The first storm response of the NOPP Hurricane Coastal Impacts (NHCI) project was to Hurricane Ian, which proved to be challenging but essential to document such a large and destructive storm. With the rapid intensification and large swath of potential impacts of the storm, the land-based deployment of sensor transects was limited, but overall the deployment was successful.
Task 3B met our project objectives to rapidly deploy water level and wave sensors in cross-shore transects, spanning offshore to inland, to collect data for model validation, following a short but effective timeline:
Fri – Sep 23, 2022
Sat – Sep 26, 2022
Sun – Sep 25, 2022
1) Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach, Florida
2) M.B. Miller County Pier in Panama City Beach, Florida
Mon - Sep 26, 2022
(1) Sofar Spotter Buoy+Smart Mooring (pre-deployed by USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in 20m depth offshore of Madeira Beach, about 15mile south)
(1) water level radar / Rapid Deployment Gage
(6) pressure sensors (8 Hz) / Wave Height Sensors
(1) weather station / Meteorological Sensor
Tue – Sep 27, 2022
(1) Sofar Spotter Buoy+Smart Mooring (pre-deployed by Sofar in 30m depth offshore of pier)
(1) water level radar / Rapid Deployment Gage
(2) pressure sensors (8 Hz) / Wave Height Sensors
Wed – Sep 28, 2022
Hurricane Ian continued east and north, impacting numerous states in its path
Wed – Oct 5, 2022
The USGS Coastal Storm Team led a coincident and massive effort to deploy sensors ahead of Hurricane Ian, and all data can be accessed on the USGS Flood Event Viewer.
NHCI Program Manager Dr. Reggie Beach presented the project and 2022 progress at the Tropical Cyclone Observations and Research Forum (TCORF) Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference at Florida International University.
The National Oceanographic Partnership Program’s (NOPP) Predicting Hurricane Coastal Impacts Project (NHCI) was mentioned in a White House press release.
From November 29 to December 1st, all ten NHCI teams gathered at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for the 2022 all-hands meeting.