A - C
"Building regional capacity for the collection and application of coastal and ocean information". The Coastal Observation Technology System (COTS) project grants were initiated in 2002 to further the development of integrated coastal ocean observing systems on a regional basis. The COTS projects are an alliance of congressionally directed and competitively funded projects focusing on regional coastal observation, research, technology and prediction, with an emphasis on data management and integration. In FY05 13 projects were funded by Congressional direction to contribute to the formation of IOOS. These projects cover a wide range of ocean and coastal observations research activities, including ecological forecasting, modeling, and storm surge prediction. COTS funds also support competitively selected pilot observing system technology projects (3) and regional coordination projects (11) to establish the framework for Regional Associations (RAs). The RAs will serve as a forum to improve the regional coastal ocean observing systems (RCOOS), by enabling stakeholders to influence IOOS development by identifying and establishing regional observation priorities. [Summary adopted from "http://www.csc.noaa.gov/cots/"]
COTS