(Are these separate tiles? Should they be?)

Most of the funding GLOS receives is passed through to other organizations and spent directly on programmatic activities that support monitoring, data management, analysis and information development, or other data products and decision-support tools.

1. Nearshore Buoy Network – (could link to the data collection/by technology/buoys page if it were more than just a pop-up window.)

Collecting data is the starting point for developing a stream of information that helps us understand current conditions, identify trends over time, and make predictions about future scenarios that ultimately influence how we manage the lakes and the surrounding environment. GLOS supports monitoring activities that provide critical data and help fill information gaps across the basin.

IOOS Observation Network

• Thomas Johengen, Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystem Research (CILER): Observation team coordination, AUV/GLIDER coordination, proposal management and co-lead for Lake Michigan Buoys.
• Guy Meadows, Michigan Technological University: co-lead for Little Traverse Bay and Ludington observing systems.
• Val Klump, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee – Lead for Milwaukee, Green Bay Observing systems, and Lake Express Ferry observing systems.
• Greg Boyer, SUNY-ESF: Coordinates Great Lakes Research Consortium activities, lead for Oswego buoy and Eastern Lake Erie buoys.
• Jay Austin, University of Minnesota-Duluth: Lead for Lake Superior buoys and GLIDER missions.
• Charles Kerfoot, Michigan Technological University: Lead for Lake Superior buoys and co-lead for Ranger III ferry observing systems.
• Robert Shuchman, MTRI: Lead for development of remote sensing products and co-lead for Ranger III ferry observing systems.

Coastal Storms Buoys

• A Coastal Hazard Observing System for Southeastern Lake Superior (Norma J. Froelich, Northern Michigan University)
• Real-time data gathering buoy in the Illinois waters of Lake Michigan (Tomas Höök and Ed Verhamme, LimnoTech, Purdue University)
• West Michigan Buoy (Ed Verhamme, LimnoTech)
• A Buoy for the Pennsylvanian Waters of Lake Erie (Jeanette Schnars, Regional Science Consortium)

GLRI-Sensor Observation And Response (SOAR)

• Cleveland Hypoxia Buoys

2. Incentivizing data availability

A federated data management system with central coordination could be visualized as an interstate highway system. For instance, GLOS and its Federal partners could be seen as stewards of a data management “interstate highway,” but there are other critical players, such as academic institutions, state and local government, and other research/policy/advocacy organizations that are responsible for the local “roads” that connect to this system. These partners already collect and/or manage data but need to develop the capacity and infrastructure to help make their data available to a wider audience. Similarly, there may be larger policy or management efforts being planned by a consortium of partners that need to design or develop a framework to manage and widely share the data being used for these initiatives.

GLOS held a mini-grant competition to provide one-time investments in support of data management projects that can help connect the “local roads” to the “interstate highway” system. Five projects were awarded funding through this opportunity.

• A Harmful Algal Bloom and Water Quality Data Management Program for Western Lake Erie Thomas Bridgeman, University of Toledo
• An Open Standards Data and Metadata Pipeline for the Natural Resources Research Institute Great Lakes Data
• Terry Brown, University of Minnesota-Duluth
• Aiding management and advancing Great Lakes ecology: Combining 50+ years of data with the 2013 Lake Ontario Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative Lars Rudstam, Cornell University
• Building a Great Lakes Adaptation Data Suite (GLADS) for Informed Decision Making in the Great Lakes Region
• David Schwab and Catherine Riseng, University of Michigan
• Development of a regional data management system to support the restoration of Green Bay and implementation of the Lower Fox River Total Maximum Daily Load Jessica Schultz, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

3. The Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observing System 

GLATOSWeb compiles acoustic telemetry project information and helps users learn more about ongoing acoustic telemetry projects in the Great Lakes. Scientists have been implanting Great Lakes fish with transmitters and, like the GPS on a car, have been tracking fish movement through a network of receivers placed on the bottom of the lakes. The purpose of GLATOS is to help scientists and the public learn more about Great Lakes acoustic telemetry projects and their contribution to research.

Due to the highly mobile nature of many of the tagged fish species, fish from one study may be recorded by the receivers of another project.  Because tag detection information is downloaded from each receiver, processed, and then delivered to the corresponding project’s research team, some investigators will receive fish detection data belonging to another group’s research efforts. Similarly, investigators may benefit from additional data if tagged fish are detected by a receiver deployed outside of their study design for receiver deployment.  The success of these research projects is contingent on efficient tracking of unique tag identification codes to project contact information and a coordinated approach that ensures investigators access to the locations of receivers and associated project leaders from across the basin. In addition, projects need to avoid releasing excessive numbers of tagged fish within the range of another project’s receivers because large numbers of tags can lead to “tag collisions” which results in loss of data.  Loss of detection information compromises data quality and the integrity of the GLATOS project as a whole because tagged fish can pass a monitoring location without being detected.

GLOS supports an interactive, web-based map showing the GLATOS receiver locations, and operating schedules. Investigator contact information facilitates collaboration and project planning among current and future investigators. Knowledge of current receiver locations and coverage will aid new investigators in project proposal preparations and planning of future receiver placement. Once awareness of other projects is gained, investigators can communicate with each other to ensure that adequate numbers of receivers are deployed and that too many tags are not released into the system. A central and easily-available data management web-based platform is a requirement for successful coordination of acoustic telemetry projects in the Great Lakes.

Weblink: data.glos.us/glatos