Federal Involvement in Ocean-Based Research and Development

Multiple federal departments and agencies conduct ocean-based research, monitoring, and/or technological development. Federal departments and agencies also may support academic, commercial, and nonprofit ocean-based research activities. The interpretation of oceanographic data collected and studied by these federal departments and agencies provides information to domestic policymakers, including Members of Congress, on relevant societal issues. These issues may pertain directly to coastal communities, including U.S. island states and territories. Ocean-based issues related to climate change, environmental protection, and natural resource management also can extend beyond coastal communities. The federal government generally is involved in ocean-based research, monitoring, and technological development to increase knowledge and understanding of the ocean. International interests also frame federal ocean work, as the ocean supports global trade and recreation. The federal departments and agencies involved in ocean-based research, monitoring, and technological development include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) of the Department of the Navy, among others. Federal ocean data collection efforts are varied and make use of many different types of tools and technology. NOAA, ONR, and NSF own oceanographic research vessels that enable scientists to collect observational data with ship-based equipment (e.g., multibeam sonar sensors, sediment corers). Technology such as autonomous underwater vehicles, launched from land or ships, has the capability to collect and automatically send large volumes of data to nearby shore facilities or back to the vessel. In addition, remote- or human-operated vehicles and human technical divers can be used for exploration (including data collection and sampling) and visualization of the ocean. NASA, NOAA, and the USGS monitor ocean and coastal waters with satellites. Several federal departments and agencies also use deployed instruments (e.g., buoys, floats), stationary monitoring (e.g., tide gauges), and other approaches to collect oceanographic data and monitor the ocean. NSF funds extramural research, such as through grants for projects where nonfederal entities carry out various types of ocean-based research and analysis efforts. Congress may be interested in the potential for federal ocean-based research to inform the nation’s evolving understanding of the physical ocean. Some scientists and environmental and climate advocates argue that continuous, systematic ocean observations (e.g., temperature, salinity) may help identify climate impacts that contribute to ocean changes (e.g., warming, sea ice melt) and, in turn, may affect society. For example, NOAA maintains about half of the global fleet of Argo profiling floats, which drift with ocean currents, collecting oceanographic data. Stakeholders, and some Members of Congress, identified the Argo Program as one federal program that could benefit from improved float technology designed to expand the program’s coverage to greater ocean depths. The collection and study of bathymetric data (i.e., the depth of the seafloor relative to the surface of the ocean) and geological and geophysical surveys have provided scientists with the data necessary to better map and characterize the ocean environment. Mapping and characterization of ocean areas may provide both economic and environmental benefits that may be of interest to Congress. For example, knowledge of seafloor features and environments can be used to locate potential offshore oil and gas reserves and seabed minerals (e.g., critical minerals). At the same time, characterization of marine habitats can provide baselines for understanding whether and how vulnerable certain habitats might be to human disturbance (e.g., resource extraction activities) or climate change. Bathymetric data also can be used to identify geologic features that may produce marine geohazard events (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, marine landslides) to help safeguard coastal communities and marine infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, undersea cables). Conversely, ocean mapping and research can be costly and time consuming; some may question the relative priority of such activities compared with both other ocean-based efforts and other federal activities.