` DIVISION OF NEARSHORE RESEARCH TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-CORPUS CHRISTI Key Features:  Located on oil production platforms 3 and 15 nautical miles from Port Aransas  Communications by line-of-sight radio  Dial-up voice reporting  Data availability through DNR website Wave Climate Monitoring and Reporting System Neural Net Forecasting as Compared to Observed and Tide Charts Data available via dial-up voice report and online:  Wind speed and direction at multiple elevations  Air and water temperature  Barometric pressure  Wave height, period and direction Two data collection platforms located in the Gulf of Mexico near Port Aransas measure wave characteristics and other environmental parameters. The two platforms serve as prototypes for future platforms planned for the Texas Coast. Forecasts Real Time Navigation System A Fundamental Upgrade of Water Level Forecasting for the Texas Coast Two Predictive Models: Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Persistence Benefits:  Reliable short-term predictions of effects of storm events  Effective for regular conditions and frontal passages  ANN accounts for influence of wind forcing  More accurate than tide charts  Web-accessible Coastal Monitoring Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON) Nueces Bay Salinity DNR Harmonic Water Level Forecasting For the Texas Coast The Choke Canyon Reservoir was constructed on the Nueces River in 1985, altering the natural flow of freshwater from the Nueces watershed into Nueces Bay. Realizing the need to manage freshwater inflow to the bay, the City of Corpus Christi sponsors DNR to monitor salinity and water quality at several locations in the Nueces River and Bay system. This data is instrumental in deciding on freshwater release schedules from the watershed. Several area agencies also rely on the data in their studies of the management and ecology of Nueces Bay. Tidal forecasts are available only for a few stations with harmonic constants (HCs) supplied by the National Ocean Service (NOS). HCs are often not published due to the many factors which cause water level to deviate from tidal forecasts. DNR has developed web-based software to generate HCs using NOS’s harmonic analysis method and use those HCs to generate tidal forecasts. This software allows DNR to provide tidal forecasts for most of the TCOON stations and make the process of generating HCs and tidal forecasts more accessible. HCs from other sources may also be used to generate tidal forecasts. Fluctuations in Salinity  The Corpus Christi RTNS provides information to ship captains navigating the Corpus Christi ship channel.  WindInfo (992-WIND) is a publicly accessible voice reporting system that provides wind, water level, water temperature and air temperature from several TCOON stations in the Corpus Christi area. The DNR Real Time Navigation System (RTNS) provides real time data acquisition and reporting of environmental data of specific interest to mariners along the central Texas Coast. The RTNS includes a set of monitoring stations to collect the meteorological data and a voice reporting system to disseminate that data to users. Specific applications of the DNR RTNS include: In 1989 the university commenced the installation of a modern state-of-the-art water-level measurement system along the Texas coast. Following a Texas legislative mandate in 1991, this network of water level gauges became the Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON). Today, TCOON has over 40 stations, which obtain reliable water-level data according to NOS standards. Most stations provide additional data such as wind speed and direction, and air and water temperature. Data are sent via packet radio, cellular telephone, and GOES satellite to a real-time online database system. Data Applications The primary use of TCOON data is to establish tidal datums for littoral boundary determination. However, other uses include:  Navigational and marine safety  Channel dredging and maintenance  Oil-spill response  Hurricane and storm preparation  Recreation and benefit to general public Typical TCOON station TCOON web graphs Interactive Website TCOON maintains a bilingual website, where users can query data and view both recent and historical station information. The site is also used extensively to facilitate station operations and maintenance and data quality control. Station information web page