..... "However, while there are thousands of moored and free floating data buoys in the world's oceans, thousands of land-based environmental stations and more than 50 environmental satellites orbiting the globe, all providing millions of data sets, most of these technologies do not yet talk to each other. Until they do — and all of the individual technology is connected as one comprehensive system of systems — there will always be blind spots and scientific uncertainty about the state of the world's air, water, land and ecosystems." 

From  the  NOAA  (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) web site

Fnd out more at

http://www.magazine.noaa.gov/stories/mag159.htm