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Case Studies

Lighter Buoys Mean Quicker, In-House Responses

Lighter Buoys Mean Quicker, In-House Responses

Lighter Buoys Mean Quicker, In-House Responses

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office runs an unusual set of buoys. NOAA’s Chesapeake buoys originated as part of the John Smith Water Trail—a kind of aquatic Appalachian Trail for boaters. Although the buoys are no longer used as interpretive trail markers, they are now part of a larger observing system of 10 full-time stations. Challenge: Weighed down In the past, the team used the AXYS WatchKeeper buoy at these stations—but these buoys weigh in at around 4,500 pounds each, including anchor. This meant that the NOAA team had to contract out all deployments and retrievals.“You don’t have to lift it all at once, but the amounts you do have to lift are heavy, and most of the ships that can do that have a deep draft,” remarks Byron F. Kilbourne, an oceanographer at the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. “The areas that we’re working in are pretty shallow. The bigger boats that can handle that equipment would chew up our annual vessel contract budget in one trip.”

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Sodus Bay Buoy Network

Sodus Bay Buoy Network

Sodus Bay Buoy Network

Nine million people living around Lake Ontario depend on it for drinking water, according to the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. And many of those live in Upstate New York in towns like Oswego, Rochester and Syracuse.Far from going out into the middle of the lake, the people living in these towns mostly interact with its water through carrying out their lives nearshore. This is evident by the lines of roadways and lake houses that take up much of the space along Lake Ontario’s shores and bays.One of these prominent areas, Sodus Bay, is located halfway between Rochester and Oswego. Scientists at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry have a unique interest in tracking the water quality of Sodus Bay. They have launched multiple monitoring platforms in and around the bay to dissect environmental conditions there. Data they collect are useful both for advancing research interests, but also in providing residents around the bay with information on its water quality.

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Ohio River Biology Field Station

Ohio River Biology Field Station

Ohio River Biology Field Station

With its position along the Ohio River, the Thomas More College Biology Field Station is in a prime spot to advance education and research on the waterway. Some of the things under study there include fathead minnows and Asiatic clams, as well as the river’s toxicity.Key to advancing scientific education at the field station is communicating science in interesting and relatable ways. That’s why officials there decided to install a flat-screen television in the main entrance to better connect with the many students and visitors it receives each year. The large-screen TV was set up to display data collected by new meteorological equipment installed on a footbridge connected to the field station, as well as findings from multi-parameter water quality sondes in the station’s fish tanks and the Ohio River.Scientists at the field station say that communicating the data visually encourages dialogue about the river’s water quality and weather. In addition, displaying the data in such a prominent area helps to recruit youngsters who visit into scientific fields at early ages.

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