News
(Portland, Ore.) June 29, 2010 - Portland State University (PSU) professor Chris Mooers started work on a two-
and-a-half year, $1.56 M project (www.gomex-ppp.org) to evaluate and demonstrate a computer modeling system
to help predict the currents in the Gulf of Mexico. The dispersion of spills depends upon large scale currents,
"ocean weather" (meandering jets, large eddies, and fronts), and small scale turbulence--phenomena that have
some degree of predictability.
The modeling system will be comprised of either a single superior computer model or a multi-model ensemble,
plus satellite and coastal remote and on site observing systems. The system will take into account the complex
bottom topography and coastlines, as well as the forcing of the circulation by the atmosphere, river discharges,
tides, the inflow of the Yucatan Current, and the outflow of the Florida Current. Within the Gulf, it will predict
the ocean weather; such as the physical state of the Loop Current and the physical responses of the Gulf to
atmospheric weather, as well as the passage of tropical cyclones in summer and subtropical cold fronts in winter.
These new circulation predictions will produce much improved environmental and ecological information, foster
more effective ocean operations such as secure oil and gas exploration and production, emergency management
(e.g., search-and-rescue activities and oil spill mitigation), and ecosystem and fisheries management.
Funding for the project is provided by the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory
through the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Research and
Development Program authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and established by the U.S. Department of
Energy.
Project Partners
The participants in the project are modelers from Princeton University, North Carolina State University, Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and University of California at Los Angeles, Naval Research Laboratory, Naval
Oceanographic Office, National Ocean Service, and National Weather Service, plus data analysts from Texas A &
M University and Portland State University. The project is sponsored by the Research Partnership to Secure
Energy for America (RPSEA) under contract to the Department of Energy, Chris Mooers of Department of Civil
& Environmental Engineering, Portland State University is the principal investigator.
About Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA)
RPSEA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit consortium with more than 160 members, including 24 of the nation's premier
research universities, five national laboratories, other major research institutions, large and small energy producers
and energy consumers. The mission of RPSEA, headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, is to provide a stewardship
role in ensuring the focused research, development, and deployment of safe and environmentally responsible
technology that can effectively deliver hydrocarbons from domestic resources for use by the citizens of the
United States. Additional information can be found at www.rpsea.org.
About Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) serves as a center of opportunity for over 28,000 undergraduate and graduate
students. Located in Portland, Oregon, one of the nation's most livable cities, the University's innovative
approach to education combines academic rigor in the classroom with field-based experiences through
internships and classroom projects with community partners. The University's 49-acre downtown campus
exhibits Portland State's commitment to sustainability with green buildings, while many of the 125 bachelor's,
master's and doctoral degrees incorporate sustainability into the curriculum. PSU's motto, "Let Knowledge Serve
the City," inspires the teaching and research of an accomplished faculty whose work and students span the globe.
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