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Eyes on the Ocean NDBC Buoys Supporting Prediction, Forecast and Warning for Natural Hazards for Oceans in Action Stennis Space Center August 17, 2016

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Eyes on the Ocean NDBC Buoys Supporting Prediction, Forecast and Warning for Natural Hazards for Oceans in Action Stennis Space Center August 17, 2016 Eyes on the Ocean NDBC Buoys Supporting Prediction, Forecast and Warning for Natural Hazards for Oceans In Action Stennis Space Center August 17, 2016 Helmut H. Portmann Director, National Data Buoy Center National Weather Service August 17, 2016 1 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Near to above-normal Atlantic hurricane season is most likely this year 70 percent likelihood of 12 to 17 named storms Hurricane Alex January TS Bonnie May TS Colin June TS Danielle June Hurricane Earl August Fiona Gaston Hermine Ian Julia Karl Lisa Matthew Nicole Otto Paula Richard Shary Tobias Virginie Walter NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 2 Influence of La Nina Typical influence of La Niña on Pacific and Atlantic seasonal hurricane activity. Map by NOAA Climate.gov, based on originals by Gerry Bell NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 3 NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 4 www. ndbc.noaa.gov www. ndbc.noaa.gov NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center NDBC Observing Platforms Tsunami Weather Buoys in Place for > 30 Years Wx TAO 106 met/ocean WX buoys 47 C-MAN stations 55 TAO Climate Monitoring buoys + 4 current profiler moorings 39 DART Tsunami Monitoring stations NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 6 National Data Buoy Center Electronics Labs Facilities at SSC, MS MCC Operates 24/7/365 Sensor Testing & Cal High Bay Fabrication Paint & Sandblasting Wind Tunnel & Environmental Chambers In-Water Testing Machine Shops El Nino - La Nina Detection NDBC maintains an array of 59 moorings in the tropical Pacific Ocean Tropican Atmosphere Ocean Array (TAO) National Weather Service 8 NOAA’s “Weather Buoys” NDBC operates & maintains 50 weather-ocean buoys 30 Coastal-Marine stations in the Atlantic basin NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 9 Weather/Ocean Observing Platforms Nearly 50 Coastal-Marine Automated Network 100+ Weather-Ocean buoys (On Lighthouses, offshore structures, fishing piers) NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 10 Hurricane Gustav August 2008 Wind and barometric pressure observations from NOAA buoy 42059 advised the Hurricane Center of the intensity of TD Gustav on Aug 25 prior to launch of the Hurricane Hunters into the Storm NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 11 Hurricane Gustav Aug 25-Sept 3, 2008 Buoy 42040 measured 63 mph winds and 33 ft seas - 120 mile east of Storm Sept 1, 2008 Buoy 42003 measured 85 mph winds and 34 ft seas - 65 mile east of Storm water temps ~88℉ Buoy 42059 measured 50mph winds and barometric pressure drop just prior to forming TS NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 12 Tsunami Assessment Largest Tsunami Measured In Open Ocean March 2011 earthquake and tsunami Crescent City, CA NDBC maintains a network of 39 deep-ocean instruments for tsunami detection in the Pacific and Atlantic Basins NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 13 “Meteotsunami” Atlantic “Meteotsunami” June 13, 2013 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 14 Cooperative Observing Partner Platforms 50 Observing Partners – 600 Platforms Active Buoy Sponsors U.S. Coast Guard NASA Kennedy Space Center Army Corps of Engineers NOS/NWLON and other NOAA Obs 60 Oil and Gas Platforms IOOS and other Observing Partners NERACOOS Stevens Institute (NJ) Texas General Land Office Louisiana State University University of Connecticut Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium University of North Carolina Skidaway Institute of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of Southern Mississippi Forrest Oil NDBC WxBuoy Chesapeake Bay Observing System Shell Oil and C-MAN 12% Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Inst Oregon State University Petrobas NOS NWLON 30% IOOS & others 57% NDBC website is a portal for real-time observations from NDBC-operated buoys and stations, and those from observing “partners” NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 15 Challenge - Ship time NDBC requires about 650 days at sea annually on large Global Class Vessels or Buoy Tenders to maintain the NWS- operated ocean observing platforms OMAO via FAP ∼150 DAS Currently - NWS - Funded - ∼150 DAS provided to NWS by OMAO Commercial Charters via FAP (for TAO) ∼300 DAS - ∼200 DAS provided to NWS by USCG via long-standing Partnership USCG - ∼300 DAS chartered ∼200 DAS using Marine Services contracts, and funded by NWS NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 16 Challenge - Cost of buoy operations NDBC Weather Buoy “Refresh” Underway Self Contained Ocean Observing Payload (SCOOP) Less labor intensive assembly, and at-sea servicing Allows use of ships with less lift capacity Requires less time on station Has expanded observing capabilities NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 17 Challenge - Power for autonomous operations ● Efficient solar power generation ● Wave or ocean current power generation ○ CRADA with Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. to demonstrate their “PowerBuoy” - Ocean wave based power generation and energy storage technology. ● Wind power generation ○ Initial testing of wind generators on C-MAN ● Power storage ○ Lithium battery technologies NationalNational Weather Data BuoyService Center 18 Challenge - Collision & Vandalism Buoy vandalized just 12 hours after the NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana completed operations resulting in total loss of real time transmissions. On recovery 7 months later, it was found that the buoy tower had been stolen. NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center 19 BuoyCAM Deployment First prototype installed in Gulf of Mexico July 2012 Deployed in the Tropical Pacific in Feb 2013 In 2013 NDBC deployed 16 BuoyCAMs NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center BuoyCAM Images NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center BuoyCAM Images National Weather Service BuoyCAM Images National Weather Service BuoyCAM 5N110W July 2013 National Weather Service June-July 2016 Fleet of fishing boats using buoys for mooring buoys for the past 8 weeks National Weather Service 25 BuoyCAM Images Calm seas Gulf of Alaska December 2014 RoughRough seas seas Gulf Gulf of ofAlaska Alaska 41002 Central Gulf of Mexico Sept 2015 Ice at buoy 44007 SE of Portland, ME in January 2015 NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center BuoyCAM Images Rain in Chukchi Sea Flat calm northern Gulf of Mexico Fog / low visibility Portland Maine Rain Clouds 200nm NW Kauai Hawaii National Weather Service BuoyCAM Images Sea Lions in So. California Algae Bloom in Gulf of Mexico National Weather Service T.S. ERIKA August 2015 Passage of T.S. Erika near buoy 42060 in the Caribbean Aug 27, 2015 Winds - 14mph Baro 1007 mB WT 81℉ Downgraded to Tropical Depression NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center Hurricane Earl August 2016 Passage of Hurricane Earl 200 miles from buoy 42056 on Aug 3, 2016 Winds 33mph Gust Baro 1010 mB Water Temp 85.5℉ NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center BuoyCAM images – August 2016 National Weather Service www. ndbc.noaa.gov www. ndbc.noaa.gov NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center What questions do you have? Helmut H. Portmann, Director National Data Buoy Center Stennis Space Center, MS THANK YOU! NationalNational Weather Data Buoy Service Center.
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