Data Collection, Sharing and the Impact on Ocean Modernization 

-A deeper look at Oceans 2022 and the impact of uncrewed vehicles 
 
The AUVSI team recently had the opportunity to attend OCEANS 2022 in Hampton Roads, Virginia where industry thought leaders gathered for four days to discuss the latest trends and technologies affecting our oceans. Topics ranged from innovation in ocean engineering to costal resilience in the face of climate change. Representing AUVSI at the event were Keely Griffith, AUVSI’s Director of Industry Education, Mike Smitsky, Director of Government Affairs, and Heather Lee, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Two themes came up repeatedly where our team felt there were substantial opportunities for impact and advancement for the uncrewed vehicle systems (UxS) industry. The first was modernization of data, collection and sharing, and the second was expanded support for government and private sector cooperation through Public Private Partnerships (P3). 
 
Data Collection and Sharing 
Over the past several decades, the oceanic sector has gone from a largely unexplored industrial and agricultural resource to a high-tech environment where advanced systems can operate above and below the surface. A significant enabler of this transition has been the development and implementation of advanced vehicle technologies. These technologies, and in particular the use of uncrewed systems, have enabled far more accurate and robust data collection, measurement, and tracking of everything from environmental changes to energy exploration information. Not only has it led to expanded capabilities for processing, but information collected has given us insight into how we can manage the use of our oceans in a more sustainable way. 
 
Uncrewed systems have played a critical role in expanding the capabilities of conventional research and industrial efforts. Using uncrewed technologies (UUV, USV, UAS, etc.), organizations are collecting data on ocean floor mapping, performing infrastructure inspections, and augmenting existing capabilities in countless other ways. The data being collected benefits a variety of applications, including coral reef mapping and monitoring, water quality tracking, fish tracking and predictions, security for maritime zones and port protection, acoustic monitoring, hull inspections, route discovery, climate change, and other critical needs. 
 
Regulation 
Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia, in his opening remarks, called out specific bills that have generated — and will likely continue to generate — greater investment in the oceanic sector: 
 

• The Clean Water Act (1972) sets governance controls and restricts pollution of the nation’s waterways 
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) set aside $492 million for flood and inundation mapping, next-generation water modeling, and modernized precipitation studies, and an additional$492 million for national oceans and Coastal Security Fund grants for natural feature restoration 
• The Water Resources Development Act of 2022 authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out activities concerning water resources development projects, water supply and wastewater infrastructure, flood control, navigation, hydropower, or ecosystem restoration, such as shoreline restoration 
• The Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator Act establishes an Accelerator for research into technology promoting sustainability including establishment and development of ocean-based power sources 

Ongoing Initiatives 
Despite the increase in data collection and usability, challenges remain which were illustrated in remarks from government and research organizations such as NOAA/NCEI and Woods Hole, industry experts from Kongsberg Maritime, Saildrone, and Esri, as well as academic institutions. All these organizations were grappling with concerns of data management and sharing including accessibility and data exchange, interoperability and trust, security, data standardization, and central repositories critical to a useable data infrastructure. Key initiatives to improve industry-wide data management include: 
 
Data standardization to support interoperability: In response to the CENOTE Act of 2018, NOAA/NCEI and Naval Meteorology & Oceanography Command have partnered together on uncrewed maritime systems tech to define data exchange standards so that “data interoperability is smoother and more cost-effective” [2]. Through the establishment of a common vocabulary for data exchanges based on metadata, they can improve data discoverability and accessibility. 
 
Data sharing initiatives across agencies: The Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management (BOEM) “funds research on marine mammals through the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) [4]. The Office of Naval Research (ONR), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) also identified a shared need for both baseline biological data and data focused on the effects of sound on marine wildlife. Working together, ONR provided funding to BOEM to publish “Marine Mammals and Noise” which leverages this cross-organizational data sharing to help protect marine life. ONR continues to provide annual funding for the National Ocean Partnership Program to support data sharing.  
 
Encouraging data accessibility: The Schmidt Ocean Institute shares data collected through various vessels and ship-board equipment[3]. Equipment is made available to third parties through a proposal process with the caveat that they make their data open, lending to broader engagement and application. Data accessibility initiatives by their organization include managing steps of the data pipeline, supporting the enhancement of metadata, and ensuring quality assurance at point of collection.  
 
Public Private Partnerships  
Public Private Partnerships also play a major role in the strategy and collaboration requirement to overcome data challenges. P3s involve an arrangement between government and the private sector to support a public service. Dr. Tom Drake, Head of Ocean Battlespace and Expeditionary Access Department, Office of Naval Research (ONR), has used extreme events, like the one just experienced with Hurricane Ian to illustrate the potential impact of these partnerships. To predict the trajectory of a hurricane and impact, the ONR is partnering with US Geological Survey (USGS) and Deltares. Through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, which “promotes interactions between federal agencies that support ocean sciences” they will involve government, academic institutions, private industry, and non-profits in “leveraging remotely sensed data” to enhance coastal impact prediction. Such partnerships require greater data standardization to reinforce the accuracy and usability of research and provide a clear use case for expanded data collection, capabilities, and availability. 
 
While UxS maintain the potential to satisfy the need for increased data, the oceans are vast and require stakeholders to be cognizant of the greater environment they operate in. Data collection should be approached with strategic intention and purpose in mind. Pre-determining potential partners, the mechanisms and technology to be used, standards in which data will be collected, a storage solution that will enable cross-organization accessibility, and shared analysis are all key pieces to establishing a data strategy that ensures utility, adaptability, and sustainability.  
 
For more information on AUVSI or our research products, please reach out to Aaron Bull at abull@auvsi.org. And don’t forget to check here for our featured uncrewed surface vehicle excerpt from the Uncrewed Systems & Robotics Database: Saildrone Surveyor.
 
 
1 - https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/26843/115545....
 
2 - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/ & https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/  
 
Weathers, K. & Evans, A. (2022, October 18-21). An introduction and initial assessment of uncrewed systems standards as a catalyst for data interoperability [Conference presentation]. Oceans Conference 2022, Hampton Roads, VA, United States. 
 
3 - Schmidt Ocean Institute 
 
Bassin, Corrine (2022, October 18-21). Town hall: The next generation of big data management and digitalization to support a sustainable blue economy [Conference presentation]. Oceans Conference 2022, Hampton Roads, VA, United States. 
 
4- https://www.boem.gov/environment/environmental-studies/partnering-office-naval-research  
 

Authors

Keely Griffith
Director of Industry Education

Mike Smitsky
Director of Government Affairs