August 20, 2009
You can see ocean data through APL Web portal
A Web portal at the Applied Physics Laboratory now has more than 50 different kinds of ocean data being collected in Puget Sound and off the coast of Washington, Oregon and Northern California.
Bringing the data together in one coordinated place is one goal of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems project, for which the Applied Physics Laboratory just received an additional $1.9 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The association is comprised of more than 30 organizations including tribes, state and local governments, industry, academic institutions and non-profit groups. David Martin, associate director for science and technology integration at the lab, is the principal investigator.
The money also will be used in conjunction with funding from other organizations to upgrade and maintain ocean observing equipment such as radar measuring ocean currents and moorings sampling water characteristics in open ocean and estuaries. Seven organizations are funded by the Northwest association to operate various sensors and deliver products to the Web portal.
“The funding is used strategically to enhance the existing suite of sensors and products to meet high-priority needs,” Martin says. These range from improving predictions of climate change and its effect on our coasts to protecting marine ecosystems to mitigating natural hazards.
An example of a system supported by the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems is found in Hood Canal. The lab’s Jan Newton is leading efforts to understand the causes of hypoxic/anoxic conditions there that have resulted in low oxygen waters and the death of sea life. Part of that investigation involves measurements being made by instruments on four moorings developed by Al Devol with the UW School of Oceanography.
See the Web portal for the project here.
