Information and Resource Management

• CALCOFI Egg and Larvae Information System - In collaboration with the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, we have created a geographic information system to distribute over the Internet oceanographic and fishery data from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation. CALCOFI is a research effort by the state of California to understand the collapse of the sardine and anchovy fishery that occurred in the 1940's. The information system allows clients to operate EASy remotely, sorting data, creating custom maps, and downloading these maps and data. This capability allows clients to work interactively with the database over the Internet and eliminates the need to pre-define and pre-store a large catalogue of potential products.

  Clients: NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA
  Location: offshore California and Baja California

• Biological-Optical Ocean Mapping- Under sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research we have assembled a GIS which incorporates information on the distribution of bio-optical parameters and bioluminescence samples by oceanographers from the Institute of Biological Studies of the Southern Sea, Sevestapol, Ukraine. The database, which was collected over the cold war era, consists of numerous Soviet cruises undertaken in the Southern Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas. This GIS houses not only 3 dimensional maps of bio-optical properties in these seas but also maps of these parameters predicted by transforming satellite imagery by the application of algorithms developed by SSA.

  Clients: Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Maryland.
  Location: South Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea

• Chesapeake Bay Jellyfish Monitoring System - In collaboration with the National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service (NOAA), we are in the process of developing a Sea Nettle Information System to monitor and predict the occurrences of stinging jellyfish in Chesapeake Bay. Our system will automatically poll ftp sites and acquire temperature and salinity measurements from moored buoys, satellite-derived sea surface temperature images, shipboard observations, and output from a coastal circulation model that is driven by river flow, wind and temperature fields. These data will be input to algorithms that predict and map the probable sites of outbreaks of sea nettles. These maps will then be distributed to the public via the World Wide Web.

  Clients: NOAA NESDIS, Camp Springs, MD
  Location: Chesapeake Bay

• California Squid Fishery Information System - We have developed a prototype California squid fishery information system which contains DMSP-OLS imagery of night lights along the coastline of Southern California, as well as ocean thermal imagery, bathymetry, and squid landings. The GIS will be potentially used to help monitor the rapidly growing squid fishery, which is now the second largest fishery in the region.

  Clients: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO
  Location: off Southern California in vicinity of Channel Islands

• Integrated Coastal Assessment and Monitoring System - SSA, in partnership with a multi-national team of government agencies and companies, recently completed work to assemble an operational information system to monitor coastal resources at selected sites in European waters. The Integrated Coastal Assessment and Monitoring System (ICAMS) project, which was funded by the European Union, was a pilot demonstration of how satellite imagery can be merged with measurements of coastal resources taken from moorings and ships to better monitor coastal waters. There were three pilot projects that addressed problems of coastal pollution unique to three ocean sites. The mariculture farms in Bantry Bay, southwest Ireland, are seasonally threatened by intrusions from offshore of high concentrations of toxic algae. The mariculture farms off the Po River Delta in the northern Adriatic are threatened by anoxia caused by eutrophication from the heavy polluted Po River. The pristine waters of the Strymonokos Gulf in the northern Aegean Sea are a site of concern because of increased discharge of pollutants carried into the Gulf by the local rivers. SSA developed the GIS software that was used to produce maps of water quality and coastal water use and associated infrastructure, which were then distributed to the user community via the Internet. Although such systems require more work to become fully operational, ICAMS clearly demonstrated the promise of improved monitoring, forecasting, and analysis in the coastal zone.

  Clients: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy; National Centre for Marine Research, Athens, Greece; Irish Marine Data Centre, Dublin, Ireland; Joint Research Centre, Space Applications Institute, Ispra, Italy; Earth Observation Sciences, Farnham, U.K.
  Location: off Southwest Ireland, in northern Adriatic and Aegean Seas

Water Quality Assessment

• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Reservoir Study - We are completing a multi-faceted study of the Stone Canyon and Encino Canyon Reservoirs for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The study is designed to answer the following questions: (a) How much chlorine is needed to control bacterial and algal growth while minimizing the production of dangerous chloro-organics under current and future operational conditions? (b) What is the optimal design and layout of chlorine headers within the reservoir to maximize its effectiveness for algal control? (c) How can the processes of mixing, aeration, and water flow in the reservoirs be controlled to minimize demands for algicidal and bacteriocidal chemicals?

  Central to our evaluations is the development of a model of microbial growth and chlorine demand in these polished, open water reservoirs. The model couples the physical description of water flow, mixing, and heat transport with biochemical descriptions of microbial growth and chlorine transformations. It will be used to quantitatively assess alternative system concepts for controlling microbial growth in the reservoirs and to improve day to day tactical management decisions relative to reservoir operations.

  As a second component of our reservoir project, we have derived algorithms which transform optical measurements collected at buoys deployed within Los Angeles reservoirs into estimates of the concentration and growth rate of microbes and associated organic materials which determine water quality. The time series of such information is transferred via modem to operators to help them make decisions concerning algicidal demand.

  As a third component of our reservoir project, we have sampled Stone Canyon and Encino Canyon Reservoirs over a one year period to obtain information to tune our biochemical model and our bio-optical algorithms. The weekly sampling program consisted of vertical profiling of bio-optical, physical, and chemical properties of the water column. Specifically, our database includes measurements of beam attenuation, chlorophyll fluorescence, solar irradiance, temperature, light absorption, chlorophyll, chlorine, bacteria counts, floristics, colored dissolved organic materials, and oxidation reduction potential. This information has been put into a database that can be accessed over the Internet by engineers within the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

  Clients: Montgomery Watson, Pasadena, CA; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles, CA
  Location: Reservoirs in local Los Angeles mountains

• Eureka Pulp Mill Discharge Water Impact Study - Under the directive of the Environmental Protection Agency and the California State Water Quality Research Board, we conducted a study of the fate of pulp mill effluents discharged off the coast of Eureka, California. At the time, the fate of these effluents was the focus of the largest domestic lawsuit involving industrial marine pollution. During the study we developed, with the aid of engineers from California Institute of Technology, a plume dispersion and coastal circulation model. We also conducted coastal oceanographic surveys to measure physical, chemical and biological parameters in order to map the effluents and acquire information to support the model. The study not only provided information on the exposure of surfers to effluents, but was also used to determine the distance offshore where new discharge lines were to be placed. During the course of this work, we wrote impact reports and served as expert witnesses.

  Clients: Simpson Paper Company, Eureka, CA; Louisiana Pacific Corporation, Samoa, CA; Law Offices of Carl R. Monhole, San Francisco, CA; Beveridge and Diamond, San Francisco, CA Location: Off Eureka, California

• Santa Monica Bay Storm Water Pollution Study - With support from scientists at the University of Southern California, we developed a model of the dispersion of pollutants from storm runoff draining into Santa Monica Bay during winter storms. This model, which was constructed by merging a coastal circulation model with EPA's plume dispersion model, produced a dynamic, 3 dimensional description of the distribution of storm water along the shore. It also provided prediction of the level of exposure experienced by bathers at public beaches along the shoreline. When this model was entered into our EASy GIS, along with satellite imagery and shipboard measurements of water quality, a clear picture of the dynamics of coastal pollution emerged.

  Clients: Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  Location: Santa Monica Bay

• Mariculture Environmental Impact Studies - We have examined the placement and associated environmental impact of several mariculture installations. In Puget Sound we developed models based upon field measurements of eutrophication of surrounding waters and organic loading of underlying sediments caused by the operation of proposed penned salmon farms - one near Tacoma, Washington, and the other in Paradise Cove on the Olympic Peninsula. We have also analyzed the requirements and economic performance of a nori farm that was proposed at Kahe Point, Hawaii. This work involved testimony as expert witnesses.

  Clients: Basic Resources, New York, NY; Swecker Sea Farms, Seattle, WA; Klallam Indian Tribe, Jamestown, WA
  Location: Puget Sound

Environmental Modeling

• Southern Ocean Carbon Cycle Model- Working with scientists from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, we created a model to describe and predict the fate of carbon in the Southern Ocean. This work was a contribution to the international scientific effort to understand carbon cycling and its relationship to global warming. The simulation model couples the seasonal dynamics of the physical and chemical processes in the upper ocean to the biological processes that determine the fate of carbon and other elements. The model has several unique features: (a) it describes the cycling of several elements that are known to control phytoplankton growth; (b) it includes the process of ice formation and melt; (c) it can be tuned to field measurements by application of nonlinear programming; and (d) it is designed to assimilate satellite imagery as input to calculations as well as tuning.

  Clients: Department of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.; Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY
  Location: Southern Ocean

• Biological-Optical Modeling From Ocean Satellite Imagery - We have developed a bio-optical model that predicts the 3 dimensional distribution of phytoplankton and related optical properties in the upper ocean from satellite ocean color and thermal imagery. This model is based upon knowledge of the response of phytoplankton to changes in light, temperature, and nutrients within the water column. The model was designed as a tool for use in underwater optical communication and detection of submerged objects.

  Clients: Office of Naval Research, Washington D.C.; Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, MD; Titan Systems, San Diego, CA
  Location: North Atlantic, Mediterranean

• Fish Population Dynamics Models - We have developed models of the population dynamics of fishes to improve the understanding and management of coastal commercial fish stocks. These models incorporate specialized non-linear programming and statistical techniques to analyze impacts to local and distributed fish populations resulting from over-fishing and power plant water intake/discharge systems. Specific applications included the Hawaiian reef fish population near a proposed coastal power plant off southwestern Oahu, Hawaii and local pelagic species in the vicinity of the San Onofre, California nuclear power plant.

  Clients: Oceanic Institute, HA; TRW, Redondo Beach, CA
  Location: off Southern California near San Onofre and Oahu, Hawaii

Marine Engineering

• Satellite Ocean Imagery Algorithms - Working as pat of the NASA scientific team, we have developed algorithms that can derive oceanographic information from satellite ocean imagery. Specifically, our algorithms retrieve the components of sea water that absorb and scatter light from measurements of water leaving spectral radiance (the signal that is extracted from ocean color imagery). These algorithms are designed to monitor the complex and dynamic waters of coastal waters, particularly those subject to surface discharged pollutants, algal blooms, and sediment transport.

  Clients: NASA, Washington D.C.; California Sea Grant Project, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  Location: Monterrey Bay, California

• Natural Fluorescence Sensor - We have collaborated with Biospherical Instruments to build a commercial sensor for detecting the natural fluorescence of chlorophyll in phytoplankton. This sensor was first deployed aboard the Calypso during Cousteau's expeditions in the south Pacific in the mid-80's, and has been used more recently to monitor and map the distribution of chlorophyll and photosynthetic rates in such polar waters as the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Sea as well as the temperate and tropical oceans. They were also used in our study of effluent discharge off Eureka, California. These sensors are currently installed in several of the polished water reservoirs of Los Angeles as a means to continuously record water quality and assess chlorine demand.

  Clients: Biospherical Instruments, San Diego, CA
  Location: South Pacific

• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion System - In the early 80's we developed a detailed thermodynamic and hydraulic model of an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) power plant that was proposed for construction at Kahe Point, Hawaii. We performed tradeoff studies to minimize life cycle costs and establish optimal plant design parameters and defined operational performance characteristics.

  Clients: TRW, Redondo Beach, CA; Basic Resources, New York, NY
  Location: Hawaii and Gulf of Mexico

• Offshore Hazardous Waste Incinerator - We participated in the design and environmental impact analysis of a proposed hazardous waste incineration plant, which was to be constructed on offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. We focused our work on the pathways of PCB flux in the water column, sediments, and organisms.

  Clients: TRW, Redondo Beach, CA
  Location: Hawaii and Gulf of Mexico

• Other Marine Engineering - We performed engineering analysis on the Hawaiian Deep Water Cable Laying Project that included the planning of field tests, estimating construction cost, and producing a time-line of events. We have also calculated hydrodynamic forces and formulated dynamic models of torpedoes, submarine decoys, and buoys for use in predicting performance characteristics under various ocean and operational conditions. The submarine decoy model was used in operational system design to estimate critical loading stresses during launch.

  Clients: Honeywell, Minneapolis, MN; Bendix Ocean Systems, Sylmar, CA; Dynamics Technology, Torrance, CA; Parsons, Honolulu, HA