Author: AOML Communications

Evolution of the mean difference between the time the observation is taken to the time the profile is available at the Global Argo Data Assembly Centers. The reduction of the elapsed time at the beginning of 2012 are due to improvements of the processing system, while the reduction of the elapsed time at end of 2012 is due to switching operational data processing from once daily on an old computer to twice daily on a new and faster computer. Software and schedule changes in 2014 lead to further reductions of the elapsed time. Image Credit: NOAA AOML.

The US Argo Data Assembly Center improves the real-time processing system and adds new float types

The US Argo Data Assembly Center at PhOD used the transition to the NETCDF profile format version 3.0 to consolidate three processes into one process. This major development had multiple benefits. The primary benefit is that during the development stage the rapid changes in the float technology, for example the addition of sensors, were taken into account to increase the adaptability of the software to future changes of floats as well as the NETCDF profile format. Prior to this development, three programs required adaptation when float types with a new combination of sensors was deployed.

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King Tide: tide at 10:30am shows high watermark on a bridge in Coconut Grove

Research Fit for a King Tide

The colloquial term ‘king tides’, referring to the highest astronomical tides of the year, is now part of most Miami Beach residents and city managers’ vocabulary. Exacerbated by rising seas, these seasonal tides can add up to 12 inches of water to the average high tide, threatening the urbanized landscape of Miami Beach. During these events, AOML’s Microbiology Team is on the scene to investigate these tidal waters as they rise and recede. The microbiologists are part of a research consortium for sea level rise and climate change, led by Florida International University’s Southeast Environmental Research Center. The research effort focuses on collecting samples and monitoring water quality at locations along the Biscayne Bay watershed where the City of Miami Beach has installed pumps to actively push these super-tidal floodwaters back into the bay.

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X/L Band Satellite Receiving System on the lawn of AOML. Photo Credit: NOAA.

New X/L-Band Satellite Receiving System Premieres at AOML

After months of preparation, on September 16th contractors completed the installation of a new X/L-band satellite receiving system on the AOML roof. Funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, the new system includes a radome-protected, 2.4-meter antenna and associated data processing and storage equipment. This project is designed to demonstrate the value of improved [...]
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Drew Osbrink and Eric Redweik of Sensintel and NOAA hurricane researcher Joe Cione monitor data from the Coyote as it flies into Hurricane Edouard. (Image Credit:NOAA)

Hurricane Edouard

Photos taken from a NOAA P-3 aircraft during a Hurricane Hunter flight inside Hurricane Edouard. NOAA successfully deployed a Coyote Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) directly into a hurricane from a NOAA P-3 Hurricane Hunter for the first time. During flights conducted September 15-17, 2014 out of Bermuda, scientists aboard the P-3 aircraft received meteorological data from the Coyote UAS in both the eye and surrounding eyewall of Hurricane Edouard.

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The radome hangs above AOML. Image credit: NOAA

X-Band Satellite Receiver Installation

On Tuesday, September 16, 2014, a new X/L-band satellite receiving system was installed on the roof of AOML, augmenting the existing L-band antenna. This new system will expand AOML capabilities to receive telemetry and create products from the next generation of NOAA’s polar-orbiting environmental satellites, including Suomi NPP and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) constellation. Infrared and microwave sounder data from the system will be delivered to NOAA NCEP for assimilation in NWP models.

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Hurricane Scientists Bring a New Wave of Technology to Improve Forecasts

Scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory are at the forefront of hurricane research to improve track and intensity forecasts. Every hurricane season they fly into storms, pour over observations and models, and consider new technological developments for how to enhance NOAA’s observing capabilities. The 2014 hurricane season will provide an opportunity to test some of the most advanced and innovative technologies, including unmanned hurricane hunter aircraft and sea gliders, which will help scientists better observe and, eventually, better predict a storm’s future activity.

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Bleached colony of Meandrina meandrites at Emerald Reef, Key Biscayne, FL. Image credit: NOAA

The Science Behind Coral Bleaching in the Florida Keys

2014 was a relatively warm summer in South Florida, and local divers noticed the effects of this sustained weather pattern. Below the ocean surface, corals were bleaching. In the month of August, the Coral Bleaching Early Warning Network, jointly supported by Mote Marine Lab and NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, received 34 reports describing paling or partial bleaching and an additional 19 reports indicating significant bleaching. Scientists continue to monitor the impact of this severe bleaching event to determine the extent of coral mortality.

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