 
The UCSB SCCOOS Mooring Program
PI: Grace Chang (OPL/UCSB)
co-PI: Prof. Erika McPhee-Shaw (Moss Landing Marine Laboratories)
Mission
SCCOOS brings together coastal observations in the Southern California Bight to provide information necessary to address issues in
climate change, ecosystem preservation and management, coastal water quality, maritime operations, coastal hazards and national security.
As a science-based decision support system, SCCOOS works interactively with local, state and federal agencies, resource managers, industry,
policy makers, educators, scientists and the general public to provide data, models and products that advance our understanding of the current
and future state of our coastal and global environment.
As part of SCCOOS, OPL/UCSB's goal is to understand the delivery of nutrients, particles, and pollutants to the nearshore coastal zone. Our primary
objectives are to:
Monitor cross-shelf transport processes,
Document exchange between shallow, inner-shelf waters and continental shelf-break waters, and
Determine how processes affect water quality, nutrient supply, and ecosystem dynamics.
 
SCCOOS is principally funded by the California Coastal Conservancy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Additional funds for focus projects are provided by several local, state and federal agencies and private interests. SCCOOS is one of eleven regional
associations comprising the coastal component of the Integrated Ocean Observing System. For more information, visit the
Official SCCOOS webpage.
Methods
The OPL/UCSB maintains an interdisciplinary mooring at the continental shelf-break (80 m) in the Santa Barbara Channel. This mooring is
located directly offshore of the OPL CHARM mooring. The SCCOOS mooring monitors depth-resolved
current velocity, temperature, light levels, chlorophyll fluorescence, and turbidity. Depth-resolved currents and near-surface optical measurements
are telemetered to shore in real time via Iridium satellite data communication.
See SCCOOS Data and Photos pages.
Education and Outreach
Data sets collected on the OPL/UCSB SCCOOS mooring are used extensively in graduate course work at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML), San Jose
State University. Prof. McPhee-Shaw uses the datasets for teaching coastal current and tidal variation data analysis techniques, and understanding
concepts such as dynamic boundary layers and stratification over continental shelves. SCCOOS data have been used by MLML M.S. students to investigate
the timing of the onset of upwelling in temperature records along the California coast and for tracking continental shelf internal bores (in conjunction
with MBARI autonomous underwater vehicles). Prof. McPhee-Shaw has used SCCOOS datasets in presentations to students at northern California high schools
and in a public seminar series about coastal processes and continental margin science.
Employees and volunteers at public education and outreach centers (the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum and the Ocean Institute) as well as local
Santa Barbara and Goleta community members and UCSB students have been invited to participate in OPL/UCSB SCCOOS mooring servicing cruises.
Participants have had a chance to observe the recovery and redeployment of the SCCOOS and CHARM moorings, shipboard CTD casts, and the use of an optical
profiler system. Some have performed basic shipboard operations such as removing or fastening temperature sensors to the mooring, operating the A-frame,
and conducting the CTD system. Cruise participation opportunities are a great chance to experience the life of an oceanographer and to learn about
current research in local coastal waters.
|
