be generalized to other data types which we’ll be able to provide material relevant across NOAA.