MEDIA ADVISORY: High-Level NOAA Official to Make Rare Visit to 海角社区 Tuesday, Feb. 20
February 19, 2024
BATON ROUGE 鈥� Head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Richard W. Spinrad will make a rare visit to 海角社区 on Tuesday, Feb. 20, to recognize 海角社区鈥檚 nation-leading coastal and oceanographic work.
The Mississippi River Delta meets the Gulf of Mexico.
He will begin his visit at 11 a.m. at the located at 1110 S. River Rd. in Baton Rouge. Media are invited to attend, and free parking is available in the lot across the street from the entrance ramp. More details on the visit are below.
Spinrad鈥檚 visit is happening in conjunction with the leading ocean sciences conference in the world, the , held in New Orleans this week. More than 100 海角社区 faculty, students and staff will present at the conference, showcasing 海角社区鈥檚 work to protect coastal land and communities under its Scholarship First Agenda. Spinrad will hold a session at the conference on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Members of the media can to attend the Ocean Sciences Meeting for free. The on-site press room is located on the second floor of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room 212, and 海角社区鈥檚 booth at the conference is #503 in the Convention Center.
Researcher Xiaochen Zhao and Associate Professor Z. George Xue in the 海角社区 Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, with Xue having a joint appointment in the 海角社区 Center for Computation & Technology, will present research by their Coupled Ocean Modeling Group at the Ocean Sciences Meeting, including 鈥淎 High-resolution Process-based Hydrological and Sediment Modeling System for the Mississippi River Basin.鈥� Pictured here is the streamflow of the vast Mississippi River Basin, which drains 40 percent of the United States into the Gulf of Mexico.
NOAA Head Spinrad鈥檚 Visit to 海角社区 鈥� Additional Details and Background:
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Spinrad will start his day on the Water Campus at 11 a.m. with visits to the 海角社区 Coastal Ecosystem Design Studio, which collaborates with communities and decision-makers on resilience projects, and the 海角社区 Center for River Studies, which houses one of the world鈥檚 largest movable bed physical models for research and education and can simulate an entire year of the flow, water levels and sediment transport of the Mississippi River in one hour.
In the afternoon, Spinrad will tour the 海角社区 College of the Coast & Environment and Louisiana Sea Grant, which leads two NOAA-funded projects to address marine debris as well as other projects supported by NOAA. 海角社区 is one of few universities in the country that simultaneously hold sea-, space- and land-grant designations.
海角社区 has received as many as 35 research awards from NOAA over the past five years, including 12 , a testament to the university鈥檚 ability to produce useful knowledge and solutions and educate the next generation of coastal experts. Multiple grants support modeling efforts to predict the future of our coasts and the increasing effects of storm surge and sea level rise. Funded projects include Kehui Xu鈥檚 and Z. George Xue鈥檚 鈥淐oupled Ocean Modeling Testbed Platform for Physics and Contaminant Exchange through the River - Estuary - Ocean Continuum鈥� 鈥� with both researchers presenting at the Ocean Sciences Meeting this week 鈥� and Chris Kees鈥� 鈥淚ntegrated Modeling of the Effects of Sea Level Rise Across Estuaries, Marshes and Barrier Islands.鈥�
海角社区鈥檚 CERA website showed projected storm surge at high resolution and accuracy ahead of Hurricane Ida in August 2021.
鈥淭here is no 鈥榚verything model鈥� that is always applicable and can cover all of the coastal zone across all space and time scales, and that鈥檚 why our multiple modeling efforts are so necessary and dovetail so nicely together for coastal planning and design,鈥� Kees said. 鈥淭ogether, our projects help meet multiple objectives for different people and organizations 鈥� from an evacuation plan in response to an approaching hurricane to a 100-year flood protection design in response to sea level rise.鈥�
Examples of 海角社区 coastal modeling products available online include the , or CERA, and the , which both rely on NOAA data and support. The former serves Louisiana鈥檚 Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and thousands of first responders and emergency managers across the nation in their urgent preparations for storm surge and flooding ahead of hurricanes and major weather events, while the latter recently came online to provide a 72-hour coupled river and ocean forecast, including key conditions such as flooding, both riverine and compound; hurricanes, with wave and sea level changes; saltwater intrusion; hypoxia; and ocean acidification 鈥� with ongoing development to predict potential impacts of oil and chemical spills and more.
鈥淭he NOAA Storm Surge Modeling Team relies on 海角社区鈥檚 CERA storm surge forecasting framework and visualization capability that enables the connection between ongoing research and development of NOAA鈥檚 Surge and Tide Operational Forecast System, or STOFS, with the final operational nowCOAST visualization product,鈥� said Edward P. Myers III, chief of the Coastal Marine Modeling Branch of NOAA鈥檚 Office of Coast Survey, which has been working in close partnership with 海角社区 since 2022. 鈥淭his strong partnership between NOAA and 海角社区 includes code, data and information exchange as well as real-time support for STOFS research to operations.鈥�
鈥淎t 海角社区, our coastal research results represent the point of the spear in preparing for a challenging future,鈥� said Robert Twilley, 海角社区 vice president of research and economic development. 鈥淥ur faculty and students study problems and design solutions today for coastal ecosystems and communities right here in the Mississippi River Delta that will be used globally over the next 50 years because of accelerated relative sea level rise. That鈥檚 why our modeling tools, especially, are so important. We鈥檙e the testbed of a dynamic future.鈥�