SCOOP
The Southeastern University Research Association (SURA) Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction (SCOOP) program included university, government, and private sector partners working together to implement Information Technology solutions. The SCOOP program goal was a modular and distributed system for predicting and visualizing the coastal response to extreme atmospheric events, including the damaging and catastrophic effects of storm surge, inundation and wind waves. SCOOP program partners created the “IT glue” for this interoperable system of systems by modularizing critical components and standardizing the interfaces between the modules. SCOOP emphasized the transition of “pre-operational” research activities to operational status, and uses the real-time prediction system as an innovative research tool. SCOOP partners turned environmental measurement and prediction into a community effort and a real-time collaboration between research institutions and operational agencies.
Coastal and computer scientists at seven SURA universities partnered within the SCOOP program to create the “SCOOP Grid.” The SCOOP Grid was a “virtual organization” that supported both research and applications, and enables an ever broader community of scientists to address the coastal science and computer science issues involved in real-time prediction. SCOOP enabled a community modeling approach, as distinct from developing or applying a single community model.
Environmental prediction requires real-time data and modeling, which demands ever greater strides in IT, data management, and Grid architecture development. SCOOP integrated diverse scientific endeavors and empower a virtual community of ocean scientists with the tools, resources, and ideas that enable discovery. SCOOP, through SURA member universities and outreach to other organizations, used available IT technologies in a community driven process to help define the future of the Grid and all its potential for coastal, ocean, and earth science.
The “SURA Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction (SCOOP) Program”, was an initiative of the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA). Funding support for SCOOP was provided by the Office of Naval Research, Award N00014-04-1-0721 and by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NOAA Ocean Service, Award NA04NOS4730254. SCOOP partners participating in this project represented SURA member universities, CORE, GCOOS, GoMOOS, MACOORA, MCNC and SECOORA: Prasad Bhaskaran, Brian Blanton, Helen Conover, Susan Cook, Donna Cote, Gerry Creager, Justin R. Davis, Chirag Dekate, Richard DeVoe, Marilyn Drewry, Renato Figueiredo, Larry Flournoy, David Forrest, Michael Garvin, Matthew Howard, Andrei Hutanu, Edward Kearns, Ken Keiser, Ian Kelley, Howard Lander, Jon MacLaren, Vladimir Paramygin, William Perrie, Lavanya Ramakrishnan, Sandi Redman, Ed Seidel, Tom Shyka, Matt Smith, Carolyn Thoroughgood, Steve Thorpe, Brad Viviano, Neil Williams, L. Don Wright, Chongjie Zhang, and Xiongping Zhang.
