IOOS Certification

AOOS has recently updated its Regional Coastal Ocean System (RCOS) certification application necessary to coordinate non-federal observing assets and disseminate associated data in the Alaska Region.The documents that support the RCOS certification of AOOS through IOOS were originally approved in 2017, and were recently updated and reapproved in 2022 are available on this page.

Learn more about IOOS certification here »

Why does certification matter?

Below are just six of the ways that certification makes a difference:

1. Certification demonstrates that we sustain organizational capacity and supply quality data.
2. Certification demonstrates that AOOS adheres to best practices for data collection, quality control, naming, storage, archival, and integrations, so users have confidence in the data served by AOOS.
3. Certification enhances efficient interagency coordination.
4. Certification enables federal agencies to rely on AOOS to access non-federal data and to disseminate integrated and quality data on a regional level.
5. Certification allows researchers and others to work with AOOS to fulfill data management requirements of publicly-funded grants, since AOOS has received and maintains federal approval.
6. Certification provides liability protection for AOOS.