ASA's Applied Science Weblog

ASA Field Work: out of the office and into the jungle

On a recent trip to Brazil, ASA Principal Debbie French McCay spent several days following the path of an oil spill through the wilds of the jungle in Paraná state. The field team included several ASA employees from the Brazil office, in addition to local biologists and guides. The group was gathering data to help calibrate the models that will be used to simulate the spill and quantify the impacts to the ecosystem. This project is of particular interest because much of Paraná is covered by Atlantic Forest, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. 

While much of the work done at ASA focuses on computer modeling, it is important that our scientists get into field, especially remote locations, to ensure that our simulations are accurately representing the local systems. Plus, who doesn’t love a trek through a jungle with a machete!!

Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting, Providence, RI

On June 12, 2009, President Obama sent a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and federal agencies establishing an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The Task Force is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. 

 

On 24 September, Lauren Decker, Lee Dooley, Kelly Knee, and Christin Reynolds attended the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting held in Providence, RI.  ASA gave specific recommendations to close the gap between science and policy through public private partnerships related to marine spatial planning, eco-system based management, and data integration to the Task Force representatives along with testimony from other private, public, and non-profit organizations.

For more information on the White House Council on Environmental Quality Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans/

To submit or view public comments to the Task Force: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans/

In Liquid and Air, Scientists Find Order Among the Chaos - NY Times

ASA's CJ Beegle-Krause was interviewed by the New York Times for an interesting article about Lagrangian coherent structures.  She also brought in Search and Rescue expert Art Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard to contribute to the story.  Very interesting piece on front page of the New York Times Science section:

Finding Order in the Apparent Chaos of Currents

 

By BINA VENKATARAMAN

Suppose a blob of dioxin-rich pesticide is spilled into Monterey Bay. It might quickly disperse to the Pacific Ocean. But hours later, a spill of the same size at the same spot could circle near the coastline, posing a greater danger to marine life. The briny surface waters of the bay churn so chaotically that a slight shift in the place or time an oil drop, a buoy — or even a person — falls in can dictate whether it is swept out to the open ocean or swirls near the shore.

But the results are not unpredictable. A team of scientists... [read the full article in NYT.com]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/science/29chaos.html?_r=1&ref=science

Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Sound Predictions 2009 Experiment Data & Model Visualization Made Public Via Google Earth and Cloud Computing

Applied Science Associates (ASA) has enabled public access to real-time data from the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Sound Predictions 2009 Prince William Sound (PWS) experiment through Google Earth. ASA is posting ROMS Data (Dr. Yi Chao), WRF Data (Dr. Peter Olsson), and HFRadar (Dr. Mark Johnson) plus ASA drifter simulations using these model data (sources: http://ak.aoos.org/aoos/fieldexp/data_by_pi-researcher.html).  ASA has integrated data from PWS experiment's ocean observing systems and models to create Google Earth KML files which are hosted using Amazon cloud computing. Amazon S3 storage enables efficient distribution of large datasets by dividing the work among computers based in data centers around the globe.

The Google Earth link:
http://asascience_pws.s3.amazonaws.com/PWS_DATA.kml

From July 19-Aug 3, the experimental scientific collaborative will be evaluating regional forecast models for their effectiveness in predicting wind, waves, and ocean circulation in Prince William Sound. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), gliders, and drifters will be used to roam Prince William Sound in an effort to collect scientific data in the 2-week field test called Sound Predictions 2009 (www.aoos.org). Prince William Sound, the site of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, draws a variety of activities including sport and commercial fishermen, cruise ships, recreational boaters and oil tankers on their way to and from the Valdez oil terminal. To enhance navigation safety and gain a better understanding of ocean circulation and ecosystem processes, researchers are deploying scientific technologies into the Sound to test the accuracy of ocean observation models and their ability to effectively predict weather, wind, currents, and waves.

New data sets are being added and improvements are being made during the two-week experiment so be sure to check back regularly. Let us know if you have comments or suggestions.

For more information about the Sound Predictions 2009 experiment: http://www.aoos.org/fieldexp/index.html

Northeast Hurricane Mitigation Leadership Forum

ASA's Chris Galagan was a panelist at the Northeast Hurricane Mitigation Leadership Forum held on Thursday, July 10 in Newport, Rhode Island.  The event was well attended by the media as the event was organized in recognition of the 70th anniversary of the devastating 1938 Northeast Hurricane.  It was an invitation-only event to gather academics, scientists and public/private sector representatives to focus on the impact of severe storms and the potential advantages of hurricane risk mitigation efforts.  Chris' discussion was on ASA's technical tools that enable inundation and flood analysis to coastal areas of potential impact from tropical storms and hurricanes.   Chris was the only panelist who brought to the table a technical solution to identify flood prone areas that can help reduce vulnerability and that everyone including private property owners, businesses, emergency/civil workers, and media outlets can easily utilize. 

Criminals, colds, and bears--oh my! TimeSlider Extension provides new possibilities for solving a variety of problems

ASA's newly developed and released freeware killer app TimeSlider Extension for ArcGIS® 9.1 & 9.2 has gotten off to a very interesting start.  We are getting feedback that it is being used by a wide spectrum of professionals applying the tool to an even wider spectrum of problems.

We are learning that the Long Beach Police Department, health care policy researchers, and wildlife tracking experts have something in common.  They are all using ASA’s TimeSlider Extension tool for ArcGIS®. 

Each of these organizations faces unique challenges, yet these investigative professionals are commonly faced with a problem based on analysis of spatial related time-varying data.  With new ease and efficiency, they all employ a breakthrough tool that we initially released in fall of '07 for ArcGIS 9.1, but quickly made it available for 9.2 as it was very enthusiastically received.  Enabling visualization and animation to data in Geographic Information Systems, the new TimeSlider seamlessly adds unprecedented animation controls applicable to any data set. GIS professionals are finding it key to visualize and plot their time-varying data to find new answers to various challenges.

Examples of just a few that we are learning about include:

• Long Beach Police Department (CA) tracking crime patterns
• Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (Bozeman, MT) scientists tracking wild grizzly bear migration patterns
• Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School looking at health effects of people who live near each other over a 30 year period

We've been thrilled to see such interesting applications of our tool.  We will be sharing more of these case studies and in further detail, so have open eyes and ears on the ASA TimeSlider.  For more information about the TimeSlider Extension or for free download visit www.asascience.com/timeslider.