The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and two of Australia’s leading science agencies have agreed to work together to advance Pacific Ocean exploration and mapping.
This collaboration will directly support the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development by contributing to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project with the goal of mapping the world ocean floor by 2030 and providing the data to all.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad along with Geoscience Australia Chief Executive Officer James Johnson and Toni Moate, director of national collections and marine infrastructure for Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).
The MOU expands upon a long-standing relationship between the two maritime countries and will help facilitate the sharing of scientific resources, personnel, technical data and products and knowledge to support ocean exploration in the Pacific.