The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has begun a major downsizing of one of the world’s largest ocean observing networks, announcing plans to remove most of the in-water infrastructure associated with the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) over the next 15 months.
Under the plan, NSF will phase out operations at the Endurance, Pioneer, Irminger Sea, and Station Papa arrays, ending a decade-long effort that has provided continuous real-time observations from some of the world’s most strategically important ocean regions.
The decision marks a significant shift for the $386 million OOI program, which has served as a cornerstone of U.S. ocean science since becoming fully operational in 2016.
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