ASA Search and Rescue Software Used to Locate 5 Crewmembers[back to top]
John O’Sullivan (left) and James Lynch (right) along with their colleague Maurice Curtin from the Irish Coast Guard, coordinated the successful search planning efforts.
SARMAP provides rapid predictions of the movement of drifting objects and missing persons at sea. SARMAP includes the ability to deploy search and rescue units with search patterns and calculate the probability of containment, probability of detection, and probability of success. In the case of the Rambler 100, the success was 100%.
The accident occurred during the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race, an international staple that runs 608 miles from the Isle of Wight, around Fastnet Rock off Ireland’s southwest coast and on to Plymouth, England. Shortly after rounding the Fastnet Rock, the keel of the Rambler 100 broke off and the yacht overturned, leaving sixteen crew members clinging to the hull while five others, including the yacht’s owner George David, were swept out to sea.
Photo Credit: © Rolex / Daniel Forster
The Irish Coast Guard, which has a fifteen-year-long working relationship with ASA, employed SARMAP’s sophisticated tracking capabilities to rapidly predict the movement of the drifting survivors and calculate a precise search area. Chris Reynolds, head of the Irish Coast Guard, said that the software, which uses a combination of GIS (geographic information system), a database of drift behavior, real-time environmental information and powerful computer modeling to extrapolate the location of vessels, persons, or containers adrift at sea, was “invaluable” to the rescue efforts in the rough and foggy coastal waters.
Photo Credit: © RNLI / Nigel Millard
Since 2003, ASA has been working in collaboration with Northrop Grumman and Metron, Inc. to develop the Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS) for the U.S. Coast Guard. SAROPS has been fully deployed throughout the U.S Coast Guard, and the U.S. government has delivered SAROPS to a number of international maritime agencies. Ongoing enhancements to the system incorporate the latest in search and rescue planning tools and data integration capabilities, including the Environmental Data Server (EDS) developed by ASA to provide access to global and regional metocean conditions.
ASA Uses Cloud Computing to Model Dispersion[back to top]
One of the more common uses of particle tracking models is to study the dispersion of the larvae of marine fishes. Many marine fishes spawn in areas where currents disperse their larvae after hatching. Dispersion of marine larval fish is highly dependent on physical conditions and varies widely by ecosystem and species. This dispersion can affect both their survival and growth.
The motion of particles, or organisms too small to swim, can be calculated by using a combination of general circulation and particle tracking models to describe the physics and biology of the particles being studied. These linked models use an underlying circulation model to describe the motion of ocean currents in three dimensions, and an overlying particle-tracking model that describes the behavior of the organism or particle in a fluid or gaseous medium. Setting up the parameters for these model simulations is a complex process and the output can be voluminous and complicated. Visual techniques for both the input of model parameters and the visualization of output can make it much easier to use these models, and to interpret their results.
LarvaMap is a system that simulates passive long-term and large-scale larval fish transport. It is composed of a back end model runner, a front end Adobe Flex client, and a REST web service to bridge the gap between the two. The particle-based larval model is driven by physical ocean conditions such as temperature and currents (speed and direction). LarvaMap can make use of many diverse hydrodynamic data sources to drive the transport model.
Life cycle of a walleye pollock. Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is a key species in the Alaska groundfish complex and a target species for one of the world’s largest fisheries. Walleye pollock produce the largest catch of any single species inhabiting the 200-mile U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.
As the data volumes of the hydrodynamic simulations are generally huge, an “on demand” data retrieval system was built into LarvaMap so that data are retrieved on a “per particle” basis and cached for use by any particles that are within the same grid-cell of the forcing dataset. An R-Tree spatial-indexing implementation allows very rapid positional lookups against both structured and unstructured datasets. The data-cache persists until the model-timestep advances past the current data-timestep, which allows the transport model to be run at higher temporal fidelity than the forcing data without impacting model performance.
The original deployment of LarvaMap was a stand-alone application, utilizing the resources on a single piece of hardware to power all aspects of the system. The amount of time required for the model to complete was relative to the number and speed of CPUs available to the system. The RAM usage was not as important, although it was determined that to efficiently compute a large scale particle run, 512 MB of free RAM was required. Since there was only one model runner, multiple users would be required to wait for the model runner to complete any existing model run before moving on to the next. Three challenges were thus identified after phase 1 of the project: support for multiple simultaneous users, support for multiple simultaneous model runs, and an improvement in the particle model run time.
Cloud-based architecture was able to solve all three of these challenges by offering the ability to scale out the application horizontally by providing computational resources on demand. LarvaMap was re-architected for a cloud-based infrastructure and redeployed on the Amazon cloud. The front end clients as well as the middleware web services were redesigned to be hot deployable to multiple instances and fronted with Amazon load balancers. This allows both the client and web services to support an almost unlimited number of simultaneous users. To support multiple simultaneous model runs, the system required multiple model runners, and this required a way to manage the communication between the web service and the runners. Utilizing the Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), a queuing system was developed that allowed a model run request to be serviced by any available (not currently in use) model runner.
Development of LarvaMap was funded by the NOAA High Performance Computing and Communications Program and deployment on the Amazon cloud was supported by the FDGC GeoCloud Sandbox project.
For more information, please contact Kyle Wilcox at kwilcox@asascience.com or Tiffany C. Vance at Tiffany.C.Vance@noaa.gov
The AIS Data Handler[back to top]
The AIS Data Handler Desktop tools provide many options for cleaning raw AIS data
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracks ships primarily near the coastline with the use of base stations that collect the real-time vessel data, providing information such as ship identity, position, course, and speed. While the intended use of AIS is to monitor ships in near real time for safe navigation in coastal waters, the archive of this data will allow planners to better understand marine transportation patterns in support of CMSP efforts.
AIS Data Handler Data Access Page
To make these AIS data archives more accessible to users, NOAA CSC and BOEM have funded development of the AIS Data Handler, which provides a web-based system for accessing AIS data and desktop tools for cleaning and processing AIS data. To better understand the marine transportation patterns in a given region users can visualize, query, and analyze the raw AIS archives with the AIS Data Handler Desktop Tools. This GIS utility leads users through a series of commands for creating ready-to-use data products.
The AIS Data Handler stores AIS data in ESRI’s File Geodatabase (FGDB) format and allows users to request data based on UTM zone and month. It currently provides access to the 2009 AIS data. Once the user has downloaded the FGDBs of interest, the desktop tools allow users to display and analyze the AIS data. The desktop tools are designed as an ArcGIS Add-In compatible with ArcGIS 10.x, which includes a series of tools designed to lead the user through the process of creating AIS data products. The toolsets are divided into four categories: cleaning tools, query tools, filter tools, and analytical tools. Cleaning tools allow users to read, edit, create, and delete records based on a set of rules involving spatial, temporal, and attribute properties. Filter and query tools allow users to subset data in space, time, or by attribute for further analysis. Analytical tools include the ability to create derived products such as vessel tracks and vessel densities and to calculate summary statistics for the AIS datasets.
For more information, please contact Kelly Knee at kknee@asascience.com or Daniel Martin at Daniel.Martin@noaa.gov
Personnel News[back to top]
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On 22 August, Camila Cantagallo presented “Oil Spill Modeling for Environmental Evaluation using SIMAP” at IBAMA (Brazilian Environmental Agency). After her presentation, Camila and Ana Carolina Lammardo met with IBAMA technicians to discuss Risk Analysis Methods in Brazil. Through an ongoing contract with University of California San Diego, ASA continues on the development of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatory Initiative Cyber Infrastructure (OOI-CI). The ASA team (Christopher Mueller, David Foster and David Stuebe) have been part of the OOI-CI Release 1 development group working with UCSD to develop the product, working with the IOOS early adopter scientists, and supporting the Project Readiness Review at the Ocean Leadership offices in D.C. Now focused on R2, the ASA developers on the OOI team are engaged across a broad spectrum of the project functionality, from core infrastructure to science applications and user engagement. ASA was a sponsor of the Environmental Business Council 6th Annual Ocean Resource Management Conference: Federal Agency Ocean Management Programs held in Waltham, MA on 22 July. The purpose was to have federal agencies describe their programs and responsibilities and reflect on the new framework for strengthening and coordinating ocean governance and national priority objectives. Craig Swanson hosted a display focused on ASA projects supporting federal agencies. 
From 11-15 June, ASA provided SIMAP software and training to Saudi Arabia’s General Presidency of Meteorology (PME) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The instructors for the training were Tim Reilly (Lighthouse Technical Consultants, LTCI), with whom ASA has worked closely over the years on a number of Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDA), and Tarig Omer (ASA-Hydroqual). Tim Reilly provided an introduction to NRDA and a background of the model, and Tarig Omer provided training on the interface and the necessary inputs. Also attending was Richard Metcalfe of Emapsite, ASA’s client who provided PME with a GIS atlas of the Red Sea. 
12-14 July, Matt Ward and Jennifer Cragan attended the 15th annual George Mason University Conference on Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Modeling. Matt presented a brief titled “Rapid Development and Implementation of a Waterborne Radiological Transport and Fate Model in Support of the Recent Events at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.” The brief was presented during a special session for the Fukushima accident, which also included presentations from the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), France, and the Naval Research Laboratory. |
On 25 August, Marco Antonio Corrêa and Gabriel Clauzet from ASA South America and Adri Verwey from Deltares presented the modeling work plan of the “Sao Paulo Drainage Master Plan” at the workshop sponsored by the consortium of EngeCorps, Cobrape and Maubertec for the stakeholders, including the State and City of Sao Paulo. Stephen Sontag and Kyle Wilcox attended the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) 12-16 September in Denver, CO to present a paper called “Bringing the oceans to life using OGC services and dynamic visualization”. This presentation included practical examples of using OGC services to change the way we look at dynamic (real-time) ocean data. ASA Latin America provided a modeling training at São Paulo’s office for Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), from 29 August to 2 September. The training involved topics such as principles of meteorology, oceanography, numerical modeling, data analysis (tides and currents from Venezuela), and SIMAP modeling. ASA Instructors were Marco Antonio Corrêa, Tatiana Jorgetti, Breno Sierra, Maria Fernanda Fiedler, Renan Ribeiro and Pedro Sarmento. Eoin Howlett participated in a panel “Model Testbeds Defining the Goal”, at the Coastal Zone 11 conference in Chicago with Doug Levin (NOAA, Washington College), Elizabeth Smith (SURA), John Harding (Northern Gulf Institute), Hendrik Tolman (NOAA), Frank Bub (U.S. Navy), and Christopher Mooers (Portland State University). 
Eileen Graham and Haiwei Shen provided SIMAP training to a group of scientists at the National Marine Environment Monitoring Center, State Oceanic Administration in Dalian, China from 26-28 July. The training included in-depth discussions on 3D oil spill fates and trajectory modeling and application of SIMAP for risk assessment. 
In October, ASA will have completed over 40 field expeditions to the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The first cruise sailed in May of 2010 and ASA continues to support the planning and coordination of these cruises. The most recent cruises are investigating the biological communities of the deep offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico (700-1,000 m) and the sediment chemistry of locations in the vicinity of the well site. 
Eduardo Yassuda and Pedro Sarmento conducted an OILMAP training at the TOTAL Austral facility in Rio Cullen, Tierra del Fuego in May. |
Upcoming Conferences[back to top]
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Craig Swanson will be participating in the Electric Power Research Institute 3rd Thermal Ecology and Regulation Workshop in Maple Grove, MN on 11– 12 October. He is joint author of a paper wtih Mark Mattson (lead author) of Normandeau Associates, “Atlantic Salmon Smolt Downstream Migration Past Merrimack Station’s Thermal Plume”, and primary author with Daniel Mendelsohn, Deborah Crowley and Mark Mattson of “Monitoring and Modeling the Thermal Plume from the Indian Point Energy Center in the Hudson River.” Haiwei Shen is an invited speaker at the International Workshop on Emergency Responses to Marine Pollution on Chemical or Oil Shipping Crises on 18 October, organized by the Taiwan EPA. She will give a talk on Chemical Spill Modeling. Eoin Howlett will be attending the 10th annual Symposium for the Coastal Environment 22-26 January in New Orleans, LA. He will be presenting a paper on how tools, services and standards used within the OpenSource modeling community may be considered for transition to operational modeling centers. |
The 12th International Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling will be held 7–9 November in St. Augustine, FL with active participation by Malcolm Spaulding, Craig Swanson, Eduardo Yassuda, Renan Ribeiro, Gabriela Freire, Daniel Mendelsohn, Yong Kim, Kelly Knee, David Stuebe and Deborah Crowley. ASA will be sponsoring a booth at this year’s AWEA Offshore Windpower Conference and Exhibition in Baltimore, MD, 11-13 October. Jill Rowe and Daniel Mendelsohn will be in attendance at Booth #647. Jill will be presenting a paper entitled “Ecological Value Map (EVM) Development for Use in Siting Offshore Wind Projects” with co-authors Danielle Reich, Deborah French McCay and Melanie Schroeder. Malcolm Spaulding will also be presenting a paper co-authored with Annette Grilli entitled “The Application of Technology Development Index to Facilitate Siting of an Offshore Wind Facility in RI Coastal Waters.” |
New Faces[back to top]
SOUTHKINGSTOWN
Dennis Glasberg is a recent Computer Science graduate from the University of Rhode Island. He is currently working on projects involving the development and maintenance of map based Windows applications and the creation of dynamic web applications.
Lisa Miller has a broad engineering background, which includes oceanographic and underwater acoustic data analysis. She has extensive experience in numerical modeling of coastal processes, as well as wave mechanics and hydrodynamics and is proficient in Matlab and ArcGIS.
Richard Tian has a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography and specializes in nutrient dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, water quality, and primary and secondary production. He focuses on water quality and biological modeling using coupled physical and biogeochemical models.
Matt Grennan has a broad ocean engineering background with a focus on coastal processes, wave mechanics, and wave loading. His experience includes field oceanographic data collection, management and analysis, as well as the use of Matlab and other data analysis tools.
Ben Fish is a junior programmer who has been working on projects involving the design and development of data-driven dynamic web applications. He also provides product documentation and is responsible for maintaining the ASA website.
Shingo Ikeda is an engineer with academic background in geostatistics and spatial decision support systems. He has experience in urban-environmental planning, enterprise level GIS software development, and data management.
Katharyn Shaugnessy is the Contracting Assistant at ASA. She has a Juris Doctor degree from Roger Williams University School of Law, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut. She has interned at government offices at both the state and federal level.
New Arrivals
Danielle Reich and her husband Adrian welcomed their first child on 15 June, a daughter named Coralie Rose. She was 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches at birth and is already growing up too fast!
Lauren Decker and her busband Tim welcomed their son, Sean Decker who arrived on Friday, 23 September at 11:24PM. He’s a healthy baby boy weighing in at 10 lbs 1oz.
Melanie Schroeder and her husband Bob had their second daughter, Morgan Grace on 16 September at 4:53PM. She weighed in at 8lbs 6oz. Their oldest, Riley is enjoying being a big sister!
São Paulo
Fernando Roversi is experienced in the application of computational hydrodynamics and water quality modeling in fluvial, coastal and estuarine environments. He is also skilled with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and environmental data analysis.
Thiago Luis Rodrigues da Silva is experienced with hydrology, hydrodynamics and water quality modeling in fluvial, coastal and estuarine environments. He works with modeling of effluent discharge and sediment transport and has experience in environmental data collection and analysis.
Celebrating 10 Years in Brazil!
After 10 great years, ASA South America becomes ASA Latin America, reflecting our expansion in providing science, services and solutions throughout Latin America.