arine biologists recently used
maps of ocean currents produced by NASA's TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite to locate and count
sperm whales and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.
Volume 5, Number 1 January/February 1997
Commercial Development of Space
arine biologists recently used
maps of ocean currents produced by NASA's TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite to locate and count
sperm whales and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.
Marine biologists used ocean circulation feature maps generated with
TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite data in their recent count of
sperm whales and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.
TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data information from the European Space Agency's ERS-2 satellite was used in near real-time to generate circulation feature maps. University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) researchers faxed the maps they generated to scientists aboard the research ship R/V Gyre, sponsored by Texas A&M University, the Texas Institute of Oceanography and the National Biological Service. Scientists read the maps of rapidly changing ocean features to determine if whales and dolphins might be present in certain areas.
The U.S. and France jointly developed TOPEX/POSEIDON to study global ocean circulation, but marine biologists also use its data to pinpoint where sperm whales and dolphins feed. "Evidence exists that whales prefer to feed in the edges of cyclonic eddies, and the satellite data gives us a good picture of where those oceanographic features are located," said George Born, a TOPEX/POSEIDON project principal investigator from UCB.
The R/V Gyre surveyed the northeastern Gulf of Mexico for 18 days in October. A previous survey indicated whales and dolphins were contacted most frequently in the area where warm water eddies break off from the Gulf Loop Current, a strong ocean that circulates around the Gulf of Mexico.
The expedition's goals were to make visual and acoustic census of marine mammals and to define their habitat in the northeastern Gulf in areas potentially affected by oil and gas activities, said Dr. Randall Davis, head of Texas A&M's marine biology department. "Altimeter data like that from TOPEX/POSEIDON are the only information that enable on-site adjustments to the cruise plan to optimize the survey track, ultimately saving us time and money," Davis said.
The TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite uses an altimeter to bounce radar signals off the ocean's surface to get precise measurements of the distance between the satellite and the sea surface. Data are combined with measurements from other instruments that pinpoint the satellite's exact location in space. Every 10 days scientists produce a complete map of global ocean topography that can be used to calculate the speed and direction of worldwide ocean currents.
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Every 10 days scientists produce a complete map of global ocean topography that can be used to calculate the speed and direction of worldwide ocean currents. |
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"Scientists continue to find new applications for this project. They can study not only
ocean currents, but also the creatures that inhabit the oceans," said Dr. Lee-Leung Fu,
TOPEX/POSEIDON project scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the U.S.
portion for NASA's Mission to Planet Earth.
For more information about TOPEX/POSEIDON, contact Annette deCharon.
Call 818/354-4887
FAX: 818/354-0368
E-mail: annette.decharon@jpl.nasa.gov
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