Advances in the Ocean Observing System in the Gulf of Maine: Technical capabilities and scientific results

The Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS) includes the University of Maine´s comprehensive solar-powered buoy array in the Gulf of Maine. The system serves a wide variety of real-time oceanographic and marine meteorological data and data products to scientists, state and federal regulators, the National Weather Service, the US and Canadian Coast Guards, the National Data Buoy Center, educators, regional natural-resource managers, the Gulf of Maine fishing and maritime industries, local airports and airlines, sailors, and the general public. In addition to the hourly operational data delivery, The University of Maine provides an archive of data and model output that are significantly advancing the scientific understanding of the Gulf of Maine as a physical and ecological system. Over the nearly nine years of operation, the data have revealed marked seasonal and interannual variability of the circulation and physical properties of the Gulf of Maine. A system wide salinity anomaly event that lasted for nearly two years, as well as a potential regime shift in the inflow and outflow transports of the Gulf have been revealed in the data records.