|
|
Coastal Resources
Coastal Data Aid Rescue Workers
Scripps currently operates the Coastal Data Information Program
(CDIP) to analyze coastal environmental data for use by engineers,
scientists, mariners, and beachgoers. The network includes wave and in
some cases, wind and current gauging stations at more than 80 locations
across the United States. The information is updated several times
daily, and analyzed data are automatically sent to a National Weather
Service computer to aid in marine weather advisories and surf
forecasts. CDIP information aided search efforts following the 2000
crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 off southern California, when CDIP
researchers developed a web site exclusively for rescue workers. It
displayed predictions of wave height and frequency at the crash site,
information critical for coordinating the search.
Economic Benefits of Environmental Monitoring
Scripps researchers have been conducting studies of the southern California
coastal environment for more than three decades. Such long-term
observations of natural communities are valuable in a variety of
applications, including evaluating the effects of sewage outfalls. This
research contributed to Environmental Protection Agency approval of San
Diego's use of advanced primary treatment, saving taxpayers billions of
dollars. This illustrates the importance of objective scientific
analyses of large data sets as a basis for policy decisions.
Oil Spill Cleanup
Scientists in the Integrative Oceanography Division
(IOD) at Scripps have provided near real-time ocean current information
to help officials clean up offshore oil spills. Researchers have
provided data taken from buoys near oil spills, which monitor ocean
currents and temperature and are part of ongoing studies in the Santa
Barbara Channel and Santa Maria Basin.
Beach Creation and Erosion
A team of scientists from IOD participated in the largest coastal
experiment ever undertaken to study waves and wave-driven circulation
and beach erosion. The project, at Duck, North Carolina, involved
investigators from 16 universities and government agencies. The
research will advance fundamental understanding of the forces that
create and destroy beaches. The damming of rivers and shoreline
construction have led to coastal erosion, with a loss of homes and
damage to the beach environment. Most of the world's population lives
near a coastline and coastal communities spend tens of millions of
dollars to restore beaches for recreation and tourism.
Restoring Coastal Wetlands
Scripps researchers are studying coastal wetlands in the United States and
Mexico to better understand how to preserve and restore this important
resource. Today, California has less than 10 percent of its original
wetlands acreage. Despite a federal policy of no net loss, significant
degradation of quality and losses of wetlands acreage continue. Many
coastal wetlands restoration projects are planned for California in the
coming decade. However, those few restoration projects already carried
out have had only limited success. Using newly created salt marshes in
Mission Bay and in the Tijuana estuary, Scripps scientists are trying
to learn how to make wetlands restoration projects more successful in
general, and how to expand the area of functional tidal wetlands in
southern California.
Marine Reserves
Marine reserves conserve threatened habitats and species and protect stocks of
fishes and other animals in fished areas. Scripps scientists are
working to design marine reserves using scientific information about
ecological processes that are critical to these species. Such processes
include reproduction, egg and larvae dispersal by currents, and
nurseries. Scripps researchers use a diverse array of techniques to
investigate these processes in places such as California, the Gulf of
California in Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Caribbean Sea.
Investigating Reef Fishes
Scripps researchers are studying the complex life cycles of reef fishes. While
these fishes may spend their adult and juvenile lives on reefs, they
begin their larval phase in the open ocean. Many larvae spend weeks to
months swimming or being transported by currents. The location of many
species during this time is unclear. After this period, larvae "settle"
on the reef and become juvenile fishes. These investigations include
collecting juvenile fishes and tracing their dispersal history by
analyzing their chemical composition. This is a process of paramount
importance to fisheries management and the design of marine reserves.
Nearshore Oceanography
The importance of the innermost mile of ocean is increasingly being
recognized. Researchers at Scripps are active in studying the movement
of water, the distribution of plankton and larvae, the distribution of
suspended sediment, and the distribution of pollutants. Scripps
researchers have worked to understand the flushing of bays nearshore
waters that offer shelter and other attractions for the development of
modern cities such as San Francisco and San Diego. Bay-ocean exchange
is critical in the life cycle and population ecology of many marine
organisms and central to conservation issues in bays and lagoons.
|
