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

Application of an Integrated Monitoring and Modeling System to Narragansett Bay and Adjacent Waters Incorporating Internet-Based Technology

Lead PI’s: Dr. Michael Piasecki, Drexel University and Dr. Malcolm Spaulding, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay

This partnership will develop a globally re-locatable, integrated system for real time observation, modeling, and data distribution for shelf, coastal sea, and estuarine waters. The models will be forced by input from Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiments (GODAE) products or similar global or shelf scale modeling systems. The system will be applied to Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island coastal waters as a demonstration of the practical use of the system to support environmental monitoring, marine pollutant transport and fate, marine transportation, and search and rescue operations and to provide a foundation to advance our understanding of and predictive capabilities for the bay. The study will make use of COASTMAP, and integrated modeling and data analysis and distribution system, developed and the University of Rhode Island, that combines data collecting, data analysis, numerical modeling, and post processing features that are ideally suited for the task. A generalized data base system for data collection, archiving, visualization, and distribution will also be developed. This system will be based on platform independent internet/WEB technology (Java) and will make data collected via telemetry, remote sensing, GODAE, and output from numerical models for oceanographic and atmospheric processes available to the user community at large.

Number of Years: 3

Partners:

Drexel University – Project coordination, development of web-based data system
University of Rhode Island – Data collection, management, archiving and distribution for Narragansett Bay
Brown University – Acquisition and processing of Landsat imagery
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management – Coordination with the NOAA PROTS and Rhode Island DEM
Rhode Island Transportation Center – Coordination with the Transportation Center’s roadway and bay monitoring project
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Ocean Service – Provision of output from a high resolution meteorological model for Rhode Island
Applied Science Associates – Application of hydrodynamic model to Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay Commission – Coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency- funded EMPACT study for Narragansett Bay

Limited Area Coastal Ocean Models: Assimilation of Observations from Fixed Platforms on the Continental Shelf and Far-Field Forcing from Open Ocean Models

Lead PI: Dr. Daniel Lynch, Dartmouth College

The objective of this project is to build an operational system for site-specific, limited-area forecasting of the coastal ocean. The system will be applied and tested in the South Atlantic Bight; it will be modular and portable to other waters. It will feature coupled physical/biological phenomena in and around the South Atlantic Bight Synoptic Offshore Observational Network (SABSOON). In-situ and remotely sensed observations will be assimilated, plus results from atmospheric and global ocean models. The atmospheric products will be handled within the partnership; the remotely-sensed data will be obtained from standard sources; and the oceanic products via cooperation with the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiments (GODAE). SABSOON will be the primary source of in-situ data.

Workshops will be conducted with the observational community using Observational System Simulation Experiments (OSSE’s) to develop effective sampling and assimilation strategies. Operational nowcasts/forecasts will be provided for water level, currents, and hydrography, sufficient to support scientific and commercial interests. Procedures for assimilation and model-based interpretation of ocean color data will be developed and evaluated.

The fundamental problem to be solved is the valid interpretation of physical and biological observations, using data-assimilative models for scientific interference, for forecasting, and for design of operational sampling programs. The project will lead to fundamental progress in understanding key aspects of the shelf-ocean-atmosphere coupling, as presented in the South Atlantic Bight. This partnership will advance the state of the art in formal data assimilation methods for this dynamic regime. In addition, it will generate community-based software for operational shelf forecasting.

Number of Years: 3

Partners:

Dartmouth College – Real-time data assimilation theory and implementation; OSSE organization
University of North Carolina - Implementation of SAB model operational system; assimilation of GODAE products and atmospheric products
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – Ocean color assimilation and inversion
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography – Liaison with SABSOON
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service, Jacksonville and Charleston – Hi-resolution MET forecasts; sea surface forecast products
North Carolina Supercomputing Center - Software engineering for advanced computing platforms, forecast archive and archival services

For more information on this project, click here.

Modeling the Central California Coastal Upwelling System: Physics, Ecosystems and Resource Management

Lead PI: Francisco Chavez, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

This partnership will model the coastal upwelling ecosystem within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) with high spatial (kms) and temporal (days) resolution. The high-resolution coastal model is nested within regional and basin-scale models. The model includes the interconnected physical, chemical, and biological processes, and is capable of assimilating data from satellites and in-situ sensors. The model will focus on simulating the observed seasonal and interannual variations in physical oceanographic forcing and the chemical and biological consequences. The rich historical data-base and excellent matrix of real-time ocean observing systems available in the MBNMS provide a unique environment for the development of the next generation of coupled coastal physical-biological models. Long-term (decadal and longer) simulation and prediction will contribute to policy, short term simulation will guide management. The model will enable the managers of the MBNMS to fulfill their mandate of promoting “resource protection, research, education, and public use.” It will also direct future observational efforts within the MBNMS.

Number of Years: 3

Partners:

University of California
Los Angeles – Model nesting, high resolution physical model
Santa Cruz – Zooplankton dynamics
University of Maine – Ecosystem modeling
Duke University – Ecosystem modeling
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary – resource management
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Basin-scale models, data assimilation
Naval Research Laboratory – Numerical modeling
Naval Postgraduate School - Physical oceanography
HOBI Labs – Bio-optical modeling
NGOs/Other
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute – Project management, biological and chemical oceanography, ecosystem modeling