Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2006TX226B

Development of Coastal Margin Observation and Assessment System to Monitor the Water Quality in the Corpus Christi Bay

Institute: Texas
Year Established: 2006 Start Date: 2006-03-01 End Date: 2007-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $23,227

Principal Investigators: Mohammad Islam, James Bonner

Project Summary: Coastal areas in the US are the heart of its economic activities. More than half of its population lives within the narrow coastal fringe that makes up 17 percent of the nations contiguous land area. Texas alone has 2360 miles of shoreline, and two of the nations top five ports, Houston and Corpus Christi. However, as the human population size along the coast increases, it continues to modify the natural state of these regions, and plays a critical role in deterioration of these ecosystems. To better understand these dynamic systems and the effects of human influences, it is necessary to establish a continuous in-situ monitoring regime. Our research group at the Shoreline Environmental Research Facility (SERF, Corpus Christi, TX) is implementing a Coastal Margin Observation and Assessment System (CMOAS), which can be conceptualized as an environmental observatory that will supply surface current maps, vertical profiles of currents, meteorological observations and other real-time chemical and biological measurements within the water column. These measurements will be integrated with model predictions for use in coastal monitoring. This will facilitate oil spill response, natural resources recovery, and a host of other applications for state and federal agencies.