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October 2003 Topics     current topics

• Sea Grant research pays off during Hurricane Isabel
• New center holds charrette and institute for teachers
• DeVoe appointed to ocean observing system board
• SC NEMO Web site wins award

Sea Grant research pays off during Hurricane Isabel

Mobile wind tower data transmitted in real-time provides critical information to NOAA National Hurricane Center, placement of towers optimal

Fla. and S.C. Sea Grant-supported researchers recently collaborated on the deployment of mobile wind towers at four locations near the projected path of Hurricane Isabel. The researchers deployed the wind towers the day before Hurricane Isabel’s projected landfall in the Outer Banks region of N.C. One tower was set up in Elizabeth City, the second in Wilmington, the third in Ft. Macon and the fourth in Cape Hatteras.

Dr. Tim Reinhold directed the mobile wind tower design and construction while Dr. Kurt Gurley directed the data analysis and real-time data transmission. Dr. Reinhold, a nationally known wind engineer and professor of civil engineering at Clemson University, studies the relationship between hurricane wind speed at ground level and the destructiveness of certain wind speeds on low-rise structures such as homes. Dr. Gurley, assistant professor of civil and coastal engineering at the University of Florida, studies signal processing and data analysis. The mobile wind towers measure wind speed at both 5 and 34 feet off the ground, wind direction and barometric pressure. The real-time data were available via a wireless Internet connection that performed flawlessly. NOAA hurricane researchers and forecasters were able to access the data every 15 minutes, preparing the community as far in advance as possible.

The mobile wind towers also provided valuable ground truth for some of the new sensors deployed on NOAA research aircraft flying above the storm. “This was one of our first chances to get the high-resolution wind-speed data—near the ground, close to where a storm passes—that we need in order to develop design bases for hurricane-resistant homes,” said Dr. Reinhold. NOAA’s research aircraft measure wind speed at an altitude of 5,000 to 10,000 feet, and it is sometimes difficult to get accurate wind-speed information based solely on the aircraft’s sensors.

The mobile wind towers were invaluable to NOAA hurricane researchers and forecasters during this particular storm. For the first time ever, detailed coastal wind tower data were transmitted in real-time from the field to the NOAA Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. “The placing of the towers appeared just about optimal and the reliability of the real-time reports…was fantastic,” said Dr. Peter Black, a research meteorologist with the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory’s Hurricane Research Division. “Your data were the only wind reports from the coast that were coming in. I was able to relay the reports to the National Hurricane Center forecasters, giving them a sense for how quickly conditions on the coast were deteriorating as Isabel approached. This effort is a terrific example of how a research project can make a significant contribution to operations while at the same time gather a research data set that will be studied for years.” The observations represent the highest wind speed for which continuous, high frequency, digital observations have been recorded in a U. S. landfalling hurricane.

New center holds charrette and institute for teachers

The SouthEast Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (SouthEast COSEE), directed by Lundie Spence, initiated a spring charrette, “Multicultural Pathways to Ocean Sciences Education,” and the first Ocean Sciences Education Leadership Institute.

The three-day charrette, held in partnership with the Avery Research Institute at the College of Charleston and the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, was a step toward facilitating educators’ access to ocean sciences research, and identifying successful educational techniques specifically designed to engage under-represented students. During the program, participants took a two-hour Cooper River cruise aboard the NOAA ship, R/V Nancy Foster.

The week-long institute, held in July in Wilmington, N.C., introduced nearly 30 teachers and media coordinators from the Southeast region to current ocean science research and education resources. The partnerships with UNC-Wilmington, the N.C. Aquarium, and NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration enabled participants to experience a half day on the R/V Cape Fear, which came complete with a remotely operated vehicle. Then everyone explored coastal salt marshes in canoes for the remainder of the day. For many of the teachers, this was an opportunity to experience, first-hand, the methods employed by ocean science researchers. As a follow-up, teachers will partner with a local informal center, aquarium, or museum to offer an ocean awareness day during the school year.

SouthEast COSEE is funded by the National Science Foundation, with support provided by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and the NOAA Coastal Services Center, and is administered through the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. For more information about upcoming institutes and activities, visit the SouthEast COSEE Web site.

DeVoe appointed to ocean observing system board

Rick DeVoe, executive director of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the SouthEast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEA-COOS) by Molly Corbett Broad, president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. SEA-COOS is a regional partnership, initiated in September 2002 and funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, to coordinate ocean observing in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Member institutions will develop a better understanding of chemical, meteorological, biological, and transportation processes of near-shore ocean environments.

SEA-COOS members will create scientific, educational, and outreach activities related to the project. Member institutions include N.C. Sea Grant; S.C. Sea Grant Consortium; Georgia Sea Grant; Florida Sea Grant; University of North Carolina; University of South Carolina; University of Miami; University of South Florida; Skidaway Institute of Oceanography; S.C. Department of Natural Resources; and MCNC, an organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., specializing in transferring research ideas into the marketplace.

SC NEMO Web site wins award

Clemson Extension Web Site Communications Award — The S.C. Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (SC NEMO) Web site, a S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program project, recently won a “1st Place” award for content and graphic design. Content was written by April Turner and site design was by Patty Snow. The award is sponsored by the S.C. Association of County Agricultural Agents. For more information, visit the SC NEMO site.

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