Ms. Teresa Updyke and Dr. Hugh Roarty visited with Mr. Philip Myers at the National Search and Rescue School on Thursday February 14, 2019. The National Search and Rescue School is located in Yorktown, Virginia and is the world’s premier source for Search and Rescue (SAR) training. Ms. Updyke and Dr. Roarty were updating the school instructors on the different ocean surface current and wave products available from MARACOOS. It was also an opportunity for them to receive feedback and input from the Coast Guard on new products that they would like to see.
The 13 MHz CODAR SeaSonde is operating once again in North Wildwood. The station which was first installed in 2012 had to be turned off due to construction on a new boardwalk. Working with officials from the City of North Wildwood we were able to relocate the station and started measuring surface currents on January 25, 2019. We wish to thank the City of North Wildwood for their support of this important research endeavor.
Cold weather and ice did not prevent the Rutgers RUCOOL team from deploying the pHOxy lady, our autonomous underwater glider that measures pH and dissolved oxygen, on Friday, February 1, 2019. This glider is focused on observing ocean acidification processes in important commercial fisheries habitats in the Mid-Atlantic region. For this mission, the glider will run several cross-shelf transects off the coast of New Jersey, specifically in areas of important Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) and Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) habitats. Hopefully it will be warmer for her recovery!
How Rutgers is keeping an eye on our oceans: LiveBIG 2018-2019 Working to help shape our future, the Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL) uses cutting-edge technology, such as deep-diving drones, to monitor the status of oceans and seas around the globe. Who is BigTen (BTN) LiveBIG? More than schools, more than sports, LiveBIG is about those stories of innovation, impact, and inspiration from around the conference that make you proud to be Big Ten.
Good storytelling is a powerful way to bring public attention to our science – especially when it happens in remote areas like the Polar Regions. Stories about the changing poles are common, but don’t capture the complexity of the data. On January 10-11 a team from Rutgers University and the University of Delaware co-hosted a workshop for polar scientists to explore how to tell compelling science stories, and to bring data driven, critical analysis to undergraduate classrooms. The program was hosted at Clayton Hall Conference Center at the University of Delaware, and drew 35 scientists from all over the U.S. and Canada. Predominantly early to mid career scientists attended the workshop with a significant number of advanced graduate students. The workshop began with the participants learning the ingredients of an engaging story and brainstormed how to apply to their own science story. Scientists spent the day iterating and practicing their own story narrative led by expert – Ari Daniel, Senior Digital Producer at NOVA and independent science reporter Josh Kurz, a film producer and principal of Tilapia Films. Scientists also presented their latest polar science research in an evening poster session. In day two we switched focus and investigated how to take media stories back to the classroom. Participants explored the narrative and technical challenges their students face in evaluating data driven claims. Scientists received classroom ready polar science modules developed by Drs. Matt Oliver and Jon Cohen. These units are complete with video tutorials that can be integrated into the classroom. The workshop content was grounded in the Polar Literacy Principles, recently developed by the NSF funded Polar Interdisciplinary Coordinated Education (ICE) program. Finally the group explored how to use these newfound skills in constructing quality Broader Impact projects, drawing on resources of the NSF funded National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI). Workshop participants were very satisfied with the workshop content. We asked the participants to retrospectively rank a series of statements about their learning over the three-day program, comparing how they feel now to how they felt before the workshop (1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= agree; 4= strongly agree). The largest gains before to after the workshop were noted for “I understand the ways in which storytelling can be used to communicate research” and “I understand how to better plan and implement broader impact activities”. The smallest gains were for statements “Communicating research to a non scientist audience is important in my career” and “Communicating my research to scientists/research audiences is important to my career”. This workshop was a success despite the disappointment of our NSF colleagues not being able to attend due to the government shutdown. We hope to be able to offer additional programs for researchers to improve science communication about the polar regions.
News Release | Rutgers Today | Research Rutgers-led team uses new technique to make wind a more reliable energy source The proposed, multimillion-dollar offshore wind farms industry may benefit from a Rutgers-led study that used sophisticated forecasting to understand sea breezes and make them a more predictable source of energy. The behavior of offshore sea breezes, and how the ocean influences them, have largely been mysteries until now, said lead author Greg Seroka, who earned a doctorate in physical oceanography at Rutgers and is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist. “We’ve developed a technique to characterize and predict sea breezes, which could be critically beneficial for offshore wind turbine construction planning, operations and maintenance – and help make wind a reliable substitute for fossil fuels,” said Seroka, who worked with Rutgers associate professor Josh Kohut, assistant professor Travis Miles and Distinguished Professor Scott Glenn in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences on the research. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, for the first time combined a sophisticated statistical analysis technique with a weather forecasting model to assess sea breezes near-shore and offshore. The Rutgers-led team studied sea breezes that cross the New Jersey Wind Energy Area, a federally designated zone off Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties where huge wind turbines may be built. They found that, during the summer, sea breezes often arise on hot afternoons when energy demands peak – but conditions change when winds from the southwest push warm surface water away from shore. This causes upwelling of much colder bottom water that hits beaches, chills swimmers, and causes offshore sea breezes to begin about five hours earlier than normal and become more intense. The study also found that winds blowing over coastal lands keep near-shore sea breezes from moving inland, but the land-based winds have little effect on sea breezes offshore. Based on these findings, sea breezes offshore will be much more predictable for the offshore wind industry. Erick Fredj, a computer science professor at the Jerusalem College of Technology, and Rich Dunk, a consultant and principal meteorologist for the Rutgers Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, contributed to the study. Last year, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issued an executive order directing the state Board of Public Utilities and other agencies to promote the development of wind energy off the New Jersey coast to meet a goal of 3,500 megawatts of electricity by 2030. Hundreds of wind turbines would be needed. The nation’s first commercial offshore wind project – in waters off Block Island, Rhode Island – consists of five 6-megawatt wind turbines and began operating in December 2016. More than 20 offshore wind projects are in various stages of development across the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Rutgers researchers’ next steps include learning more about all types of sea breezes to improve their prediction. Article Credit: https://news.rutgers.edu Photo Credit: Joseph Brodie, RUCOOL Director of Atmospheric Research
Several RUCOOL affiliates attended and presented at the 99th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in Phoenix, AZ from January 7 through 10, 2019. This meeting gathers more than 4000 scientists and policymakers to discuss the latest in weather and ocean-related operations and research, with this year’s annual theme focused on Understanding and Building Resilience to Extreme Events by Being Interdisciplinary, International, and Inclusive. This year, Dr. Joseph Brodie presented on Utilizing Climatological Analysis to Improve Forecasting of Offshore Wind Ramps, while undergraduate intern Brian Frei presented a poster on his Hollings summer project with the NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office in Oxnard, CA on Sundowner Winds of Santa Barbara County. Additionally, Dr. Brodie and Dr. Travis Miles were co-authors on the presentation Validation and Comparison of Mesoscale Model Setups for Offshore Wind Resource Assessment: A New Jersey Case Study, by lead author Andrew Kumler of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. PDFs of these presentations are available from our Presentations page!