Author: AOML Communications

The glider rests on the deck of the R/V La Sultana before deployment. Image credit: NOAA

Underwater Gliders Begin Third Mission

On July 14th, 2015, AOML physical oceanographers deployed one of two sea gliders in the Caribbean from the University of Puerto Rico’s R/V La Sultana. The third deployment will continue the project’s mission to gather important data in the Caribbean and Tropical North Atlantic Ocean to help with hurricane intensity forecasting and provide valuable information about the role the ocean plays in tropical cyclone development. What’s new for this mission? For the first time, the gliders will collect ocean current velocity profiles in addition to the real-time temperature, salinity, and oxygen data. AOML scientists also equipped the glider with an improved battery which will allow the glider to record more profile measurements. The second of the two gliders will be deployed in the Tropical North Atlantic in the upcoming weeks.

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Messages written by local schoolchildren are bottled up and ready for deployment. Image credit: NOAA

July Hydrographic Survey Conducted in the Florida Straits

AOML physical oceanographers and interns conducted a hydrographic survey along the 27th north parallel in the Florida Straits aboard the R/V F.G. Walton Smith on July 14-15 as a component of the Western Boundary Time Series project. These 2-day cruises are designed to calibrate daily estimates and quantify Florida Current volume transport and water mass changes.

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The research team alongside the NOAA ship Gordon Gunter in Newport, RI prior to taking off on an ocean acidification cruise along the U.S. East coast. Image credit: NOAA

AOML Joins Ocean Acidification Program Research Cruise Along U.S. East Coast

A team of researchers, including scientists from AOML and the University of Miami, set sail June 19th on a research cruise aboard the NOAA ship Gordon Gunter to provide increased understanding of ocean acidification and its drivers along the U.S. East coast. The cruise, which is part of a larger effort supported by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, investigated near-shore and deep waters, and provided researchers with more detailed information about changing ocean chemistry in different environments.

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The Central Caribbean Marine Institute's Little Cayman Research Centre. Image Credit: CCMI

AOML Oceanographers to Participate in New Summer Lecture Series

This summer, AOML will be diving into a new outreach initiative with the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, a coral reef research organization based in the Cayman Islands. From June through August, NOAA oceanographers from AOML will give a series of talks on various oceanographic topics to the institute’s staff and students participating in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the institute’s Little Cayman Research Centre (LCRC).

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A Christmas Tree worm makes its way across a bed of coral polyps. Image credit: NOAA

AOML Scientists Establish Ocean Acidification Monitoring Site at Flower Garden Banks

AOML successfully established the final of three sentinel climate and ocean acidification monitoring sites at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico this month. Below are a few photos taken by AOML researchers of the biodiversity found on the reefs at the Flower Garden Banks. Photo credit: Lauren Valentino, NOAA

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AOML hurricane researcher talks with a museum visitor. Image credit: NOAA

Hurricane Researchers “Feel The Force” at the Frost Museum of Science

On Saturday, May 30th, personnel from AOML’s Hurricane Research Division along with Outreach & Communications staff participated in the Patricia and Philip Frost Museum of Science’s annual “Feel the Force” event. The one-day outreach event drew over 1000 people who learned about preparing their homes and families to deal with disasters, especially hurricanes. HRD scientists staffed the permanent museum exhibit dedicated to explaining how scientists fly into storms to gather scientific data. In addition to speaking to people about the experience of flying into tropical cyclones, they also took the opportunity to explain the latest innovations in technology being tested this season and how their work will benefit hurricane intensity forecasts. HRD scientists also granted media interviews throughout the day and led a team of children in the Museum’s “Wild and Crazy Weather Challenge”.

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AOML interns collect a water sample in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary during the 2014 Ocean Sampling Day event. Image Credit: NOAA

AOML Enlists Citizen Scientists for International Ocean Sampling Day 2015

Researchers with AOML’s Environmental Microbiology Lab joined a global effort to sample the smallest members of the ocean ecosystem on June 21 during International Ocean Sampling Day. Organized and led by the European Union’s MicroB3 organization and the Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, Ocean Sampling Day (OSD) is a simultaneous sampling campaign of the world’s oceans and coastal waters. These cumulative samples, related in time, space and environmental parameters, contribute to determine a baseline of global marine biodiversity and functions on the molecular level.

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NOAA hurricane research technology on the field at Marlins Park. Image credit: NOAA

AOML Participates in CBS4 Miami’s 10th Annual Weather Day

On Thursday, May 21st, AOML hurricane researcher Dr. Eric Uhlhorn participated in the 10th annual Weather Day event at Marlins Park, hosted by local news station CBS4. Thousands of elementary and middle school students from across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties were on hand as part of the fun-filled, science-focused educational field trip at the ballpark. The pre-game program was designed to teach students the basic concepts of weather and climate and how these topics relate to living in South Florida. Dr. Uhlhorn discussed the unmanned technology that NOAA uses to conduct research on hurricanes, including ocean gliders and the Coyote unmanned aircraft system.

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Aboard the NOAA Ship Ron Brown Dr. Molly Baringer of AOML explains to distinguished guests, Iceland ambassadors Dal Holter (Norway), Stuart Gil (United Kingdom), and Luis Arreaga (United States), how scientists use a CTD/O2 (conductivity-temperature-depth-oxygen) water sampler package to gather data about the physical and chemical properties of the water column.

Veteran oceanographer, Dr. Molly Baringer, selected as AOML’s next deputy director

AOML is pleased to announce Dr. Molly Baringer as AOML’s next deputy director. Molly officially began her new position on May 18 after serving in an acting capacity since October, 2014. Molly is a veteran sea-going oceanographer and has led numerous research projects during her 21-year tenure at AOML. Her research portfolio is strongly rooted […]

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