Current Projects
MVCO Joins the MassCEC Ocean Innovation Network
MVCO is now a part of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's Ocean Innovation Network (OIN). The Air Sea Interaction Tower (ASIT) is part of a suite of ocean test sites supporting marine technology development. Other ocean test sites supported by WHOI provide mobile dockside access and a nearshore buoy in New Bedford. These facilities allow access for start-ups and partner companies to easily test new technology in the marine environment. Through the OIN, innovators can do rapid testing off the dock in New Bedford and then bring their equipment to the ASIT to see how it performs in real-world conditions.
PVST-VDIUP: Validation of Ocean Surface Downwelling Irradiance and its Underwater Propagation for the PACE Mission
Knowing the spectral, spatial, and temporal distribution of solar radiation in the upper ocean, from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, is critical for understanding ocean biogeochemical processes and quantifying cycles of carbon, nutrients, and oxygen. NASA’s PACE mission provides global satellite-derived estimates of this solar radiation at the ocean surface. The PVST-VDIUP project is establishing a dedicated network of in situ measurements to validate these radiation products across a range of oceanic and atmospheric conditions.
As part of a network of autonomous stations, a hyperspectral downwelling irradiance radiometeris operated at MVCO to continuously measure the spectral downwelling irradiance at the ocean surface.
The project is a collaboration between the University of Maine, UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) funded by NASA through the PACE Validation Science Team (PVST) program.
See downwelling irradiance spectra in near-real-time on the PVST-VDIUP portal.
Quality-controlled spectra are available through NASA SeaBASS.
Northeast U.S. Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER)
The NES-LTER project integrates observations, experiments, and models to understand and predict how planktonic food webs are changing, and how those changes may impact the productivity of higher trophic levels. NES-LTER project lead, Heidi Sosik, and collaborators conduct biological observations at the MVCO offshore tower including an underwater microscope, the Imaging FlowCytobot. The NES-LTER project is funded by the National Science Foundation.
See phytoplankton in near-real-time at the IFCB Dashboard.