Caro-COOPS continues to provide data and information products to a variety of user groups, including emergency managers, environmental managers, marine scientists, the NOAA National Weather Service, and mariners in the coastal Carolinas. We hope you'll find the newsletter of interest and welcome your thoughts and suggestions; email us at info@caro-coops.org

Hurricane Storm Surge Maps & Animations

As hurricane season approaches, we'd like to bring your attention to Caro-COOPS Hurricane Storm Surge Maps and Animations. Computer-driven models to predict and describe flooding dynamics of the Carolinas' coastal region during hurricanes, nor'easters, and extra-tropical cyclones is a primary focus of Caro-COOPS.

The Coastal Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (CFDL), North Carolina State University, using bathymetry, topographic, and LIDAR data create a detailed GIS layer of elevation change in the coastal regions. These data in conjunction with buoy data and the updated hurricane track forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) are the basis for projecting the storm surge extent. Models have been developed for Charleston Harbor, the Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, and Wilmington areas. These projections are transformed into information products for the SC Emergency Management Division and other users by the data management group based at the Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina.  Projections and products for other coastal areas will be developed. Development of real-time computer-driven analyses of storm surge and flooding before, during, and after storm landfall is the goal.

NEMO Waves Processing Module: Testing of Instrumentation Data Return Success and Performance of the RD Instruments

One of Caro-COOPS greatest challenges is the delivery of data in near-real time on a consistent basis.  During satellite transmission from the buoys, a variety of measurements are sent back for display on the Caro-COOPS website, but thus far we have not been able to transmit the measured wave data because of its high volume and limitations on transmission time.  A potential solution for this restriction is the RDI NEMO waves processing module, which is designed to process wave data from the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and thus compress it for transmission.

On 19 January 2025 the Caro-COOPS offshore operations team deployed Test Buoy-02, in the vicinity of CAP2. This buoy was outfitted with a NEMO waves processing module to assess its efficiency and performance.  We have also been assessing the return rate from other key instrumentation, and the percentage return success rates are shown below (Table 1).

The February 2006 cruise aboard the RV Savannah recovered Test Buoy-02. The NEMO waves processing module for real-time waves worked well with the Caro-COOPS data acquisition system; however, some NEMO settings were incorrect during the deployment which caused a lower than expected significant wave height measurement (Figure 1) and water level record problems.  The time series of wave data amplitude were compared to nearest neighbor NDBC data sets and displayed a highly correlated wave field in both space and time. These NEMO settings were corrected and we expect a successful deployment of the NEMOs in May/June 2006 at the CAP2 and CAP3 sites.

NEMO Waves Test Output
Significant Wave Height
19 Jan - 23 Feb 2025

Figure 1

Long Bay Ecosystem Management

University and government agency scientists and managers responded quickly to the significant hypoxia event (July 2005) that occurred in Long Bay, SC (see Caro-COOPS second quarter 2005 newsletter). A study was undertaken and as an outgrowth, a web site is being developed specifically to assist coastal resource managers. The web site will spatially integrate historical, near-real time, and modeled marine and coastal observations in Long Bay; provide easy access to this information through user-friendly, searchable "meta-data" records; and foster the coordination of research and monitoring efforts in the region. The site is being developed with support from the Carolinas Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction System (Caro-COOPS), the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS), and the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), and will rely on significant and ongoing input from local, regional, state, and federal managers in the area.

Carolinas Coast Website Nearing Completion

The Caro-COOPS team has continued to partner with our partners Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Project (CORMP) and National Weather Service in Wilmington, NC to develop a "Carolinas Coast website." The site development is nearing completion, and will soon (summer 06) be installed on NWS servers and labeled as "Experimental" for a standard one year public review period. The goal of the site is to provide a "one stop shop" for several items of marine interest along the coasts of North and South Carolina, including in-situ observations, hazards, tide information, and forecasts. In-situ data are reported for approximately seventy stations, from such sources as Caro-COOPS, CORMP, NWS, NDBC, and US Geological Survey.

Recent major advances include the development of the tide information page, which displays predicted and observed tide graphs for 11 locations along the coastline, as well as tide prediction data for 300 locations.  A summary of the data is shown on the page, and there are links to more detailed and thorough information.  The data are provided by the NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. Another major advance is the development of the forecasts page, which shows detailed five-day forecasts by region for 16 coastal regions, as well as detailed radar images and in-situ observations for each region.

Some minor enhancements that contribute to the overall usefulness of the site include latitude/longitude grid overlays, city and inlet layers, NOAA weather radio radii with frequencies, a radar loop, a station listing showing which observations are collected by each station, and a help section that defines some terms used around the site.

Offshore Mooring Array Status

January-March 2006

Test buoy deployment and mooring repairs were conducted during the January 19-20, 2006, cruise onboard RV Savannah. The NEMO waves processing module test buoy was deployed adjacent to CAP2 to test its functionality for real-time waves data transmission. The bottom-mounted Seacat at CAP2 was successfully replaced. Calibration had been lost due to bio-fouling and accumulation of sand/mud in sensor housing. We replaced the sub-surface communications cable at SUN3 and moved the site a couple miles in order to move away from hard-bottom.  The SUN3 site lost subsurface communication on December 25. Upon recovery, the 3/16” wire rope had been purposely cut in two. It was obvious this cut was man-made. The February 20-23, 2006, cruise onboard RV Savannah successfully recovered the test buoy located near CAP2 and successfully repaired real-time communication problems with SUN2 and SUN3.

Ultrasonic wind sensors are being installed to replace the previous mechanical wind sensor. The ultrasonic sensor has no moving parts and should prove more reliable. Another component, the Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors installed on the buoy systems will be systematically replaced during 2006.  All 10 of the Caro-COOPS buoys have been operating with the GPS receivers that were originally installed in 2003.  These devices appear to be reaching their useful service life in this particular application. As robust as the GPS receivers have proven to be, the constant battering that these buoy systems receive is proving to be too much mechanical stress for the units.

The next scheduled maintenance is set for May 7-12, when CAP2, CAP3, and FRP2 will be replaced with serviced buoys and instrumentation.

Quarterly Trends

The examples below illustrate quarterly trends in air temperature, water temperature, bottom currents, and surface currents at our CAP2 station, approximately 5 miles offshore of Capers Island, SC. Visit the Caro-COOPS website for additional information and data illustrating changes in coastal conditions over the past months.

Approximate averages for the quarter December 15, 2025 to March 15, 2006.

Air Temperature: 52.2 degrees Fahrenheit
Winds: 7 mph, from the SW
Surface Currents: 0.52 knots toward the N
Bottom Currents: 0.29 knots toward the N
Bottom Water Temperature (~10 m or 33 feet): 53.3 degrees Fahrenheit