ALBERT

Description: Inlets are common coastal features around the world. Essentially aninlet connects a lagoon, a bay or an estuary to the ocean (or sea), and theflow through the inlet channel is primarily induced by the tidal rise andfall of water level in the ocean. When speaking of the hydraulics of an inlet,one is interested mainly in determining the flow through the inlet andthe tidal variation in the bay, given the following:(1) Inlet geometry(2) Bay geometry(3) Bottom sediment characteristics in the inlet(4) Fresh water inflow into the bay (and out throughthe inlet)(5) Ocean tide characteristicsA combination of all these factors can produce a rather complex situation. (PDF contains 34 pages.)

Description: The purpose of this study was to determinethe actual direction of littoral transport along the north shore of SantaRosa Island in the vicinity of Pensacola Beach, Florida. To accomplish thisobjective the sand tracer method was used for the study. Visual observationsand instrument recordings of the environment factors were also made duringthe tracing operations. The investigation covered a time span from September14, 1976 to March 12, 1977.(PDF contains 68 pages.)

Description: Sponsor: Department-of the Army Mobile District, Corps of Engineers Mobile, Alabama

Description: The framework of sediment budget concepts provides a formalized procedureto account for the various components of sediment flux and the changes ofvolume that occur within a given region. Sediment budget methodology can beuseful in a number of coastal engineering and research applications,including: inferring the amount of onshore sediment transport for a nearshoresystem that contains an "excess of sediment", determining sediment deficits todowndrift beaches as a result of engineering works at navigational entrances,evaluating the performance of a beach nourishment project, inferring thedistribution of longshore sediment transport across the surf zone, etc.This chapter reviews briefly the governing equations for sediment budgetcalculations, considers various measurement and other bases for determiningthe sediment flux components necessary to apply the sediment budget conceptand finally for illustration purposes, applies the sediment budget concept toseveral examples. (PDF contains 52 pages.)

Description: PUBLISHED IN DYNAMICS OF SAND BEACHES, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COASTAL ENGINEERING (ICCE) 20th TAIPEL, R.O.C. NOV., 1986.

Description: A fixed-bed hydraulic model of Jupiter Inlet, Florida, wasconstructed for the purpose of testing measures designed to remedyproblems of sediment erosion and deposition in the inlet area. Bothtide-induced flows as well as waves were simulated in the model whichwas built on an undistorted scale of 1:49. Model verification was basedon prototype measurements of waves, tides and currents. Results havebeen interpreted in terms of the influence of various proposed remedialschemes on flow velocity magnitude, distribution and wave height atvarious locations within the study area. A stability parameter has beenutilized for evaluating the degree of sediment erosion or deposition ata given location.Various structural solutions were examined in the model. It isproposed that, in the initial phase of solution implementation, sedimentremoval/nourishment methods be used primarily to mitigate the existingproblems. New structures, as per model test results, should beinstalled under subsequent phases, only if sediment managementprocedures do not prove to be adequate. The currently followedprocedure of periodic sand trap dredging may be extended to include thenew dredging/nourishment requirements. (PDF contains 245 pages.)

Description: Submitted to: Jupiter Inlet District and Palm Beach County

Description: Inlets which require frequent channel dredging due to gradual shoaling,exhibit migration, or shoal up during storms, are in general unstable andpose a problem to the engineer. This problem of inlet stability is a complexone, because of the rather large number of variables that go into definingstability. The reference here is to inlets on sandy coasts only, becausethe absence of sand or similar sedimentary material the problem does notarise. Shell is also found in varying proportions with sand. Some of thisis. new, whereas in some areas it is ancient reworked material whose sizedistribution is close to that of the sand with which it is associated. (PDF has 24 pages.)

Description: This report presents the results of a bathymetric surveying program carriedout on the beach and nearshore region about 1 km to the north of the PortCanaveral inlet. The survey data covers a period between March 16 and July 21,1988. The data was collected in support of a field study on directional wavemeasurement and Bragg reflection from artificial, shore-parallel bars, performedduring June-July, 1988. The topography at the experiment site was generallymonotonic in the on-offshore direction (except near the end of the experimentalprogram) and uniform in the longshore direction. (64 pages)

Description: Office of Naval Research

Description: The ACT workshop "Enabling Sensor Interoperability" addressed the need for protocols at thehardware, firmware, and higher levels in order to attain instrument interoperability within and betweenocean observing systems. For the purpose of the workshop, participants spoke in tern of "instruments" rather than "sensors," defining an instrument as a device that contains one or more sensors or actuators and can convert signals from analog to digital.An increase in the abundance, variety, and complexity of instruments and observing systems suggeststhat effective standards would greatly improve "plug-and-work" capabilities. However, there are few standards or standards bodies that currently address instrument interoperability and configuration.Instrument interoperability issues span the length and breadth of these systems, from the measurementto the end user, including middleware services. There are three major components of instrumentinteroperability including physical, communication, and application/control layers. Participantsidentified the essential issues, current obstacles, and enabling technologies and standards,then came up with a series of short and long term solutions.The top three recommended actions, deemed achievable within 6 months of the release of thisreport are:A list of recommendations for enabling instrument interoperability should be put togetherand distributed to instrument developers.A recommendation for funding sources to achieve instrument interoperability should bedrafted. Funding should be provided (for example through NOPP or an IOOS request forproposals) to develop and demonstrate instrument interoperability technologies involvinginstrument manufacturers, observing system operators, and cyberinfrastructure groups.Program managers should be identified and made to understand that milestones for achievinginstrument interoperability include a) selection of a methodology for uniquely identifyingan instrument, b) development of a common protocol for automatic instrumentdiscovery, c) agreement on uniform methods for measurements, d) enablement of end usercontrolled power cycling, and e) implementation of a registry component for IDS and attributes.The top three recommended actions, deemed achievable within S years of the release of this reportare:An ocean observing interoperability standards body should be established that addresses standards for a) metadata, b) commands, c) protocols, d) processes, e) exclusivity, and f)naming authorities.[PDF contains 48 pages]

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

Description: The co-organized Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) and National Data Buoy Center (NDBC)Workshop "Meteorological Buoy Sensors Workshop" convened in Solomons, Maryland, April 19to 21,2006, sponsored by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES)Chesapeake Bay Laboratory (CBL), an ACT partner institution. Participants from various sectorsincluding resource managers and industry representatives collaborated to focus on technologies andsensors that measure the near surface variables of wind speed and direction, barometric pressure,humidity and air temperature. The vendor list was accordingly targeted at companies that producedthese types of sensors. The managers represented a cross section of federal, regional and academicmarine observing interests from around the country. Workshop discussions focused on the challengesassociated with making marine meteorological observations in general and problems that werespecific to a particular variable. Discussions also explored methods to mitigate these challengesthrough the adoption of best practices, improved technologies and increased standardization. Someof the key workshop outcomes and recommendations included:0cean.US should establish a committee devoted to observations. The committee wouldhave a key role in developing observing standards.The community should adopt the target cost, reliability and performance standards draftedfor a typical meteorological package to be used by a regional observing system.A forum should be established to allow users and manufacturers to share best practicesfor the employment of marine meteorological sensors. The ACT website would host theforum.Federal activities that evaluate meteorological sensors should make their results publiclyavailable.ACT should extend their evaluation process to include meteorological sensors.A follow on workshop should be conducted that covers the observing of meteorologicalvariables not addressed by this workshop. (pdf contains 18 pages)

Description: NOAA

Description: Alliance for Coastal Technologies, CBL/UMCES

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) Workshop on Towed Vehicles: Undulating PlatformsAs Tools for Mapping Coastal Processes and Water Quality Assessment was convenedFebruary 5-7,2007 at The Embassy Suites Hotel, Seaside, California and sponsored by the ACT-PacificCoast partnership at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML). The TUV workshopwas co-chaired by Richard Burt (Chelsea Technology Group) and Stewart Lamerdin (MLMLMarine Operations). Invited participants were selected to provide a uniform representation of theacademic researchers, private sector product developers, and existing and potential data productusers from the resource management community to enable development of broad consensus opinionson the application of TUV platforms in coastal resource assessment and management.The workshop was organized to address recognized limitations of point-based monitoring programs,which, while providing valuable data, are incapable of describing the spatial heterogeneityand the extent of features distributed in the bulk solution. This is particularly true as surveysapproach the coastal zone where tidal and estuarine influences result in spatially and temporallyheterogeneous water masses and entrained biological components. Aerial or satellite based remotesensing can provide an assessment of the aerial extent of plumes and blooms, yet provide no informationregarding the third dimension of these features. Towed vehicles offer a cost-effectivesolution to this problem by providing platforms, which can sample in the horizontal, vertical, andtime-based domains. Towed undulating vehicles (henceforth TUVs) represent useful platformsfor event-response characterization. This workshop reviewed the current status of towed vehicletechnology focusing on limitations of depth, data telemetry, instrument power demands, and shiprequirements in an attempt to identify means to incorporate such technology more routinely inmonitoring and event-response programs. Specifically, the participants were charged to addressthe following: (1) Summarize the state of the art in TUV technologies; (2) Identify how TUVplatforms are used and how they can assist coastal managers in fulfilling their regulatory and managementresponsibilities; (3) Identify barriers and challenges to the application of TUV technologiesin management and research activities, and (4) Recommend a series of community actions toovercome identified barriers and challenges.A series of plenary presentation were provided to enhance subsequent breakout discussions bythe participants. Dave Nelson (University of Rhode Island) provided extensive summaries andreal-world assessment of the operational features of a variety of TUV platforms available in theUNOLs scientific fleet. Dr. Burke Hales (Oregon State University) described the modification ofTUV to provide a novel sampling platform for high resolution mapping of chemical distributionsin near real time. Dr. Sonia Batten (Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Sciences) providedan overview on the deployment of specialized towed vehicles equipped with rugged continuousplankton recorders on ships of opportunity to obtain long-term, basin wide surveys of zooplanktoncommunity structure, enhancing our understanding of trends in secondary production in the upperocean. [PDF contains 32 pages]

Description: NOAA