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Monday, December 15, 2008 Scripps Project Analyzes Movements of Beach Pollution Suite of devices, bright pink dye, used to investigate how pollutants spread along the coast Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San Diego American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008In an attempt to better decipher the dynamics of the shoreline and especially how pollution and contaminants travel and intermingle at the beach, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego this fall launched a new project off the San Diego coast.  Researchers released pink dye off the La Jolla, Calif., coast to better understand how pollution moves and mixes in the surf zone. "When stuff gets put into the water, whether it's bacteria from sewage spills or some other substance in surf zone waters, we'd like to know how it moves, mixes, spreads and dilutes," said Falk Feddersen, an associate research oceanographer at Scripps. Feddersen will describe the project at the 2008 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco (Monday, Dec. 15 at 12:05 p.m. · Moscone West Room 2022). The instrument frame deployed by a team of engineers and technicians included Doppler velocimeters that measure currents and sensors that measure wave height, water temperature and sand level. Fluorescence meters at four vertical levels determined the concentration of a bright, non-toxic pink dye the researchers released into the water. Tracking the dye helps the scientists get a better picture of how pollution moves and mixes in three dimensions: along the coast, offshore and vertically. All of the information was measured and recorded eight times per second, pumping upwards of 40 megabytes of data per hour to the project's information center just up the beach on the Scripps campus.  On Oct. 22, 2008, Scripps researchers deployed a suite of instruments mounted on a frame just north of the Scripps Pier. "This project is part of an ongoing study to understand the transport and dilution of pollution in the surf zone," said Bob Guza, a Scripps professor of oceanography. "We're learning more about how pollution, especially urban runoff, mixes and disperses in the surf zone." The project is supported by the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research. # # # •Video related to the project is available.•For more information see Scripps' explorations e-magazine feature story: Beach of the Future # # # Note to broadcast and cable producers: University of California, San Diego provides an on-campus satellite uplink facility for live or pre-recorded television interviews. Please phone or e-mail the media contact listed above to arrange an interview. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration. |
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