Grantee Research Project Results

2002 Progress Report: Environmental Research in Coastal Louisiana

EPA Grant Number: R827785E01
Title: Environmental Research in Coastal Louisiana
Investigators: Dagg, Michael
Institution: Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: March 17, 2002 through March 16, 2003
Project Period Covered by this Report: March 17, 2002 through March 16, 2003
Project Amount: $483,939
RFA: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) (1999) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: EPSCoR (The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)

Objective:

The main objectives of this research project are to: (1) provide Internet access to basic information about Louisiana's coastal environment for students and scientists in Louisiana's university community for educational and research activities; and (2) provide a monitoring system accessible to all university scientists for developing their own research or educational programs requiring coastal information.

Progress Summary:

The Lake Pontchartrain monitoring station, proposed as supporting instrumentation for the research in Scientific and Engineering Environmental Research (SEER)-02 has been fully operational since Year 1 of this research project, and the McKee research activities described in the original proposal at this site are nearing completion (see 2002 Annual Report for Grant No. R827785E03). Project Investigators Dagg and McKee meet regularly-approximately every 2-3 weeks-to discuss this and other activities. This station is located in the northwest section of Lake Pontchartrain, and is accessed for routine maintenance from the Turtle Cove Research Station. Meteorological and water property data are automatically sent at 1-minute intervals by high frequency (HF) radio to a tower at the University of New Orleans, where they are downloaded into a LUMCON computer and sent via Internet to the LUMCON Marine Center in Cocodrie for display on our monitoring Web page. As reported last year, progress towards the deployment of the monitoring station in support of SEER-01 was held up for several reasons beyond our control (see Rabalas report). State Implementation Program (SIP) resources were subsequently allocated towards other stations, particularly the Audubon station in the lower Mississippi River. Currently, we are expanding this station to include fluorometry and light transmission, and automating data transmission to LUMCON.

As originally envisioned, monitoring station data are increasingly used by scientists, students, and teachers throughout the state for research and education purposes. LUMCON's K-12 outreach programs have incorporated monitoring data into their educational and training exercises. Currently, we are compiling information about users of the monitoring stations constructed under this project. Preliminary evaluation shows surprising broad use from academic scientists, federal agencies, state agencies, industry, students (university and K-12), and the public. We are compiling a summary of all user information to include in the final report.

On March 27, 2002, an external review team visited LUMCON to review the progress of this U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Program to Stimulate Competition Research (EPSCoR) program. Reviewers were positive, and indicated the overall program was highly successful. A copy of their report was submitted to the EPA in July 2002.

Future Activities:

Expansion of and real-time data transmission from the Audubon station in the lower Mississippi River will continue for the first half of 2003. The other major planned activity is the compilation of a list of users, and the preparation of a report summarizing the broad interest in continuous data from our monitoring stations.

Supplemental Keywords:

coastal monitoring, Internet, monitoring system., RFA, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Water, Waste, ECOSYSTEMS, Aquatic Ecosystem, Restoration, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Fate & Transport, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration, Watersheds, Monitoring/Modeling, Biochemistry, climate change, Water & Watershed, Ecology and Ecosystems, heavy metals, watershed management, restoration strategies, water quality, ecological impact, watershed restoration, coastal ecosystems, environmental monitoring, environmental measurement, Lake Pontchartrain, water monitoring, watershed influences, hydrology, integrated watershed model, sediment transport, water circulation, fate and transport, ecosystem stress, environmental stress, coastal zone, ecology assessment models, ecological research, continuous monitoring, aquatic ecosystems, source load modeling, watershed sustainablility

Relevant Websites:

http://weather.lumcon.edu/ Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

Final Report