Topic 1: Achieve and sustain an Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)

Development of a National Littoral Ocean Observing and Predictive System: Field Estimation via Interdisciplinary Data Assimilation

Lead PI: Dr. Allan R. Robinson, Harvard University, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

The Partnership will develop a Littoral Ocean Observing and Predictive System (LOOPS), a modular structural concept for linking dynamic models and measurements via data assimilation. The integrated system software architecture and infrastructure will stress versatility and efficiency via central databases for the measured ocean and the estimated ocean. Research will include Observational System Simulation Experiments (OSSE’s) for generic coastal processes and a range of civilian and naval application areas and sea trials.

Requested Funding: $1M

Partners:

Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
Naval Underwater Warfare Center, Newport, RI
Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA
National Marine Fisheries Service, Narragansett, RI
Tracor Applied Sciences, Inc., San Diego, CA
Raytheon Company, Lexington, MA

Gulf of Mexico Ocean Monitoring System

Lead PI: Dr. H. James Herring, Dynalysis of Princeton

The Partnership will develop a working capability to generate continual synoptic numerical representations of ocean velocity for the Gulf of Mexico. Operational high-accuracy satellite altimetry data and in situ ocean data retrieved from measurement systems in near real-time, together with a proven ocean model, will be used to produce three dimensional determinations of ocean velocity. The purpose of these operational velocity data will be to support ocean monitoring, innovative commercial ocean products, and investigations into ocean transport processes in the Gulf of Mexico. The project represents the initial stage of a longer term effort to accurately specify circulation in the Gulf of Mexico.

Requested Funding: $3M

Partners:

Dynalysis of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Naval Oceanographic Office, Stennis Space Center, MS
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
University of Colorado
Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS
Florida State University
Webb Research, East Falmouth, MA
Technocean, Inc., Cape Coral, FL
Texas A&M University
Texas General Land Office, Austin, TX
Space Systems Analysis, Austin, TX
Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS

Monitoring the North Pacific for Improved Ocean, Weather, and Climate Forecasts

Lead PI: Dr. Robert C. Spindel, Director, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington

The Partnership will be formed to study the variability of the North Pacific Ocean. The Partnership’s goals are to observe, describe and understand the mechanisms underlying this variability which affects North American weather and climate. Objectives include development and deployment of new air-sea interaction moorings with acoustic receivers; combining measurements and other data with eddy-resolving ocean circulation models to produce optimal nowcasts and forecasts; and, assessment of the present observing system of the North Pacific and suggestions for possible future systems to improve short-term operational forecasts and long-term climate predictions.

Requested Funding: $3.1M

Partners:

University of Washington/Applied Physics Laboratory
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA
Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS
Scripps Institution of Oceanography

For more information on this project, click here.

Multi-Scale Model-Driven Sampling with Autonomous Systems at a National Littoral Laboratory

Lead PI: Dr. J. Frederick Grassle, Rutgers University, Institute of Marine and Coastal Science

A partnership will be formed to construct and demonstrate a relocatable observation and forecasting system for the littoral ocean. REMUS autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) will be used to collect critical sub-surface data, including large scale fields of velocity and density for model input, small scale mixing processes, and local bathymetry surveys for eventual extension to uncharted regions. Methods for remote estimation of shallow water wave directional spectra from HF radar data will be developed for real time input to the combined wave and current bottom boundary layer model.

Requested Funding: $1M

Partners: