Regions About Focus Areas Data/Products Outreach/Education Projects

October 31, 2014

Trick-or-Treat from PacIOOS!

It's Halloween and we have a lot of treats to offer from the month of October! Scroll down to see what's new at PacIOOS, or visit our website to learn more.

PacIOOS Data, Tools, and Instruments

New PacIOOS Wave Buoy Deployed in American Samoa

Deployment of PacIOOS Wave Buoy off Aunu'u. Photo: PacIOOS

We are excited to announce that PacIOOS successfully deployed a new wave buoy off Aunu'u, American Samoa. The buoy streams data on wave height, direction, period, and water temperature. Ocean users, including fishermen, commercial operators, surfers, paddlers, and swimmers, can access ocean data online to make well-informed and safe decisions.

"The new wave buoy will complement our network in the Pacific. Serving real-time data from American Samoa will greatly support the decision-making of various agencies across the Pacific," said Melissa Iwamoto, PacIOOS Deputy Director.

To access data online, please visit the PacIOOS website or PacIOOS Voyager.

PacIOOS Wave Buoy Back in the Water off Lāna'i

PacIOOS wave buoy measures wave height off Lāna'i.

In addition to the wave buoy in American Samoa, PacIOOS also successfully re-deployed its wave buoy off Kaumalapau, Lāna'i, after it cut loose two months ago. The wave buoy provides valuable information to all ocean users and also assists transiting in and out of Kaumalapau Harbor.

PacIOOS maintains a network of 13 real-time wave buoys across the Pacific. Visit the PacIOOS website to access all wave buoy data or learn more in PacIOOS Voyager. Data streaming for PacIOOS wave buoys is made possible through long-term partnerships between PacIOOS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Coastal Data Information Program.

Wave Run-Up Forecast Predicts Inundation Event in Majuro

The new PacIOOS Wave Run-Up Forecast for Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, indicated a high potential for inundation in early October. In fact, Majuro experienced high sea surges along low-lying areas as shown below. The Wave Run-Up Forecast for Majuro displays the sea level at Uliga Dock (bottom graph) and a six day forecast of potential inundation (top graph) along with the previous three days observed inundation.

Washed up debris from high sea surge near Majuro Airport.
Photo: PacIOOS

Majuro Wave Run-Up Forecast indicating potential inundation.

New Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Wave Model

New PacIOOS Wave Model shows wave height
in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

PacIOOS is now offering a new high resolution regional wave model for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands region. This WaveWatch III (WW3) 7.5-day hourly forecast predicts significant wave height, wave direction, and wave period at approximately 5-km or 0.05-degree resolution. Its spatial coverage includes Nihoa Island, Necker Island, French Frigate Shoals, Gardner Pinnacles, and Raita Bank.

View the model in PacIOOS Voyager and access metadata on the PacIOOS website. Model runs are produced by Dr. Kwok Fai Cheung located in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Voyager News

Wave Glider Tracks Impacts of Tropical Storm Ana

Wave glider NC2 off the coast of Hawai'i Island.

In Mid-October, the Hawaiian Islands experienced heavy rains, high surf, and strong winds due to tropical storm Ana. Wave glider "NC2" from Liquid Robotics, Inc. was utilized for a mission to measure wave heights, wave period, and wave direction along the Kohala coast off Hawaiʻi Island during the storm.

Gliders are unmanned ocean robots and transmit detailed information about the physical condition of the ocean's surface. Data are recorded every half hour and transmitted via satellite telemetry.

The recorded measurements from glider NC2 can be accessed online in PacIOOS Voyager.

PacIOOS Near Shore Sensors Record Impacts of Ana

NS02 showed maximum turbidity values during storm Ana.

When tropical storm Ana passed south of the island of O'ahu on October 19th, heavy rains occurred causing "brown water" run-off in the Ala Wai Canal. The PacIOOS near shore water quality sensor (NS02) located at the mouth of the Ala Wai Canal registered a maximum turbidity value of 30.7 NTU, 30 times higher than normal values. Turbidity is a measure of water clarity. Due to the vast amount of rain water entering the Ala Wai, NS02 sensor also showed a reduced salinity of about 8.5 PSU, approximately 24% of average seawater salinity.

PacIOOS near shore water quality sensor (NS10) located in Maunalua Bay, also showed a spike in turbidity. NS10 registered maximum turbidity values of greater than 24 NTU, five to six times the average value at the site.

PacIOOS Activites

2014 Governing Council Meeting

PacIOOS held its annual Governing Council meeting in Hawaiʻi at the beginning of October. PacIOOS Partners from across the Pacific Islands region participated in the meeting.

Over the course of 7 years, PacIOOS has deployed a variety of new observing assets throughout the region; built the largest modeling system within the IOOS Association, covering an immense range of scales, discipline, and geographies; and constructed a data system integrating hundreds of dynamic data streams in collaboration with our partners.

Mahalo to our partners for your continued support!

PacIOOS People

A Hui Hou To Heather Kerkering

PacIOOS bids a hui hou (good-bye, until we meet again), to Heather Kerkering, PacIOOS Director, as she relocates with her family to Virginia. Heather has been a driving force of PacIOOS since she joined the team in early 2012. Since that time, Heather has established strong, collaborative partnerships for PacIOOS, especially in the insular Pacific, and enhanced our federal and congressional relationships in Washington, D.C., and locally in the Pacific. During her time with PacIOOS, Heather led the development and implementation of the PacIOOS Strategic Operational Plan. She effectively secured funds for the program and guided PacIOOS governance and programmatic operations toward certification of the program within the U.S. IOOS NOAA Framework.

Most of all, she made lasting friendships and connections in Hawaiʻi, and she fell in love with the islands. Heather will miss Hawai'i greatly and hopes to stay engaged in the ocean observing world as it has been an important part of her life for almost 10 years now.

We wish Heather all the best as she embarks on this next journey! Mahalo and a hui hou!

Based within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, PacIOOS is the Pacific Islands regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS�). PacIOOS is a partnership of data providers and users working together to enhance ocean observations and develop, disseminate, evaluate, and apply ocean data and information products designed to address the environmental, economic, and public safety needs of stakeholders who call the Pacific Islands home. For more information on PacIOOS, please visit www.pacioos.org.

PacIOOS | 808-956-8784 | fiona.langenberger@hawaii.edu | www.pacioos.org
1680 East-West Road, POST 105
Honolulu, HI 96822