With ~50,000 commercial vessels in operation, there's an opportunity to collaborate with industry to revolutionize the collection of oceanographic, seabed, meteorological and climate data.

The merchant marine fleet has a presence on the high seas that has not been adequately recognized / appreciated in the ocean sciences. Science RoCS is developing a framework for collaborating with the marine industry to establish a network for ocean observation to greatly expand (or improve) our ability to observe the atmosphere and upper ocean waters. Such observations include oceanographic and meteorological data that will be of enormous value towards improving our understanding of the marine environment and atmospheric climate.

We envision a future where commercial vessels are equipped with a suite of "Plug & Play" scientific sensors—including those that measure water properties and currents, as well as chemical and biological parameters—optimized for a vessel’s trade route to address societally-relevant questions, with the data disseminated broadly for the advancement of scientific knowledge.