Congratulations are in order for the two RiverSonde equipment grant recipients David
Honegger of Oregon State University (OSU) and Rutgers University pair
Danielle Holden & Dakota Goldinger!
| Rutgers
University undergraduate students Danielle Holden and Dakota
Goldinger are deploying the RiverSonde as part of the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Summer Research Institute program.
In June their team installed the RiverSonde unit atop Stevens
Institute of Technology’s Center for Maritime Systems building
at the edge of the Hudson River, directly across from Manhattan.
Since the unit is high above land the range of the system
is extending beyond the traditional 200-300m limit, |
Background Image:
Students participating in the DHS Summer Research Institute Program
install RiverSonde hardware atop building, with Hudson river and
Manhattan skyline as backdrop. |
reaching across
the approx. 1150m wide channel. Data will be integrated into
the New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System (NYHOPS)
that models spatial and temporal variability of urban waters
and microclimate. The team will both assimilate and compare
the RiverSonde surface velocity measurements into the NYHOPS
Hudson River Model with the goal of improving forecasts.
Data from the RiverSonde are plotted in real-time and displayed
on the |
Hudson River RiverSonde radial velocity
vector map (green) with cross-channel velocity profile
in magenta.
|
Coastal
Ocean Observation Laboratory website at http://www.rucool.org
|
| |
|
|
 |
Mr. Honegger is
working towards a Ph.D in Civil Engineering with
a disciplinary focus in Coastal and Ocean Engineering
at Oregon State University. This Fall he will deploy
the RiverSonde unit between the Newport, Oregon jetties
that form a 300 meter wide channel. The data will
be used to approximate the along-stream current magnitude
and cross-stream current profile and determine the
variability due to tides and precipitation events.
The wave direction, wavelength and presence of breaking
extracted from X-band marine radar images outside
the jetties collected by Dr. Merrick Haller of OSU
will be compared against the tidal current information
gathered from the RiverSonde data to help characterize
the importance of currents with respect to the wave
breaking events. The RiverSonde data will also be
compared against the modeled currents of a 3-D Yaquina
Bay circulation model developed by Dr. James A. Lerczak
(College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences, OSU).
The outcome of this circulation model validation
will help Honegger introduce accurate tidal current
time series into the Unstructured-grid Simulating
Waves Nearshore (UnSWAN) spectral wave model and
appropriately compare modeled wave-current interactions
with those observed in the X-band marine radar images. |
| Grant recipients receive use
of RiverSonde for 3 months, CODAR engineer assistance
with installation, a training course offered at the
recipient institution, and travel funds to present
their findings at a scientific conference. |
 |
| |
These
figures are excerpted from Honegger’s grant proposal.
Figure 1: (a) Google Earth snapshot and estimated
radar footprint near Newport, OR, (b) bathymetry
near the antenna location, and (c) photograph of
the existing marine radar station and planned RiverSonde
installation location. |
|
|
