| |
December 19,
2003
Highlights
- Congratulations to Scott Glenn, Oscar Schofield, and the COOLroom
team on recent successes associated with Rutgers coastal observing
systems. Our program is being recognized in both the international
and domestic arena: 1) Johnny Johannessen of the University of
Bergen, Norway is looking to collaborate with Scott and Oscar,
and their associates on development of Operational Oceanography
education programs, 2) Scott has been invited to give the Keynote
address on the R.U. COOL experience at the upcoming ROW2004 workshop
in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia on 21-23 April 2004,
and 3) Kirk Evans, Maritime Program Manager in the Science &
Technology Division of the Department of Homeland Security, visited
and complimented the COOLroom team for accomplishments only dreamt
of a few short years ago.
- Gary Hover of the Coast Guard R&D Center recently came to
the COOLroom to see the operational CODAR system in action. The
Coast Guard completed an evaluation study in which CODAR surface
currents were incorporated into existing probability models to
determine search areas for Search-and-Rescue operations. A real-time
demonstration is planned for this coming summer. During the visit
he also expressed interest in combining gliders, equipped with
oil "sniffing" sensors, and CODAR to detect and track
pollution spills.
- RUCOOL Satellite Operations has successfully begun automated
real-time processing of the full suite of NASA MODIS products
from the MODIS data collected off our new X-Band satellite dish.
This is a tremendous step towards providing our users with real-time
MODIS satellite data, including concurrent sea surface temperature
and surface chlorophyll concentrations.
- Peter Rona introduced a special showing of the IMAX film, Volcanoes
of the Deep Sea, at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle on December
6th to a nearly full house from NOAA, the University of Washington,
and the general public. Everyone in the audience from age 5 up
connected with the film and gave it their highest praise. At another
event, members of the United Nations General Assembly viewed the
film in New York on December 16th in conjunction with their consideration
of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Again, they gave the
film their highest praise for enlightening and inspiring them
about the deep ocean.
- Jean Marie Hartman is making plans to incorporate the Haskin
Shellfish Research Laboratory facilities and surrounding environments
into the Ecology and Evolution Program's graduate field ecology
course this Spring. Dave Bushek will be coordinating efforts at
HSRL.
- Alan Robock served on a review team for the NSF IGERT project
at the University of Colorado, Nov. 17-19, 2003.
Meetings Attended
- David Bushek participated in the NATO Advanced Research Workshop
entitled "The comparative roles of suspension feeders in
ecosystems" held Oct 4-9 in Nida, Lithuania. A book on the
workshop is planned to be published in 2004.
- Eric Powell and David Bushek attended a workshop sponsored by
the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Science and Technology Advisory
Committee to "Identify and prioritize research required to
evaluate ecological risks, benefits and alternatives related to
the potential introduction of Crassostrea ariakensis to Chesapeake
Bay." Current plans are for an outright introduction of reproductive
individuals by 2005. If the plan is completed it could have considerable
impacts up and down the coast. David Bushek moderated the discussion
on disease concerns.
- Anthony Broccoli was an invited speaker at a meeting of the
NOAA Ad Hoc Paleoclimatology Group in Amherst, MA on 2-3 October
2003. The title of his talk was "Evaluating climate prediction
models using evidence of past climates."
- Alan Robock presented an invited talk entitled "Contributions
of Jim Angell to the Study of the Effects of Volcanic Eruptions
on Climate" at the Jim Angell 80th Birthday Symposium, Silver
Spring, Maryland, November 4, 2003.
- Alan Robock was an invited participant in the SPARC Workshop
on Understanding Seasonal Temperature Trends in the Stratosphere,
Silver Spring, Maryland, November 5, 2003.
- Sybil Seitzinger attended a meeting at the Southwest Fisheries
Science Center, in La Jolla, California, for the newly approved
NOAA Fisheries Committee on Scientific Stature (NFCSS) on November
18, 2003.
- Peter Rona and Karen Bemis presented two posters which were
exceptionally well received at the AGU meeting 8 - 12 December
in San Francisco. One poster (Bemis, Rona and our partners from
the Applied Physics Lab, University of Washington, and JAMSTEC),
illustrated how we can now drape our acoustic images of hydrothermal
plumes and diffuse flow over seafloor bathymetry and, with our
Doppler measurements of flow rate, calculate hydrothermal fluxes.
The second poster (Rona, Seilacher, de Vargas, Vetriani, Sherrell,
Grassle, Lutz) presented our progress to date in solving the mystery
of what made the striking hexagonal pattern in sediments at the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge that is identical to the ancient fossil form
Paleodictyon nodosum.
New Grants
- Liz Sikes received an ADVANCE fellowship from NSF. The ADVANCE
program is designed to increase the participation and advancement
of women in science and engineering careers. Approximately 35
fellowships are awarded biannually. ($230,000 for 3 yrs).
- Alan Robock has been awarded 5875 General Accounting Units (GAUs)
for computing at the National Center for Atmospheric Research
for use in his NSF project "Collaborative Research on the
Climatic Effects of the 1783-1784 Laki Volcanic Eruption."
He will used these for climate model simulations.
Publications
- Karoly, D.J., K. Braganza, P.A. Stott, J.M. Arblaster, G.A.
Meehl, A.J. Broccoli, and K.W. Dixon (2003) Detection of a human
influence on North American climate. Science, 302, 1200-1203.
- Robock, A., and C. Oppenheimer, Eds., 2003: Volcanism and the
Earth’s Atmosphere, Geophysical Monograph 139, American
Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 360 pp.
- Robock, A., 2003: Introduction: Mount Pinatubo as a test of
climate feedback mechanisms in Volcanism and the Earth’s
Atmosphere, A. Robock and C. Oppenheimer, Eds. (American Geophysical
Union, Washington, DC), 1-8.
- Robock, A., L. Luo, E.F. Wood, F. Wen, K.E. Mitchell, P.R. Houser,
J.C. Schaake, D. Lohmann, B. Cosgrove, J. Sheffield, Q. Duan,
R.W. Higgins, R.T. Pinker, J.D. Tarpley, J.B. Basara, and K.C.
Crawford, 2003: Evaluation of the North American Land Data Assimilation
System over the Southern Great Plains during the warm season.
J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D22), 8800, doi:10.1029/2002JD003245.
- Luo, L., A. Robock, K.E. Mitchell, P.R. Houser, E.F. Wood, J.C.
Schaake, D. Lohmann, B. Cosgrove, F. Wen, J. Sheffield, Q. Duan,
R.W. Higgins, R.T. Pinker, and J.D. Tarpley, 2003: Validation
of the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) retrospective
forcing over the Southern Great Plains. J. Geophys. Res., 108
(D22), 8797, doi:10.1029/2002JD003246.
- Cosgrove, B.A., D. Lohmann, K.E. Mitchell, P.R. Houser, E.F.
Wood, J. Schaake, A. Robock, C. Marshall, J. Sheffield, L. Luo,
Q. Duan, R. Pinker, J.D. Tarpley, R.W. Higgins, and J. Meng, 2003:
Realtime and retrospective forcing in the North American Land
Data Assimilation Systems (NLDAS) project. J. Geophys. Res., 108
(D22), 8796, doi:10.1029/2002JD003118.
- Pinker, R.T., J.D. Tarpley, I. Laszlo, K.E. Mitchell, P. R.
Houser, E.F. Wood, J.C. Schaake, A. Robock, D. Lohmann, B.A. Cosgrove,
J. Sheffield, Q. Duan, L. Luo, and R.W. Higgins, 2003: Surface
radiation budgets in support of the GEWEX Continental Scale International
Project (GCIP) and the GEWEX Americas Prediction Project (GAPP),
including the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS)
project. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D22), 8798, doi:10.1029/2002JD003301.
- Sheffield, J., M. Pan, E.F. Wood, K.E. Mitchell, P.R. Houser,
J.C. Schaake, A. Robock, D. Lohmann, B. Cosgrove, Q. Duan, L.
Luo, R.W. Higgins, R. Pinker, J. D. Tarpley, and B.H. Ramsay,
2003: Snow process modeling in the North American Land Data Assimilation
System (NLDAS), Part I: Evaluation of model simulated snow cover
extent. J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D22), 8803, doi:10.1029/2003JD003274.
- Cosgrove, B.A., D. Lohmann, K.E. Mitchell, P. R. Houser, E.F.
Wood, J.C. Schaake, A. Robock, J. Sheffield, Q. Duan, L. Luo,
R.W. Higgins, R.T. Pinker, and J.D. Tarpley, 2003: Land surface
model spinup behavior in the North American Land Data Assimilation
System (NLDAS). J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D22), 8842, doi:10.1029/2002JD003118.
- Robock, A. and C. Oppenheimer, 2003: Preface. In: Volcanism
and the Earth’s Atmosphere, A. Robock and C. Oppenheimer,
Eds. (American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC), vii-viii.
- Jackson, D.R., C.D. Jones, P.A. Rona, and K.G. Bemis, A method
for Doppler acoustic measurement of black smoker flow fields,
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems G-cubed, 4(11), 12 pages, 14
November 2003.
Let's Welcome
Eric Annis, "I am very excited to be starting my first postdoctoral
fellowship with Rich Lutz here at Rutgers. I spent my childhood
traveling between Florida and New Jersey, so this is a somewhat
unexpected and pleasant homecoming. The focus of my dissertation
research at the University of Maine was the ecology of lobster
larvae, specifically swimming behavior, development, and the connectivity
of populations through larval transport. While my PhD is in Biological
Oceanography, a large portion of my work dealt with benthic ecology
and linking the benthic and planktonic phases of the lobster life
cycle. Prior to moving to Maine, I received my MS in Marine Biology
from Florida Institute of Technology/Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institution where I studied the coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis
and nutrient dynamics. With a background in classical benthic
ecology and biological oceanography, I'm very much looking forward
to delving into the world of hydrothermal vent ecology in the
coming years. " (Room 204, ext. 220)
|
