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This is a quick survey of tools used to gather oceanographic data. The NOAA Ocean Explorer site has been helpful in giving me an overview of the technology and observation tools used today. My survey of tools is based on their list. Their list is very concise, well-written and provide extensive resources for learning. I recommend anyone interested in marine biology and visualization to check it out. I have narrowed down my own list of observation tools to those that gather data that is useful for science visualization. There is an enormous amount of data collected that are available to the public. All the tools covered here have data sets that are accessible online.

I have broken down the information into a format that is easy to read. My biggest challenge in collecting all this information was sorting through what to include and what to leave out.

Observation tools currently covered here are: acoustic doppler current profiler, acoustic monitoring, drifters, satellites-remote sensing, and SONAR.

WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
Measures ocean currents by measuring its speed and direction using the principle of "Doppler Shift".

WHY IS IT MEASURED?
By studying how ocean waters move, scientists can observe how organisms, nutrients, and other biological and chemical constituents are transported throughout the ocean.

RESOURCES ONLINE:
The Japan Oceanographic Data Center holds 3500 cruises of ADCP data. Access to data is searchable through their database.
http://www.jodc.go.jp/goin/adcp.html
http://jdoss1.jodc.go.jp/cgi-bin/2001/feti_vector

The National Oceanographic Data Center archives and provides access to global oceanographic data.
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/

NODC's section on Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers Info, which also directs us to the Joint Archive for Shipboard ADCP at the University of Hawaii, where ADCP data sets are archived.
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/General/adcp.html
http://ilikai.soest.hawaii.edu/sadcp/

WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
Acoustic signals in the ocean

WHY IS IT MEASURED?
Listening to the ocean provides us with another perspective of marine life and underwater activity. Underwater phenomenon such as volcanic and seismic activity, whale calls, man-made sounds are just some of the sounds observed underwater.

There are different types of tools used for acoustic monitoring: sonobuoys, cabled hydrophones, autonomous hydrophones. For more info on these tools, click here: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/tools/acoustics/acoustics.html

RESOURCES ONLINE:
Vents Program Acoustic Monitoring Project has performed continuous monitoring of ridge systems in the eastern Pacific since August, 1991 using the SOSUS network and autonomous hydrophones. NOAA Vents Program has information on all acoustic-related research of the ocean.
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics.html

NASA Global Change Master Directory
Earth science data sets are accessible to the public.
http://gcmd.nasa.gov/index.html

Acoustic Ecology Institute
Information on ocean acoustics and environmental issues can be found here:
http://www.acousticecology.org/ocean.html

Ocean Acoustics Lab of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
http://www.oal.whoi.edu/

An article on sound, Sounding Out the Ocean's Secrets
http://www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/view.article.asp?a=219

More information on SOSUS can be found here:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/sosus.html

Information on the history of SOSUS:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/sosus.htm

WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
Ocean currents and circulation. Drifters are underwater sails that "catch" the water. They house sensors that measure ocean properties such as surface temperature, wind, ocean, color, pressure, salinity. Data can be transmitted through satellite link.

WHY IS IT MEASURED?
The data gathered from drifters allow scientist to design models of climate and weather patterns.

RESOURCES ONLINE:
National Oceanographic Data Center Drifter Data
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/General/current.html

Drifter data is abundant online. Rather than creating a long list here, please do a google search and type "ocean drifter data" for more.

WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
Remote sensing is the gathering of data using sensors that are not physically close to the subject being observed. Satellites gather data in observation of the earth. All types of data are measured: seismic, magnetic, gravitational, nuclear decay radiation, etc.

WHY IS IT MEASURED?
Sensing the earth from afar provides us with a unique perspective of our planet. Scientists are able to see phenomenon otherwise not visible to us. From high above we receive wide views of surface temperatures, currents, salinity, plankton blooms, winds and even the movements of large sea creatures. With increasing resolution of sensors, we not only get a bigger picture but we can also have access to more detailed images of the earth.

RESOURCES ONLINE:
Visualization of Remote Sensing Data
http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/rsd/

Remote Sensing Data and Information
http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/rsd/RemoteSensing.html

University of Wisconsin, Access to real time data and images
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/

NOAA Satellites and Information
Geostationary Satellite Server
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/

NASA Ocean Surface Topography from Space
http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html

Satellite Oceanography
http://www.obee.ucla.edu/test/faculty/nezlin/SatelliteOceanography.html

WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
By measuring time elapsed from an echo received from projected sound, distances of objects can be measured and shapes discerned. Stands for SOund NAvigation and Ranging.

WHY IS IT MEASURED?
Used to determine water depth (bathymetry). With SONAR scientists are able to visualize underwater topography and bathymetry by using sound, mapping the ocean floor and its features. SONAR is also used to search and detect for objects on the seafloor such as shipwrecks.

There are different types of SONAR: active, passive, side-scan and multibeam. To learn more about SONAR, click here: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/tools/sonar/sonar.html

RESOURCES ONLINE:
Institute of Marine Acoustics
http://www.instituteformarineacoustics.org/

Acoustics and Sonar Primer
http://www.marine-group.com/SonarPrimer/SideScanSonar.htm