Station Selection
South Capers Island, SC (CAP1)
Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System (Caro-COOPS)
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| Click image to go to Caro-COOPS home page |
In the fall of 2002, the NOAA Coastal Services Center awarded a grant to a partnership of universities to establish a regional observing system for the Carolinas. The Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System (Caro-COOPS) establishes the capacity to monitor and model estuarine and coastal ocean conditions in the Carolinas. It further enhances the capability for real-time forecasts to mitigate natural hazards, supports the management of living resources and marine ecosystems, facilitates safe and efficient marine operations, and supports national security in the region.
The central goal of Caro-COOPS is to establish of reliable forecasting tools for a suite of regional coastal ocean processes. The overall objectives are to:
- integrate information on the causal biological, chemical, and physical processes in the Carolinas' coastal ocean to provide a thorough understanding of how physical forcing and biological responses are coupled on regional spatial scales and seasonal and interannual time scales;
- assess the predictability of specific coastal processes and events;
- develop accurate forecasting models; and
- create tools for applying and evaluating these predictions in the context of "end-to-end" early warning systems.
CO-OPS provided the North Carolina State University with specifications, vendor information to purchase equipment, and technical manuals to install the stations to NOS standards. CO-OPS also tested the data-collection platforms, water-level and met ecological sensors to assure that all of the systems operated properly prior to deployment. The stations were installed during August 2003 by NCSU and a contractor, Martek, Inc. CO-OPS personnel inspected the stations in October 2003 to assure that they met NOS standards for coastal water-level installations. At that time, the three stations (listed in the left margin above) were considered fully operational. Other partners include the University of South Carolina Belle W. Baruch Institute and the University of North Carolina at Willimington.