Chapter 6
INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPABILITIES OF A NEAR REAL-TIME
METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC IN SITU INSTRUMENTED
ARRAY, AND ITS ROLE IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION
SUPPORT
JAMES C. HENDEE, ERIK STABENAU, LOUIS FLORIT, DEREK MANZELLO,
AND CLARKE JEFFRIS
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149-1026 USA
1. Introduction
The mission of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) is to understand, predict, and monitor the oceans, coasts, fisheries, and
atmosphere. NOAA also participates in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force created under
U.S. Presidential Executive Order 13089 (June 11, 1998, Office of the White House
Press Secretary), whose mission is to utilize the combined U.S. governmental agencies
to preserve and protect U.S. coral reefs. Although there are many efforts afoot across
the globe to increase the breadth of meteorological and oceanographic monitoring
networks (e.g., see National Research Council, 2003; U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy, 2005; NOAA Observing System Architecture, 2005; Global Observing Systems
Information Center, 2005), few are deployed specifically to monitor coral reef areas,
and none contain the information synthesis capabilities and instrumentation designed to
monitor coral health directly in near real-time, except as described in this chapter.
1.1 OVERVIEW OF MONITORING STATIONS
Most meteorological and oceanographic monitoring stations have certain common
characteristics:
• Measurements are made for air temperature, wind direction, wind speed, wind
gusts and barometric pressure. Additional instruments may measure sea
temperature, dew point, rainfall, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR)
or wave height and period.
• The measurements are usually averaged over a period of one hour and
broadcast via a satellite relay (e.g., GOES, Argos or Iridium) or highfrequency radio, and then to a World-WideWeb (“Web”) site where the data
can be viewed, often in near real-time (see below for further explanation).
• The stations in the network are designed to receive very little maintenance, as
the sites are remote and labor is expensive. Instruments requiring high
maintenance are not included for these reasons.
135
and Management Applications, 135-156.
© 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.
L.L. Richardson and E.F. LeDrew (eds.), Remote Sensing of Aquatic Coastal Ecosystem Processes: Science
INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPABILITIES OF A NEAR REAL-TIME
METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC IN SITU INSTRUMENTED
ARRAY, AND ITS ROLE IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION
SUPPORT
JAMES C. HENDEE, ERIK STABENAU, LOUIS FLORIT, DEREK MANZELLO,
AND CLARKE JEFFRIS
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149-1026 USA
1. Introduction
The mission of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) is to understand, predict, and monitor the oceans, coasts, fisheries, and
atmosphere. NOAA also participates in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force created under
U.S. Presidential Executive Order 13089 (June 11, 1998, Office of the White House
Press Secretary), whose mission is to utilize the combined U.S. governmental agencies
to preserve and protect U.S. coral reefs. Although there are many efforts afoot across
the globe to increase the breadth of meteorological and oceanographic monitoring
networks (e.g., see National Research Council, 2003; U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy, 2005; NOAA Observing System Architecture, 2005; Global Observing Systems
Information Center, 2005), few are deployed specifically to monitor coral reef areas,
and none contain the information synthesis capabilities and instrumentation designed to
monitor coral health directly in near real-time, except as described in this chapter.
1.1 OVERVIEW OF MONITORING STATIONS
Most meteorological and oceanographic monitoring stations have certain common
characteristics:
• Measurements are made for air temperature, wind direction, wind speed, wind
gusts and barometric pressure. Additional instruments may measure sea
temperature, dew point, rainfall, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR)
or wave height and period.
• The measurements are usually averaged over a period of one hour and
broadcast via a satellite relay (e.g., GOES, Argos or Iridium) or highfrequency radio, and then to a World-WideWeb (“Web”) site where the data
can be viewed, often in near real-time (see below for further explanation).
• The stations in the network are designed to receive very little maintenance, as
the sites are remote and labor is expensive. Instruments requiring high
maintenance are not included for these reasons.
135
and Management Applications, 135-156.
© 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.
L.L. Richardson and E.F. LeDrew (eds.), Remote Sensing of Aquatic Coastal Ecosystem Processes: Science