On Thursday, May 20th, 2010 at the Ocean Shores Convention Center, University of Washington’s Dr. John Delaney, Professor of Oceanography and Director of the Regional Scale Nodes Program will be offering two separate presentations on a NOAA sponsored ocean science project off the Washington and Oregon Coasts. Sponsored by the Grays Harbor County Marine Resources Committee, Washington Sea Grant, and the University of Washington's College of the Environment, “20,000 Gigabits Under the Sea: Next Generation Ocean Science off the Washington and Oregon Coasts” will aim to share information about the scope of this coastal project with science and business leaders, area interest groups, state and local agencies, and the general public.
Dr. Delaney leads the University of Washington team that is building a regional ocean observatory off the Oregon and Washington coasts. This observatory formerly known as NEPTUNE is now referred to as the Regional Scale Nodes and it will be just one component within the U.S. National Science Foundation's Ocean Observatories Initiative, which consists of a network of instruments, undersea cables, and instrumented moorings that, when completed, will span the Western Hemisphere. Other involved in the construction of this network include Oregon State University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The Regional Scale Nodes approach consists of using hundreds of kilometers of fiber-optic/power cable to connect robot-sensor networks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. These networks will then allow continuous and real-time observations and interactions with the complexities of the ocean including: weather-producing currents, inhabitants ranging from seafloor microbes to blue whales, and the underlying tectonic plates which are responsible for generating massive earthquakes and tsunamis. In addition networks such as this would allow anyone with access to the Web to access this information and better understand the complexities of this great natural resource.
Two sessions are being presented at the May 20th event. Session #1 at 2:00 pm is an RSVP/Invitation Only presentation directed at businesses, those in the science and education fields or apart of other industries whose futures may be directly affected by work being done by through the Regional Scales Nodes ocean observatory. Session #2 at 7:00 pm is a free public session open to all and will appeal to a diverse audience from. Both presentations are about an hour each and attendees will be encouraged to participate in a question and answer session at the end of each to help provide a better understanding of this projects and it’s possible effects on the future of our area, it’s businesses, and residents.
To RSVP for Session #1 or to find out more information about this event please email ghcmrc@co.grays-harbor.wa.us. To learn more about this project you may visit http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/portal/Observatories or http://www.oceanobservatories.org/.
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