Stories from the Coast - July 27, 2001

But then I walk into our control room, with its panoply of views of the sea. There are the updated global pictures from the remote sensors on satellites, there the evolving maps of subsurface variables, there the charts that show the position and status of all our Slocum scientific platforms, and I am satisfied that we are looking at the ocean more intensely and more deeply than anyone anywhere else.
-- Henry Stommel, 1989.

The COOLroom Today

What makes a COOLroom?

If you've been watching the COOL cam, you've probably been wondering what all those computers are. Did you know each of them is integral to the HyCODE operation? Scientists and technicians use the computer stations in the COOLroom to collect and analyze the data coming into the COOLroom from satellites, coastal radars, ships at sea and undersea instruments. From looking at the ocean is so many ways, scientists are best able to plan the research and direct the ships and planes to specific points on the ocean where they will find the most biological activity.

To give you an idea about how the COOLroom works, here is a description of what each computers station in the COOLroom does.

The first station on the left consists of a Macintosh G4 and a Windows workstation. This is our public outreach station. The G4 is used by our filmmaker, Randy Olson, to edit videos of our research, which is where the COOLroom commercial began. The Windows machine is where most of the web sites (like this one) are created. It is also used by Sage Lichtenwalner to process CTD data, and to develop new programs to process Node data and Long-range Codar images.

The next station is used to process data from the R/V Caleta, the physical boat. Chhaya Mudgal uses a Windows and a Sun workstation to plot the CTD data, which measures the temperature and salinity of the ocean. The R/V Caleta also collects ADCP data, which measures currents in the ocean much like a policeman's radar measures the speed of cars on the highway. Chhaya is able to grab data throughout the day directly from the boat's on-board network. When the Caleta arrives back in dock for the evening, she has already graphed and posted on the web the data, which they collected during the entire day.

In the left corner of the COOLroom, stands our color printer, and right next to that is the Optics processing station. Trish Bergmann is able to access data from the R/V Walford, our optics vessel. At this station, she processes the data and posts it to the web for all the scientists to see.

The right-hand corner of the COOLroom is where the heart of mission operations lies. Here is where the head researchers Scott Glenn and Oscar Schofield sit. Above them is the wall of computer monitors, which continuously shows the dozens of data sets that are fed into the COOLroom. They use their workstations to analyze the data and communicate with scientists around the word using e-mail. They also have a phone and a marine radio to communicate with the research vessels and planes out at sea. You can always find them hunched over a chart mapping out where to send the boats and planes next. And if you look closely, you're bound to see a few cups of coffee over there too.

On the right wall next to the door you will see one of the many clocks in the COOLroom. The clock to the left of the door currently displays the GMT time. This is the time in Greenwich, England. We use this time for all of our measurements. GMT does not use daylight savings and scientists around the world collect their time in GMT so that they can compare their data without having to compensate for different time zones. Thus, if it looks like the time is off on this clock, it is on purpose.

The final table in the COOLroom is the satellite station. You won't be able to see this station because it is just out of your view on the right. On this table lie a Sun workstation and a Windows machine. Alex and Mike Crowley collect and analyze data from AVHRR instruments which measure sea surface temperature, and FY1-C, SeaWiFS and Modis which all measure the color of the ocean. They collect gigabytes of data each day, and while they work on all the satellite data at these workstations, most of the data is collected by satellite receivers and larger servers located in New Brunswick, NJ and Baton Rouge, LU by our friends at LSU. So, in a sense, you could say that this station is a "Satellite Satellite Station."

There are two more important stations integral to the COOLroom operations. However, they are just next door in the next room called the "LEO room." The LEO room is mission control for the long-term ecosystem observatory. Within its walls lie the Node control tower and its' workstations. During the month of July, there is a scientist controlling the two node profilers 24 hours a day. By using the node we can collect data from the ocean all night long while the boats are docked back at the station and (most of) the scientists are asleep.

Also in the LEO room is the CODAR control. Josh Kohut surrounds himself with multi-colored Macintoshes of all different kinds to collect and process Codar sea surface current data. One of the machines religiously calls out to each radial Codar station once every hour. Another Imac controls the radial station set up in the marshes near the Field Station. And yet another Macintosh Josh uses to log into the 6 remote sites and 2 central sites to debug problems.

The COOLroom is no small operation. But from all the data being fed into the COOLroom, scientists are able to gain a better view of the ocean then they have ever before.