USF's observing sites will augment a number of existing satellite-telemetered sites operated by federal and state agencies. There are three NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoys located off the West Florida Shelf that are linked to the COMPS web site. NDBC has established C-MAN meteorological observing systems at Cedar Key, Keaton Beach, and Cape San Blas. USF will add water level, temperature, and conductivity sensors at the Cedar Key and Keaton Beach sites. The NOAA National Ocean Service maintains water level and meteorological instruments at Key West, Naples, Ft. Meyers, Clearwater, Panama City, and Pensacola. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Tampa office has established a water level gauge in Charlotte Harbor at Port Boca Grande. USF will add temperature, conductivity and meteorological sensors to this site. The University of South Florida and Florida Institute of Oceanography operates the SeaKeys network of observing sites in the Florida Keys Informal agreements with these partnering agencies ensure that their data streams will be incorporated into the main COMPS data stream.
The nearshore seafloor environments may be linked to some degree with the stability and behavior of the barrier-island coastline. Recent sonar images of two small areas on the inner shelf have revealed extensive hardgrounds and complex sand wave structures indicating active sediment transport. Sonar images collected one year apart suggested some migration of large offshore sand ridges (kilometers in scale) may occur. However, what is missing is an explanation of the physical forcing mechanism that produced this seabed geomorphology. The real-time oceanographic data system will provide this essential data so that we can explain how and when the seabed is in motion and how the seabed interacts with the beach, either providing sand to the beach or storing it temporarily or permanently offshore.
The long-term monitoring of offshore sediment distribution patterns will help verify transport rates and identify potential response of the adjacent coastline. This could lead to predictions of coastal site prone toward erosion. Along the marsh coast, is sediment cover on the adjacent shelf providing sediment to the marsh thus allowing it to keep up with sea-level, or is the eroding marsh providing sediment to the shelf? Simply put, we do not know the sediment transport pathways and exchanges between the coastal and inner shelf system.
We do not know the extent of seagrass cover on the adjacent shelf and to what extent this retards sediment transport during storms or how this benthic community response to storm activity. The seagrasses are vitally important to the marine benthic ecology of this region.
In summary, the geological monitoring program is designed to measure the changes and response of nearshore and coastal environments that can be directly related to the primary driving mechanism - the physical oceanographic data sets generated by the real-time monitoring program. This provides an unprecedented opportunity to identify physical mechanisms driving coastal change.
In June of 1998 Florida's Ports Council voted to provide funding to
expand the COMPS network to the Yucatan Channel. The plan which they
approved calls for the installation of meteorological buoys with
acoustic doppler current profilers and coastal sea level measurement
systems on the eastern and western sides of the Yucatan Channel.
Oceanographic scientists from Cuba and Mexico are collaborating and have
agreed to help maintain these systems as part of the COMPS network. When
these systems are in place, scientists will, for the first time, have
real-time information on the major advective inputs to the Gulf of
Mexico.
The COMPS data archival and distribution system will collate data
streams from the USF-operated sites with those from sites operated by
other agencies into a seamless web-based interface. We have multiple
satellite downlinks (both DRGS and DOMSAT) for receiving GOES data
telemetry from remote sites. We are collaborating with the NOAA
National Ocean Data Center, the NOAA Coastal Services Center,
and the National Ocean Service to develop a
comprehensive database management system for the acquisition, archival,
quality assurance, and distribution of these data.
Related Programs
COMPS bolsters existing in-situ measurements and modeling programs
funded by various state and federal agencies. For example, COMPS will
complement the federally-funded program known as ECOHAB (Ecology of
Harmful Algal Blooms). A grant from the Office of Naval Research will
enable COMPS collaborators to augment the offshore observing array with
two additional moorings off Sarasota County that report via satellite.
The data from these two moorings will be integrated into the
comprehensive COMPS data stream. In addition, ECOHAB will have eight
other current meter moorings off Sarasota County which will provide
insights into the physical oceanography of, and sediment transport over,
the West Florida Shelf.
Data Delivery
For more information please contact:
| Mark E. Luther
727-553-1528 luther@marine.usf.edu |
Robert H. Weisberg
727-553-1568 weisberg@marine.usf.edu |
Clifford R. Merz
727-553-3729 cmerz@marine.usf.edu |
