NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

The latest news and information about NOAA research in and around the Great Lakes

Monthly Archives: November 2017


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Sounds of the storm and coral reef recovery following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico

By Dr. Doran Mason (NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory) and Felix Martinez (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science)

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University of Puerto Rico grad students servicing a hydrophone at the Weinberg site at La Parguera Natural Reserve on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico.  Photo Credit:  Rebecca Becicka, Ph.D. student at University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Researchers at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) are exploring the use of sound to monitor and assess the health of coastal ecosystems, most recently focusing on the soundscape created by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico. In collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Purdue University (a partner university in the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research consortium), and the National Centers for Coastal Science (NCCOS), GLERL has launched a pilot study on developing the long-term use of soundscape. To implement this new approach to monitoring, hydrophones, an instrument in measuring sound, are used to track the response of ecosystems to natural (e.g., tropical storms) and human-induced (e.g., stressors such as excess nutrients, sedimentation, fishing pressure, climate change) disturbances.

In this pilot project, hydrophones have been in place for six months at three sites (see below for Google Earth Map of Magueyes Island, La Parguera, Puerto Rico) at La Parguera Natural Reserve on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico prior to and during the two category 4 hurricanes that pummeled the island. Miraculously, the recorders and data survived the storms and were recovered, providing us with a unique opportunity to listen to the hurricanes and to evaluate how quickly reefs recover from a natural disaster.  

What is a soundscape?  Soundscapes are created by the aggregation of sounds produced by living organisms (invertebrates, fish, marine mammals), non-biological natural sounds (waves, rain, movement of the earth), and sounds produced by humans (boats, coastal roads). Changes in the biological portion of soundscape can provide us with the quantitative data to assess the health of the ecosystem in response to natural and human-induced disturbance.  Thus, our overall goal is to develop quantitative indices of coastal ecosystem health, based on the soundscape to assess the state of the environment, and to understand and predict changes, with application towards ecosystem restoration and conservation efforts. The utility of this approach is the use of a low-cost, remote autonomous technology that holds potential in expanding NOAA’s long-term observational capacity to monitor and assess coastal habitats.

Why GLERL?  As part of a long history of monitoring and research in the Great Lakes, GLERL scientists have cultivated a unique expertise in the development of autonomous remote sensing technology. In the last two decades, Purdue University (a CIGLR partner) has been one of the leaders in the development of terrestrial soundscapes as a critical tool to monitor ecosystem change. More recently, interest has grown in expanding this approach into the aquatic realm.  Building on our relationship with Purdue, GLERL and partners are well positioned to advance use of soundscape ecology to meet NOAA’s mission to protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources. In addition to the pilot study, GLERL is partnering with NCCOS to reach out to other NOAA Line Office programs in efforts to formalize the use of soundscapes within NOAA as a scientific program.  For example, efforts are underway to plan an international workshop to establish the foundational principles and identify research and technology gaps for the use of soundscape ecology.

Why Puerto Rico? Original support for this pilot study came from a congressional allocation for enhancing relationships with the cooperative institutes for the benefit of coral reef restoration and conservation. Given the scientific knowledge accrued from NCCOS’ prior investments in La Parguera, GLERL and its NCCOS partner recognized that Puerto Rico would be a prime location to test and develop the use of soundscapes technology to track and quantify the health of coastal ecosystems.

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Google Earth Map of Magueyes Island, La Parguera, Puerto Rico showing coral reef locations where the hydrophones were deployed at different depths: Weinberg (shelf-edge) – 75′; Media Luna (mid-shelf) – 45′; Pelotas (inner-shelf) – 35′.  Provided by: Prof. Richard Appeldoorn, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

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Colleagues from Purdue University and University of Puerto Rico deploy Media Luna reef site hydrophone for the first time.  Photo credit: Steve Ruberg, NOAA GLERL

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View of La Parguera from Media Luna reef site. Photo credit: Steve Ruberg, NOAA GLERL


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New algorithm to map Great Lakes ice cover

Leshkvich sampling ice

GLERL researcher, George Leshkevich, drilling through the ice in Green Bay, Lake Michigan.

NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) is on the cutting edge of using satellite remote sensing to monitor different types of ice as well as the ice cover extent. To make this possible, an algorithm—a mathematical calculation developed at GLERL to retrieve major Great Lakes ice types from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data—has been transferred to NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) for evaluation for operational implementation.

Once operational, the algorithm for Great Lakes ice cover mapping holds multiple applications that will advance marine resource management, lake fisheries and ecosystem studies, Great Lakes climatology, and ice cover information distribution (winter navigation).  Anticipated users of the ice mapping results include the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. National Ice Center (NIC), and the National Weather Service (NWS).

For satellite retrieval of key parameters (translation of satellite imagery into information on ice types and extent), it is necessary to develop algorithms specific to the Great Lakes owing to several factors:

  • Ocean algorithms often do not work well in time or space on the Great Lakes
  • Ocean algorithms often are not tuned to the parameters needed by Great Lakes stakeholders (e.g. ice types)
  • Vast difference exists in resolution and spatial coverage needs
  • Physical properties of freshwater differ from those of saltwater

The relatively high spatial and temporal resolution (level of detail) of SAR measurements, with its all-weather, day/night sensing capabilities, make it well-suited to map and monitor Great Lakes ice cover for operational activities. Using GLERL and Jet Propulsion Lab’s (JPL) measured library of calibrated polarimetric C-band SAR ice backscatter signatures, an algorithm was developed to classify and map major Great Lakes ice types using satellite C-band SAR data (see graphic below, Methodology for Great Lakes Ice Classification prototype).

ICECON (ice condition index) for the Great Lakes—a risk assessment tool recently developed for the Coast Guard—incorporates several physical factors including temperature, wind speed and direction, currents, ice type, ice thickness, and snow to determine 6 categories of ice severity for icebreaking operations and ship transit.  To support the ICECON ice severity index, the SAR ice type classification algorithm was modified to output ice types or groups of ice types, such as brash ice and pancake ice to adhere to and visualize the U.S. Coast Guards 6 ICECON categories. Ranges of ice thickness were assigned to each ice type category based on published freshwater ice nomenclature and extensive field data collection. GLERL plans to perform a demonstration/evaluation of the ICECON tool for the Coast Guard this winter.

Mapping and monitoring Great Lakes ice cover advances NOAA’s goals for a Weather-Ready Nation and Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies, and Safe Navigation. Results from this project, conducted in collaboration with Son V. Nghiem (NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), will be made available to the user community via the NOAA Great Lakes CoastWatch website (https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov).

 

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ICECON Scale

Measuring different ice types on Green Bay used to validate the ICECON (ice type classification) Scale in a RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) scene taken on February 26, 2017.

 


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Embracing Collaboration and Partnerships: A Way of Life at GLERL

The science community in the Great Lakes region holds a long history of partnership building, extending across jurisdictional, institutional, and disciplinary lines. These partnerships have been evolving in the region for decades as a means to leverage the intellectual capital and financial resources needed to address the environmental challenges (sediment and nutrient loading, toxic pollution, invasive species) threatening the integrity of the Great Lakes.  Agreements and programs established in the region—such as the Great Lakes Water Quality (1972), Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (2005), and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (2010)—are celebrated for their unique partnerships of federal, state/provincial, and tribal and local governments.

GLERL has embraced the Great Lakes tradition of collaboration and partnership building in the development and implementation of its scientific research program since the laboratory’s inception in the mid-1970s.  As a primary organizational goal, GLERL envisions partnerships as a way to strengthen capacity in the conduct of its interdisciplinary research. One way that we accomplish this is by providing a hub for collaboration at GLERL’s Ann Arbor facility—such as space for meetings and workshops to help in the coordination of scientific research and policy—as well as at GLERL’s Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon where vessels and laboratory space are made available to support scientific investigations.

Also notable is GLERL’s historical partnership with the NOAA Cooperative Institutes (CIs). The CIs are academic research institutes, frequently co-located within NOAA research laboratories, to create a strong, long-term collaboration among government scientists in the laboratories and the associated academic institutions. Currently, there is great excitement at GLERL for the newly established Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR), formerly known as the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research. CIGLR, hosted by the University of Michigan’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), collaborates with nine university partners as part of the institute’s Regional Consortium. This collaborative arrangement expands the research capacity, intellectual expertise, and geographic reach of CIGLR and all its partners, while increasing GLERL’s ability to fulfill NOAA’s mission in the Great Lakes.

In keeping with the Great Lakes tradition of collaboration and partnership building, we are pleased to announce the creation GLERL’s new webpage, Collaborating with GLERL. Provided on the webpage is specific guidance on how to pursue collaboration and partnerships with GLERL in areas such as research partnerships, data access, event hosting, vessel operations, as well as internships and fellowships. Through this webpage, we hope to enable our partners to benefit from the valuable resources offered by NOAA GLERL.  We invite you to browse this webpage so you are fully aware of the opportunities that GLERL offers to help keep the Great Lakes great.

Visit the new webpage at https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/about/collaborating.html.