Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment 



National Ocean Service 



National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 



U.S. Department of Commerce 



The Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment (OMA) provides decisionmakers with 

 comprehensive, scientific information on characteristics of the oceans, coastal areas, and 

 estuaries of the USA. The information ranges from strategic, rational assessments of coastal and 

 estuarine environmental quality to real-time information for navigation or hazardous materials 

 spill response. For example, OMA monitors the rise and fall of water levels at about 200 

 coastal locations of the USA (including the Great Lakes); predicts the times and heights of high 

 and low tides; and provides information critical to national defense, safe navigation, marine 

 boundary determination, environmental management, and coastal engineering. Currently, OMA 

 is installing the Next Generation Water Level Measurement System that will replace by 1992 

 existing water level measurement and data processing technologies. Through its National Status 

 and Trends Program, OMA uses uniform techniques to monitor toxic chemical contamination of 

 bottom-feeding fish, mussels and oysters, and sediments at 200 locations throughout the USA. A 

 related OMA program of directed research examines the relationships between contaminant 

 exposure and indicators of biological responses in fish and shellfish. 



OMA uses computer-based circulation models and innovative measurement technologies to 

 develop new information products, including real-time circulation data, circulation forecasts 

 under various meteorological conditions, and circulation data atlases. OMA provides critical 

 scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard during spills of oil or hazardous materials into marine 

 or estuarine environments. This support includes spill trajectory predictions, chemical hazard 

 analyses, and assessments of the sensitivity of marine and estuarine environments to spills. 

 The program provides similar support to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund 

 Program during emergency responses at, and for the cleanup of, abandoned hazardous waste 

 sites in coastal areas. To fulfill the responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce as a trustee 

 for living marine resources, OMA conducts comprehensive assessments of damages to coastal and 

 marine resources from discharges of oil and hazardous materials. 



OMA collects, synthesizes, and distributes information on the use of the coastal and oceanic 

 resources of the USA to identify compatibilities and conflicts and to determine research needs 

 and priorities. It conducts comprehensive, strategic assessments of multiple resource uses in 

 coastal, estuarine, and oceanic areas for decisionmaking by NOAA, other Federal agencies, state 

 agencies. Congress, industry, and public interest groups. It publishes a series of thematic data 

 atlases on major regions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and on selected characteristics of 

 major U.S. estuaries. It also manages, for the U.S. Department of the Interior, a program of 

 environmental assessments of the effects of oil and gas development on the Alaskan outer 

 continental shelf. 



OMA implements NOAA responsibilities under Title II of the Marine Protection, Research, and 

 Sanctuaries Act of 1972; Section 6 of the National Ocean Pollution Planning Act of 1978; and 

 other Federal laws. OMA has three major line organizations: The Physical Oceanography 

 Division, the Ocean Assessments Division and the Ocean Systems Division. 



