Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee included a $2 million increase in the IOOS Regional line to support filling critical gaps in the nation's only surface current mapping program. This national program uses land-based high-frequency radars to map surface currents in real-time. This information is used by the US Coast Guard to reduce the search areas by two-thirds, by NOAA Office of Response and Restoration for oil spill response, and by scientists to monitor the extent of harmful algal blooms.
Information originally appeared on the IOOS Association Newsletter.
