INTEGRATED CORAL OBSERVING NETWORK (ICON)

ICON/CREWS MONITORING STATION (LCIY2)
The monitoring station is a sophisticated device containing instruments that measure a broad range of local atmospheric and oceanic conditions (e.g. air & sea temperature, wind speed & direction, barometric pressure, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and salinity).

The station transmits the near real-time data to NOAA Research for integration, analysis, and inferencing. The data is then made available to researchers, marine-protected area personnel, and the public.

The entire data collection and processing system, when used specifically to understand coral bleaching and coral reef-related events, is called the "Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS)". This system is considered part of the Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON) and is thus named ICON/CREWS.

To review data, graphs and ecological forecasts from Little Cayman, please see LCIY2 ICON Data. Also see LCIY2 ICON/CREWS Blog and LCIY2 ICON Station Setup for field notes and an interesting video on the LCIY2 installation.

ICON/CREWS WORLDWIDE
The CREWS system has been successfully used in modeling and alerts of coral bleaching conditions in the Florida Keys and the Great Barrier Reef. It is NOAA's intent to expand this alerting capability to other coral reef areas and to better refine and enhance its alerting capabilities beyond coral bleaching. For further details, see NOAA ICON.

NOAA NDBC/LCIY2
Data from the LCIY2 station is also very valuable in weather reporting and forecasting, and is currently being sent to NOAA's National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). For further details, see NOAA NDBC/LCIY2