Download Coastal Ocean Observing Systems SEACOOS Facilitating Marine

Coastal Ocean Observing Systems
SEACOOS Facilitating Marine Systems Science in Florida
C. Simoniello, Florida Sea Grant Extension Program, USF College of Marine Science, 140 7th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 [email protected]
M. Spranger, Assistant Director for Extension, Florida Sea Grant College Program, P.O. Box 110400, Gainesville, FL 32611-0400, [email protected]
www.seacoos.org
Introduction
The SouthEast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) is a collaborative university partnership
that collects, manages, and disseminates integrated regional observations and information products for the
Southeast Coastal Ocean-the domain extending from the Florida Panhandle to the North Carolina shelf north of
Cape Hatteras (Fig. 1).
Poised between distinct, yet interacting coastal ocean systems, Florida exemplifies the need for integrated,
multi-disciplinary information to manage its resources. Florida Bay researchers, in particular, must consider
influences from the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and waters from the Atlantic Ocean that connect through tidal
passes between the Florida Keys.
One of the key considerations regarding variability
and exchange processes in the domain is the relative
influence of local and deep-ocean forcing on physical
characteristics (e.g. sea level, water velocity,
temperature, salinity), and on chemical and biological
constituents (e.g. nutrients, organic and inorganic
particulate and dissolved matter, and organisms of
various trophic levels).
Fig. 1 A preliminary map of observing system resource locations and providers within the SEACOOS domain
Presented here are examples of how SEACOOS
researchers are serving the critical and expanding
needs of environmental protection, public health,
research and education. Emphasis is placed on
contributions by SEACOOS researchers from the
University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and
Atmospheric Science (UM RSMAS) and the
University of South Florida, College of Marine
Science (USF CMS).
Public
Health
Research
Black Water Events
Tracking Hurricane Katrina Flow
USF CMS scientists from the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing (IMaRS), in partnership with UM RSMAS and the
South-West Florida Dark Water Observations Group (SWFDOG) are using synoptic observing system data provided
by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWifS)
and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite images to link coastal plume events on the
Southwest Florida Shelf (Fig. 5) to ecosystem and public health issues related to Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).
The USF-CMS Ocean Circulation Group has created a forecasting product that generates trajectories for
particles originating between the Mississippi River (MR) Delta and the Loop Current (Fig. 9). The
trajectories are tracked with geostrophic currents from satellite-derived Sea Surface Height (SSH).
Biweekly Eulerian surface geostrophic current analyses are linearly interpolated between analysis intervals
and the fields are integrated in time and space to give trajectory estimates. Simulations begin at given
times with a uniform distribution of particles centered on and to the south of the MR delta. For times beyond
the last analysis interval currents are held steady to produce the forecast. These are updated with each
new analysis interval. (Note that trajectories omit other effects such as winds for which a complete ocean
circulation model is needed.)
A major contribution of this work is sorting out the chlorophyll-related spectral signature from other factors in the
coastal environment that affect optical properties (e.g. dissolved matter, suspended particles, shallow bathymetry).
The group of researchers accomplished this task by using an ocean color index that is based on measures of waterleaving radiance (Fig. 6). Because phytoplankton pigment absorbs strongly in the blue, water-leaving radiance
values are low when phytoplankton concentrations are high. Thus, low values indicate the presence of an algal
bloom.
A major contribution of this work is that it demonstrates that particles of MR origin can become entrained in the
Loop Current and be transported to the Florida Keys and beyond via the Florida Current.
Please contact Aida Alvera-Azcarate [email protected] for more information.
Please contact Chuanmin Hu [email protected] for more information.
SEACOOS Applications in Florida
Fig. 9 Forecast of water of Mississippi River origin (top), entrained into the Loop Current (middle), arriving in the vicinity of the Florida Keys (bottom). Colors denote sea surface height (cm). Stars are simulated particle
trajectories. Complete movies available at http://ocg6.marine.usf.edu, click on Katrina tracking tool. Images courtesy of USF CMS Ocean Circulation Group.
Environmental
Protection
Everglades Restoration Project
UM RSMAS scientists, in partnership with the National Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center and
NOAA/AOML have developed a nested modeling approach to link the higher resolution (1/25 degree) coastal
models of Florida Bay and the Florida Keys (FK) with courser resolution (1/12 degree) models of adjacent seas
through suitable boundary conditions. The South Florida (SoFLA) Regional Model is an adaptation of the Hybrid
Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). The major contribution made by nesting the SoFLA-HYCOM within a
larger scale North Atlantic HYCOM (Fig. 2) is that accurate simulations of the interaction between shallow water
dynamics around the Florida Bay and the FK reef tract with larger scale oceanic flows are possible.
Fig. 5 Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS)
satellite image of a plume off the southwest coast of Florida.
Image courtesy of USF CMS Institute for Marine Remote
Sensing.
Fig. 6 Fluorescence increases as the color changes from dark
blue to green, yellow, and red. White = regions masked by
sensor artifacts. Image courtesy of USF CMS Institute for
Marine Remote Sensing.
Research
Examples demonstrating utility of SoFLA-HYCOM products are shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 shows that remote
sources of low salinity waters reach the Florida Keys and can alter regional distributions even in the dry season
(winter and spring). Fig. 4 shows the passage of eddies between the Florida Current front and the reef tract. A
major contribution of this work is understanding the influence of rivers and weather systems on the Southwest
Florida shelf and Florida Bay, critical needs as the Everglades Restoration Project moves forward.
Please contact Villy Kourafalou [email protected] for more information.
Mapping Coral Larval Transport
UM RSMAS researchers in the Ocean Prediction Experimental Laboratory (OPEL) are coupling physical and biological
oceanography to study larval dispersion patterns during mass coral spawning events. Using a combination of the
regional East Florida Shelf-Princeton Ocean Model (EFS-POM) on a curvilinear grid for the Straits of Florida/EFS
region and a high-resolution nested model for the Upper Florida Keys (Fig. 7), the team has shown that dispersion
patterns are strongly affected by different physical forcing mechanisms (e.g. wind, tides and the Florida Current
front).
Mark Luther, director of the USF-CMS Ocean Modeling and Prediction Laboratory, is the local operator for the NOAA
Tampa Bay Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (TB-PORTS). The marine information acquisition and
dissemination technology, developed by NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) in collaboration with University of
South Florida College of Marine Science, improves navigational safety and protects the environment by providing
more accurate water level, current, and meteorological data for Tampa Bay. TB-PORTS integrates real-time
current, water level, temperature, wave, visibility, and wind measurements collected every six minutes at multiple
locations.
Please contact Mark Luther [email protected] for more information.
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35.7
35.63
35.55
35.47
35.4
35.32
35.25
35.17
35.1
35.02
34.95
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Comparisons of simulations of particle surface transport patterns with particles collected during tracer experiments and
with the trajectory of 1 m drogue reveal that the model reasonably predicts advection of passive particles away from
release locations (Fig. 8).
A major contribution of this work is that it demonstrates that mesoscale events associated with the Florida Current (e.g.
variability due to eddy passages) are sufficiently strong to temporarily modify expected along-shelf and cross-shelf
transport patterns. This has implications not only for coral larvae, but for many planktonic species and species with
planktonic life stages.
24.0
Reference Vectors (cm/s)
Please contact Jerome Fiechter [email protected] for more information.
15
150
23.5
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Low salinity water of Mississippi origin
Influence of remote sources of low salinity can alter regional distributions
even in the dry season
Fig. 2 The SoFLA-HYCOM Regional Model domain (blue shaded area); embedded is a sub-domain (light
gray) where model parameters (current velocity, temperature, salinity, and sea surface elevation) are
archived for use by coastal Florida Bay and Florida Keys models. The orange lines mark the open
boundaries that are employed for nesting with the larger scale HYCOM. Image courtesy of Villy Kourafalou.
Operations
Outreach &
Education
SEACOOS Outreach and Education
SEACOOS Outreach and Education products and programs are coordinated by the Sea Grant Extension Programs in
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The Sea Grant programs work in partnership with the Centers
for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) . A variety of posters (Fig. 10) and classroom activities can be
found at www.seacoos.org under the Community and Classroom link.
Please contact Chris Simoniello [email protected] for more information.
Fig. 3 Surface salinity and currents in the SoFLA HYCOM domain during the dry season (winter to
spring). An advantage of the SoFLA HYCOM is that it includes shallow Keys topography and can
document features that are absent from the larger scale HYCOM. Image courtesy of Villy
Kourafalou
Fig. 10 The Making Waves poster
Is an example of a SEACOOS
education product. Related
classroom activities can be found
on the www.seacoos.org website.
Fig. 7 Left panel: East Florida Shelf regional coastal ocean model (with grid sub-sampled by a factor of ten for
clarity). The Upper Florida Keys higher resolution nested sub-domain is outlined in black. Right panels: (Top)
Upper Florida Keys sub-domain (with grid sub-sampled by a factor of ten for clarity); (bottom) Reef bottom
topography as represented by the model in the vicinity of North Dry Rocks (black circle). Image courtesy of
UM RSMAS Ocean Prediction Experimental Laboratory.
Fig. 4 The SoFLA HYCOM simulates the year-round eddy passages along the Loop Current/Florida Current. Eddies provide a transport mechanism of material and nutrients between the Dry Tortugas and the Florida
Bay/Keys. Image courtesy of Villy Kourafalou.
Fig. 8 Simulated particle surface transport compared with 1 m drogue trajectory (yellow dots) and
particles collected during a tracer experiment (numbers indicate count and location). Red:
wind+tides, no wave-induced turbulence; Blue: wind+tides, with wave-induced turbulence; Green:
tides only. Particles for the tracer study were released at North Dry Rocks (light blue square) on
September 9, 2004, at 11:00 h GMT. Image courtesy of UM RSMAS Ocean Prediction
Experimental Laboratory.
Poster design by Chad Edmisten – USF College of Marine Science