Thursday, December 2, 2010

Floating Real-Time Global Navigation Satellite Systems to Validate Mobile Bay Circulation Model

This week the NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS), and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) began a 90-day deployment of seven Real-Time Global Navigation Satellite System (RT GNSS) "floats" at strategic locations around Mobile Bay, Alabama. The floats, in support of the NOAA in Mobile Bay project, will provide a continuous record of sea-surface heights to validate a high-resolution coastal circulation model being designed by OCS. This project also relies on a network of GNSS base stations maintained throughout the deployment schedule, as well as local Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS)—all serving as local geodetic reference points for the floats. NGS state geodetic advisors to Alabama and Florida will be providing assistance with the deployment. For more information, contact Gerald Mader.