Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)

Strategic Plan 2013–2017

NOAA OAR Special Report

July 2013

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Penny Pritzker

Secretary

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND

ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Kathy Sullivan

Acting Under Secretary for Oceans

and Atmosphere/Administrator

Office of Oceanic and

Atmospheric Research

Robert Detrick

Assistant Administrator
NOTICE from NOAA

Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA/

OAR. Use of information from this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of 

such products for publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized. Any opinions, findings, 

and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and 

do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Also available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS)

(http://www.ntis.gov)

Contribution No. 4018 from NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Contents

Overview of PMEL’s Strategy 1

Laboratory Structure 5

PMEL Themes 7

Climate Research 8

Description and motivation 8

Recent significant climate research accomplishments (2008–present) 9

Current and future climate research activities 10

Potential climate research opportunities 13

Climate research evidence of progress 13

Marine Ecosystem Research 14

Description and motivation 14

Recent significant marine ecosystem research accomplishments (2008–present) 15

Current and future marine ecosystem research activities 18

Potential marine ecosystem research opportunities 21

Marine ecosystem research evidence of progress 21

Oceans and Coastal Processes Research 22

Description and motivation 22

Recent significant oceans and coastal processes research accomplishments 

(2008–present) 24

Current and future oceans and coastal processes research activities 25

Potential oceans and coastal processes research opportunities 27

Oceans and coastal processes research evidence of progress 27

iii
Research Innovation 28

Description and motivation 28

Recent significant research innovation accomplishments (2008–present) 29

Current and future research innovation activities 32

Potential research innovation directions 33

Research innovation evidence of progress 33

Foundational Services 34

Description and motivation 34

Recent significant foundational services accomplishments 

(2008-present) 35

About the director 35

Current foundational services activities 36

Future foundational services directions 39

Longer-term foundational services opportunities 39

Foundational services evidence of progress 39

Partnerships 41

OAR Partnerships 41

NOAA Partners 42

National and International Partners 42

Challenges 45

Infrastructure 45

Workforce Management 47

Regulatory Controls 48

Summary 49

Contents

iv
THE PACIFIC MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY (PMEL) 

is one of seven federal research laboratories within the Office of 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) of the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Government laboratories have an 

important role in the Nation’s scientific infrastructure as they are wellsuited to develop and sustain observational networks over regional to 

global scales. Unlike the operational components of the government, 

the OAR laboratories continue to explore new and innovative ways of 

studying the Earth’s environment, to identify emerging scientific issues, 

and to develop ways to improve the efficiency of the observational 

networks. PMEL research is made rapidly available to the agency, the 

scientific community, and the American public, to provide society with 

the knowledge it needs to make informed decisions.

This vision of an informed society sits squarely within the visions of both 

OAR and NOAA. OAR’s leadership role as NOAA’s centralized research 

line office is critical to NOAA’s ability to carry out its mission of science, 

stewardship, and service. Through research and development activities, 

PMEL, in collaboration with its many partners both inside and outside 

of NOAA, characterizes and predicts ocean processes critical for understanding the health and resilience of coupled natural and social systems.

As a NOAA laboratory, PMEL focuses its research efforts on the scientific 

challenges of critical importance to NOAA’s mission and OAR’s strategic 

goals and objectives.

Overview of PMEL’s Strategy

PMEL’s vision of the future: 

An informed society that relies on PMEL’s 

observations and the critical advancement 

of knowledge about the global ocean and its 

interactions with the earth, atmosphere, 

ecosystems, and climate

1
Illustrating PMEL’s mission, clockwise from top left: Observe—world map of Argo ocean profiling floats 

(red dots indicate floats maintained by PMEL); Innovate—deployment of a Platform and Instrumentation for 

Continuous Observations (PICO) buoy developed at PMEL; Inform—cover of PMEL Tsunami Forecast Series 

report;. Understand— illustration of ocean acifification process

Overview of PMEL’s Strategy

2
PMEL’s Mission: 

Observe, Innovate, Understand, and Inform

•	 Observe, analyze, and predict oceanic and 

atmospheric phenomena

•	 Lead the development and deployment of 

innovative technologies

•	 Identify and understand ocean-related issues 

of major consequence

•	 Inform society with well-documented, highquality science

PMEL’s Core Values:

Integrity, Excellence, Leadership, Collaboration, 

and Communication

Since its creation in 1973, PMEL’s core values of integrity, 

excellence, and leadership have helped the Laboratory to 

combine fundamental scientific research with strategic 

integration and societal relevance. More than a collection 

of individual scientists, PMEL provides an infrastructure 

that promotes interaction between researchers with 

related interests to achieve the NOAA, OAR, and PMEL 

missions. PMEL is a global leader in ocean observing 

systems, providing an observational backbone that 

supports a wide array of research and operational activities within NOAA, in other federal agencies, in academia, 

and in the international community. The Laboratory’s 

administrative, computing, and engineering divisions 

support productive research and create opportunities 

to share developing technologies. The collegiality of the 

Laboratory’s diverse workforce fosters innovation and 

helps to advance scientific knowledge. 

PMEL Quick Facts: 

The following information 

current as of July 2013:

PMEL is one of seven 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Research (OAR) laboratories 

within NOAA.

Website:

www.pmel.noaa.gov

Year established: 1973

Location:

PMEL is headquartered at 

NOAA’s Western Regional 

Campus, located at Sand 

Point in Seattle, Washington. 

Additionally, PMEL’s Ocean 

Environment Research 

Division is partially 

located at the Oregon State 

University Mark O. Hatfield 

Marine Science Center, 

located in Newport, Oregon.

Staff size: Approx. 200 

Staff composition:

44% Federal

47% Cooperative Institute

3% NOAA Corps

3% NRC post-doc

3% Contractor/other

Staff location:

90% Based in Seattle

10% Based in Newport

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

3
PMEL supports and promotes collaborations with researchers outside the 

Laboratory to extend the availability of its 

capabilities and opportunities. Whether it 

is working with academic colleagues to ensure a comprehensive interdisciplinary research project, or working with industry and international 

partners to extend observational capabilities, an environment of cooperation and collaboration is at the heart of PMEL’s operations. 

As a publicly funded laboratory, PMEL embraces the concepts of data 

sharing and an informed public. PMEL aspires to lead the scientific 

community in generating high-quality, well-documented observations 

that are openly available. Because PMEL’s research will only be important 

to society if the public has access to the information the Laboratory 

produces, PMEL strives to bring its data and its scientific insights to a wide 

array of stakeholders through effective use of information technology 

and innovative online tools. To best use this information, stakeholders 

need to understand the implications of this research. Public outreach 

and education is becoming increasingly important as society addresses a 

growing range of environmental issues. 

Historically, PMEL’s core values helped establish the Laboratory’s identity 

as a scientific leader and guide its long-term vision and mission. The next 

20 years hold many opportunities to make meaningful contributions to 

society as PMEL builds on its 40 years of successful research. Strategic 

decisions concerning research directions, laboratory personnel, and 

infrastructure development will be based on the foregoing mission statements as PMEL aims to achieve its long-term vision. PMEL’s core values 

carry through today as the Laboratory looks to the future.

Observed buoy data from the TAO mooring site at 0°, 110°W showing the zonal component 

of wind, sea surface temperature, and depth of the 20°C isotherm (with monthly average 

data smoothed using a 5-month running mean)

Overview of PMEL’s Strategy

4
THE PACIFIC MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY is a team 

comprised of approximately 200 researchers, technicians, engineers, 

information technology (IT) professionals, and administrators working 

together from two locations: Seattle, Washington, and Newport, Oregon. 

Approximately half of the personnel have advanced science or engineering 

degrees.

From an operational standpoint, PMEL is divided into five divisions that sit 

outside the Office of the Director (see figure below). Laboratory personnel 

can be divided into 13 science-focused groups (e.g., large-scale ocean 

physics, tsunami, carbon), four product-focused groups (e.g., engineering, 

science IT), and the administrative and computer services staff. However, 

the close interaction among the different groups and the interdisciplinary 

nature of the work conducted at PMEL results in flexible boundaries 

between these groups. The Laboratory’s strategic goals are accomplished 

through the efforts of these groups as well as partnerships among them.

Laboratory Structure

Schematic of Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory’s structure

Ocean Climate Research

Division 

Engineering 

Development Division 

Computing & Network 

Svcs. Division 

Ocean Environment 

Research Division 

Associate Director for

Operations

Administration 

Division 

Associate Director for

Information Technology

Deputy Director

Director

5
Clockwise from top left: Deployment of carbon coral reef mooring; Aerial Unmanned Vehicle (AUV) before take 

off to measure aerosols above Norway; tsunami energy plot for March 2011 Japan tsunami event;. West Mata 

underwater volcano captured on camera during a 2009 expedition to the NE Lau Basin

6
J

OHN MUIR’S POETIC QUOTE IS an intuitive perspective on the intertwined nature of the world. Interconnections between the physical 

world and biological organisms are complex. Further, rapidly changing 

environments and limited spatial and temporal data increase the difficulties in resolving linkages. PMEL’s efforts to understand changes in 

our oceanic and atmospheric systems on local, regional, and global 

scales support NOAA’s commitment to providing effective services and 

stewardship to the Nation. PMEL has developed and executed capabilities 

to support NOAA’s goals through decades of world-class research, recognizing that the ability to monitor, understand, and predict key aspects 

of the environment is essential for protecting our oceans, advancing our 

economy, and preserving life and property. 

PMEL activities are organized under five themes:

•	 Climate Research

•	 Marine Ecosystem Research

•	 Oceans and Coastal Processes Research

•	 Research Innovation

•	 Foundational Services 

The work conducted in support of these themes is represented by the 

activities described in this chapter.

PMEL Themes

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it 

hitched to everything else in the Universe.

—John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911

7
Climate Research

Climate research at PMEL is undertaken to support NOAA’s mission to 

understand and predict changes in climate, weather, and the oceans. Our 

society is affected by recurring patterns of climate variability, by more 

secular global trends in ocean temperature and carbon, by as-yet poorly 

understood aspects of the global ocean circulation, and by the connections between the open ocean and our coastal oceans. PMEL’s climate 

efforts focus on observing and interpreting the physical and chemical 

variability of the ocean and marine atmosphere. Many different in situ 

observing technologies are used, and new techniques are always under 

development to improve the observing network and increase its efficiency. 

PMEL collaborates with scientists and institutions around the world in 

many international programs and partnerships, and training of the next 

generation of scientists takes place both formally through relationships 

with students and postdocs and through collegial interactions with the 

Laboratory’s partners.

Description and motivation

Humankind is increasingly aware of its vulnerability to extremes of 

weather and climate. Storms and droughts have both short- and long-term 

consequences. Rising sea level and temperatures also pose rising risks 

to our coastal communities, national transportation infrastructure (e.g., 

ports), and ecosystems worldwide. We continue to learn more about the 

extent to which ocean-atmosphere-cryosphere interactions affect our 

ability to forecast such conditions. PMEL’s climate research and observations contribute centrally to national and international efforts to improve 

climate science and deliver climate services to the Nation. PMEL is wellpositioned to help address the societal need for understanding the climate 

system and the efficacy and consequences of possible mitigation strategies. The Laboratory has the expertise, partnerships, and infrastructure 

to design and build instruments, make sustained observations, analyze 

resulting data, and carry out the necessary theory and modeling to understand why the climate system works as it does. PMEL works closely with 

the operational components of NOAA and transitions technologies and 

observational systems from research to operations as appropriate.

There are eight activities within PMEL focusing on Climate Research: 

Tropical Moored Buoy Array Arctic Climate Dynamics

Ocean Climate Stations Ocean Carbon

Large-Scale Ocean Physics Pacific Western Boundary Currents

TMAP Data Management Atmospheric Chemistry

CLIMATE

PMEL Themes

8
Recent significant climate research accomplishments (2008–present)

PMEL’s record of accomplishments illustrates the integrated nature of a 

laboratory embracing collaborative efforts. Successes of forward looking 

programs have contributed significantly to our understanding of climate. 

One of PMEL’s most successful climate programs is the development of 

the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) buoy array across the equatorial 

Pacific, which has led to improved description, understanding, and 

prediction of El Niño and La Niña. Over 650 research papers have been 

published using data generated by TAO together with the companion 

TRITON array, maintained by the Japanese in the far western equatorial 

Pacific. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center now routinely makes ENSO (El 

Niño-Southern Oscillation) predictions based on the TAO-TRITON data. 

Operation of the TAO array is currently being transferred from PMEL to 

the National Weather Service. 

The Argo profiling float array was initiated in 1999 as a multi-institutional and international collaboration to provide systematic observations 

of temperature and salinity in the upper two kilometers of the world’s 

oceans to improve understanding of the dynamics of the upper levels of 

the ocean and to improve ocean and atmosphere computer models. PMEL’s 

initial contribution to Argo involved calibration of salinity measurements, but in 2003 the Laboratory became active in the deployment of 

Argo floats. PMEL is now responsible for about 13% of the global Argo 

array of more than 3000 floats.

The NOAA/NSF Repeat Hydrography Program, a component of the international Global Ocean–Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program 

has enabled the production of the first accurate estimates of the decadal 

changes in temperature, salinity, tracers, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, 

and anthropogenic CO2

 in the global ocean. These data are crucial for 

understanding the role of the ocean in global climate change. The repeat 

hydrography cruises also provide information on changes in a number of 

key oceanic properties in the half of the ocean volume that currently lies 

beneath the reach of the Argo array. For instance, they have allowed the 

only global assessment of the contribution of deep ocean warming to the 

global climate system energy budget. The Repeat Hydrography Program 

completed its second global ocean decadal survey in 2011. Expansion of 

Argo into the ice covered zones and the deep ocean would improve our 

ability to assess the roles of ocean temperature and salinity changes in 

climate, including the interaction of changing ocean temperature and ice 

melt, as well as improve our estimates of climate sensitivity via the ability 

to perform truly global assessments of changes in ocean heat storage on 

an annual basis.

Top to bottom: Tropical 

moored buoy in the Indian 

Ocean; an Argo profiling 

float before deployment; a 

CTD rosette being lowered 

into the ocean

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

9
Current and future climate research activities

PMEL’s climate research activities are centered on collecting high-quality 

climate observations, data sharing, and employing analysis tools to 

improve predictability and understanding of climate phenomena and 

their global impacts. PMEL climate research is conducted in all the major 

ocean basins of the world.

The Tropical Moored Buoy Array group is working with the National 

Weather Service (NWS) to finalize the transition of operational responsibility for the TAO array to NWS Operations. Using data from the array, 

PMEL researchers continue their research on ENSO events and assess 

their impacts on global weather patterns. The Tropical Moored Buoy 

Array group maintains the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the 

Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) and is developing the Research Moored Array 

for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) 

networks of moored buoys in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, respectively. The PIRATA array was initiated in 1997 and is a highly successful 

partnership between the U.S. (NOAA/PMEL), France, and Brazil. RAMA 

is under development in the Indian Ocean as a joint effort between the 

U.S., Japan, India, Indonesia, France, China, Australia, and a consortium of 

East African nations that support the Agulhas and Somali Current Large 

Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) Project. 

The Ocean Climate Stations group maintains two OceanSITES reference 

station moorings: the Kuroshio Extension Observatory (KEO) in the 

western North Pacific, initiated in 2004, and Station Papa in the eastern 

North Pacific, which was first deployed in 2007. OCS moorings contribute 

to the global network of OceanSITES reference stations and their data 

are used world-wide to assess numerical weather prediction and climate 

reanalyses and satellite products.

Successful climate research depends on PMEL’s ability to maintain existing 

time series observations; therefore, improving the effectiveness and 

efficiency of the tropical moored buoy arrays and ocean climate stations is 

a high priority. Developing and deploying innovative technologies, instrumentation, and systems to increase the scientific return from moorings is 

an ongoing effort. The Tropical Moored Buoy Array and Ocean Climate 

Stations groups continue to cultivate new international partnerships to 

increase the cost-effectiveness of these arrays. 

The Large-Scale Ocean Physics group has been an early advocate for 

expanding the depth range of the original Argo floats from one kilometer 

to two and is now a proponent of ”Deep Argo,” an expansion of Argo’s 

CLIMATE

PMEL Themes

10
capabilities to depths of up to six kilometers. The group uses data from the 

global Argo floats collected over the last decade, as well as deep hydrographic 

profiles from sites occupied in the Repeat Hydrography Program and historical 

ocean temperature observations, to monitor and conduct research on ocean heat 

changes and their impacts, including sea level rise and climate sensitivity. PMEL 

scientists support additional capabilities for Argo floats, including developments to allow their use in ice-covered areas and the incorporation of additional 

sensors, such as for measuring oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) into Argo. 

The TMAP Data Management group’s research focuses on how ocean and 

atmosphere interact to produce different patterns of climate variability (e.g., El 

Niño) around the globe. The group examines climate data and model output to 

determine how to best identify climate patterns in and over the sea in order to 

anticipate unusual weather in the months ahead.

The Arctic Climate Dynamics group conducts observations and evaluates 

models of Arctic sea ice to document and predict climate change impacts on 

Arctic marine ecosystems. The group is also documenting Bering Sea changes, 

where research suggests a shift from predominantly interannual variability to 

decadal variability.

Climate change in the Arctic presents a need for expanded research in support 

of NOAA’s climate program. The Arctic has evolved to a “new normal” that lies 

outside the bounds of recent natural variability. Opportunities for the Arctic 

Climate Dynamics group include: developing new capabilities for NOAA sea ice 

forecasting on weekly, seasonal, and decadal scales; providing baseline observations for the Beaufort and Chukchi seas; detecting and predicting changes 

in physical, chemical, and biological structure and dynamics in the U.S. Arctic 

marine environment; evaluating the potential for strengthened linkages 

between Arctic climate change and mid-latitude extreme weather events; and 

determining causes and estimating future impacts of changes in atmospheric 

composition and radiative fluxes.

Summer sea ice minimum in 1998 (left); lowest sea ice extent in recorded history (right), in 2012 

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

11
The Ocean Carbon group has focused its efforts on understanding the 

ocean’s role in uptake and redistribution of natural and anthropogenic CO2

from the atmosphere. The details of this uptake and storage as well as the 

mechanisms controlling them are still not fully understood. Continued 

monitoring and scientific analysis of the ocean carbon cycle is critical to 

understand how the ocean sink for anthropogenic CO2

 is functioning and 

how the carbon storage might change in the future. The group generates 

high-quality carbon data, quantifies global ocean carbon uptake and 

storage from repeat hydrography and VOS cruises, and acquires in situ 

measurements from moorings. They use multiple platforms to observe 

patterns and trends of carbon uptake and transport, as well as to provide 

critical model validation, and have used historical and newly compiled 

databases to develop data synthesis products. This work has led to a 

determination of seasonal to decadal trends in carbon fluxes and storage 

in the global oceans. Research publications based on these long-term 

data sets have led to a more comprehensive understanding of the ocean’s 

role in climate. The group plans to continue global repeat hydrographic 

cruises, including coastal cruises for model validation; broaden the CO2

mooring network to include physical, chemical, and biological sensors; 

expand the use of Argo floats, wave gliders, and Slocum gliders for CO2

, 

pH, O2

, and, ultimately, other inorganic carbon parameters; extend observations into new areas including the Arctic and subarctic seas; continue to 

advance technology for improved ocean carbon autonomous sensors and 

platforms; develop new syntheses, data products, and modeling efforts 

that provide critical information to other scientists, stakeholders, and the 

public; and publish papers on ocean carbon and acidification processes.

The Pacific Western Boundary Currents group began exploratory 

missions in the Solomon Sea with ocean gliders, crossing the New 

Guinea Coastal Undercurrent in late 2007. This project was motivated 

by the inability of the large-scale networks to observe fluctuations of the 

equatorward western boundary currents, and by the centrality of those 

currents in the meridional exchanges that contribute to ENSO. The ENSO 

CLIMATE

The Solomon Sea spray glider measuring the Pacific Western Boundary Currents (left), and 

its path of flight (right)

PMEL Themes

12
signal in this western boundary current is seen to be a first-order 

contribution to the equatorial mass and heat balance.

Using decades of PMEL aerosol measurements, the Atmospheric 

Chemistry group has shown that oceanic phytoplankton sulfur 

emissions are not the major source of cloud condensation nuclei to 

the marine atmosphere. This work has renewed the importance of 

understanding the direct emissions of sea spray to the atmosphere 

as a major source of sub-micrometer particles. The group plans 

to continue roughly biannual process studies to target regions 

where the current level of understanding of aerosol sources and 

atmospheric processing inhibits the ability to accurately model 

weather and climate change.

Potential climate research opportunities

With increasing demand for frequently repeated monitoring of 

climate signals in remote parts of the ocean, relatively inexpensive 

autonomous samplers will play a more important role in PMEL’s repertoire. As ocean gliders mature—in particular with the capability to 

service and redeploy them in the field and to simplify their piloting—

the Laboratory envisions larger fleets of gliders, corresponding to the 

development of tropical arrays evolving from single purpose-built 

deployments to an array that could be managed as a network.

Many new instruments that may be useful for climate research 

require further development. PMEL scientists and engineers have 

used Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to make atmospheric aerosol 

measurements. UAS were obtained as a potential tool for making 

such measurements in the marine atmosphere, but have been mostly 

deployed from land rather than water. Currently, there is no effective 

way to land such aircraft on a research vessel. PMEL has developed 

new instrument packages that extract the power they need to profile 

the ocean from surface wave energy. Instrument packages should be 

developed to address a variety of questions, including distribution 

of marine-carbon parameters in the ocean, input of atmospheric 

dust to the oceans, and flux of CO2

 and methane (CH4  ) from Arctic 

coastlines as they become exposed.

Another opportunity lies in the use of PMEL’s climate expertise 

to evaluate Earth system models. As a primarily observational 

laboratory, PMEL can provide strong constraints for evaluating the 

quality of climate simulations. PMEL scientists hope to collaborate 

more closely with modelers at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics 

Laboratory and Earth System Research Laboratory to evaluate and 

improve climate system projections.

Climate Research

Evidence of 

Progress

PMEL’s overarching 

Climate Research 

objectives will be to 

acquire data, store 

and distribute data 

for current and future 

use, analyze results, 

and develop products 

and services that 

facilitate the delivery 

of science, service, and 

stewardship to the 

Nation.

Four primary metrics 

of progress indicate 

PMEL’s success:

•	 Number and quality 

of peer reviewed 

papers published

•	 Number of 

observing platforms 

deployed/

maintained

•	 Number of accessible 

datasets documented 

to the appropriate 

Federal Geographic 

Data Committee 

(FGDC) and/or ISO 

metadata standard

•	 Number of 

supporting scientific documents 

and presentations 

provided by PMEL 

researchers to policy 

makers

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

13
Marine Ecosystem Research

Marine ecosystem research at PMEL is focused on measuring, understanding, and predicting impacts of natural physical, chemical, biological, 

geological, and anthropogenic processes on the oceanic web of life. Since 

ecosystem research involves capabilities beyond those which PMEL can 

provide, the laboratory partners extensively with the NOAA Fisheries 

Science Centers, academic colleagues, and other federal, state, and tribal 

entities. PMEL’s primary contribution is to put the biological research 

into the context of the physical and geochemical settings. PMEL marine 

ecosystem research is focused primarily along the U.S. Pacific and Arctic 

ocean coastal zones, but efforts are global with respect to explorative 

research and fundamental processes. Researchers strive to meet NOAA’s 

vision, as stated in the Next Generation Strategic Plan, of “healthy 

ecosystems, communities, and economies that are resilient in the face of 

change,” using diverse skills to acquire, process, analyze, predict, disseminate, and archive data for the long-term benefit of the Nation.

Description and motivation

Marine ecosystem research at PMEL is based on the study of anthropogenic and natural processes that affect the composition of marine 

communities. This research clarifies relationships between living systems 

and the environment through a multidisciplinary approach. Examples 

include the impacts of climate change, fishing, ocean acidification, and 

tectonic and volcanic processes on the biological, physical, and chemical 

structure of ecosystems. Changes in one part of an ecosystem will feed 

back to influence other parts.

PMEL is well-positioned to contribute to NOAA’s objective of achieving 

a holistic understanding of ecosystems through research and resource 

management. The Laboratory’s personnel, partnerships, infrastructure, 

and culture form an effective matrix suited to untangling linkages within 

ecosystems. Scientific teams that are experts on ocean physics, ocean 

carbon, atmospheric chemistry, climate, marine nutrients, and hydrothermal vents partner to create results that are internationally recognized.

Within PMEL, four research groups are focused on Marine Ecosystems: 

Ecosystems & Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (EcoFOCI)

Earth–Ocean Interactions

Acoustics

Ocean Carbon

MARINE

ECOSYSTEM

PMEL Themes

14
Ecosystem research is conducted with the primary objective of providing 

the information needed to make scientifically informed decisions in 

support of a prosperous future that is both economically and environmentally sound. Given a changing climate and ever escalating anthropogenic pressures, marine ecosystem research is increasingly important in 

ensuring healthy oceans.

Recent significant marine ecosystem research accomplishments 

(2008–present)

PMEL’s record of accomplishments illustrates the integrated nature of 

a lab embracing collaborative efforts. Successes of forward looking 

programs have contributed significantly to the national discussion on 

ecosystem-related issues.

The gradual process of ocean acidification—the uptake of excess carbon 

dioxide from the atmosphere by the oceans and the subsequent chemical 

reaction that makes the ocean waters more acidic—has long been recognized, but the ecological implications of such chemical changes have 

only recently been examined. It has become increasingly clear that 

changes in oceanic carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and pH can affect the growth, 

behavior, and survival of a wide variety of marine organisms. One 

example of the benefits of the Ocean Acidification (OA) program is the 

work undertaken to understand the devastating die-offs of larval oysters 

in 2006–2009 along the Pacific Northwest coast due to upwelling of acidic 

waters. The corrosive water prevented oyster larvae from forming shells; 

West Coast oyster hatcheries that sold oyster seed were experiencing 

larval oyster mortality rates of 80%. Without seed, the entire industry 

was jeopardized. By creating a monitoring network at regular intervals 

along the coastline to measure ocean chemistry, the OA program was 

able to recommend strategies to oyster hatcheries to avoid the intake of 

acidic water and increase the recruitment of oyster larvae.

PMEL’s acquisition of data, research, publications, public presentations, 

and congressional testimony has changed the national conversation on 

ocean acidification. By clearly articulating the consequences of decreasing 

ocean pH to the general public and decision makers, the research has 

contributed to two positive outcomes: the passing of the Federal Ocean 

Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009, which mandates that 

NOAA has an active monitoring and research program to determine 

potential impacts of changing ocean chemistry; and the development 

of the NOAA Ocean and Great Lakes Acidification Research Plan. The 

goals are to understand and predict how ecosystems will respond to 

Top to bottom: 

Pilot whale; CTD rosette 

used to collect water 

samples in the Puget 

Sound; NOAA Ocean and 

Great Lakes Acidification 

Research Plan, released in 

April 2010

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

15
acidification and to provide information that will aid resource managers 

in choosing approaches to mitigate the effects of acidification. 

PMEL’s large-scale, comprehensive research in the Gulf of Alaska and 

Bering Sea has resulted in a wealth of data and an unprecedented opportunity to assess how marine ecosystems respond to multi-year and 

long-term climate variability and other stressors (e.g., fishing). From 

these data, a vertically integrated ecosystem model of the Bering Sea was 

created that is actively being used to evaluate fisheries management strategies, and will eventually result in a model capable of providing reliable 

forecasts of ecological changes in the context of a dynamic climate. The 

goal is to use the model to inform long-term management strategies of 

fisheries in the Bering Sea and North Pacific. 

For more than a decade, PMEL scientists have continuously maintained 

the New Millenium seafloor Observatory (NeMO), located at Axial 

Seamount in the northeast Pacific, making it the longest observational 

record of an active hydrothermal system in history. The range of scientific interests at this site includes geophysical monitoring, hydrothermal 

vent geochemistry, macro-biological colonization and succession, and 

the diversity and evolution of subsurface microbiological communities. Exciting research results from NeMO over the years has led to 

the selection of this site by the National Science Foundation as a key 

MARINE

ECOSYSTEM

EcoFOCI personnel service the M2 mooring, which has (as of 2013) collected year-round 

temperature, salinity, nitrate, chlorophyll, current, and sea ice measurements in the Bering 

Sea for 19 consecutive years

PMEL Themes

16
Clockwise from top: Dr. Richard Feely provides testimony addressing climate change in November 2010 before 

the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment (image courtesy of House Science 

and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment); a fluid sampler reaches into the very active West 

Mata volcano during a 2009 expedition to collect volcanic fluids for analysis; 3-d image of West Mata submarine 

volcano located in the Northeast Lau basin

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

17
site on the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s (OOI) Regional Scale Nodes 

(RSN) cabled observatory network. PMEL scientists have also discovered 

numerous significant volcanic and hydrothermal phenomena that affect 

local chemosynthetic ecosystems and the global ocean. 

Current and future marine ecosystem research activities

The Ecosystem and Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (EcoFOCI) group uses biophysical moorings, satellite-tracked 

drifters, remote sensing, hydrographic and atmospheric measurements, 

and numerical models to examine the changing ecosystems of the 

Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. 

The program is built upon multidisciplinary collaborations that explore 

ecosystem components ranging from climate to biological predators. 

EcoFOCI researchers work with scientists at the National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS) and academic partners to improve understanding of 

how marine physical (including climate change) and chemical environments impact the biological realm. Several major research programs are 

currently in progress. In the Gulf of Alaska, science and stewardship 

are inherent in understanding the physical transport mechanisms and 

nutrient availability that influence lower trophic levels and, subsequently, 

the survival and recruitment of economically important fish species. 

Baseline studies of existing ecosystems (physics, plankton, and marine 

mammals) and sea ice thickness are being conducted in the Arctic. 

Currently, PMEL maintains four biophysical moorings in the Bering 

Sea and, in conjunction with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

(BOEM), maintains additional biophysical moorings at three locations 

in the Chukchi Sea. These moorings, together with other long-term 

monitoring efforts and process studies, allow for a better understanding 

of mechanisms important to the marine ecosystem of the continental 

shelves of the Bering and Chukchi seas. 

Seasonal forecasts of ocean conditions are presently being developed and 

evaluated for the coastal waters from central California to Vancouver 

Island in support of NOAA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment program. 

The work is being conducted in collaboration with NOAA’s Northwest 

Fisheries Science Center. This project aims to provide 6- to 9-month 

forecasts of upper ocean properties, based on input from NOAA’s Climate 

Forecast System (CFS) and dynamical downscaling with the ROMS 

regional mesoscale ocean model. Forecasts of specific oceanic properties 

crucial to the nearshore and coastal marine ecosystem, such as upwelling, 

pH, mixed layer depth, and oxygen concentration, are anticipated with 

updates on a monthly basis. The projections of circulation and plankton 

MARINE

ECOSYSTEM

PMEL Themes

18
distributions may also prove valuable for use in individual-based models 

of commercially significant fish populations. Interest has been expressed 

to expand this effort to provide similar information for other regions, 

such as the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea.

The Arctic Ocean has changed markedly in the last decade, and changes 

are predicted to continue for the foreseeable future. The EcoFOCI group, in 

partnership with other federal agencies, plans to expand its investigations 

of the Arctic. Within the next few years, EcoFOCI scientists will co-lead 

and participate in a major synthesis of Arctic Ocean ecosystem research, 

continue and expand investigations on the Chukchi Sea, and participate 

in baseline fisheries studies in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas. The 

program will provide critical data for model evaluations.

Work in the Arctic will be greatly enhanced by the development of new 

instrumentation. For example, working in partnership with its designer, 

EcoFOCI has helped improve an acoustic instrument (TAPS-8) that 

measures zooplankton abundance. This is important, because the patchy 

nature of the zooplankton populations makes them difficult to characterize, but these populations are critical to fish and are likely to change 

with Arctic climate changes.

A long-held goal of NMFS is to expand from single-species management 

of fisheries to a more holistic, ecosystem-based management. A synthesis 

of ecosystem indicators enables an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries 

management in the Alaska region. This process is still in its infancy and 

is being implemented through the North Pacific Fisheries Management 

Council (which establishes fishing quotas) through the NMFS Science and 

Statistical Committee. EcoFOCI will continue to propose, evaluate, and 

modify indices of biophysical processes in an effort to improve prediction 

and reduce uncertainty in ecosystem forecasts. In addition, EcoFOCI will 

expand its contribution of the individual assessment chapters (Plan Team 

reports) to discuss how and what climate indices to incorporate directly 

into the single stock assessments. Through these predictions, EcoFOCI 

passes the results of scientific research directly on to operational use, to 

benefit the national economy.

The Earth–Ocean Interactions group is renowned for interdisciplinary 

seafloor and water column processes work at numerous volcanic and 

hydrothermal sites around the globe. The group discovers unique 

chemosynthetic ecosystems and studies biogeochemical processes 

of global importance that address the NOAA goals of healthy oceans, 

technology development, and ocean stewardship. The Earth–Ocean 

Interactions group researchers are developing and deploying new 

Top to bottom: A bongo 

net used to sample phytoplankton preparing for 

deployment; NOAA Ship 

Miller Freeman in the Gulf 

of Alaska; sampling an ice 

core on the Bering Sea

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

19
technology on undersea cabled observatories on the Juan de Fuca ridge 

at Axial Seamount. Their research is providing a deeper understanding 

of the complex links between volcanic activity, hydrothermal chemistry, 

and microbial ecology. This group has also pioneered exploration and 

research in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the western 

Pacific, where their discoveries of new hydrothermal vent ecosystems 

directly inspired the establishment of the Marianas Trench Marine 

National Monument. 

The Acoustics Program is an ocean sound research group that develops 

and provides acoustic tools, technologies, and services to address a wide 

variety of NOAA missions. Using autonomous stationary hydrophones, 

mobile platforms such as ocean gliders and floats equipped with acoustic 

sensors, and cabled observatories the Acoustics group studies both 

natural and anthropogenic sounds in the marine environment.

The vision of the program is to a) quantify ambient sound levels from 

man-made sources, such as commerce and energy production; b) 

monitor processes and potential hazards related to marine volcanoseismic activity; and c) assess potential changes in the abundance and 

distribution of endangered marine mammal populations due to anthropogenic noise and climate-related changes in the environment.

This group of interdisciplinary researchers has deployed and operated 

acoustic monitoring systems in every major ocean basin on Earth and 

is currently developing novel systems to efficiently monitor large ocean 

areas and their living marine resources for extended time periods. The 

Acoustics group develops open-source and user-friendly ocean sound 

analysis software tools, which are used by several NOAA/NMFS laboratories in support of their research. The Acoustics Program, in close 

collaboration with the Earth-Ocean Interactions and EcoFOCI programs, 

MARINE

ECOSYSTEM Location of 

Axial Volcano, 

on the Juan de 

Fuca Ridge 

off the U.S. 

West Coast

PMEL Themes

20
studies the links between volcanic and hydrothermal processes at 

seamounts around the globe as well as the underwater soundscape 

in the Arctic.

In the open and coastal oceans, the Ocean Carbon group is 

currently making high-quality measurements of ocean acidification 

parameters (dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, CO2

 partial 

pressure, and pH), as well as ancillary properties, such as dissolved 

oxygen and nutrients that are related to ecosystem research. In 

order to understand spatial and temporal changes occurring in the 

world’s oceans, the OA program uses automated analytical systems 

on moorings and underway platforms. The program is in the 

process of adding pH, oxygen, chlorophyll, and turbidity sensors to 

these systems to more accurately and precisely study the changes 

associated with OA. The Ocean Carbon group plans, as described 

in the Climate Research section, to expand the CO2

/pH mooring 

network; extend observations into new areas; further develop the 

use of wave gliders. Slocum gliders, and Argo floats; advance new 

technology and data products; and disseminate critical information 

to other scientists, stakeholders, and the public.

The Ocean Carbon group is partnering with EcoFOCI to increase the 

number of ocean acidification moorings in the high latitudes. In 2013, 

two EcoFOCI moorings (one in the Gulf of Alaska and the other in 

the Bering Sea) will be equipped with pCO2

 sensors. In addition, the 

two programs will collaborate (ship time, equipment, and expertise) 

to introduce a third mooring in the Gulf of Alaska.

Potential marine ecosystem research opportunities

Significant changes have occurred in the Arctic during the last 

decade. Observations of the unprecedented reduction in Arctic sea 

ice coverage in 2012, combined with projected decreases in extent 

over the next several decades, indicate the Arctic ecosystem is in 

rapid flux. Ocean acidification is expected to develop more rapidly 

in the Arctic than anywhere else in the global ocean. Changes in ice 

extent and water temperature will certainly modify the timing and 

strength of phytoplankton blooms, zooplankton concentrations, the 

ocean heat content, and thus, very likely, the north-south gradients 

in the atmosphere. There are many opportunities for the PMEL 

Marine Ecosystems research programs to make significant contributions to understanding Arctic changes over the next decade or more.

Marine Ecosystem 

Research Evidence 

of Progress

PMEL’s overarching 

Marine Ecosystem 

Research objectives will 

be to acquire, distribute, 

and store data for 

current and future use, 

analyze results, and 

develop products and 

services that facilitate 

science, service, and 

stewardship to the 

Nation.

Four primary metrics 

of progress indicate 

PMEL’s success:

•	 Number and quality 

of peer reviewed 

papers published

•	 Number of 

observing platforms 

deployed/

maintained

•	 Number of accessible 

datasets documented 

to the appropriate 

Federal Geographic 

Data Committee 

(FGDC) and/or ISO 

metadata standard

•	 Number of 

supporting scientific documents 

and presentations 

provided by PMEL 

researchers to policy 

makers

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

21
Oceans and Coastal Processes Research

Oceans and Coastal Processes Research captures those elements of 

PMEL’s integrated research agenda that do not easily fall into the broad 

categories of climate or ecosystems, but still comprise important contributions to NOAA’s mission. Elements captured in this goal include an 

understanding of ocean physics and interactions between the ocean and 

both the seafloor and atmosphere. 

There are three areas of Ocean and Coastal Process Research within PMEL: 

ocean tracers, tsunami inundation forecasting, and characterization of 

seafloor environments. Ocean tracers help improve understanding of 

the rates of exchange of gases between the atmosphere and the ocean, 

and of the rates and pathways of circulation in the interior of the ocean. 

The tracer data collected are critical for testing global ocean models 

and for improving estimates of the rate at which the ocean can absorb 

carbon dioxide and other important gases on long time scales. Tsunami 

research continues to develop cutting-edge ocean observation technology 

and directly supports NOAA’s ability, through research-directed model 

enhancements, to help save lives and property by providing accurate and 

timely forecasts of tsunami inundation. Seafloor environment research is 

focused on the biogeochemical interactions between the deep ocean and 

the solid earth and the resulting impacts in areas of tectonic activity.

Description and motivation

Three PMEL research groups are focused on Oceans and Coastal Processes: 

NOAA Center for Tsunami Research (NCTR)

Ocean Tracer

Earth–Ocean Interactions 

Tsunamis have been recognized as potential hazards to U.S. coastal 

communities since the mid-twentieth century, when multiple destructive 

tsunamis caused damage to the states of Hawaii, Alaska, California, 

Oregon, and Washington. In response to the scale of destruction and 

unprecedented loss of life following the December 2004 Sumatra 

tsunami, the U.S. refocused efforts to reduce the tsunami vulnerability 

of coastal communities. PMEL is at the forefront of NOAA’s tsunami 

research program and contributes to the national and international 

effort by conducting research in support of tsunami measurement 

technologies. PMEL also develops improved models and methods to 

both increase the timeliness and accuracy of operational forecasts and 

OCEANS 

AND 

COASTAL 

PROCESSES

PMEL Themes

22
warnings and predict tsunami impacts on the population and infrastructure 

of coastal communities. The improved tsunami hazard assessment tools and 

warning products developed at PMEL are transitioned to the two operational 

NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers.

Knowledge of the mixing and circulation patterns of the world ocean is crucial for 

understanding how CO2

 and other pollutants will be mixed into and distributed 

throughout the ocean basins. Studies of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) transfers 

from the atmosphere into the surface ocean, and the subsequent transport of 

these compounds into the ocean interior, provide a unique description of timeintegrated circulation of the ocean on decadal time scales. These tracer data can 

be used to estimate the rates and pathways of ocean circulation and mixing 

processes, and as a means of testing and evaluating numerical models of ocean 

circulation. The development and testing of such models is critical to understand 

the present state of the ocean-atmosphere system, and to quantify the role of the 

oceans in the uptake of climatically important trace gases such as CO2

.

In the deep ocean, the conservative tracer helium-3 (3He) has been extremely 

useful for delineating the patterns of mixing and circulation. 3

He is enriched 

in the Earth’s mantle, and is therefore also enriched in volcanic gases and in 

submarine hydrothermal fluids, which are derived from the Earth’s interior. 

Hydrothermal venting on the seafloor thus produces 3

He-rich plumes that can 

be traced for thousands of kilometers away from the source of injection. Since 

the source of these 3

He plumes is well constrained, the resulting plume distribution is useful for defining the deep ocean flow.

Humankind’s accelerating desire for new resources is leading to commercial 

plans for harvesting mineral resources from hydrothermal deposits in the deep 

sea. The environmental consequences, both local and regional, are unknown. 

Chlorofluorocarbon-12 (CFC-12) concentrations, used as ocean tracers of circulation and mixing 

processes, measured along the meridional section A16 in the Atlantic Ocean basin

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

23
PMEL houses the sole NOAA expertise for discovering, characterizing, 

and studying the processes of chemical and physical interactions between 

the seafloor and deep sea. NOAA’s ocean stewardship implicitly includes 

consideration of sustainable usage of resources available within the deep 

ocean. This stewardship is embodied in the Healthy Oceans goal of the 

NOAA Next Generation Strategic Plan.

Recent significant oceans and coastal processes research 

accomplishments (2008–present)

In 2012, PMEL completed an eight year process to develop and transition 

75 tsunami flooding forecast models to NOAA’s Tsunami Warning 

Centers. The models are a key component of the U.S. tsunami forecast 

system. Completion of these community-specific models is recognized 

as a major milestone for establishing upgraded forecast capabilities 

as part of the NOAA tsunami program-implemented enhancements, 

which were deemed vital in response to the 2004 Sumatra tsunami. 

These models, coupled with tsunami detection buoys (DART®), comprise 

the Short-term Inundation Forecasting of Tsunamis (SIFT) forecast 

system developed at PMEL to produce flooding forecasts for U.S. coastal 

communities.

OCEANS 

AND 

COASTAL 

PROCESSES

Locations of 75 tsunami flooding forecasts developed by the NOAA Center for 

Tsunami Research.

PMEL Themes

24
PMEL was an active participant in the tracer component of the international GO-Ship Repeat Hydrography Program, which recently 

completed its second global ocean decadal survey. PMEL scientists 

helped pioneer efficient methods for measuring human-derived gases 

such as CFC and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6 ) in seawater. 

Since 2008, PMEL has participated in the discovery of dozens of new 

sites of living and non-living resources at hydrothermal vent sites in 

every ocean basin, including extensive exploration in western Pacific 

areas (including the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, encompassing the 

National Mariana Trench Marine Monument) where such sites are 

undergoing active exploration by commercial interests.

Current and future oceans and coastal processes research activities

NOAA Center for Tsunami Research (NCTR) is developing and testing 

new and improved modeling capabilities for both real-time tsunami 

forecasts, for use during tsunami warning operations, and communitybased tsunami hazard assessment efforts. New generation tsunami 

models will provide estimates of currents resulting from tsunamis in 

ports and harbors, and incorporate the stage of the tide into predictions 

to increase timeliness and accuracy of tsunami forecasts.

Deep ocean tsunami observations from NOAA’s DART® moored buoy 

array provide unique data sets for real-time tsunami hazard assessment 

and for model testing and verification. NCTR and PMEL engineers are 

working with industry to develop a next generation DART® system 

that returns higher frequency observations. The 2011 Tohoku tsunami 

vividly demonstrated the devastating effect of tsunamis to coastlines in 

close proximity to the tsunami source. Developing forecast and warning 

capabilities that can address the local tsunami problem and provide an 

accurate flooding forecast within minutes of an earthquake will present 

additional capabilities to emergency managers for warnings (and their 

expirations), real-time assessment, potential search and rescue operations, event planning, and other emergency management tasks. This 

suite of capabilities is of particular benefit to the U.S. West Coast 

communities most at risk from near-field tsunamis.

NCTR is performing modeling studies to determine the optimal distribution of the DART® array, with the goal of maximizing tsunami warning 

system efficiency while reducing the operational cost to maintain the 

array. The program is also collaborating with local and state emergency 

Top to bottom: A DART® 

tsunami detection buoy 

being deployed; NW Eifuku 

submarine volcano emitting carbon dioxide; instrument used to measure the 

concentration of helium-3 

found in hydrothermal 

plumes

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

25
management communities in tsunami hazard mitigation activities, 

including production of tsunami inundation maps and tsunami hazard 

assessment studies.

In addition, NCTR will continue to collaborate with NOAA’s Tsunami 

Warning Centers to develop enhanced capabilities for automated and 

accurate tsunami flooding forecasts. Specifically, NCTR will develop 

and test new tsunami current forecasts for ports and harbors. Tsunamiinduced currents can produce damage to port facilities far from a tsunami 

source, as was dramatically demonstrated during the 2004 Sumatra/

Indian Ocean and the 2011 Japan tsunamis. NCTR is committed to 

ensuring that forecast products are clearly understood, and will develop 

new graphical tsunami forecast products to be used with new forecast 

distribution methods. Tsunami forecast delivery methods via web, cloud, 

and mobile platforms will be developed in partnership with NWS to 

provide NOAA clients with faster access to needed forecast information.

The Ocean Tracer group makes CFC and SF6 measurements on Repeat 

Hydrography and other ocean research cruises to detect changes in 

water mass formation rates and to improve estimates of the uptake 

and storage of anthropogenic CO2

 in the ocean on a global scale. Tracer 

studies can also improve estimates of the rates of important biogeochemical processes in the ocean, including oxygen utilization rates 

(OUR) and the production and consumption of trace gases in the ocean.

The Ocean Tracer group plans to extend tracer studies to include other 

important greenhouse gases (e.g., methane and nitrous oxide) that are 

not currently measured, and to use these data to help estimate the 

importance of the ocean in the global budget of these gases. The group 

also plans to increase interaction with modeling groups and to utilize 

these tracers to help evaluate global-scale ocean models. The group will 

collaborate with other nutrient-focused groups to look at the relationships between changes in CFCs and SF6

 with changes in nutrients and 

dissolved oxygen in the ocean. 

The Earth–Ocean Interactions group operates a helium isotope 

laboratory that has analyzed several thousand deep ocean samples for 

helium isotopes, many of them as part of the World Ocean Circulation 

Experiment (WOCE) tracer project. One result of WOCE is the most 

comprehensive description of helium isotope distributions in all the ocean 

basins. The helium isotope laboratory continues to analyze deep ocean 

samples to augment this existing tracer database. This data set provides 

OCEANS 

AND 

COASTAL 

PROCESSES

PMEL Themes

26
strong constraints on any model that includes a description of ocean 

circulation. The group also engages in collaborative ocean exploration and research with NOAA’s Ocean Exploration and Research 

Program office. Currently, their joint expeditions also involve initial 

collaborations with private sector ocean mining interests for the 

purpose of understanding and evaluating both environmental and 

economic drivers for ocean floor mining activity. The group will 

continue to develop new technologies on undersea cabled observatories on the Juan de Fuca ridge at Axial Seamount to better 

understand the temporal evolution of this hydrothermal system.

The Earth–Ocean Interactions group will expand its global exploration and research reach by continuing successful partnerships 

with U.S. and international investigators, and planning initiatives for exploration and research in the Arctic and Antarctic. The 

group will focus efforts, in partnerships and with the support of 

other agencies, on the development of a range of both stationary 

and mobile autonomous technologies that will expand both the 

geographic and time domain reach of observations while decreasing 

the program’s dependence on ships. Autonomous technology 

innovation will include development of sensor suites deployed on 

easily movable portable seafloor ecosystem observatories. Called 

Mobile Adaptive Seafloor Telemetry (MAST) systems, they will 

also have the ability to periodically communicate their data and 

receive instructions via a satellite connection.

Potential oceans and coastal processes research opportunities

Improving technology offers the potential for the development of 

full coastline inundation (flooding) forecasts within 30 minutes of 

an earthquake. This will be particularly important for the U.S. West 

Coast. PMEL is also hoping to conduct engineering projects to take 

advantage of available bandwidth on commercial telecommunications cables as they become available, to greatly reduce maintenance 

cost of the observation network and explore technologically driven 

regional cost reduction opportunities in tsunami detection.

PMEL has identified an emerging need for research to establish and 

monitor physical, chemical, and biological ocean environmental 

data in anticipation of increasing ocean mining activity. 

Oceans and 

Coastal Processes 

Research 

Evidence of 

Progress

There are five primary 

metrics of progress 

indicating PMEL’s 

success in this area:

•	 Number and quality 

of peer reviewed 

papers published

•	 Number of repeat 

hydrography cruises 

in which PMEL 

participates

•	 Number of regions 

for which PMEL 

has forecast 

capability for local 

tsunamis, including 

measurement 

and modeling 

components

•	 Number of tested 

tsunami current 

forecasts for ports 

and harbors

•	 Number of marine 

resource managers 

using PMEL 

environmental data 

to make decisions 

on the potential 

effects of seafloor 

exploitation

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

27
Research Innovation

NOAA’s success is predicated upon cutting-edge research, as well as 

the development and the delivery of products, tools, and information 

services to meet the needs of the nation. The first three PMEL goals 

are focused on developing a research agenda for the oceans. However, 

accomplishments across NOAA’s mission goals are also dependent upon 

the continued innovative development and use of observing platforms, 

systems, and information technology to improve data quality and 

delivery, and lower operating costs. Ongoing investments are necessary 

to ensure continuity and timeliness of long-term data collection from 

key regions across the world. Such data are critical to improve understanding and prediction of complex phenomena. Innovative solutions 

provide modern tools that make valuable information accessible to 

the science community and the public at large. Further development 

of software tools and emerging technologies will greatly enhance the 

public understanding of the Earth system.

One of PMEL’s strengths lies in the laboratory’s focus on innovation. 

Beyond PMEL’s research groups, there are three groups that focus 

on innovative development: The Engineering Development Division, 

Research IT Group, and Integrated Science Data Management Group. 

These groups work closely with all of the research groups and other 

NOAA partners to implement new and improved ways of conducting 

and communicating our science.

Description and motivation

Today, the need to collect more data at a lower cost and to share that 

scientific information has become the norm across many scientific disciplines. Even “one-off” observations may provide baseline understanding 

that proves essential for future observing system elements. High-quality 

observations are irreplaceable for the simple reason that they are unique 

in time and space and, therefore, can never be measured again. As a 

mission-driven agency, NOAA is well situated to make sustained largescale observations. OAR’s ocean observation programs increasingly 

recognize three goals: 1) to support the publication of new scientific 

results in peer-reviewed journals, 2) to contribute high-quality data to 

the emerging global ocean/climate observing system, and 3) to transition 

mature observing systems to operations. 

RESEARCH 

INNOVATION

PMEL Themes

28
Engineering innovations at PMEL are multidisciplinary in nature and are 

driven by the formation of teams that integrate research and engineering 

to solve difficult ocean and atmospheric observing challenges. PMEL 

Engineering’s objective is twofold: 1) to support PMEL field systems with 

engineering services, and 2) to foster technological innovation by pushing 

the limits of ocean and atmospheric observing platforms and sensors that 

advance NOAA research and operations.

Innovative technologies provide essential support for the science process, 

from collection of data in the field to analysis, computer modeling, and 

graphical visualization that leads to scientific understanding, results, and 

publications.

PMEL also foresees the trend of data sharing continuing and growing in 

the coming decade. Ever-increasing requirements are being placed upon 

NOAA observation programs to manage and share data more systematically. NOAA leadership is mandating data management plans to ensure 

the scientific value of data will be preserved over time and made available 

to users through community agreed-upon standards.

PMEL’s plan for the evolution of its data collection and management as 

a strategic goal will gain significant advantages. Implemented properly, 

such changes will: 1) enhance scientific productivity by freeing scientists 

and staff to focus on science challenges, 2) increase the level of professional recognition that scientists receive, 3) secure the scientific value of 

the data over the long term, and 4) assure scientific results are readily 

accessible to all stakeholders. Implementing these changes through 

strategic, evolutionary planning will minimize costs and inconvenience 

to research projects.

Recent significant research innovation accomplishments 

(2008–present)

PMEL has made significant accomplishments in moored and autonomous observing systems throughout its 30 year history, including the 

development of the Tropical Moored Buoy Array, the DART® Array, 

the NeMO seafloor observatory, and the evolving ocean carbon observation network. For example, PICO (Platform and Instrumentation for 

Continuous Observations) is a product developed at PMEL to improve 

on conventional oceanographic mooring systems. One version of the 

PICO is the DART®-ETD (Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of 

Tsunamis, Easy-to-Deploy) mooring. The ETD is an all-in-one buoy, 

mooring line, and anchor that self-deploys when it is launched into the 

Top to bottom: Slocum 

glider; Easy-To-Deploy 

(ETD) buoy; carbon wave 

glider

PMEL research 

data resources are 

available online at

pmel.noaa.gov/

datalinks.html

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

29
ocean. The “factory built” design dramatically reduces cost of ownership 

by reducing the vessel requirements and training of personnel, and by 

improving safety at sea for moored system deployments. The Prawler 

(Profiler + Crawler) is a wave-powered subsea instrument that was 

developed as part of the PICO concept. The Prawler eliminates the need 

for multiple sensors on the mooring line because the instrument moves 

up and down the mooring line, collecting real-time profiles of oceanographic properties.

PMEL has been developing unmanned mobile platforms, including 

vehicles that operate from 3000 m above to 1000 m below sea level. Two 

Manta Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) were adapted to fit a novel 

marine aerosol sensing package and flown near Svalbard, Norway, to 

study the effects of black soot on climate. The development included 

advancing GPS receivers for auto take-off and landing and advances 

in real-time telemetry via Radio Frequency (RF) and Iridium modems. 

PMEL has outfitted two off-the-shelf wave gliders (wave-powered autonomous surface vehicles) with pH, CO2

, temperature (T), salinity (S), and 

dissolved oxygen (DO) sensors. PMEL’s so-called Carbon Wave Gliders 

(CWG) have been used off the Pacific Northwest coast and Hawaii in 

RESEARCH 

INNOVATION

Schematic showing Easy-To-Deploy buoy with self deploying anchor and Profiler device

PMEL Themes

30
support of the ocean acidification project. Wave gliders have also been 

used to further PMEL’s Arctic observations in the Beaufort Sea. PMEL 

has adapted two Slocum underwater gliders with T, S, and DO sensors 

that have been used in conjunction with the CWG and research ship 

missions off the U.S. West Coast. A unique internally recording hydrophone package has also been integrated into a Slocum glider and used 

for missions, studying beaked whales off Hawaii and volcanic activity 

near the West Mata volcano in the South Pacific.

PMEL has also been proactive in transferring developed technologies to 

operations and to industry. For example, the TAO and DART® arrays are 

now operated by the NWS, and several mooring systems and the PMEL 

MAPCO2

 system have been transferred to commercial vendors. These 

transfers free up valuable PMEL resources for next-generation developments, while making these instruments more widely available to other 

researchers, generating more observations.

Innovative information technology has enabled PMEL research projects 

to develop robust processes for data acquisition from varied types of 

sensors, sophisticated data analyses, and effective communication of 

scientific understanding utilizing the internet and YouTube.

PMEL has produced important data handling tools, such as the Scientific 

Graphics Toolkit, Ferret, and the Live Access Server, which are extensively 

used by the ocean research community. For example, PMEL has used the 

Live Access Server to help bring the ocean CO2

 observations community 

together to produce a global collection of surface carbon data, called the 

Surface Ocean CO2

 Atlas (SOCAT). PMEL has also been a contributor in 

community-wide efforts to define standards and protocols for scientific 

data sharing, through leadership in the Climate and Forecast (CF) data 

conventions and the NOAA-wide Unified Access Framework (UAF) for 

sharing scientific data, among others.

Clockwise from top 

left: Slocum glider; 

Engineering Development division leader 

Christian Meinig shows 

Acting NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan 

the electronics of PMEL’s 

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 

(UAV), with PMEL Director, 

Dr. Christopher Sabine in 

the background; DART® 

Easy-To-Deploy (ETD) 

buoy; Arctic Wave Glider; 

NOAA Ship Okeanos 

Explorer

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

31
Current and future research innovation activities

PMEL’s innovation enterprise largely enhances the capabilities of its 

research groups; in that sense, those science programs serve as the major 

drivers for the work of the Research Innovation groups. PMEL’s wellknown successes in innovation have led to successful collaborations with 

users and developers external to PMEL as well. 

PMEL’s Engineering Development Division (EDD) takes advantage 

of the close working relationship between researchers, engineers, and 

support staff to determine requirements and evaluate the effectiveness 

of innovative technologies. EDD provides end-to-end engineering 

services for NOAA Research from design to model studies, prototypes, 

production, deployment, and piloting. The current emphasis is to sustain, 

improve, and develop ocean and marine atmosphere observing systems. 

These systems include moorings, mooring crawlers (a.k.a. Prawlers), 

unmanned vehicles, gliders, and ship-based systems, along with the 

sensors and supporting electronics and software necessary for each 

mission. The primary engineering operational work is focused on highquality production, cost-reduction measures, and improvement to the 

features and reliability of mature systems while supporting field projects 

with EDD field personnel. EDD manages a laboratory-wide scientific 

equipment pool consisting of $3.5M of commonly used field equipment, 

such as CTDs, acoustic releases, and autonomous marine vehicles. 

EDD also maintains a 38 ́ research vessel, R/V Hayes, to support local 

development and testing operations. Current programs mirror PMEL’s 

scientific research efforts and include approximately 30 major projects.

EDD maintains an agile workforce, crucial to responding successfully to 

new opportunities. By keeping up with innovations in ocean engineering 

from related and diverse sectors, EDD can assimilate the best new ideas 

into potential solutions for emerging PMEL and NOAA research requirements. The group will support and nurture diverse teams of engineers 

and researchers by building communication feedback loops and 

encouraging a “learning culture” by supporting advanced training and 

education. Some research themes exceed EDD expertise and capacity. 

Choosing appropriate partnerships with organizations that have our 

shared vision is critical to creating and disseminating ocean innovations.

PMEL’s Research IT group was created to provide innovation in the development of advanced, robust information technology. This group explores 

and exploits appropriate new information technologies to support the 

wide-reaching mission-driven requirements for observing system data 

RESEARCH 

INNOVATION

PMEL Themes

32
collection and the further development of innovative techniques 

for data analysis, visualization, presentation, and dissemination. 

Research IT promotes dialog and information exchange among 

PMEL research groups and with its operational Computer and 

Network Services Division (CNSD).

PMEL research projects and the Research IT group will actively explore 

ways to build on existing software and expertise in the laboratory, to 

find cost efficiencies in consolidated pooling or increased sharing of 

science IT staff and web programmers, consistent branding of PMEL 

project web pages, a content management system for consistent 

web pages, and establishing a secure “sandbox” for testing and/or 

developing innovative technologies. The group will also proactively 

participate in pilot projects to explore the use of innovative enterprise 

IT solutions, to support and communicate mission-driven science.

Potential research innovation directions

EDD will maintain and support PMEL operational systems with a 

flexible and diverse set of instruments, machines, and tools that are 

creatively integrated into the research mission. Innovation and application to ocean research require looking beyond a five year timeframe. 

Together with scientists, EDD will identify emerging technologies 

that may have a major impact on future NOAA research.

Looking forward, the Research IT group seeks to develop and pursue 

a strategy for consistent management and/or presentation of PMEL 

data with open and interoperable data access standards.

PMEL’s Integrated Science Data Management infrastructure will 

make PMEL’s data available through a uniform set of machine-usable 

services. With these changes, it becomes possible for the lab to seize a 

number of significant opportunities: 1) As new observation streams 

mature at PMEL, the effort required to share the data in real time 

will be greatly reduced; 2) If NOAA, the Department of Commerce, 

or Congress demands integrated data services, PMEL may be well 

positioned to lead other institutions by sharing its technical achievements; 3) With data services that can fuse data from multiple PMEL 

projects, as well as from outside sources, PMEL science projects have 

the opportunity to develop science-based web pages of extraordinary richness, featuring PMEL data in a manner that highlights 

its contributions to the in situ observing system, satellite calibration, 

and earth system modeling, as well as to scientific publications.

Research 

Innovation 

Evidence of 

Progress

PMEL’s progress in 

meeting its mission, 

vision, and objectives 

through Research 

Innovation can be 

measured by the 

following criteria::

•	 PMEL engineering 

innovations are 

aligned with NOAA’s 

overarching goals 

and are in demand 

by internal and 

external partners.

•	 PMEL technology is 

effectively communicated in science 

publications, media, 

and technology 

outlets.

•	 PMEL publishes 

(and safely archives) 

a large number of 

datasets each year.

•	 A high percentage 

of PMEL projects 

serve data through 

integration infrastructure.

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

33
Foundational Services

The success of PMEL’s world-class research and science programs is 

dependent, in large measure, on the strengths of its foundational support 

systems operating behind the scenes. These supporting structures provide 

the essential tools that allow PMEL science programs to prosper. Foundational support at PMEL generates support at OAR, NOAA, Department of 

Commerce, and Congressional levels; manages budgets in an atmosphere 

of ever-changing policies and procedures; provides a robust information technology infrastructure to support administrative, scientific, 

and multimedia requirements; implements and manages human capital 

requirements, procurements, grants, and financial transactions; prepares 

and manages interagency agreements with scientific partners; and 

serves in a plethora of other roles, from securing ship time and ensuring 

everyone has a desk at which to work to educating the public on the value 

of PMEL’s scientific and engineering accomplishments.

Description and motivation

PMEL maintains an efficient and effective support system that impacts 

all PMEL programs in significant ways. The objective of the Foundational Services team is to encourage, enable, and facilitate the best science 

possible for meeting NOAA’s mission within federal, departmental, 

and agency guidelines and directives. PMEL’s Foundational Services 

group is able to adapt to changes in the agency business and regulatory 

environment while continuing to meet the needs of PMEL scientists and 

engineers by building and maintaining a technically strong work force.

Foundational Services consists of the following three components: 

Administrative and Technical Services, Computer and Network Services, 

and the Office of the Director.

First and foremost, PMEL scientists are our primary customers and, 

while it is necessary to respond to “taskers” from OAR, Program Offices, 

and others, our first responsibility is to support the projects’ financial, 

logistical, safety, personnel, and computing needs. 

FOUNDATIONAL

SERVICES

PMEL Themes

34
Dr. Christopher Sabine has been with PMEL since 

1999, previously working as Supervisory Oceanographer in PMEL’s Ocean Carbon Group before 

becoming Director of PMEL in November 2011. 

He has received numerous awards including the 

Department of Commerce Gold Medal, NASA Group 

Achievement Award, and the NOAA Technology 

Transfer Award. He received special recognition from 

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

(IPCC) for his role in helping the IPCC win the 

2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and he is a Coordinating 

Lead Author on the IPCC Working Group I Fifth 

Assessment Report.

He obtained his B.S. in Marine Science at Texas A&M University-Galveston 

before receiving his Ph.D. in Oceanography from University of Hawaii at 

Manoa in Hawaii in 1992. Prior to joining PMEL, Dr. Sabine was a Research 

Associate at Princeton University where he was actively involved in the World 

Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study 

(JGOFS) programs, making state of the art ocean carbon measurements. 

Recent significant foundational services accomplishments 

(2008-present)

PMEL Foundational Services continues to provide outstanding administrative 

and IT services to PMEL scientific programs within an ever-expanding array 

of security and business rules. PMEL recently secured $150K procurement 

authority in-house to improve effectiveness of procurements, began transitioning responsibility for Western Regional Center campus networking from 

PMEL to Office of the Chief Information Officer, and consistently closes out 

annual budgets to within 0.1%.

Annually, a suitable number of sea days on NOAA ships and other vessels 

is acquired to carry out PMEL’s scientific data collection activities, and the 

Laboratory’s scientific productivity is supported by providing functional information technology, publications, multimedia, and web-based services and 

outreach communication.

About the Director

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

35
Current foundational services activities

A table listing many of the activities of the Foundational Services group follows.

Budget Management Appropriated funding: budget operating plans, 

allowance advices, funds management and oversight, 

response to agency “taskers,” Continuing Resolutions, 

quarterly allotments

Reimbursable funding: MOUs/MOAs, reimbursable 

project setup, billing oversight, establishment of 

allotments, carryover, budget formulation, proposal 

oversight, budget operating plans, budget reports, 

project lists

Financial Services Account management

Detail level transfers

Invoice payments

Purchasing Purchase order awards up to $150K

Regulatory oversight

Acquisition management guidance

Grants/Contracts Process all grant activity through Grants OnLine

Process and fulfill COTR responsibilities for all PMEL 

contracts

Personnel 

Management 

Support

Training

Recruits, promotions, and awards

Travel Foreign and domestic, invitational and group travel for 

sponsored meetings

Process travel orders and prepare travel vouchers 

through Travel Manager

Bankcards Reconcile monthly statements, statement oversight

Enter reconciled data into CBS

Audit response

Publications Provide typesetting/publishing services, edit/proofread 

manuscripts, maintain digital and print archives

Manage publications databases and web content, 

develop online forms

PMEL Themes

36
Telecommunications Maintain phones, voice mail, cell phones, etc.

Manage Ditco, Stratos, CLS America (Argos) service

GSA Vehicles Maintain vehicle fleet suitable to PMEL’s needs

Graphics Scan figures, manipulate image files for high resolution 

publication use; create images, coordinate waterproof 

printing with GPO

Design and print posters and images on vinyl for use on 

equipment and vans; provide handouts and optimized 

files; troubleshoot file and printing issues

Prepare items for exhibits and displays

Shipping Advise, plan, coordinate, and/or execute freight 

shipments, foreign and domestic—all transportation 

modes, dockside logistics, Hazmat, customs

Property 

Management

Maintain PMEL property database; update data in 

NOAA Sunflower

Tag and excess property, conduct annual inventory, etc.

Interact with NOAA Property Office to address 

problems, issues, regulatory requirements

Security Oversee and manage PMEL security clearance/ID 

program for non-feds

Provide physical security interface with Western Region 

security staff (site security, visitor procedures, foreign 

national vetting through NOAA and DoC)

Provide Common Access Card/ID management

Legal, regulatory 

oversight

Coordinate/manage FOIA responses

Local IT support Provide support for process and procedures required 

for certification and accreditation of all PMEL network 

and computing resources (enables authorization to 

operate all PMEL systems)

Automatically scan all networked systems for security 

vulnerabilities and patch installation (available for field 

systems upon request); provide encryption and system 

imaging services for laptop systems

Provide central management and deployment of 

virus protection for Windows desktop systems (similar 

service available for Mac and Linux systems)

Implement PMEL IT security policies

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

37
Multimedia and 

Communications

Development of an Iridium RUDICS communication 

infrastructure to ingest data from field instruments and 

serve that data to the appropriate PMEL projects

Provide multimedia support for presentations, 

meetings, and display; provide a full range of photographic and video services; support and operate PMEL’s 

multimedia facility; maintain video teleconference 

(VTC) equipment; assist with VTC scheduling, configuration, and facilities

Disseminate information on the operation of PMEL 

computing and network resources.

Fleet Services Conduct strategic and tactical planning with providers 

(NOAA, UNOLS, contract, and international vessels), 

identify appropriate vessels, negotiate schedules, prioritizing projects, etc.

Safety Manage safety, inside and outside of PMEL facilities

Outreach and 

Education

Post hot items, locally manage press releases

Respond to queries from public and NOAA 

headquarters

Manage/oversee special events on campus and 

elsewhere, open houses, tour requests, congressional 

visits, outreach events, etc.

Strategic Planning Produce annual budget narrative, SEE implementation 

plans, annual operating plans; track milestones and 

performance measures on quarterly basis

NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Management

Communicate PMEL science to Congress, DoC, NOAA, and other state/

federal agencies

Provide information on potential funding opportunities to PMEL PIs

Respond/manage response to OAR, NOAA, DoC, and other requests

PMEL Themes

38
PMEL scientists demonstrate oceanographic measurement tools to middle 

school kids at NOAA Science Camp (left); Dr. Richard Feely shows data to 

former Washington State Congressman Brian Baird (right)

Foundational Services 

Evidence of Progress

PMEL’s Foundational Services 

progress in meeting its mission, 

vision, and objectives can be 

measured by the following 

criteria:

•	 IT resources are secured to 

an acceptable level of risk to 

allow researchers and staff 

to carry out the mission of 

the laboratory

•	 Public network services are 

provided for dissemination 

of PMEL data and information products

•	 Available technologies 

that may meet PMEL’s 

IT needs are researched, 

and appropriate solutions 

are evaluated and tested 

for potential deployment 

within PMEL

•	 Internal and external 

deadlines pertaining to 

data calls and expectations 

of timeliness of budget 

activities are met

•	 Adequate management 

strategies are applied to 

plan and expend resources 

in a manner that contributes 

to PMEL’s strategic goals 

and objectives

•	 All funding is managed, 

distributed, and tracked 

to optimize use of fiscal 

resources within Program 

and Fund Codes.

Future foundational services directions

As regulations and the business environment change, PMEL’s 

Foundational Services will strive to respond in a way that 

minimizes impacts on scientific programs. By carefully 

planning recruitments, encouraging training, and enhancing 

functional competencies, PMEL Foundational Services will 

continue to evolve and remain relevant in terms of its ability 

to meet the needs of the scientific and technical staff. PMEL 

management will continue networking to gain insights into 

new opportunities for research, and pursue opportunities to 

increase funding for the laboratory’s research activities.

Longer-term foundational services opportunities

PMEL will position itself to maintain the long-term stability 

of the laboratory. This means adjusting areas of research focus 

and personnel based on indications of the relevant future 

NOAA and OAR goals.

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

39
Carbon dioxide buoy before leaving PMEL to be deployed on the waterfront at San Francisco’s 

Exploratorium science museum. Pictured in front: PMEL Director Christopher Sabine; in back (from left 

to right): Hendrick Miller, John Shanley, Andrew Meyer, Michael Craig, Steve Smith, Lauren Koellermeier, 

Robert Trask, and Dennis Holzer.

40
Partnerships

P ARTNERSHIPS ARE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to the success of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The laboratory would 

not be able to function without numerous partnerships at many different 

levels. Partners act as providers of resources and expertise, and range 

from those within OAR to the partnerships the lab maintains with the 

international community. By sharing PMEL’s expertise and resources 

with partners, we increase the productivity of our collaborators on 

mutually beneficial projects. 

OAR Partnerships

OAR primarily conducts research using two mechanisms: laboratories 

and programs. The laboratories are provided annual base funding to 

maintain infrastructure and trained staff, and with that funding, conduct 

a minimal amount of mission research. Over the last few decades, this 

funding has not increased substantially, particularly as inflation has 

continued to increase the costs of maintaining the infrastructure components of the laboratory and a core group of scientists dedicated to helping 

NOAA meet its mission. At the same time, NOAA’s mission and responsibilities have continued to increase, with much of the funding for the 

additional OAR responsibilities going to OAR program offices. The OAR 

programs typically do not employ field scientists directly, but provide 

funding for scientists within the OAR laboratories and outside of NOAA 

to complete the research goals of that particular program. Thus, there is 

a close relationship between the OAR laboratories, which maintain the 

scientific expertise to conduct critical research, and the OAR programs, 

which provide much of the funding to conduct that research. Both 

partners have important roles to play, and PMEL scientists are dedicated 

to fostering a good relationship with their OAR program managers. The 

OAR program offices that PMEL works particularly closely with are the 

Climate Program Office, the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 

and the Ocean Acidification Program.

41
Top to bottom: In 

partnership with Seattle’s 

Space Needle, PMEL placed 

a CO2

 sensor at the structure’s top; report authored 

by Washington State 

Department of Ecology, 

PMEL, and other representatives of the Governor’s 

panel to address ocean 

acidification in Washington; 

Indonesian partners and 

PMEL sign a Memoradum of 

Understanding

PMEL also works very closely with scientific personnel at most of 

the other OAR laboratories. Each of the laboratories has a different 

collection of scientific expertise, but all of the scientists are generally 

working toward the same set of NOAA and OAR goals. In many 

cases, productive long-term collaborations are formed within and 

across the OAR laboratories that enhance the productivity of the 

scientists.

NOAA Partners

The primary mission of the OAR labs is to conduct research to 

support the operational line offices of NOAA. In some cases, 

these line offices (e.g., National Weather Service, National Marine 

Fisheries Service) provide funding support for specific research 

products that benefit that particular line office. In other cases, the 

collaborations are among scientific personnel with mutual interests 

in a topic of study. For example, PMEL scientists receive funding 

and work alongside scientists from the National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS) to conduct research on the impact of climate 

variability on marine ecosystems in the Bering Sea. This work 

benefits NMFS by providing valuable information on the controls 

of fish stocks relevant to their requirements to set fishing limits. 

At the same time, the collaboration between PMEL’s physical and 

biogeochemical scientists and the large number of fisheries biologists within NMFS helps our scientists to conduct critical research 

for meeting OAR’s Oceans and Coasts goal.

National and International Partners

PMEL works very closely with major partners outside NOAA. The 

strongest connection is with U.S. universities through the national 

network of Cooperative Institutes (CIs). Approximately one-half 

of the PMEL workforce is made up of CI employees. While PMEL 

interacts with four CIs on a regular basis, our main partner is the 

Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) 

at the University of Washington in Seattle, with about 80 scientists 

and technical staff, including 12 PIs who manage their own research 

Partnerships

42
Top to bottom: 

PMEL’s four cooperative 

institutes: University 

of Washington’s 

Joint Institute for the 

Study of Oceans and 

Atmosphere, University 

of Hawaii’s Joint 

Institute for Marine and 

Atmospheric Research, 

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks Cooperative 

Institute for Alaska 

Research, and Oregon 

State University’s 

Cooperative Institute 

for Marine Resources 

Studies

programs as well as collaborate with NOAA researchers. PMEL’s 

Newport facility works very closely with the Oregon State University 

Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies (CIMRS). PMEL 

also has staff from the University of Hawaii Joint Institute for Marine 

and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) and the University of Alaska at 

Fairbanks Cooperative Institute for Alaska Research (CIFAR). 

As PMEL is currently structured, the CIs are absolutely essential to 

the productivity and success of the laboratory’s research programs. 

They foster important collaborations with university scientists, as 

well as provide NOAA with access to a broad range of university 

facilities and resources that would otherwise be unavailable. 

PMEL also relies heavily on partnerships with academic institutions, 

other government agencies, private industry, non-governmental 

organizations, the states, and international organizations and governments to increase its scientific productivity. In some cases, these 

partners are providing funding to PMEL scientists. In other cases, 

there may be a pooling of resources, such as having a partner provide 

ship time to deploy PMEL instrumentation in exchange for immediate 

access to the data and co-authorship on journal articles based on 

the resulting observations. In many cases, scientific collaborations 

are established to round out needed scientific disciplines required 

for interdisciplinary research projects. These scientific partnerships 

allow PMEL to work with the world’s best scientists to complement its 

in-house scientific expertise. PMEL also works with partners to exploit 

opportunities to develop paradigm-changing observational platforms. 

Industry partners may work with PMEL scientists to field test new 

scientific instrumentation or benefit from technology transfers, which 

allow production of needed equipment at quantities that are too large 

for PMEL to produce efficiently.

The sum of all these partnerships allows PMEL to bring in over three 

dollars of outside funding for every dollar of PMEL base funding, 

and conduct research that extends many times beyond the levels 

possible with the PMEL scientific personnel alone. The hundreds of 

partnerships routinely maintained at PMEL represent a fundamental 

construct of how the laboratory functions and is a hallmark of the 

success of this laboratory.

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

43
PMEL’s strategic planning process

44
Challenges

PMEL IS A THRIVING, productive laboratory recognized throughout 

the earth science community as a preeminent research institution. 

However, there are many challenges that the laboratory must face to 

maintain that preeminence. The challenges can be summarized into three 

basic categories: infrastructure, workforce management, and regulatory 

controls.

Infrastructure

PMEL is primarily a sea-going laboratory. The research conducted by the 

laboratory has averaged around 600 sea days per year for the last decade. 

The ability to maintain moored arrays and other at-sea systems currently 

requires large vessels to cover great distances. Historic ship time on NOAA 

and UNOLS ships is not as available as it once was due to shrinking fleets 

and growing operational costs. As government fleets decrease in size, 

there is more competition for the sea time available after accommodating 

mandated projects. Ship time challenges within the NOAA Fleet are even 

more complex than just cost and lack of scheduled time. The NOAA Fleet 

is evolving, and the Pacific Coast is currently without a NOAA multipurpose oceanographic vessel. If PMEL research is to maintain at-sea 

systems on NOAA vessels, projects are going to have to show flexibility not 

required in the past. In the longer term, OAR and NOAA Leadership must 

address the challenges that research faces and make informed decisions 

on the future composition of the NOAA Fleet. 

Outside of the NOAA Fleet, the cost of a day at sea is doubling every 10 

years, which far exceeds any budgetary ability of the lab to keep pace. 

PMEL must find partnerships and innovative ways to maintain the observations that have sustained its research through the years. Leveraging 

expertise for ship time, deploying autonomous vehicles and instruments, 

and becoming more efficient with the ship time PMEL already has are all 

part of the solution. There are barely tapped resources available, such as 

other U.S. government fleets (Military Sealift Command, Coast Guard, 

NATO), trans-oceanic cable systems, and working more effectively with 

in-house NOAA partners (NOS, NMFS, NWS) that can also be part of the 

future, but these will take time to develop and nurture. 

45
PMEL’s limited office and laboratory space is another significant infrastructure challenge. PMEL has been very successful over the years at 

leveraging its base funding to bring in external research dollars. To 

conduct this research, the Laboratory has had to expand its workforce and 

laboratory space requirements. These expansions have now exceeded the 

available space in current facilities. A major priority for PMEL as we move 

into the future is finding additional office, laboratory, and staging space to 

conduct research. This will include taking a close look at the current use of 

space to find opportunities to consolidate and maximize the utility of the 

currently assigned laboratory space. It also means working with OAR and 

NOAA leadership to locate or build additional facilities on the Western 

Regional Center campus to meet the Laboratory’s needs.

Other infrastructure challenges include the growing difficulty of 

maintaining an effective and secure information technology (IT) 

infrastructure in an increasingly complex world, a growing need for infrastructure support to develop autonomous instrumentation and manage 

the volume of data these systems will generate in an environment of level 

or decreasing funding, and the Laboratory’s ability to maintain all aspects 

of its infrastructure as costs increase and budgets decrease.

PMEL shiptime organized by type of vessel used

Challenges

46
Workforce Management

PMEL is approaching its fortieth anniversary. Much of its growth in 

personnel occurred in the last 20 to 30 years. Once they arrived, the vast 

majority of scientists stay throughout their career. As a result, the mean 

age of the laboratory scientific personnel has been steadily increasing for 

the last decade or more. A significant challenge for the Laboratory is the 

smooth transition of programs as senior scientists retire. It is becoming 

increasingly important for group leaders to think strategically about the 

future of their groups and the succession of leadership.

An ongoing challenge in the Laboratory is maintaining a healthy balance 

of federal and cooperative institute scientists on staff. Both types of 

personnel have advantages and disadvantages for the laboratory and 

research groups. Research groups will need to work closely with PMEL 

leadership to develop a hiring strategy that maintains the long-term 

stability of the group, particularly in view of the succession of leadership 

issues previously discussed. PMEL will also continue to work with OAR 

Headquarters to minimize management decisions that highlight the 

differences between federal and CI personnel, because highlighting these 

differences introduces a chasm that detracts from the seamless interaction 

that the laboratory promotes.

An important aspect of PMEL’s workforce management challenges is the 

difficulty of hiring and promoting personnel within the federal system. 

Significant challenges exist in the time and level of effort required to recruit 

and reward good federal scientists. Although hiring is more straightforward with the cooperative institutes, providing salary increases and 

performance rewards that are comparable to those in the federal system 

is exceedingly difficult. PMEL will continue to work with NOAA and CI 

leadership as appropriate to try and address these issues.

One way to address some of PMEL’s workforce management challenges is 

to develop and promote a more vigorous post-doctoral program. Having 

a steady stream of post-docs that come through the lab exposes young 

scientists to how the government laboratories function and introduces 

fresh ideas to the research groups. The Laboratory’s close association 

with several universities can also provide a good source of young scientists as PMEL establishes close partnerships with these institutions. This 

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory 2013–2017 Strategic Plan

47
exposure can also be a source of new highly talented scientists who could 

be brought into the federal workforce after they have proven their value 

to the research groups. Although some groups routinely have post-docs 

as part of their programs, PMEL leadership will promote an expansion of 

post-doc opportunities within the lab to the extent possible. 

Regulatory Controls

As scientific research becomes more reliant on information technology, 

and the world in general becomes more connected, cyber security and 

controls on information flow become increasingly important. Over the 

last few years, PMEL has seen a significant increase in the number of IT 

controls passed down from Headquarters. These controls take time and 

resources to implement, and, more often than not, limit the flexibility of 

scientists to conduct their research.

As budgets become tighter, we are experiencing similar challenges with 

increasing restrictions on how funds are allocated and used. Controls 

on travel and blanket efficiency initiatives often have unintended consequences for PMEL’s ability to conduct its research.

Recent years have also seen a dramatic increase in the number of “taskers,” 

or data calls, from Headquarters that require time and resources to 

complete, often without any indication as to how the requested information 

is being used. The same information is often asked by different groups at 

Headquarters with a requirement that it be packaged differently for each 

group. These increased regulatory controls never come with funding to 

meet the additional time and resource requirements, further eroding the 

operational base of the Laboratory.

Challenges

48
Summary

THE PACIFIC MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY’S core 

values of integrity, excellence, and leadership have helped us to 

combine scientific independence with strategic integration and societal 

relevance. The laboratory is more than a collection of individual scientists; it provides an infrastructure that promotes interaction between 

researchers with related interests to achieve the NOAA, OAR, and PMEL 

missions. This document outlines PMEL’s 20 year vision and mission 

statements, as well as a set of 5 year strategic goals to achieve that 

long-term vision. Much of the laboratory’s success is based on its ability 

to establish and maintain critical partnerships that allow PMEL scientists to leverage its base resources for the benefit of NOAA and the larger 

scientific community. Although the Laboratory faces many challenges in 

both the short and long term, PMEL is dedicated to the NOAA mission 

and optimistic about its ability to continue its preeminent research in the 

future.

49
Top to bottom: Aerial view of PMEL headquarters at NOAA’s Western Regional Center campus in Seattle, 

Washington; aerial view of Hatfield Marine Science Center, located in Newport, Oregon; PMEL staff photograph

NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF CO M MERCE