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Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
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Glossary

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: large system of ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean that transport warm, salty water from the tropics northward.

Blue/ocean economy: defined by the World Bank and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2017) as “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.” Also, the World Bank and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2017) describes the blue economy as a concept: “to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the preservation or improvement of livelihoods while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability of the oceans and coastal areas.”

Citizen/community science: public participation, in part or in full, in scientific research.

Coastal blue carbon: nature-based sequestration of carbon dioxide in coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses.

Coastal communities: the neighborhoods, towns, and cities located on shorelines and adjacent lands.

Digital twin: a “set of virtual information constructs that mimics the structure, context and behavior of an individual/unique physical asset, or a group of physical assets, is dynamically updated with data from its physical twin throughout its life cycle and informs decisions that realize value” (AIAA, 2020). A digital twin

Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
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is highly dynamical, mimicking the time evolution of its physical asset (PA) via advanced simulation and emulation capabilities; it is updated by ingesting vast amounts of observational data of diverse types; and it enables WHAT-IF queries and multiple realizations to support prediction of responses of the PA to hypothetical perturbations with quantified uncertainties (Kapteyn and Willcox, 2021).

Ecosystem services: defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as “the direct or indirect contributions that ecosystems make to the well-being of human populations” (EPA, 2009) and defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as “the benefits people obtain from ecosystems” (MEA, 2005).

Environmental DNA (eDNA): defined by the U.S. Geological Survey as “organismal DNA that can be found in the environment.” “Environmental DNA originates from cellular material shed by organisms (via skin, excrement, etc.) into aquatic or terrestrial environments that can be sampled and monitored using new molecular methods” (USGS, 2018).

Hydrokinetic energy conversion: the transformation of kinetic energy from inland rivers, tidal estuaries and channels, and ocean currents or waves into electricity.

Interdisciplinary research: “a mode of research by teams or individuals that integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to advance fundamental understanding or to solve problems whose solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research practice” (NAS et al., 2005, p. 2).

Mariculture: the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, Second Edition, defines mariculture as “the farming of marine organisms for food and other products such as pharmaceuticals, food additives, jewelry (e.g., cultured pearls), nutraceuticals, and cosmetics, either in the natural marine environment, or in land- or sea-based enclosures, such as cages, ponds, or raceways” (Phillips, 2009).

Ocean state estimation: formal approaches using methods from statistical estimation or control theory to extract information from (generally incomplete) observations, (generally uncertain) numerical models, and theory, to derive complete, optimal descriptions of the time-evolving state of the ocean and its uncertainty.

Open access data: publicly available data that can be found online free of charge; free to download, analyze, process, or modify; and free to reuse or redistribute without restrictions. Open access data often come with public open data licenses;

Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
×

common examples are the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license or the Open Database License (ODbL).

Relocation: the intentional and coordinated movement of people, assets, and/or infrastructure away from threats of sea level rise, climate-driven floods, and more; for the purpose of this report, relocation is synonymous with managed retreat.

Sustainable development: as defined in the Brundtland Commission report, “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It encompasses the pathways and processes necessary to achieve sustainability (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).

Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
×
Page 77
Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
×
Page 78
Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
×
Page 79
Suggested Citation:"Glossary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Cross-Cutting Themes for U.S. Contributions to the UN Ocean Decade. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26363.
×
Page 80
Next: Appendix A: Connections to Ocean-Shots and United Nations Ocean Decade Actions: Tables »
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The ocean is central to the health of the planet and the well-being of human societies, but ongoing depletion, disruption, and pollution threaten its future. The United Nations proclaimed 2021-2030 the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (UN Ocean Decade) in recognition of the need to sustainably manage the Ocean. U.S. participation in the Decade, guided by the U.S. National Committee, included a call for "Ocean-Shots" - ambitious, transformational research concepts that draw from multiple disciplines. More than 100 Ocean-Shots were submitted.

Conducted at the request of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and sponsored by NASA, this report identifies exciting themes from the Ocean-Shots that will galvanize action and inspire transformative, cross-disciplinary, and multi-generational participation in the Decade. Two foundational themes undergird how to go about science: An Inclusive and Equitable Ocean calls for the involvement of a diverse and representative ocean community, and An Ocean of Data recognizes the shift toward open access for data that is collected. Four topical themes - The Ocean Revealed, The Restored and Sustainable Ocean, Ocean Solutions for Climate Resilience, and Healthy Urban Sea - represent promising areas for research investments that are consistent both with the UN Ocean Decade Outcomes and U.S. ocean priorities.

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