Transcript Blucher.ppt

TCOON (Texas Coastal Ocean
Observation Network)
Starting in 1989 CBI started installing a modern state-of-theart water level measurement system along the Texas coast
with the goal of making the collected data available in near
real-time.
Today the system consist of over fifty
station. And most stations provide
additional data such as wind speed
and direction, air temperature, and
water temperature., We also maintain
stations that provide water current,
salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen
data.
TCOON Purpose
Although the intended primary use of the data was to establish
tidal datums, the scope of the system has been broaden to
include other uses:
commercial shipping industry, recreational boaters, sailors
and windsurfers, shrimping and fishing industry,
marine construction,
decision-makers
responsible for marine
safety and emergency
evacuation in the event of
an approaching hurricane.
TCOON Station
All the stations in TCOON collect data at six-minute intervals
(0.1 hours). In order to manage this large volume of data, a
database management system has been developed and
continues to be improved.
An Intel based workstation running
UNIX is responsible for collecting,
archiving, and decoding all source
data received from the remote
platforms. The data are supplied to
sponsors and the public via the
Internet at http://dnr.cbi.tamucc.edu
and through voice telephone
response systems.
The Shoreline Environmental Research
Facility (SERF)
Simulates coastal environments to study processes
controlling contaminant fate, effects, and remediation. SERF
features include the following:
Nine wave tanks capable of simulating
both tides and waves with a continuous
or recycled supply of fresh or sea water
• Permitted to test crude oil, refined oil,
and spill response agents
• On-site labs (toxicology, general
chemistry, sample handling)
•Simulated environments.
Applications of HF Radar
 Oil Spill Response
 Navigation/Port Management
 Database for Bay Modeling
• Hydrodynamic modeling
– Dredge analysis
– Storm events
• Ecological modeling (salinity)
Conrad Bluchers Involvement
with HF Radar
• CBI, through TGLO and TEES support
purchased a CODAR Ocean Systems, Inc., a
pair of SEASONDE 25-MHz HF-Radars.
• CBI has configured them to be a mobile,
rapid-deployment system for oil spill
response and research.
HF Radar unit in action
Test Run of HF Radar in Corpus
Christi Bay
Florida Setup