Environment & Energy

Announcement on NSF OOI Descoping
May 21, 2026
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Major Facility.

This plan includes the removal of all in-water infrastructure from the Irminger Sea, Station Papa, Endurance and Pioneer Arrays, subject to ship scheduling and other operational constraints. All recovered equipment will be retained by the operating institution pending further guidance from NSF.

The OOI Regional Cabled Array will remain operational for the foreseeable future. NSF intends to ensure continuity of the Data Center capabilities in support of ongoing OOI operations.

We encourage the community to use the ten-plus years of OOI data by including it in proposals, publications, presentations, and conversations with colleagues. Continued engagement demonstrates the scientific impact and wide-ranging applications enabled by the OOI and its data, underscoring its importance as a resource for the oceanographic community.

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In 2014, NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cabled Array (RCA), operated by the University of Washington, became operational streaming real-time data to shore from a diverse array of 150 instruments. The network spans the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, with two backbone cables extending from a Shore Station in Pacific City, Oregon. One branch extends ~480 km due west to Axial Seamount, the largest and most active volcano on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The second branch extends 208 km southward along the base of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (2900 m) and then turns east extending 147 km to 80 m water depth offshore Newport, Oregon. The backbone cables connect the Shore Station to Primary Nodes, which are distribution centers for extension cables that provide direct access to the specific sites of scientific interest.

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