The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System

Transcription

1 The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System A proposal submitted to the California Coastal Conservancy by the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS)

2 PROJECT SUMMARY The Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS) is a consortium that extends from Northern Baja California in Mexico to Morro Bay at the southern edge of central California, and aims to streamline, coordinate, and further develop individual institutional efforts by creating an integrated, multidisciplinary coastal observatory in the Bight of Southern California for the benefit of society. By leveraging existing infrastructure, partnerships, and private, local, state, and federal resources, SCCOOS plans to develop an operational coastal observing system to address issues in coastal water quality, marine life resources, and coastal hazards for end user communities spanning local, state and federal governments and the public. This system will provide water-quality and natural-resource managers, scientists, and policy makers with the scientific basis for evaluating the effectiveness of management strategies and designing new approaches, and would also serve as a risk management and early warning tool. This proposal to the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) represents a description and implementation plan for the Coastal Ocean Currents Monitoring Program (COCMP) in Southern California. It has been designed to provide ocean current monitoring infrastructure for the region on a variety of space and time scales in a manner that is best suited for the broad range of regional and statewide needs. Data and information products will be made available in real-time where possible, and integrated with monitoring data obtained by other data providers. This proposal includes an internal program management structure that will allow efficient design, installation, and operation of a COCMP in Southern California. SCCOOS anticipates that the SCC will assemble a management panel on a regular basis to provide external review and guidance of the delivery of products that are requested in the COCMP RFP. The functional tasks of internal and external program management should be considered separately from the evolving governance structure of the broader SCCOOS Regional Association. NOAA will, starting June 1, 2004, fund SCCOOS for three years to develop a flexible organization structure and outreach program that will allow regional needs to be met by the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and the SCCOOS Regional Association. The COCMP will be one element of SCCOOS that serves user needs, builds capacity, attracts federal funding, and begins building a comprehensive observing system for both the region and State. (SCCOOS is coordinating with colleagues in Northern California to ensure a unified statewide system, including forming the Federation of California Regional Observing Systems see In comparison to the eventual California ocean observing system we are working toward, this COCMP effort can be relatively simple because it focuses on ocean currents and, therefore, a narrower range of products and societal benefits than a complete observing system. The proposed system includes surface current mapping by HF radar; high resolution drifters; autonomous underwater vehicles; fixed current measurements from moorings in Santa Monica Bay as well as integration of data from nearly a dozen moorings maintained by local agencies including the Orange County Sanitation District and LA County; surf zone current measurements and modeling; a Regional Ocean Modeling System using data assimilation to produce robust nowcasts and forecasts of physical and biological ocean properties; acquisition, storage, and distribution of remote sensing data products including ocean color, sea surface temperature, and scatterometry for wind field measurements; and an Information Technology infrastructure, with wireless networking where needed, to meet the requirements of the recent Ocean.US DMAC (Data Management and Communications) recommendations.. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 1

3 Table of Contents page # 1. Introduction 3 2. System Elements 4 HF Radar 4 Nearshore 7 Subsurface 7 Satellite Observations 9 Ocean Modeling System Integration 11 Sustained Operations 11 Data Management and Communications 11 Interoperability 13 Federally sponsored observing system initiatives Product Development, Outreach and Benefits to State Management Priorities Basic Physical Descriptions 14 Surface Currents 14 Subsurface Currents 14 Surfzone and Nearshore Currents 14 Subsurface Water Properties 14 Sea Level 14 Satellite Observations 15 Surface Meteorology Potential Applications for COCMP Product 15 Water Quality 15 Oil Spill Response & Search and Rescue 16 Marine Resources and Marine Protected Areas 16 Coastal Erosion 16 Vessel Traffic Aids Outreach and Product Applications Internal Program Management Program Schedule Development of Operational Funding Cost Sharing References Cited Biographical Sketches Budget Summaries, Institutional Budgets and Justifications Supplementary Documentary 120 The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 2

4 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, California has made great strides in mitigating environmental threats to water quality. The implementation of strict water quality regulations and the development of rapid indicators continue to yield health and economic benefits to our valuable coastal ecosystems and the populations they support. However, further progress is hampered by a lack of understanding of fundamental nearshore processes and a lack of environmental information that would enable us to forecast, analyze, and respond to water quality problems. The scarcity of observations on coastal ecosystems of sufficient duration, spatial extent, and resolution, and the lack of real-time data telemetry, assimilation, and analysis are major impediments to the documentation of contamination patterns and the development of a predictive understanding of environmental variability and change in California s coastal waters. The problem and potential risks are especially acute in Southern California where 20 million people live within fifty miles of the coast. This area has a higher population density and higher economic productivity than any other coastal region in the country. Clean beaches and coastal waters are central to both the economy and lifestyle of Southern California. Beach usage in California is higher than in the other 49 states combined. California attracts 175 million people annually who spend $1.5 billion on tourism-related activities. The beaches of Southern California are the most popular, yet the region experiences more beach closures than any other along the western coastline of North America. With present knowledge and information, it is difficult to assess how non-local sources of marine pollution may contribute to beach contamination problems, resulting in stalled mitigation and abatement efforts. Real-time information delivered to scientists, agencies, and the public will enhance our ability to respond to beach water quality issues and minimize the potential for human exposure. Pollutant inputs to coastal waters by dry and wet weather, point sources and non-point source runoff, all represent major water quality concerns in both urban and agricultural areas. The State Water Quality Control Board intends to regulate these discharges through the establishment of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). Development of meaningful TMDLs and consequent compliance monitoring requires the best possible information on water movements and water quality variability in the coastal zone. Beach replenishment projects in Southern California are often stalled by inadequate knowledge of where dredge spill will be transported and how the fine sediments might impact coastal ecology. New environmental monitoring efforts, including currents and their variability, are needed to assist in evaluating proposed Marine Protected Areas and wetlands restoration efforts. Additional information is also required to support regional coastal management by improving our predictive capabilities and assessments of the impacts of increasing urbanization and climate change. Southern California coastal counties lead the State in toxic spills. California s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) reports that of 2,262 spill statewide in 2002, about 1,000 occurred in four Southern California coastal counties (Santa Barbara, Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego). Coastal observations are needed to handle multiple daily spills, both predicting areas of impact and deducing the source of discovered spills. Increasing energy use places the Southern California Bight at higher risk for offshore oil spills. Of particular concern in the Southern California Bight is lightering between Very Large Crude Carriers and smaller shuttle tankers and the potential siting of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals adjacent to the U.S. Border in Rosarito Beach, MX, and the Long Beach region. Enhanced environmental monitoring will also be required for the coastal zone as a result of planned developments for desalinization plants with brine discharges into the ocean. Understanding the transport and fate of the brine will be the first step in creating monitoring programs to understand the ecological impacts of these facilities. Search and rescue operations are frequent in Southern California as a result of high levels of commercial and recreational boating, the growth of cruise liners, and the numerous coastline airports that use over-water approaches. Operational real-time wind and near-surface current fields used to predict motion at sea directly address both ocean-spill and search-and-rescue-response goals. A Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, based on new sensor and information technologies that integrate observations, data management, and modeling, will provide managers, scientists, and policy makers with a solid scientific basis for evaluating the effectiveness of present management strategies and for designing new approaches. The ability of data and information from this system to be The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 3

5 accessed in real-time will enable risk management and early warning tools, support scientific discovery and the development of next generation sensors, and provide a tool for broad-based science education. COCMPfunded current monitoring infrastructure will provide the underpinnings for this system. 2. SYSTEM ELEMENTS The SCCOOS proposal for COCMP implements a strategy for synthesizing a broad suite of system components that monitor the ocean on a range of space and time scales. Central to integrating these components is a dynamical ocean model that is initialized and constrained in near real-time by the different observational data sets. The model provides consistency in synthesizing observations from many technologies across space or time domains. We have budgeted to operate all system elements over a 3-year period of performance due to budgetary constraints. Technical definitions: ADV Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter ocean sensor that measures time series of ocean velocity at a point. AUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicle a small, propeller-driven platform for underwater observations that can operate at speeds of a few knots for durations up to 1 day. ADCP Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler uses underwater sound to measure vertical profiles of horizontal currents. Glider An autonomous underwater sensor platform that propels itself forward while ascending/descending operates at 0.5 knot for several months. HF Radar High Frequency radar often referred to as CODAR (Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar). Uses high-frequency radio to measure time series of spatial maps of ocean surface currents. ROMS Regional Ocean Modeling System a dynamical model of ocean physics and biology that is initialized and constrained with observational data to provide dynamically consistent syntheses and predictions capability. SCCCOS The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System, this proposal. HF Radar Creates time series of ocean surface current maps. HF radars measure the speed of ocean waves, which is the sum of the wave propagation and the surface currents on which they are riding. Radio waves, tuned to a specific length of ocean wave, are transmitted from shore, scatter off the ocean surface, and are subsequently received on shore with a directional antenna. Appropriate Doppler signal processing determines surface currents at a large number of discrete locations (range cells) along straight lines radiating from the transmit/receive antenna. By observing the same patch of water using radars located at two or more different viewing angles, the surface current velocity vector can be determined. Details of the principles behind HF radar based measurement of ocean currents can be found at: In general, HF radars can be classified into 2 groups: a) short range systems operating at 13 or 25 MHz with resolutions of km and ranges of km b) long range systems operating at 4-5 MHz with resolutions of 6-10 km and ranges of km HF radars are implemented using a number of different technical approaches. One of the more common commercially available approaches is the Seasonde TM manufactured by Codar Ocean Sensors, Palo Alto, California. Unique to the Seasonde TM is the use of a compact antenna design that allows the system to have a small footprint when deployed on the coast, an attractive feature for developed coastlines. The design of HF radar arrays depends on the following considerations: 1. Length of coastline that is to be monitored. 2. Resources available to implement the monitoring system. 3. Range resolution and offshore extent of desired surface current monitoring. 4. Unit costs are similar for the installation and operation of long- and short-range systems. Using these factors, array design is governed by how much coastline is to be monitored, the spatial resolution needed by users, and the total resources available. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 4

6 Guided by management requirements for observations at the highest resolution, a population density distributed throughout coastal Southern California, and shifts in management approaches that now recognize the need for regional monitoring plans, the SCCOOS implementation plan employs high-resolution, shortrange systems. This array provides seamless coverage from the U.S Mexico border to Morro Bay and is consistent with the 24 nautical mile region of interest defined in the COCMP RFP and State management jurisdictions for coastal waters that extend 3 miles seaward of the coastline. The coverage realized by this approach, and the sub-region responsibilities of SCCOOS consortium members, is shown in Figure 1. An interactive GIS developed for site planning is available at This array uses site spacing of km along the coastline, and offshore sites on the Channel Islands. Island sites are advantageous for nearshore monitoring since they provide the HF radar system with Figure 1. High Resolution HF radar array coverage for Southern California. Coverage illustrates operational responsibilities of SCCOOS consortium members. an excellent geometry of crossing radial current measurements. The array leverages nine existing sites funded by the California Clean Beaches Initiative and the Mexican government in South Bay San Diego / northern Baja California ( and sites in the Santa Barbara region funded by the federal Minerals Management Service and private foundations ( SCCOOS will plan, install, calibrate, and operate 20 new sites in the region to monitor currents at a nominal spatial resolution of 1 km on an hourly basis. All data will be available in real-time on a modern data grid. The technical challenges of providing connectivity to offshore sites and providing autonomous power via solar and wind resources have already been solved by SCCOOS consortium members. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 5

7 While the SCCOOS design for HF radar focuses the State resources nearshore, in regions directly related to agency-mandated needs, some allowance has been made to provide offshore, long-range coverage Table 1. Operational responsibilities geographically distributed to SCCOOS consortium members in the region, and the number of technicians that will operate from those sites (per year) for the 3-year period of performance. Reference Figures 1 and 2 for the CODAR site locations. (Note: an asterisk indicates that the site is an existing site, or one that is federally sponsored, that will be integrated into the proposed SCCOOS nested array.) Responsible Institution Short Range Site # Long Range Site Number Tech FTE, yrs 1-3 Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo 1, 2, 4 1,2 *LR sites proposed by CenCOOS 2,2,2 * techs are CenCOOS funded U.C. Santa Barbara 6, 7, 8, 9 *, 10 *, 11 *, 12 *, 3 2.5,3.5,3.5 13, 14, 15 University of Southern California 16, 17, 18, 19, ,2,2 4,5 *,6 * 2.5,3.5,3.5 Scripps Institution of Oceanography 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 *, 28 *, 29 * UABC/CICESE 30 * n/c n/c Units required to complete array 20 2 within COCMP. This approach leverages four sites that are not requested in the SCCOOS COCMP proposal: two sites to the north operated by CenCOOS under COCMP and two sites to the south that will be acquired by SCCOOS under NOAA funding. Two COCMP sponsored long range sites are proposed at Pt. Dume and the north end of San Clemente Island to provide statewide connectivity and some degree of Figure 2. Coverage in Southern California as provided by long range HF radars. The two systems to the north are proposed to COCMP by CenCOOS, the systems in the middle (sites 3,4) are proposed in this proposal, and the two systems to the south are supported by NOAA SCCOOS funding. See Appendix for full-page figure The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 6

8 monitoring capability within the Channel Islands, which are identified as potential sites for Marine Protected Areas. SCCOOS responsibilities for this component are identified in Table 1. Nearshore There are no available tools for operational monitoring of currents in the nearshore region, which is the zone of highest human contact with the ocean. Regional observations during COCMP will be used to improve nearshore circulation models that can eventually be extended to the entire coast. The nearshore, defined to extend from the shoreline to approximately 2 km offshore (roughly 30-m water depth), consists of the surfzone (within a few hundred meters of the shoreline) and the transition zone (seaward of the surfzone). The nearshore is the most heavily used part of the coastal ocean, and is also the region where water quality is most seriously impacted by pollutants. Although nearshore currents are critical to prediction of the fate and origin of point and non-point pollutants, they cannot be observed continuously in time over large areas because they are inshore of HF Radar coverage. To improve prediction of nearshore currents, extensive in-situ observations spanning relatively small regions and time periods will be used to validate and calibrate nearshore models that can be applied continuously over larger areas. The sites selected for intensive observations have persistent, serious water quality problems so the resulting current maps will also be useful, site-specific near-real-time products. Complementary observations of nearshore conditions will be made to measure all dynamical elements of surfzone behavior. Currents will be measured with drifters, bottom-mounted surfzone sensors, and ADCPs mounted on moorings and on AUVs, and in the surfzone where bubbles affect ADCPs by singlepoint ADVs. Drifters describe spatial structure and provide trajectories of passive, near-surface pollutants. Velocities over the water column measured at a few locations by moored ADCPs will be complemented by the spatially extensive observations of AUV-mounted ADCPs. In year 1, instruments will be purchased and prepared. The first month-long deployment (year 2) at Imperial Beach will complement an operational HF Radar and existing nearshore infrastructure. The surfzone component will include a cross-shore transect of 7 bottom-mounted pressure sensors and ADVs deployed between the shoreline and about 6-m depth. The data will be cabled to shore. On days during each month, approximately 15 surfzone drifters will be repeatedly released/retrieved/reseeded along a several km-long reach of beach. Bathymetry, which strongly affects nearshore currents, will be surveyed. Two transition-region moorings will be deployed in 15~m water depth for a 3-month period centered on the 1- month deployment of the other instruments. Data will be telemetered to shore in real time. For five threeday stretches during the month, 16 (non-surfzone) drifters will be repeatedly deployed in a grid covering the focus area. Surfzone and transition region drifter deployments will be coordinated. AUV surveys, using CTDs and upward- and downward-looking ADCPs, will be obtained 12-hrs/day throughout the month. The survey pattern will be designed to cover the focus area within three hours, to resolve adequately tidal motions. The second month-long deployment (year 3), at Huntington Beach or within Santa Monica Bay, will include transition zone observations similar to Imperial Beach but no observations in the surfzone. All data will be provided to SCCOOS data management for distribution on the web. A simplified surf zone model, driven by customized California Data Information Program ( wave field forecasts, will be implemented for the Southern California Bight as part of the NOAA/SCCOOS pilot program. Forecasts of the magnitude of alongshore-directed surfzone currents will be generated at 200 m alongshore spacing and provided both in real time and through an online accessible archive. At the Imperial Beach and Santa Monica Bay measurement sites, the alongshore-current model will be extended to span from the shoreline to 2 km offshore, and will utilize fine-scale local bathymetry, ROMS generated pressure fields, and wind fields. Subsurface Because ocean dynamics depend on subsurface processes outside the nearshore region, subsurface observations are needed to constrain the ROMS model. Subsurface information is also necessary for understanding marine life resources and climatic changes in the Bight. Because both surface forcing and subsurface dynamics cause surface currents, subsurface observations are necessary to our strategy of using a dynamical model to synthesize SCCCOS observations. Furthermore, many water quality and marine resource issues depend on knowing subsurface conditions. Consequently, SCCCOS includes sustained observations to: The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 7

9 Figure 3. Array of subsurface observations. Green shows glider lines and moorings in NOAA-supported array. Blue lines are bi-weekly SCCCOS Underway CTD sections. Blue triangle is Santa Monica Bay oceanographic and meteorological mooring. Red and Magenta lines are SCCCOS glider tracks completed every days.

10 along paths like those shown in Fig. 3 that extend about 40 km offshore between Santa Monica Bay and the Mexican border. Profiles will be taken to 500 m depth (or the bottom). Operations will be made as continuous as possible by borrowing gliders from SIO s glider inventory for turn-arounds. Sections of temperature and velocity will be available to ROMS and the SCCOOS website within an hour while salinity and density may be delayed until manual quality control can be applied during normal working hours. Examples of the type of data to be generated are shown in Figure 4. Figure 4. Glider measured depth-averaged currents (left) and ocean density (right) along a survey track. Santa Monica Bay Mooring ( o N, o W). A mooring will be located (blue triangle Figure 3) in the northwest corner of Santa Monica Bay in 450 m deep water about 7 miles offshore at a site where UCLA maintained a mooring from June 2001 to August The new mooring will be configured with a very near-surface ADV, a down-looking ADCP, and temperature and conductivity sensors throughout the water column. Meteorological measurements will be made with a conventional station mounted on the buoy. All measurements will be telemetered to shore stations in real-time. All measurements support determining surface currents either directly (the near-surface current meter) or indirectly by through model initialization, assimilation, and validation. Under separate funding, the mooring will also have instruments to measure various water quality properties, including hyperspectral radiometers and absorption-attenuation meters, important for Harmful Algal Bloom species identification and specific water quality signatures, spectral fluorometers to quantify hydrocarbon and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) levels, and spectral backscattering for measurement of turbidity and particle type, size distribution, and concentration. Nutrients and oxygen demand will be quantified using in situ optically based nutrient sensors and dissolved oxygen (DO) sensors. Underway CTDs. Underway CTDs are new instruments developed at SIO that provide vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, and density to depths of 400 m from ships moving at up to 20 knots. Underway CTDs will be deployed every two weeks along two ferry routes between the mainland and islands: 1) San Pedro to Avalon on Catalina Island; 2) Ventura Harbor to Santa Cruz Island (see Fig. 3). Five to seven vertical profiles of water properties will be obtained along each route every 2 weeks. Data will be quality checked after each transect and forwarded to the SCCCOS system within a day. Satellite Observations Will provide indication and location of water-borne constituents. Satellite observations will provide improved predictive capabilities for identifying and tracking pollutant, contaminant, and toxin-containing coastal hazards (i.e., stormwater & wastewater plumes, oil seepage & spills, and harmful algal blooms). Multi-sensor remote sensing data will enable direct and/or indirect characterization of the surface signatures of these hazards, identify how they are affected and initiated by varying environmental conditions and initial source composition, and assess their transport via surface currents (e.g., DiGiacomo et al., 2004). Feature detection, classification and tracking algorithms will be developed and applied to a number of coincident and complementary remotely sensed data sets to identify and characterize, in near-real time, the The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 9

11 location and transport of pollutant-, contaminant-, and toxin-containing coastal hazards, including the impact from variable physical forcing. Data sets derived from satellite ocean color sensors (including NASA s MODIS sensor and the Indian Space Agency s OCM sensor) will be utilized in this task. These data, collected several times a day (cloud permitting) at a ground resolution between 250 m and 1000 m, provide optical signatures that can be used to discriminate high particulate loadings associated with stormwater and wastewater plumes, as well as to characterize toxic bloom dynamics (e.g., Pseudo-nitzschia blooms and domoic acid production). Algorithms will be developed using standard feature detection and classification methodologies. Training sets will be extracted from historical data sets, and from these statistical models constructed to separately describe each type of hazard. The statistical models will then be used as input to a standard classifier, such as the k-nearest neighbor or maximum likelihood classifier, to automatically detect and classify hazards in nearreal-time data. Tracking algorithms will also be developed to map the development of the features, thereby enabling the monitoring and potential prediction of the transport of these coastal hazards. In addition, empirical relationships will be established between these ocean color fields and key in situ environmental parameters (i.e., toxicity and bacteria levels) as monitored as part of the Bight 03 Water Quality Project (which will continue into late 2004) and ongoing agency monitoring. The satellite ocean color data will be coupled with satellite sea-surface temperature fields to further feature tracking capabilities, as well as with satellite wind fields (QuikSCAT) and HF radar-derived current fields for determination of their forcing and transport. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) surface roughness fields will be used to develop demonstration capabilities and products for oil spills and seepage as well as stormwater and wastewater plumes, but will not be utilized operationally because of the tremendous costs of acquiring real-time SAR data; these data can potentially be acquired on an emergency basis by the state, however, should the need arise. Derived risk assessment products from non-sar satellites will be generated in real-time, integrated with the current monitoring data, and provided to the public using the internet. Modeling Used to combine and synthesize all COCMP observations by filling data gaps in time and space and to provide a forecasting capability While some user products can be developed directly from observations, in most cases the needed information is best determined by combining data from several data sources. To minimize the impact of observational errors and noise and to fill data voids, we will combine all available data with robust dynamical constraints inside a dynamical model. The data-assimilating model is based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) developed at UCLA. ROMS solves the primitive equations in an Earthcentered Cartesian coordinate system. ROMS is discretized on a coastline- and terrain-following structured grid, so local refinement can be performed via nested grids (i.e., high-resolution local models embedded in larger-scale coarse-grid models). The interactions between the two components are twofold: the lateral boundary conditions for the fine grid are supplied by the coarse-grid solution, while the latter is updated from the fine grid solution in the area covered by both grids (Blayo and Debreu, 1999). Long-term simulations have been made to obtain the equilibrium solution. The embedded solution is smooth at the nested domain boundary and runs at a CPU cost only slightly greater than for the inner region alone. Building on our recent success with a 3-level nested ROMS grid with spatial resolutions of 15-km, 5- km, and 1.5-km in the Monterey Bay, we have demonstrated a 4-level nested grid centered around the Santa Monica and San Pedro Bays with spatial resolutions of 21-km, 6.6-km, 2.2-km, and 0.75-km, respectively. Preliminary results from this 4-level nested ROMS with coupled physics and biology are very encouraging. In addition to the coastal upwelling and the associated variability, we have documented a number of mesoscale and sub-mesoscale eddies including their generation, propagation and interactions with coastal and island topography. With a capability of coupling physics with biology, we have found a significant increase in the biological production (reflected in surface chlorophyll concentration) in the center of these cyclonic eddies. A unique feature of the ROMS data assimilation method (based on the three-dimensional variational method) is that it can propagate observational information, which is often sporadically and irregularly distributed, in both space and time. Assimilating HF radar measurements, while challenging and not yet proven within the modeling community, should help to constrain the model when coupled with the other sub- The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 10

12 surface measurements planned. The data assimilation system planned for the operational program will allow information to be spread to data-void areas, and extrapolate the surface information to depths. We plan to run the proposed ROMS configuration within about six hours of real-time. The proposed ROMS has capabilities of assimilating both in situ (e.g., gliders, ship CTDs, moorings, AUVs) and remote sensing (including satellite and HF radar) observations and coupling physics with biology. All the model results can be accessed through a web site with analysis and visualization capabilities. The success of any data assimilation system depends to a large degree on the quality of the underlying prognostic model, which represents the physics of water motion in the complex ocean surface layer. In addition to the traditional in situ and satellite observations, we will systematically evaluate ROMS through validations against the HF radar data. This evaluation will provide guidance to our ongoing model development work and experiment design. We will carry out a number of model sensitivity experiments exploring issues of resolution, the role of side boundary conditions, and surface forcing formulations. We also plan to rectify model biases that are revealed, and incorporate improved forcing, numerics and parameterizations as they become available. While experimental in nature, outcomes of these efforts will improve the fidelity of the operational model and will be transitioned as appropriate. The effectiveness of HF radar data assimilation depends upon the construction of covariance functions for the surface current. Realistic covariances need to accurately represent the scales and structures of the observed HF radar currents. In the proposed project, we will use both observed currents and highresolution ROMS simulations to estimate covariance functions and orthogonal functional representations (basis functions) that factor the covariances. These will be used both for the basic surface current product in collaboration with the HF radar group and for the assimilation of HF radar data in ROMS. Winds that are accurate even near complex coastal topography are essential both to force ROMS and to provide wind data for operational uses such as search and rescue and spill tracking. UCLA will produce high-resolution (~3 km) winds for the Southern California Bight region by initializing a mesoscale model with products downscaled from a coarser resolution atmospheric model. Initially, the high-resolution model will be PSU/NCAR mesoscale model (MM5) already in use at UCLA. Within a year we will transition to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, a more advanced mesoscale atmospheric model being developed at NCAR. We will downscale two independent coarse resolution atmospheric products: (1) the 9 km resolution COAMPS data, and (2) the 40 km resolution eta model data from NCEP. We will also blend the model winds with the QuikSCAT measurements using the technique of Chao et al (2003), providing a third wind product to add to the ensemble. Atmospheric model runs will be made once per day, with each run containing a three-day forecast. Hourly output will be made available for ocean runs once per day approximately 24 hours behind real time. 3. SYSTEM INTEGRATION Sustained Operations Most of the system elements described above will operate in a year-round, 24/7, real-time mode to provide routine monitoring of the coastal environment with maintenance tasks designed to be performed on an 8-5, M-F basis. These elements include the surface current mapping, underwater gliders, satellite observations, real-time moorings, underway CTD, and surf-zone, wind-field, and offshore modeling efforts. A goal for COCMP deliverables is to make these 24/7 system elements operational in 3 years, and provide integrated informational products derived from these observations in real-time where applicable. Other operations are intensive observation periods that may persist for 1-6 months. Data from these periods will be used to tune, validate, and support the development of the ocean nowcasting and forecasting models. The sites of these intensive operations were selected as regions where models presently have prediction difficulties due to environmental complexity, the measurements required cannot be maintained on an operational basis without great costs, and/or the sites are regions of enhanced management needs (e.g. Imperial Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Monica Bay). Data Management and Communication The SCCOOS COCMP program will be served by a near-real-time data management system developed through the National Science Foundation Information Technology Research (NSF ITR) program The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 11

13 Real-time Observatories, Applications, and Data management Network (ROADNet ROADNet entails the integration of many different sensor types into a common data buffering, transport, and analysis system (referred to as a virtual object ring buffer - VORB). ROADNet is supporting many additional sensor platforms including large number seismic sensors, sensor networks within the San Diego Coastal Ocean Observing System ( UCSD's Climate Research micro-climate investigation array at SDSU's Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, meteorological sensors, geodetic laser strain meters, and portions of the Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN) (for example see Bock et al., 2004; Braun et al., 2002; Lindquist et al., 2003; Rajasekar et al., 2004; Vernon et al., 2003). To support this network of networks, we have deployed a number of dynamic ring buffers based on the Boulder Real Time Technologies Antelope software package. Historically, data transport for sensor networks has been configured by hand. This has resulted in a tedious and expensive process and changes are often subject to operator error and valuable investments of time. To solve these and other problems, we have developed and deployed a dynamic routing protocol that transports data reliably between various buffer and repository locations. This system enables self-healing data transport paths if a buffer or network link fails in an existing path. The real-time data are immediately integrated into a larger data management system based on modern grid technologies. For COCMP, this would represent the statewide array of order 40 or more HF radar systems which will be reporting data back to regionally distributed nodes. Grids are distributed systems that enable the sharing, selection, and aggregation of resources distributed across "multiple" administrative domains based on availability, capability, performance, cost and quality-of-service requirements. Data grids enable sharing of data and information while computation grids (not proposed here) deliver computational resources on demand. In particular, ROADNet exploits the capabilities of the San Diego Supercomputer s Storage Resource Broker (Moore, 2004; Rajasekar et al., 2002). Figure 5 illustrates a grid that is composed of sensors (at bottom), the replication and sharing of these data onto distributed servers (lower tier of middle box), applications that can seamlessly interface to these distributed data (top tier of middle box), and access and publication of meta-data catalogs (left box). The data grid has an arbitrary number of servers. The bottom layer of the SRB comprises archives on various tape and disk media, file systems such as Mac OSX, UNIX/Solaris, Linux, databases like Oracle, and, based on ROADNet, VORBs providing real-time data and metadata from sensor networks. The top layer provides a variety of applications programming interfaces (API) for WWW pages, web services, as well as the oceanographic community s DODS/OpenDap system. ROADNet is fully compliant with the requirements of the Ocean.US Data Management and Communications (DMAC) report. We anticipate that all the COCMP institutions will install local SRBs and automatically replicate much of the data available on the original SCCOOS servers. This proposal provides the funding necessary to establish the ROADNet VORB/SRB for the SCCOOS HF radar data. The system is already working to integrate real-time HF radar data from Scripps, UCSB, and Rutgers University in New Jersey with expected expansions to include the Naval Postgraduate School, NOAA, and University of Connecticut this summer. The extension and scaled system support throughout SCCOOS will be straightforward. The same ROADNet systems will be installed in northern California through CenCOOS to allow statewide integration of the full suite of HF radar current data and continuity for statewide access to data. Given that the systems currently work efficiently with Rutgers, we will propose to expand the connectivity as the national network grows. In SCCOOS, our existing funding from NOAA is being used to incorporate other data within the Southern California Bight obtained by consortium partners and agencies alike (e.g. Southern California discharge community, CDIP, meteorology, water sampling, and hydrography) into ROADNet and the SRB. While the HF radar sensor network and data sets will be the most extensive set of systems in COCOMP which have commonality, the SCCOOS data system will also be configured to operate in a similar manner for the other observational and modeling components to allow broad access and distribution of both real-time and archived data. The SCCOOS data management program will also be responsible for specifying, designing, and implementing the data telemetry system for the HF radar systems to provide a stable and efficient statewide system. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 12

14 Interoperability All systems within COCMP will be integrated using the data management tools described above. Web interfaces that allow easy access to data and products will be provided to the public. Personnel will be dedicated to interfacing with existing data provider/user groups both within and outside of COCMP to integrate all data sources (static and dynamic) into the SCCOOS data system. Data sources include moorings operated by existing agencies (e.g. Orange County Sanitation District) that telemeter to shore, bottommounted ADCPs operated by other discharge agencies, water-quality data from public health agencies, hydrographic data collected by NPDES permit holders, national water level and NOAA tide gauges, and networks of meteorological sensors operated by the National Weather Service. We will also create graphical tools that allow the examination of these data sets in the context of regional data sets (both real-time and archives) created by SCCOOS and downloading user-selected data. SCCOOS is working with CeNCOOS to insure statewide interoperability, including the proposed usage of a single data management system for all COCMP infrastructures. CeNCOOS and SCCOOS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding forming the Federation of California Regional Observing Systems ( which recognizes that regional differences and priorities exist, yet insists on interoperability of system components with common functions. Federal Integrated Ocean Observation System Program The system elements, data management strategy, and operational goal of SCCOOS to develop and operate a science-based decision support system are entirely consistent with the Ocean.US vision of an Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Plans and protocols for IOOS are evolving and SCCOOS is committed ensuring interoperability of COCMP with IOOS. This commitment manifests in the involvement of SCCOOS members in IOOS and other federal ocean observing planning efforts. Dr. Stephen Weisberg is a member of the GOOS steering committee, Dr. John Orcutt is Chair of SCCOOS and one of two SCCOOS representatives to the National Federation of Regional Associations (Marco Gonzalez, Esq. Coastal Law Group is the second representative), Dr. Paul DiGiacomo is a NASA IOOS representative, Dr. Eric Terrill is principal investigator for NOAA-sponsored SCCOOS organization and outreach efforts, Dr. Russ Davis is SIO representative to the Pacific Coastal Observing System (PaCOS), Dr. John Hunter is PaCOS Coordinator, and Dr. Libe Washburn is on the Ocean.US Surface Current Mapping Initiative steering committee. In addition, SCCOOS is receiving NOAA federal funds for the implementation of a coastal observing pilot project that will complement COCMP and existing federally sponsored observing system components such as the California Data Information Program (CDIP), CalCOFI, and Santa Barbara LTER. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 13

15 The State focus of COCMP will also dovetail with the Surface Currents Mapping Initiative, which seeks to develop operational support, infrastructure, and products for federal end-users. 4. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, OUTREACH AND BENEFITS TO STATE MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES SCCOOS s goal in COCMP is to synthesize its observations into quasi-operational products that will provide the scientific basis for evaluating and improving management of the ocean environment and its resources. This involves three interacting steps: (1) construction of the best description of the pertinent ocean parameters over as large a region as the data will support; (2) conversion of this basic description into products that are useful to the public, agencies and organizations interested in the ocean; and (3) feedback from these users on how the products can be improved. SCCOOS is committed to: (1) using science to produce the most accurate and complete possible description of ocean currents and the fields that these currents advect; (2) working with representatives of California agencies and organizations to define an initial suite of derived products tailored to different uses; and (3) reaching out to individual agencies and organizations to collaboratively improve these products. This proposal has described our initial design for observations and modeling. Below we first describe the basic physical fields that this will describe. Next we describe potential applications to coastal management and other uses. When NOAA funding arrives, SCCOOS will work with users to convert this potential into initial products. Finally, we describe the team that will reach out to users to evaluate our products and improve them. 4.1 Basic Physical Descriptions Surface Currents Maps of surface currents will evolve with COCMP in their sophistication. Initially, velocity maps from qualitycontrolled high-resolution (1 km) and long-range (6-10 km) HF radar observations will be available. Later data-driven surface current maps from the ROMS assimilating models will provide seamless current maps extending from the beach to waters offshore. Both real-time and archived data will be publicly available by Internet in both graphical form and as data files for downloading. Trajectory analyses based on the spatial surface current information will describe motion of water parcels as a function of time from particular origins. Trajectories will be available in real time from key locations (e.g. potential discharge sites). Data archives will be maintained in various formats as defined by key users. Subsurface Currents The three COCMP gliders and the Santa Monica Bay (SMB) mooring, three NOAA gliders and moorings near La Jolla and Santa Barbara, and current profilers from the Orange County Water District and other agencies along the coast will describe subsurface currents. These data will be used to constrain the ROMS model and will be publicly available through a web page that shows recent time series of velocity from moorings and velocity sections from gliders. Surfzone and Nearshore Currents For the Imperial Beach and Santa Monica Bay regions (15 km and 80 km alongshore reaches, respectively) interactive web pages will provide real-time "nowcasts" of vertically-averaged alongshore currents between the shoreline and about 2 km offshore. The alongshore resolution will be a few 100 m. The flow estimates, based on simplified models driven by observed winds, waves, and alongshore pressure gradients, will be updated at least daily. The wave momentum stress, which drives alongshore, surfzone currents, will be predicted for the Southern California Bight as an extension of the California Data Information Program ( using SCCOOS NOAA funding. Results from this effort will complement COCMP and be integrated into the data system. During intensive month-long periods additional observations will provide more comprehensive velocity products including vertical, horizontal, and temporal variation of the flow field on the inner shelf (within 2 km of shore, but seaward of the surfzone). Inner-shelf drifter trajectories will be updated every 3 hours while surfzone flows are mapped with fixed flowmeters and drifters. All products will be useful for model calibration and validation and, given experience, these velocity fields may be combined to produce full three-dimensional maps of nearshore flows. Subsurface Water Properties Density stratification from all SCCCOS gliders, moorings, and the Underway CTD sections from San Pedro to Avalon and Ventura to Santa Cruz Island will be published in near-real-time by web site. ROMS assimilated products will provide 3-dimensional fields of temperature, salinity, currents, and several biogeochemical parameters. The temporal resolution of these products will span scales from hours to years. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 14

16 Sea Level ROMS will provide sea level nowcasts and forecasts as driven by baroclinic and barotropic tides, local winds, and remote forcing. Sea Level predictions on the coastline will be available in real time on the web. Satellite Observations Satellite observations of sea surface temperature and ocean color products, such as primary productivity, total suspended matter, chlorophyll, and diver visibility, will be available as overlays on surface current maps. Overlays will be created in near-real time with an online archive. Coastal hazard risk assessment fields for stormwater plume fields, red tides, and harmful algal blooms will be produced in near-real-time ( =8 hours) and available daily on the Internet. Surface Meteorology Maps of surface wind fields and other meteorological properties (e.g. air temperature, relative humidity) will be available at 3 km resolution daily. The daily report will include hourly predictions over 3 days for a domain spanning the Southern California Bight. 4.2 POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS FOR COCMP PRODUCTS Water Quality When coupled with compliance-based water quality monitoring, COCMP products will aid in identifying the source of pollution that impacts beaches and coastal waters. 1) The transport processes that carry bacteria or other pathogens to the beach can be deduced using time histories of trajectory maps from regions of measured contamination. Statistical descriptors provide confidence in determining when ocean transport processes are favorable for contaminated water to reach specific locations. Applications may include the generation of risk indices, early warning tools for the start and end of beach contamination events, and notice of when beach water sampling should take place. 2) Real-time, forecasts, and statistical archives of the criteria for when NPDES discharge plumes may surface can be created through coupling the EPA PLUMES model to observations and modeled fields of subsurface stratification. 3) The fate, transport, and dispersion of plumes from known stormwater discharges and outfalls can be determined from modeled and observed current fields. This will disclose which regions of the coastline and receiving waters are most exposed to the stormwater discharge, cooling water from power plants or brine from desalinization plants. 4) Understanding when discharges may impact a region of the coastline will allow the development of adaptive management protocols to reduce the delivery of fecal bacteria or other materials to that region. For example, discharges could be timed to occur only when transport conditions are favorable to moving the discharge to a region of minimal impact (e.g. timing a dredge spoil release). SCCOOS will use NOAA funding to work with the water quality agencies in Southern California to integrate agency monitoring data sets into the SCCOOS data system. The Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) Commissioner s Technical Advisory Group (CTAG) has been identified as the logical interface for SCCOOS in generating tailored products for agency applications. This group will allow SCCOOS to directly communicate with all existing agencies in the region. The Beneficial Uses identified in the State Water Resources Control Board California Ocean Plan and Basin Plans Regions 3,4,8,9 include Industrial Service Supply, Navigation, Contact and Non-Contact Water Recreation, Commercial and Sport Fishing, Marine Habitat, Wildlife Habitat, Preservation of Biological Habitats of Special Significance, Aquaculture, Migration of Aquatic Organisms, Shellfish Harvesting, and Spawning, Reproduction and/or Early Development. The beneficial uses specifically addressed in this project include Contact and Non-Contact Water Recreation and the water quality goals associated with this project will ensure that beach waters are suitable for these beneficial uses. Oil Spill Response & Search and Rescue Surface currents, waves, and wind fields observed and forecasted by COCMP infrastructure will aid oil spill response and prevention and in search and rescue operations: 1. Real-time surface currents and trajectories will allow the tracking of spills to aid clean up efforts. 2. Real-time wind and wave fields will assist oil spill response personnel in deploying and managing operational assets (booms, spill response vessels, etc.) 3. Statistical descriptions of circulation, wind, and wave fields can be used for assessing risk to existing and future sites where spills have a high probability of occurring. 4. Surface currents, wind, and wave observations and forecasts are useful to Search and Rescue (SAR) operations for both determining search regions, and the deployment of recovery assets. The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 15

17 SCCOOS products will support federal (USCG, NOAA HAZMAT, USN, EPA, FAA), state (CA Office of Spill Prevention and Response), and local (port districts, shipping and oil industry, marine safety offices) agencies. Marine Resources and Marine Protected Areas 1. Statistical descriptions of surface trajectories help define egg and larval pathways connecting coastal marine communities, something that is particularly important in designing Marine Protected Areas. 2. Determining dominant flow patterns and their interannual variability and climatic change is valuable for fisheries modeling, diagnosing environmental impacts on fishery productivity, and eventually factoring climate forecasts into setting fishing limits and closures of fisheries. SCCOOS will provide velocity and temperature products to federal (National Marine Fisheries Service, National Ocean Service), state (CA Fish and Game), and other interested parties, including nongovernmental organizations. Coastal Erosion Data products to aid management issues related to coastal erosion, including those directed by the California Coastal Sediment Management Master Plan ( depend on COCMP measurements and predictions of the alongshore wave climate and nearshore currents. 1. Real-time and forecasted wave products for Southern California can be used as a predictive tool for assessing the extent of storm surge and storm driven erosion rates. The analysis and prediction of wave climate changes along the coastline will allow risk assessment of areas of high erosion on a regional basis (or within a littoral cell). 2. The prediction of surf zone currents can be applied to models and forecasts of the alongshore transport of sediments and define regions of accretion and erosion within littoral cells. SCCOOS will provide products to local municipalities, the California Coastal Coalition, State agencies (Department of Resources), and Federal (Army Corp of Engineers, FEMA, NOAA, MMS). Vessel Traffic Aids 1. The ROMS model will provide hourly sea level predictions in sensitive regions to vessel traffic, including port entrances. The regional observing and modeling efforts will allow these to be driven by tides, local winds, and remote forcing. 2. The real-time observations and predictions of waves, winds, and currents are of practical use to mariners for safe and efficient at-sea operations. User-friendly data web pages will be made available to the public. SCCOOS will provide products to California Department of Boats and Waterways, Southern California port districts, USCG, NOAA, and USN. 4.3 OUTREACH AND PRODUCT APPLICATIONS Development of improved products and their applications will depend on iterative interaction with end-users of the data. While a preliminary identification of these users has been made, SCCOOS cannot complete an exhaustive survey of the region until NOAA funding permits hiring a person dedicated to this task in June Experience gained from implementing other coastal observing systems in the region [e.g. California Clean Beaches Initiative in Imperial Beach ( the CDIP waves program ( and CalCOFI ( will be leveraged to efficiently develop product applications. A product applications team will be funded through COCMP to complement the SCCOOS outreach coordinator so that an end-to-end process of contacting users, identifying needs, integrating data where possible, and creating tailored products for the user can be achieved. The team will include a Project Scientist with a Ph.D. in the marine sciences who is versed in marine observations and data analysis techniques to enable the translation between user needs to sensible products who would work closely with a staff research associate who has coastal observing experience in the field of product development, data QA/QC, data management, HF radar operations, and satellite remote sensing. The team would serve as expert users working closely with the SCCOOS outreach program to facilitate the identification of users needs and delivery of products. These same individuals will also be supported through the data management and other COCMP system elements and the NOAA SCCOOS pilot program, which involves the integration of data from various monitoring programs that already exist within Southern The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 16

18 California. While product applications will be developed for state and federal agencies and organizations, all products will be available online to the public at large. 5. INTERNAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT All financial matters related to contracts, grants, and accounting for the SCCOOS COCMP program will be executed by the business office of the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL), working with the appropriate offices at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego. MPL will also serve as the parent contracts and grants office for all SCCOOS consortium sub-awards. The MPL business office is home to the NOAA Joint Institute of Marine Observations (JIMO - and acts in a similar business capacity for SCCOOS NOAA funding. An Operating Board has been established to carry out internal program management of the SCCOOS/COCMP program. The Operating Board, chaired by Russ Davis, includes six representatives from the following COCMP elements: HF radar, data management, satellite observations, nearshore, subsurface, and modeling. The Operating Board is charged with system design, resource allocation based upon system element relevance and internal review of system elements to ensure reasonable progress and performance. Components not meeting their work plans would be proposed to the SCCOOS Board of Governors for reduced funding. Executive committee representatives Mark Moline, Yi Chao, or Eric Terrill would communicate any programmatic changes to COCMP. A kick off meeting for COCMP implementers will be held in October 2004, followed by annual "all-hands" meetings to review COCMP efforts and provide a forum for broad comments on deliverables. It is anticipated that these meetings will also serve as an opportunity for outside review by the State Coastal Conservancy. Implementers will manage their own progress and document performance. System elements with multiple implementers (e.g. the HF radar component) will have regular communication internally and with the parallel efforts in Northern California. Data standards, as defined by working groups (or federal standards), must be adhered to. Governance of the SCCOOS Regional Association. In June 2004 NOAA will fund SCOOS planning for certification by the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). This is in parallel to NOAA funding of a three-year pilot observing system project. To implement an effective and sustainable observing system meeting user needs, SCCOOS proposes the governance structure in Figure 6. This architecture leverages the expertise of the California Ocean Science Trust ( The Trust represents State agencies, academia, NGOs and the public and serves in an advisory capacity due to their unique composition and authorization by the California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act (CORSA). Figure 6. The proposed organization structure for the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS) Regional The Southern California Coastal Current Observing System 17