High Frequency Radar Observing Systems in SEACOOS: 2002-2007 Lessons Learned

From 2002-2007, the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) deployed high frequency (HF) radars to overlook several venues stretching from the West Florida Shelf to the North Carolina Shelf. Based on extensive deliberations within SEACOOS, we decided to assess the two differing types of coastal ocean current radars within the southeast that were on the commercial market. The long-range SeaSondes (SS) were deployed to sense surface currents at hourly intervals and a 6 km resolution along the West Florida Shelf and the North Carolina Shelf. The medium and long-range Wellen Radars (WERA) were deployed along the Florida Straits and along the South Atlantic Bight with spatial resolutions of 1.2 to 3 km sampling at time scales of minutes. A common theme in these deployments was to sense the Loop Current, Florida Current and the Gulf Stream, which transport heat poleward as part of the gyre circulation.Several lessons were learned as part of these deployments, such as the need to protect against lightening strikes and the challenge of providing robust communication links between the remote sites and a central hub to make the data available in near real-time. Since states in the southeast and surrounding the Gulf of Mexico are prone to the passage of hurricanes, surface current and wave measurements during hurricanes are invaluable for improving storm surge and inundation models that are now being coupled to surface waves. In addition, significant wave heights (and directional surface wave spectra) are critical in the model assessment. Data quality and accuracy of the surface current and wave fields remain a central issue to search and rescue and safe maritime operations and to understanding the limitations of these radar systems. As more phased array systems (i.e., WERAs) are deployed for surface current and wave measurements, more attention needs to be placed on the interoperability between the two types of systems to insure the highest quality data possible is available to meet applied and operational goals. To insure the highest quality data possible, a full-time technician and a half-time IT specialist are needed for each installation as well as access to spares to keep these systems running consistently and to make quality observations available in near real-time

High Frequency Radar Observing Systems in SEACOOS: 2002-2007 Lessons Learned

From 2002-2007, the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) deployed high frequency (HF) radars to overlook several venues stretching from the West Florida Shelf to the North Carolina Shelf. Based on extensive deliberations within SEACOOS, we decided to assess the two differing types of coastal ocean current radars within the southeast that were on the commercial market. The long-range SeaSondes (SS) were deployed to sense surface currents at hourly intervals and a 6 km resolution along the West Florida Shelf and the North Carolina Shelf. The medium and long-range Wellen Radars (WERA) were deployed along the Florida Straits and along the South Atlantic Bight with spatial resolutions of 1.2 to 3 km sampling at time scales of minutes. A common theme in these deployments was to sense the Loop Current, Florida Current and the Gulf Stream, which transport heat poleward as part of the gyre circulation. Several lessons were learned as part of these deployments, such as the need to protect against lightening strikes and the challenge of providing robust communication links between the remote sites and a central hub to make the data available in near real-time. Since states in the southeast and surrounding the Gulf of Mexico are prone to the passage of hurricanes, surface current and wave measurements during hurricanes are invaluable for improving storm surge and inundation models that are now being coupled to surface waves. In addition, significant wave heights (and directional surface wave spectra) are critical in the model assessment. Data quality and accuracy of the surface current and wave fields remain a central issue to search and rescue and safe maritime operations and to understanding the limitations of these radar systems. As more phased array systems (i.e., WERAs) are deployed for surface current and wave measurements, more attention needs to be placed on the interoperability between the two types of systems to insure the highest quality data possible is available to meet applied and operational goals. To insure the highest quality data possible, a full-time technician and a half-time IT specialist are needed for each installation as well as access to spares to keep these systems running consistently and to make quality observations available in near real-time

Waves Initiative Within Seacoos

Amongst other ocean state parameters, the development of a wave measurement program was supported as part of the Southeast U.S. Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS). The program focused on supporting nearshore wave measurements using both cabled and autonomous systems but also examined the feasibility of using HF Radar systems for remote estimation of wave parameters. The nearshore stations have provided a significant database on directional wave climate for a number of nearshore locations in the region that provide valuable information to coastal engineers and managers for sustainable development along the coast of the southeastern United States. The ability of Wellen high-frequency radar (WERA HF) to provide wave information was evaluated through a field experiment in SE Florida. The results were encouraging and placed some initial bounds on the confidence to be associated with empirically derived wave height information. Coordination efforts for the development of a comprehensive waves program for the Southeast U.S. were initiated and contributed to the development of the National Wave Observations plan. They also led to the development of a new Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System (RCOOS) that includes developing systems in support of local weather forecast offices in their surfzone and rip-current forecasts

Chronicles From Out-of-State Professionals: Providing Primary Care to Underserved Children After a Disaster: A National Organization Response

Hundreds of thousands of lives in the Gulf Coast region were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Children's Health Fund (CHF) responded rapidly to the needs of children and their families after the hurricane. CHF is a national organization that supports direct health services, education, and advocacy for medically underserved children. Although CHF's principle mission is the provision of extended primary care services for children and adolescents, the organization is capable of mobilizing rapidly in response to acute medical and public health crises. In fact, the CHF has responded to catastrophic events twice before the Gulf Coast storms of 2005. The first was the 1992 deployment of a mobile medical unit (MMU) to South Florida in the immediate aftermath of category 5 Hurricane Andrew. Then, in 2001 after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, the CHF deployed 2 MMUs (fully equipped, self-contained “medical offices on wheels”) to the triage-and-response efforts at ground zero. Thus, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, within days of the storm's landfall, the CHF was able to deploy MMUs to the Biloxi-Gulfport community in Mississippi and a number of shelter sites for displaced persons in Louisiana

SEA-COOS: A Model for a Multi-State, Multi-Institutional Regional Observation System

The SouthEast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEA-COOS, www.seacoos.org) is a regional partnership that has initiated an integrated coastal ocean observing system for a four-state (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) region of the southeast coastal United States. The long-term intent of SEA-COOS is to establish a regional coastal ocean observing system that will be part of the coastal component of the national Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) envisioned by Ocean.US. SEA-COOS was initiated in September, 2002 with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) as a coordinating and enhancing effort between several existing subregional-scale efforts in the southeast, the Sea Grant Offices from the four states, and a number of federal agencies. This article briefly describes the essential elements of an observing system, the region-wide observations, overlapping circulation models, data management capabilities, and outreach and education activities of SEA-COOS, at present and planned for the coming year. Development of a governance system has also been pursued, and an initial structure is in place for SEA-COOS

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health

Risk of COVID-19 after natural infection or vaccinationResearch in context

Summary: Background: While vaccines have established utility against COVID-19, phase 3 efficacy studies have generally not comprehensively evaluated protection provided by previous infection or hybrid immunity (previous infection plus vaccination). Individual patient data from US government-supported harmonized vaccine trials provide an unprecedented sample population to address this issue. We characterized the protective efficacy of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against COVID-19 early in the pandemic over three-to six-month follow-up and compared with vaccine-associated protection. Methods: In this post-hoc cross-protocol analysis of the Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we allocated participants into four groups based on previous-infection status at enrolment and treatment: no previous infection/placebo; previous infection/placebo; no previous infection/vaccine; and previous infection/vaccine. The main outcome was RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 >7–15 days (per original protocols) after final study injection. We calculated crude and adjusted efficacy measures. Findings: Previous infection/placebo participants had a 92% decreased risk of future COVID-19 compared to no previous infection/placebo participants (overall hazard ratio [HR] ratio: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.05–0.13). Among single-dose Janssen participants, hybrid immunity conferred greater protection than vaccine alone (HR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.10). Too few infections were observed to draw statistical inferences comparing hybrid immunity to vaccine alone for other trials. Vaccination, previous infection, and hybrid immunity all provided near-complete protection against severe disease. Interpretation: Previous infection, any hybrid immunity, and two-dose vaccination all provided substantial protection against symptomatic and severe COVID-19 through the early Delta period. Thus, as a surrogate for natural infection, vaccination remains the safest approach to protection. Funding: National Institutes of Health