1. NOAA PORTS ® Partnerships MARACOOS Annual Meeting 12/15/2011 Darren Wright Maritime Services Program Manager

2. Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System PORTS ®

3. Why Do We Need PORTS ® ? May 9, 1980 Tampa Bay, Florida

4. Accurate real-time information to improve safety Avoided groundings, Safer vessel maneuvers Efficiency of maritime commerce Increased cargo, Reduced delays Improved SAR performance Environmental Protection and Planning Assistance Improved hazardous material response Improved environmental restoration activities Improved Forecasts Marine weather forecasts Storm surge forecasts Recreational Planning Assistance PORTS ® Provides:

5. PORTS ® Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System ®

6. PORTS ® Products Predicted and observed water levels Meteorological information including wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, air temperature, visibility Currents (speed and direction) Water density, salinity/temperature Waves Bridge air gap

7. Technology Infusion: Visibility   Photo taken at the trade center in downtown Mobile, looking south down the ship channel:   3/24/10 ~8:30am CDT   Episode: 00:00 to 10:30 CDT 3/23 21:30 – 3/24 15:30 CDT

8. Technology Infusion: Waves Partnership with USACE and SCRIPPS CDIP to integrate wave buoy data into PORTS ®

10. MyPORTS (Build your own pages) http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/myports/

11. PDA PORTS ® Text Screen http://mobile.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/

12. Radar Water Level Sensors MW radar Many throughout the sea level community have identified benefits of radar water level sensors. small, remote sensors; no contact with water less expensive than existing sensors less hardware, easier to install and maintain EM waves not impacted by temperature gradients CO-OPS conducted a 3.5 year series of lab and field tests to assess suitability of using radar in NWLON Field test results to date have led CO-OPS to start a transition to operations; first operational installations completed in Mobile Bay, AL, Jul 2011. acoustic system NWLON ‘Sentinel’, St. Louis Bay, MS example of reduced hardware requirements CO-OPS recommended Waterlog® H3611 radar for operational use 26 GHz pulse signal 0.8 ns pulse width 10º dispersive beam 12V input power SDI 12 interface radar system

13. NOAA - Program Management; Data collection Infrastructure; Data Dissemination (Web, Voice); 24/7 Quality Control; National Standards; Development for future enhancements Partner - Site selection for user defined system; Funds for Equipment, Installation, and Annual O&M PORTS ® PORTS ® is a partnership with responsibility shared between NOAA and the local maritime community.

14.   Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON) sharing water level data   Installed and maintained to NOAA standards   Data collected at TCOON stations are sent directly to NOAA for QC and dissemination   Several of these stations are part of the Houston/Galveston and Sabine Neches PORTS ® NOAA and TCOON

15.  Project request came from through NY/NJ Harbor Ops Committee  Existing PORTS ® with an additional requirement  NOAA and Stevens Institute have a signed agreement in place to share current meter data.  Working on data format issues NOAA and Stevens

16. Future Partnerships   PORTS ® designed for navigation support   90 plus percent up time (backup required)   High Standards Specific instrumentation (Only sensors we’ve tested thoroughly) Maintenance schedule   Agreement to maintain sensors to schedule   NOAA will stand behind data

17. Thank you! Darren Wright darren.wright@noaa.gov 301-713-2981 PORTS URL http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ports.html