Laboratory for the Ocean Observatory Knowledge Integration Grid (LOOKING)

The oceanographic and information technology communities are forging an entirely new capability for interacting with complex, nonlinear planetary-scale processes. Success in this arena will vastly enhance human understanding of the basic processes that modulate climate, create energy and mineral deposits, influence the carbon cycle, and support a newly discovered microbial biosphere that may well be an analog for life elsewhere in the solar system. Our new capabilities will allow us to engage the public in the scientific inquiry into the last frontier on Earth: the ocean basins. Ocean observatories provide new channels for effectively communicating with educators and the public about how our planet works. Observatories offer the high educational value of student interaction with real scientific instruments and equipment, as well as opportunities to collaborate with research scientists. The LOOKING program will provide an essential architecture for the actual software, hardware, and network services that will enable routine ocean access to researchers, educators, students, and the general public.