SILVER SPRING, MD – NOAA has launched a one-stop Southeast Marine Weather Internet portal offering marine weather forecasts and real-time coastal wind and water condition information for the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The portal is the result of a two-year, $579,546 NOAA-funded project implemented within the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, through the University of North Carolina/Wilmington. The portal is an experimental product developed in cooperation with NOAA's National Weather Service and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

“The goal is to supply people with everything they might need to know to make the smartest decisions,” said Zdenka Willis, NOAA IOOS Program director. “Easier access to timely and useful water, weather and climate information will save lives, property and resources.”

The portal is part of IOOS, a tool for tracking, predicting, managing and adapting to changes in the marine environment. IOOS delivers data and information needed to increase understanding of the nation’s waters to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment.

”The Southeast Marine Weather Portal has been developed with the end user - the mariner, sailor, surfer, beachgoer - in mind,” said Jennifer Dorton, program coordinator with the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program at UNC Wilmington. “The portal provides the information they need to make safe and informed decisions before going out on the water or to the beach.”

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Copyright 2008 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. All rights reserved. From http://www.noaa.gov.
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