ALBERT

Description: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) convened a workshop on Evaluating Approaches and Technologies for Monitoring Organic Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment in Ann Arbor, MI on July 21-23, 2006. The primary objectives of this workshop were to: 1) identify the priority management information needs relative to organic contaminant loading; 2) explore themost appropriate approaches to estimating mass loading; and 3) evaluate the current status of thesensor technology. To meet these objectives, a mixture of leading research scientists, resourcemanagers, and industry representatives were brought together for a focused two-day workshop.The workshop featured four plenary talks followed by breakout sessions in which arranged groupsof participants where charged to respond to a series of focused discussion questions.At present, there are major concerns about the inadequacies in approaches and technologies forquantifying mass emissions and detection of organic contaminants for protecting municipal watersupplies and receiving waters. Managers use estimates of land-based contaminant loadings torivers, lakes, and oceans to assess relative risk among various contaminant sources, determinecompliance with regulatory standards, and define progress in source reduction. However, accuratelyquantifying contaminant loading remains a major challenge. Loading occurs over a range ofhydrologic conditions, requiring measurement technologies that can accommodate a broad rangeof ambient conditions. In addition, in situ chemical sensors that provide a means for acquiringcontinuous concentration measurements are still under development, particularly for organic contaminantsthat typically occur at low concentrations. Better approaches and strategies for estimatingcontaminant loading, including evaluations of both sampling design and sensor technologies,need to be identified. The following general recommendations were made in an effort to advancefuture organic contaminant monitoring:1. Improve the understanding of material balance in aquatic systems and the relationship betweenpotential surrogate measures (e.g., DOC, chlorophyll, particle size distribution) and target constituents.2. Develop continuous real-time sensors to be used by managers as screening measures and triggersfor more intensive monitoring.3. Pursue surrogate measures and indicators of organic pollutant contamination, such as CDOM,turbidity, or non-equilibrium partitioning.4. Develop continuous field-deployable sensors for PCBs, PAHs, pyrethroids, and emerging contaminantsof concern and develop strategies that couple sampling approaches with tools that incorporatesensor synergy (i.e., measure appropriate surrogates along with the dissolved organics toallow full mass emission estimation).[PDF contains 20 pages]

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Partner University of Michigan convened aworkshop on the Applications of Drifting Buoy Technologies for Coastal Watershed andEcosystem Modeling in Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 5 to 7,2005.The objectives of the workshop were to: (1) educate potential users (managers and scientists)about the current capabilities and uses of drifting buoy technologies; (2) provide an opportunityfor users (managers and scientists) to experience first hand the deployment and retrieval ofvarious drifting buoys, as well as experience the capabilities of the buoys' technologies; (3)engage manufacturers with scientists and managers in discussions on drifting buoys' capabilitiesand their requirements to promote further applications of these systems; (4) promote a dialogueabout realistic advantages and limitations of current drifting buoy technologies; and (5) developa set of key recommendations for advancing both the capabilities and uses of drifting buoytechnologies for coastal watershed and ecosystem modeling.To achieve these goals, representatives from research, academia, industry, and resourcemanagement were invited to participate in this workshop. Attendees obtained "hands on"experience as they participated in the deployment and retrieval of various drifting buoy systemson Big Portage Lake, a 644 acre lake northwest of Ann Arbor. Working groups then convened fordiscussions on current commercial usages and environmental monitoring approaches including;user requirements for drifting buoys, current status of drifting buoy systems and enablingtechnologies, and the challenges and strategies for bringing new drifting buoys "on-line".The following general recommendations were made to:1). organize a testing program of drifting buoys for marketing their capabilities to resourcemanagers and users.2). develop a fact sheet to highlight the utility of drifting buoys.3). facilitate technology transfer for advancements in drifter buoys that may be occurringthrough military funding and development in order to enhance their technical capabilityfor environmental applications. (pdf contains 18 pages)

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) convened a workshop, sponsored by the Hawaii-Pacificand Alaska Regional Partners, entitled Underwater Passive Acoustic Monitoring for RemoteRegions at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology from February 7-9, 2007. The workshop wasdesigned to summarize existing passive acoustic technologies and their uses, as well as to makestrategic recommendations for future development and collaborative programs that use passiveacoustic tools for scientific investigation and resource management. The workshop was attendedby 29 people representing three sectors: research scientists, resource managers, and technologydevelopers.The majority of passive acoustic tools are being developed by individual scientists for specific applicationsand few tools are available commercially. Most scientists are developing hydrophone-based systems to listen for species-specific information on fish or cetaceans; a few scientists are listening for biological indicators of ecosystem health. Resource managers are interested in passive acoustics primarily for vessel detection in remote protected areas and secondarily to obtain biological and ecological information. The military has been monitoring with hydrophones for decades;however, data and signal processing software has not been readily available to the scientific community, and future collaboration is greatly needed. The challenges that impede future development of passive acoustics are surmountable with greatercollaboration. Hardware exists and is accessible; the limits are in the software and in the interpretationof sounds and their correlation with ecological events. Collaboration with the military and the private companies it contracts will assist scientists and managers with obtaining and developing software and data analysis tools. Collaborative proposals among scientists to receive larger pools of money for exploratory acoustic science will further develop the ability to correlate noise withecological activities. The existing technologies and data analysis are adequate to meet resource managers' needs for vessel detection. However, collaboration is needed among resource managers to prepare large-scale programs that include centralized processing in an effort to address the lack of local capacity within management agencies to analyze and interpret the data. Workshop participants suggested that ACT might facilitate such collaborations through its website and by providing recommendations to key agencies and programs, such as DOD, NOAA, and I00s. There is a need to standardize data formats and archive acoustic environmental data at the national and international levels. Specifically, there is a need for local training and primers for public education, as well as by pilot demonstration projects, perhaps in conjunction with NationalMarine Sanctuaries. Passive acoustic technologies should be implemented immediately to address vessel monitoring needs. Ecological and health monitoring applications should be developed as vessel monitoring programs provide additional data and opportunities for more exploratory research. Passive acoustic monitoring should also be correlated with water quality monitoring to ease integration into long-term monitoring programs, such as the ocean observing systems. [PDF contains 52 pages]

Description: NOAA

Description: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) convened a workshop on "Wave Sensor Technologies" in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 7-9, 2007, hosted by the University of South Florida (USF) College of Marine Science, an ACT partner institution. The primary objectives of thisworkshop were to: 1) define the present state of wave measurement technologies, 2) identify the major impediments to their advancement, and 3) make strategic recommendations for future development and on the necessary steps to integrate wave measurement sensors into operationalcoastal ocean observing systems. The participants were from various sectors, including research scientists, technology developers and industry providers, and technology users, such as operational coastal managers and coastal decision makers.Waves consistently are ranked as a critical variable for numerous coastal issues, from maritime transportation to beach erosion to habitat restoration. For the purposes of this workshop, the participants focused on measuring "wind waves" (i.e., waves on the water surface, generated by thewind, restored by gravity and existing between approximately 3 and 30-second periods), although it was recognized that a wide range of both forced and free waves exist on and in the oceans. Also, whereas the workshop put emphasis on the nearshore coastal component of wave measurements, the participants also stressed the importance of open ocean surface waves measurement. Wave sensor technologies that are presently available for both environments include bottom-mounted pressure gauges, surface following buoys, wave staffs, acoustic Doppler current profilers, and shore-based remote sensing radar instruments.One of the recurring themes of workshop discussions was the dichotomous nature of wave data users. The two separate groups, open ocean wave data users and the nearshore/coastal wave data users, have different requirements. Generally, the user requirements increase both in spatial/temporal resolution and precision as one moves closer to shore. Most ocean going mariners areadequately satisfied with measurements of wave period and height and a wave general direction.However, most coastal and nearshore users require at least the first five Fourier parameters ("First 5"): wave energy and the first four directional Fourier coefficients. Furthermore, wave research scientists would like sensors capable of providing measurements beyond the first four Fourier coefficients. It was debated whether or not high precision wave observations in one location cantake the place of a less precise measurement at a different location. This could be accomplished by advancing wave models and using wave models to extend data to nearby areas. However, the consensus was that models are no substitution for in situ wave data.[PDF contains 26 pages]

Description: NOAA

Description: A three day workshop on turbidity measurements was held at the Hawaii Institute of MarineBiology from August 3 1 to September 2, 2005. The workshop was attended by 30 participantsfrom industry, coastal management agencies, and academic institutions. All groups recognizedcommon issues regarding the definition of turbidity, limitations of consistent calibration, and thelarge variety of instrumentation that nominally measure "turbidity." The major recommendations,in order of importance for the coastal monitoring community are listed below:1. The community of users in coastal ecosystems should tighten instrument designconfigurations to minimize inter-instrument variability, choosing a set of specificationsthat are best suited for coastal waters. The IS0 7027 design standard is not tight enough.Advice on these design criteria should be solicited through the ASTM as well as Federaland State regulatory agencies representing the majority of turbidity sensor end users.Parties interested in making turbidity measurements in coastal waters should developdesign specifications for these water types rather than relying on design standards madefor the analysis of drinking water.2. The coastal observing groups should assemble a community database relating output ofspecific sensors to different environmental parameters, so that the entire community ofusers can benefit from shared information. This would include an unbiased, parallel studyof different turbidity sensors, employing a variety of designs and configuration in thebroadest range of coastal environments.3. Turbidity should be used as a measure of relative change in water quality rather than anabsolute measure of water quality. Thus, this is a recommendation for managers todevelop their own local calibrations. See next recommendation.4. If the end user specifically wants to use a turbidity sensor to measure a specific waterquality parameter such as suspended particle concentration, then direct measurement ofthat water quality parameter is necessary to correlate with 'turbidity1 for a particularenvironment. These correlations, however, will be specific to the environment in whichthey are measured. This works because there are many environments in which watercomposition is relatively stable but varies in magnitude or concentration. (pdf contains 22 pages)

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: This Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) workshop was convened to assess the availabilityand state of development of conductivity-temperature sensors that can meet the needs of coastalmonitoring and management communities. Rased on the discussion, there are presently a numberof commercial sensor options available, with a wide range of package configurations suitable fordeployment in a range of coastal environments. However, some of the central questions posedin the workshop planning documents were left somewhat unresolved. The workshop descriptionemphasized coastal management requirements and, in particular, whether less expensive, easilydeployed, lower-resolution instruments might serve many management needs. While several participantsexpressed interest in this class of conductivity-temperature sensors, based on input fromthe manufacturers, it is not clear that simply relaxing the present level of resolution of existing instrumentswill result in instruments of significantly lower unit cost. Conductivity-temperature sensorsare available near or under the $1,000 unit cost that was operationally defined at the workshopas a breakpoint for what might be considered to be a "low cost" sensor. For the manufacturers, akey consideration before undertaking the effort to develop lower cost sensors is whether there willbe a significant market. In terms of defining "low cost," it was also emphasized that the "life cyclecosts" for a given instrument must be considered (e.g., including personnel costs for deploymentand maintenance). An adequate market survey to demonstrate likely applications and a viablemarket for lower cost sensors is needed. Another topic for the workshop was the introductionto the proposed ACT verification for conductivity-temperature sensors. Following a summaryof the process as envisioned by ACT, initial feedback was solicited. Protocol development willbe pursued further in a workshop involving ACT personnel and conductivity-temperature sensormanufacturers.[PDF contains 28 pages]

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Workshop entitled "Technologies for MeasuringCurrents in Coastal Environments" was held in Portland, Maine, October 26-28, 2005, withsponsorship by the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS), an ACT partnerorganization. The primary goals of the event were to summarize recent trends in nearshoreresearch and management applications for current meter technologies, identify how currentmeters can assist coastal managers to fulfill their regulatory and management objectives, and torecommend actions to overcome barriers to use of the technologies. The workshop was attendedby 25 participants representing state and federal environmental management agencies,manufacturers of current meter technologies, and researchers from academic institutions andprivate industry.Common themes that were discussed during the workshop included 1) advantages and limitationsof existing current measuring equipment, 2) reliability and ease of use with each instrument type,3) data decoding and interpretation procedures, and 4) mechanisms to facilitate better training andguidance to a broad user group. Seven key recommendations, which were ranked in order ofimportance during the last day of the workshop are listed below.1. Forums should be developed to facilitate the exchange of information among users andindustry:a) On-line forums that not only provide information on specific instruments andtechnologies, but also provide an avenue for the exchange of user experiences withvarious instruments (i.e. problems encountered, cautions, tips, advantages, etc). (seeReferences for manufacturer websites with links to application and technical forums atend of report)b) Regional training/meetings for operational managers to exchange ideas on methods formeasuring currents and evaluating data.c) Organize mini-meetings or tutorial sessions within larger conference venues.2. A committee of major stakeholders should be convened to develop common standards(similar to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) committee) thatenable users to switch sensors without losing software or display capabilities. (pdf contains 28 pages)

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Workshop "Applications of in situ Fluorometers inNearshore Waters" was held in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, February 2-4,2005, with sponsorship bythe Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System (GoMOOS), one of the ACT partner organization.The purpose of the workshop was to explore recent trends in fluorometry as it relates to resourcemanagement applications in nearshore environments. Participants included representatives fromstate and federal environmental management agencies as well as research institutions, many ofwhom are currently using this technology in their research and management applications.Manufacturers and developers of fluorometric measuring systems also attended the meeting.The Workshop attendees discussed the historical and present uses of fluorometry technology andidentified the great potential for its use by coastal managers to fulfill their regulatory andmanagement objectives. Participants also identified some of the challenges associated with thecorrect use of Fluorometers to estimate biomass and the rate of primary productivity. TheWorkshop concluded that in order to expand the existing use of fluorometers in both academicand resource management disciplines, several issues concerning data collection, instrumentcalibration, and data interpretation needed to be addressed. Participants identified twelverecommendations, the top five of which are listed below:Recommendations1) Develop a "Guide" that describes the most important aspects of fluorescencemeasurements. This guide should be written by an expert party, with both research andindustry input, and should be distributed by all manufacturers with theirinstrumentation. The guide should also be made available on the ACT website as wellas those of other relevant organizations. The guide should include discussions on thefollowing topics:The benefits of using fluorometers in research and resource managementapplications;What fluorometers can and cannot provide in terms of measurements;The necessary assumptions required before applying fluorometry;Characterization and calibration of fluorometers; (pdf contains 32 pages)

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: Future coastal management practices require that a holistic, ecosystem management approach beadopted. Coastal ecosystems, however, present a variety of specific and unique challengesrelative to open ocean systems. In particular, interactions with the seabed significantly influencethe coastal ecosystem. Observing technologies must be developed and employed to incorporateseafloor interactions, processes and habitat diversity into research and management activities.An ACT Workshop on Seabed Sensor Technology was held February 1-3, 2006 in Savannah,Georgia, to summarize the current state of sensor technologies applicable to examining andmonitoring the coastal seabed, including the near-bed benthic boundary layer and surfacesediment layer. Workshop participants were specifically charged to identify current sensors inuse, recommend improvements to these systems and to identify areas for future development andactivities that would advance the use of sensor technology in the observation, monitoring andmanagement of the coastal benthic environment. (pdf contains 23 pages)

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES