Home About Projects Newsroom Outreach FAQs Calendar Resources RFPs

Weather Data

The citizens' council studies wind, sea currents, and other environmental factors near the Valdez Marine Terminal and in Prince William Sound, and how these factors affect navigation and the ability to respond to, contain, and clean up an oil spill. Much of this information is collected via the Prince William Sound Weather Station Network developed and maintained by the Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC). The council has been a co-funding supporter of the network. See the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) website for information on the sound. See also webcams for Esther Island, Nuchek, Port San Juan, and Tatitlek.

Goals:

• Support sea current and physical oceanography measurements in Prince William Sound and Hinchinbrook Entrance
• Continue tracking of and support of the PWSSC current and circulation computer program and data gathering in the field
• Continue promoting the development of increased weather tracking infrastructure in the PWSRCAC region and coordinated planning and sharing of such data
  

Objectives:

• Support other complementary current measuring projects in the region
• Verify funding availability for NOAA weather buoys
• Identify sites for portable, remote capable weather stations for weather data collection in PWSRCAC's region and coordinate placement and support with other stakeholders
• Fund/co-fund operation of the Port Etches/Nuchek weather station and the PWS weather station network
• Support development and use of a project catalog to organize research projects and encourage data and resource sharing by researchers in the region

Weather station at the Alaska Native village of Chenega.

Physical Oceanographic Data Sharing

In 2003 and 2004, PWSRCAC staff and weather data project team members initiated workshops on ocean current modeling and physical oceanographic data sharing. These workshops were supported by the Exxon Valdez Trustee Council and were held as portions of an annual week-long marine science symposium. The workshop concept has grown and drawn increasing numbers of participants.

One of the main goals developed during the 2004 workshop was to create an annual project catalog for Prince William Sound that would be used as a one-stop shop for coordinating research projects and that would be produced annually as part of an annual physical oceanography data meeting.

Regional Catalog of Research Projects

Review the 2006 project catalog. This page also has links to the 2004 and 2005 catalogs.

 

Reports and Workshop Notes

The following report compares Port Etches weather data to Seal Rocks data as part of the council's effort to understand more about the wind and weather conditions in the Hinchinbrook Entrance area. Comparison of Wind Measurements at Nuchek Heights, Hinchinbrook Island, and at Seal Rocks NOAA Data Buoy in Hinchinbrook Entrance, Alaska. 2006. By Richard M. Brown, Micro Specialties, Inc.; and Orson P. Smith, PE, Ph.D. (pdf/2.3MB)

Physical Oceanographic Data Sharing Workshop - Notes/Summary January 2004 (pdf/85KB)

Highlights from the Marine Science Research Workshop January 2003 (pdf/33KB)

 

Return to Alphabetical List of Projects