With the 2020 hurricane season officially underway, the UCI partnered with a team of federal agencies and research institutions to deploy a pair of Navy research gliders that will shed new light on the interactions between the ocean and powerful storms that pass through the New York Bight. Full Article at Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute Blog

The MARACOOS team and our partners have been preparing for the pending arrival of Hurricane Isaias, currently forecast to hit the Mid-Atlantic on Monday night. Ocean observations contribute to improved forecasting for storms. Working with other IOOS regions in the North Atlantic storm pathway (CARICOOS, GCOOS, SECOORA, and NERACOOS), MARACOOS provides valuable information on coastal hazards that impact safety and property. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the tools and data for the Mid-Atlantic. Original article here

Scott Glenn and Travis Miles joined captain Jim Nickles of Monmouth University on the R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe on July 22 and deployed two US Navy Slocum Gliders. These gliders are joining what will become a fleet of glider in the mid-Atlantic that will remain deployed throughout hurricane season. They will gather information about what is happening below the ocean surface that may either hinder or enhance the strength of an approaching tropical cyclone. Funding for this hurricane glider program was made available by the United States Navy, NOAA, IOOS, IFAA, OAR, AOML.

July 21st, 2020 The Mid-Atlantic 2020 Glider Season began last week with the launch of RU_33 off the coast of Tuckerton, NJ. This is the first of many Mid-Atlantic glider launches for the season. RU_33 was launched by Rutgers University and is part of a partnership that includes NOAA, the US Navy, US IOOS (including MARACOOS) and many academic partners to study atmospheric/ocean interactions during hurricane season. The 30 gliders launched this year as part of this partnership will provide data to help improve hurricane forecast models. Learn more about the NOAA Hurricane Glider Project. What is a glider? Gliders are powerful tools for gathering ocean data: they are unmanned, can be launched from almost any seagoing vessel, and can be outfitted with a variety of instruments to customize the glider to its mission. Because they require very little human assistance, gliders can be deployed and collect data during storm conditions. Click here to learn more about gliders. How do gliders work? Gliders gather measurements from the surface to half a mile deep, surfacing multiple times a day to transmit data. Those data travel via satellite to the U.S. IOOS Glider DAC, where they are made publicly available. From the DAC they are uploaded to the Global Telecommunications System and made available to forecasting models like those used by the National Weather Service. Glider data as well as thousands of other datasets can be found on the MARACOOS OceansMap. Stay tuned for more updates on Mid-Atlantic glider launches! Originally Posted at maracoos.org

This year has been by all accounts, a momentous and challenging time, and as the current fiscal year ends, we take a moment to look back at where we came from, the current conditions on the ground, as well as future needs and opportunities. Despite the pandemic, civil issues, and economic disruptions, ocean data continues to stream from the Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (COOL) to federal and state agencies, companies, and anyone interested in the ocean. This robust system came into being with the support of SEBS Exec Dean Robert Goodman. Since our formation Bob has acted as coach, mentor, and cheer leader. Dean Goodman is retiring this year and all of us at COOL want to thank him for his support over the years. Our goal moving forward is to build on his vision for a sustained presence in the ocean, and using that information to develop new insights for the good of the planet and humanity. As the pandemic began, Rutgers quickly determined that the COOL infrastructure was deemed critical for serving state and national needs. The success of maintaining the network throughout the COVID outbreak was a reflection of the dedicated hard-working staff of COOL. They maintained one of the world’s largest HF Radar networks and supported glider efforts under difficult working conditions. Activity is now ramping up with the start of hurricane season, and research activity is increasing as we move into the next phase of reopening the university. All that has been accomplished is a reflection of the dedicated efforts of the full COOL team. Finally, COVID raised many challenges, and we now are assessing on how we might increase the ocean observing network’s resilience. This will be achieved through continued automation, backups for supply chain disruptions, and improved cyberinfrastructure tools allowing for coordinated control of the network. This becomes a new priority to be tackled in the coming years. Here is a link to our 2020 report. Sincerely, RUCOOL

Lori Garzio, a Research Analyst for RUCOOL and Leslie Smith at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership joined forces to develop a new resource of curated OOI datasets. Check out the new collection of OOI Data Nuggets! OOI Data Nuggets are exemplary datasets curated from data collected by the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). Datasets were selected based on their quality and alignment with a broader OOI Science Theme.  The nuggets explore various concepts common in upper-level high school and introductory college courses and are designed and packaged to be readily accessible to educators to integrate into their existing curriculum. The creation of these Data Nuggets was part of the NSF-funded OOI Synthesis & Education project conducted by Rutgers University and led by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. The primary nugget tag team consists of Lori Garzio (Rutgers) and Leslie Smith (Your Ocean Consulting, LLC). Lori had the critical role of mining thousands of data streams for high quality datasets that highlight neat oceanographic phenomena. These awesome data sets were then handed over to Leslie who wove the data into a nugget, making graphs, adding background context, and linking the data to curriculum and ocean research. Right now six nuggets are available: 2015 Axial Seamount Eruption Seasonal Phytoplankton Blooms at High Latitudes Flux of CO2 Between Ocean and Atmosphere Seasonal Mixing of the Irminger Sea Water Column Tidal Fluctuation of Diffuse Vent Fluid Flow Hypoxia Off the Oregon Coast Be sure to check back often as more datasets will be added! We hope you find these resources as helpful as we do.

The Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL) and the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS) has collaborated with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind to install a wind LiDAR (light detection and ranging) instrument alongside the causeway leading to RUMFS in Tuckerton, NJ. This fully autonomous sensor platform, owned and operated by Atlantic Shores, will provide observations of the wind profile up to several hundred feet in a location directly on the land/sea boundary. The system is expected to be in place for at least the next several years, and will provide vital information on the wind conditions in the area, particularly during sea breezes and coastal storms. RUCOOL and Atlantic Shores are collaborating on future research initiatives using this and other data. More information on Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, which is a 50:50 partnership between EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US LLC, is available on their website at https://www.atlanticshoreswind.com/.