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PORTLAND, Maine -- Here in Maine, mariners chat with buoys.
No, they haven't been out at sea so long that inanimate objects have become their best buddies. Maine mariners can use their cell phones to dial up one of a dozen "smart buoys" in the Gulf of Maine to get an up-to-the-minute report on exactly what's happening on the water.
The buoys, part of an experimental open-source ocean observation system called GoMOOS (Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System), are fitted with a bevy of sensors that record and report wind speed, wave activity, visibility, air temperature, water temperatures at various depths, water salinity and more. When a buoy is called, a computerized voice reads off the latest data to the caller. The data is also available online.
"GoMOOS is a perfect example of the effectiveness of open-source ideas, technology and attitudes," said Phillip Bogden, CEO of Portland-based GoMOOS. "Everything we do here -- from the software we use to the way we make technology and data freely accessible to the entire community -- is totally open source."
GoMOOS' mission is to bring hourly updated oceanographic data from the Gulf of Maine to all those who need it, from commercial mariners to sailors, scientists, ecologists, meteorologists, teachers, search and rescue teams, and public health officials. (The latter use the data to ensure that seafood is safe to eat.)
GoMOOS is a working prototype for a planned national ocean-observation system. The program is also a test bed for new marine and weather technology. The sensors attached to GoMOOS buoys are monitoring phenomena that have never been measured before, such as Arctic Sea smoke, a particular sort of fog created when very cold air and relatively warm water meet.
Sea smoke can form extremely rapidly and can cause visibility out on the water to suddenly drop to zero, according to John Cannon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service who is based in Gray, Maine.
"Sea smoke is scary stuff," said Greg Vester, a commercial lobsterman. "One minute you're fine, the next minute you see some wispy little clouds on the water, and the next minute you're socked in and can't see a thing. Worse yet, the other boats can't see you at all."
"Now I call the buoys before I leave shore, and I call while I'm on the water to keep check on the conditions. Used to be the buoys were just helpful but stupid fishermen's friends that acted as navigational markers, but now all of a sudden the buoys got smart. I think it's great."
Weather forecasters think GoMOOS is great too. Meteorologists live for data; the more the merrier, said Cannon.
"Forecasting weather is extremely difficult," said Cannon. "We've finally got temperature forecasts figured out. But the rest ... we're doing better, but we're still far from where we want to be."
Cannon said that sharing weather and ocean conditions data with GoMOOS is a big step in the right direction toward fine-tuning forecasts, especially here in Maine where, as in all coastal areas, marine conditions have a huge impact on the entire weather system.
"What better way to collect data than from buoys that are right out there in the water and the weather?" said Cannon. "How else would you do things like accurately measure wave height? Send someone out there with a ruler?"
Prior to GoMOOS there was also no way to easily move cutting-edge ocean-monitoring systems from the development stage to daily use. GoMOOS now acts as a sort of interface between research labs and the people who need access to information.
"The idea is to revolutionize how people share scientific information," said Bogden. "Not too long ago, the ocean was a black box. We knew next to nothing about it. Data was collected twice a year, and then analyzed only in retrospect. We collect data on a real-time basis, and we make it available to everyone in real time, in ways that are understandable and usable."
"Since GoMOOS is totally open-access, it's important to us to design an interface that everyone can easily work with," added Eric Bridger, GoMOOS senior technology developer. "We incorporate our users' suggestions as much as possible, so we need flexible programs that we can change on the fly, not prepackaged proprietary ones. Much of GoMOOS runs on FreeBSD."
GoMOOS is also working with other weather- and marine-monitoring organizations to develop standards for collecting and working with data so it can be easily shared. GoMOOS also collaborates with open-source programmers to develop new ways of using open-source technology.
Bogden recently began working with the developers of MapServer, an open-source mapping tool, to program maps that can clearly display the buoy data on GoMOOS' website.
"When I first contacted them, they told me that any technology they developed with or for us would also be freely released, and asked if I had a problem with that," said Bogden. "I said, 'Man, you're preaching to the choir here.'"
Bogden firmly believes that open-source sharing of information and tools is the key to solving many scientific quandaries.
"Using ocean monitoring for an example, many institutions have one piece of the puzzle, but to get a complete system capable of really monitoring the health and systems of the oceans, all those little islands of data need to be freely shared and fully integrated with all the available data," said Bogden.
"One of our main objectives here at GoMOOS is to abolish every impediment to accessing and using all available information. We'd like to open-source the world."
Few of the mariners to whom we spoke knew about open-source software development, but they sure did like the results of what Bogden refers to as the open-source attitude.
"Seems to me that keeping secrets isn't about protecting 'your' information, but is really about a few people trying to profit by keeping other people stupid," said 63-year-old lobsterman Pinny Lovell. "Why should scientists know more than us about what's going on in our own backyard?
"We can do a lot better by all working together. And if working together for everyone's benefit is open-source, then sign me up. I'm all for it."
*(Michelle Delio and photographer Laszlo Pataki are on a four-week geek-seeking journey along U.S. Route 1. If you know a town they should visit, a person they should meet, a weird roadside attraction they must see or a great place to fuel up on lobster rolls, barbecue, conch fritters and the like, send an e-mail to wiredroadtrip@earthlink.net.) *
