Seminar: Mark Luther – USF College of Marine Sciences

UNC-CH’s Department of Marine Sciences is proud to host a seminar by UNC alum (1980) Mark Luther, Ph.D. This event is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6th, at 3:35pm in room G201 on the ground floor of Murray Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This seminar will also be broadcast live to both UNC’s Institute of Marine Sciences room 222 and online via Zoom (Meeting ID: 311-406-456).

Presenter Affiliation: Associate Professor and Director; College of Marine Science, The University of South Florida

Title:  Real Time Observations of Oceanographic and Meteorological Parameters for Maritime Transportation: Origins and Novel Applications

Abstract: The first NOAA Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) was established in Tampa Bay, Florida, becoming operational in 1991 (http://www.tbports.org/). In April 2018, the Miami Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System was dedicated as the 30th such system in the US, followed closely by Port Everglades in June 2018 as the 31st. PORTS® collects and disseminates real time meteorological and oceanographic data within major harbors around the US. PORTS® data are an essential component for maintaining the safety and efficiency of maritime operations. Before the advent of PORTS®, knowledge of environmental conditions relevant to ship operations in US harbors was generally limited to wind and precipitation sensors at the local airports and similar shipboard instrumentation. Water levels were inferred from standard tide tables even though surface winds were known to produce significant deviations from predicted values. This incomplete knowledge often led to navigational errors and to accidents. This talk will review the history of PORTS® development, highlighting recent advances in sensor technologies and novel uses of PORTS® data.