The New Jersey Shelf Observing System

The New Jersey Shelf Observing System is a coastal ocean observatory whose primary goal is supporting collaborative interdisciplinary oceanographic research. The observatory has both a sustained component designed to provide spatial datasets year-round, and a process study component for more intensive measurements during short-term scientific experiments. The sustained component consists of tracking stations for the international constellation of ocean color and IR satellites, multi-frequency multistatic CODAR HF radars, and long-duration subsurface glider AUVs. The processes study component uses numerous platforms that include aircraft, ships, propeller-driven AUVs and relocatable mooring arrays. Process studies focused on recurrent coastal upwelling centers and their biological impacts from 1998-2001, and are planned to focus on the Hudson River plume, chemical contaminants, and their biological impacts from 2003-2007. Despite being a research-oriented observatory run by the scientists for the scientists, it maintains a significant societal impact through its Website (marine.rutgers.edu/cool), receiving an average of over 60,000 hits/day during the busy summer months.