Evaluation of the Harmful Algal Bloom Mapping System (HABMapS) and Bulletin

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Mapping System and Bulletin provide a Web-based geographic information system (GIS) and an e-mail alert system that allow the detection, monitoring, and tracking of HABs in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA Earth Science data that potentially support HABMapS/Bulletin requirements include ocean color, sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, wind fields, precipitation, water surface elevation, and ocean currents. Modeling contributions include ocean circulation, wave/currents, along-shore current regimes, and chlorophyll modeling (coupled to imagery). The most immediately useful NASA contributions appear to be the 1-km Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) chlorophyll and SST products and the (presently used) SeaWinds wind vector data. MODIS pigment concentration and SST data are sufficiently mature to replace imagery currently used in NOAA HAB applications. The large file size of MODIS data is an impediment to NOAA use and modified processing schemes would aid in NOAA adoption of these products for operational HAB forecasting

Supplemental data acquisition tools for modeling environmental systems

The goal of our on-going research is to develop effective and reliable tools formodeling the environmental systems of the Gulf of Mexico. For example, our on-goingresearch into methodologies for the prediction of water levels in the shallow watersof the bays and estuaries along the Texas Gulf coast. Our modeling approaches arebased on the real-time data collected by the Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network(TCOON). TCOON is managed by the Division of Nearshore Research (DNR) incooperation with the Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences (CAMS)both of Texas A& M University-Corpus Christi. TCOON consists of approximately50 data gathering stations located along the Texas Gulf coast from the Louisiana toMexico borders.In addition to a short description of our major data acquisition system for ourresearch efforts, this paper presents design issues, development issues, and test resultsencountered in the production of two supplemental data acquisition systems as wellas several of our environmental systems modeling efforts at Texas A&M UniversityCorpus Christi.Keywords: Data acquisition, environmental modeling, robotics.El objetivo de nuestra investigaci´on es desarrollar herramientas eficaces y confiablespara modelar los sistemas ambientales en el Golfo de M´exico. Por ejemplo, nuestrainvestigaci’on actual en metodolog´?as para la predicci´on del nivel del agua en las aguas pocoprofundas de las bah´?as y estuarios a lo largo de la costa del Golfo de Texas. Nuestro enfoque de modelaci´on est´a basado en datos obtenidos en tiempo real por la Redde Observaci´on Oce´anica de la Costa de Texas (TCOON, por sus siglas en ingl´es).TCOON es manejado por la Divisi´on de Investigaci´on de la Ribera (DNR, por sussiglas en ingl´es) en cooperaci´on con el Departamento de Ciencias de la Computaci´ony Matem´aticas (CAMS), ambos de la Universidad Texas A & M en Corpus Christi.TCOON consiste en una50 estaciones para la recopilaci´on de datos localizadas a loslargo de la costa del Golfo de Texas, desde las fronteras con Luisiana y M´exico.Adem´as de una corta descripci´on de nuestro principal sistema de adquisici´on dedatos para nuestros esfuerzos de investigaci´on, este art´?culo presenta aspectos de dise˜noy desarrollo, as´? como resultados de pruebas hechas en la producci´on de dos sistemasadicionales de adquisici´on de datos, as´? como varios de nuestros esfuerzos de modelaci´on en la Universidad de Texas A& M en Corpus Christi.Palabras clave: Adquisici´on de datos, modelaci´on ambiental, rob´otica

Arctic Domain Awareness Center DHS Center of Excellence (COE): Project Work Plan

As stated by the DHS Science &Technology Directorate, “The increased and diversified use of maritime spaces in the Arctic - including oil and gas exploration, commercial activities, mineral speculation, and recreational activities (tourism) - is generating new challenges and risks for the U.S. Coast Guard and other DHS maritime missions.” Therefore, DHS will look towards the new ADAC for research to identify better ways to create transparency in the maritime domain along coastal regions and inland waterways, while integrating information and intelligence among stakeholders. DHS expects the ADAC to develop new ideas to address these challenges, provide a scientific basis, and develop new approaches for U.S. Coast Guard and other DHS maritime missions. ADAC will also contribute towards the education of both university students and mid-career professionals engaged in maritime security. The US is an Arctic nation, and the Arctic environment is dynamic. We have less multi-year ice and more open water during the summer causing coastal villages to experience unprecedented storm surges and coastal erosion. Decreasing sea ice is also driving expanded oil exploration, bringing risks of oil spills. Tourism is growing rapidly, and our fishing fleet and commercial shipping activities are increasing as well. There continues to be anticipation of an economic pressure to open up a robust northwest passage for commercial shipping. To add to the stresses of these changes is the fact that these many varied activities are spread over an immense area with little connecting infrastructure. The related maritime security issues are many, and solutions demand increasing maritime situational awareness and improved crisis response capabilities, which are the focuses of our Work Plan. UAA understands the needs and concerns of the Arctic community. It is situated on Alaska’s Southcentral coast with the port facility through which 90% of goods for Alaska arrive. It is one of nineteen US National Strategic Seaports for the US DOD, and its airport is among the top five in the world for cargo throughput. However, maritime security is a national concern and although our focus is on the Arctic environment, we will expand our scope to include other areas in the Lower 48 states. In particular, we will develop sensor systems, decision support tools, ice and oil spill models that include oil in ice, and educational programs that are applicable to the Arctic as well as to the Great Lakes and Northeast. The planned work as detailed in this document addresses the DHS mission as detailed in the National Strategy for Maritime Security, in particular, the mission to Maximize Domain Awareness (pages 16 and 17.) This COE will produce systems to aid in accomplishing two of the objectives of this mission. They are: 1) Sensor Technology developing sensor packages for airborne, underwater, shore-based, and offshore platforms, and 2) Automated fusion and real-time simulation and modeling systems for decision support and planning. An integral part of our efforts will be to develop new methods for sharing of data between platforms, sensors, people, and communities.United States Department of Homeland SecurityCOE ADAC Objective/Purpose / Methodology / Center Management Team and Partners / Evaluation and Transition Plans / USCG Stakeholder Engagement / Workforce Development Strategy / Individual Work Plan by Projects Within a Theme / Appendix A / Appendix B / Appendix

Climate Change Impact Assessment for Surface Transportation in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska

WA-RD 772.

Advancing Climate Change Research and Hydrocarbon Leak Detection : by Combining Dissolved Carbon Dioxide and Methane Measurements with ADCP Data

With the emergence of largescale, comprehensive environmental monitoring projects, there is an increased need to combine state-of-the art technologies to address complicated problems such as ocean acidifi cation and hydrocarbon leak detection

Comparative assessment of the vulnerability and resilience of 10 deltas : work document

Background information about: Nile delta (Egypt), Incomati delta (Mozambique), Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (Bangladesh), Yangtze (China), Ciliwung (Indonesia), Mekong (Vietnam), Rhine-Meuse (The Netherlands), Danube (Romania), California Bay-Delta, Mississippi River Delta (USA

AN ADAPTABLE MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR INTEGRATED NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

The project has been directed towards improving the accuracy and safety of marine navigation and ship handling, whilst contributing to reduced manning and improved fuel costs. Thus, the aim of the work was to investigate, design and develop an adaptable mathematical model that could be used in an integrated navigation system (INS) and an automatic collision avoidance system (ACAS) for use in marine vehicles. A general overview of automatic navigation is undertaken and consideration is given to the use of microprocessors on the bridge. Many of these systems now require the use of mathematical models to predict the vessels' manoeuvring characteristics: The different types and forms of models have been investigated and the derivation of their hydrodynamic coefficients is discussed in detail. The model required for an ACAS should be both accurate and adaptable, hence, extensive simulations were undertaken to evaluate the suitability of each model type. The modular model was found to have the most adaptable structure. All the modular components of this model were considered in detail to improve its adaptability, the number of non-linear terms in the hull module being reduced. A novel application, using the circulation theory to model the propeller forces and moments, allows the model to be more flexible compared to using traditional B-series four-quadrant propeller design charts. A new formula has been derived for predicting the sway and yaw components due to the propeller paddle wheel effect which gives a good degree of accuracy when comparing simulated and actual ship data, resulting in a mean positional error of less than 7%. As a consequence of this work, it is now possible for an ACAS to incorporate a ship mathematical model which produces realistic manoeuvring characteristics. Thus, the study will help to contribute to safety at sea.Kelvin Hughes Lt

Oceanus.

v. 26, no. 3 (1983