2nd AOML-SEFSC workshop

Scientists from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) met for a one-day workshop on May 29, 2014 from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm in the SEFSC large conference room.

Approximately 50 people attended the workshop, including several invited guests from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI), and Florida International University (FIU). A total of 19 scientific presentations divided into three sessions: Programmatic, Observations, and Numerical Modeling, were made focused primarily on the Gulf of Mexico, South Florida, and Caribbean Sea. Topics included ecosystem-based science, coral reef research, fisheries oceanography, red tides, climate-ecosystem interactions, coupled biophysical modeling, and many others. One-page summaries of each of the presentations and pdf files for many of the presentations are available below.

Following the presentations, a discussion of potential future research directions and partnerships took place.

Some of the ideas for new collaborative endeavors that were discussed included:

• Develop new engineering technologies, such as shallow water drifters and gliders to monitor the drift trajectories of key larval fish species
• Add plankton and larval fish sampling to AOML's hydrographic monitoring cruises (e.g., Florida Current, Western Boundary currents, tropical Atlantic)
• Take advantage of AOML's new glider observations to enhance ecosystems assessments
• Assess/fill gaps in existing physical observations of coastal ecosystems to generate baseline values of parameters associated with the spawning habitat and recruitment success of critical fish, invertebrates, and benthic species
• Increase efforts to develop successful, fully-coupled, high resolution biogeophysical models that include data assimilation and predictive capabilities (e.g., seasonal predictions of red tide) and begin ground-truthing them against existing empirical data

This workshop followed the first AOML-SEFSC workshop which was held in 2009 (see 1st Workshop). The 2014 workshop was considered a success by all who attended, and interest was shown in holding such joint workshops on a more regular basis.

Agenda, Summaries and Presentations

Workshop Agenda - [pdf]
Summaries and pdfs of the presentations are available for most presentations.

Opening remarks