RUCOOL Satellite Data Overview
NASA, NOAA and other international agencies have been operating numerous satellites focused on studying ocean dynamics for over five decades. Many of these agencies make global datasets freely available to the public, however, the data are often delayed, or spatial ground resolutions are too low to
see the details of our coastal ocean dynamics.
Rutgers began operating its own satellite ground station in 1992 and delivered data to the web beginning in 1994. Now on our sea surface temperature (SST) satellite web pages, we work with the University of Delaware Orb Lab to provide hundreds of GOES Satellite SST images to the web every day throughout the east coast of the US. In addition, with our partners in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS), we’ve helped with the development of OceansMap.MARACOOS.org, an interactive real-time visualization system for not just satellite data, but hundreds of other datasets as well. Check it out!
We have been providing SST maps for over 30 years and keep planning to make them for the fishermen, scientists, sailors and general public that use them every day.
RUCOOL Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are a new type of platform that are starting to become part of our ocean observing system. UAS are poised to revolutionize marine science and conservation as they provide on demand remote sensing at low cost and reduced human risk. Aerial imagery has been utilized to map coastal marine debris which can pollute ecosystems and pose a hazard to navigation.
RUCOOL has recently begun utilizing a fleet of four Unoccupied Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones as platforms for our research. The platforms have been evaluated by local lifesaving organizations as vehicles to deliver emergency flotation to swimmers in need, and to quantify the amount of floating
Sargassum in the coastal waters around Puerto Rico.
