Oceanographic measurements-- Fire Island, NY, offshore, 2012

Oceanographic and meterological observations were made at 7 sites on and around the sand ridges offshore of Fire Island NY in winter 2012. Surface wave data, full water column current measurements, and near-bottom beam attenuation, pressure, temperature and salinity observations were collected. An instrumented buoy collected local meteorological data: air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind direction, speed, and gust speed. Our main study area is near the western end of the island where offshore sand ridges extend across the inner continental shelf and connect to the nearshore bar system. These ridges are on the order of 5 to 10 kilometers long and are spaced several kilometers apart, oriented obliquely to the coastline. It is hypothesized that the ridge field modifies surface waves from storms, causing a complex wave pattern that reaches the coastline and influences sediment-transport and coastal-erosion patterns. This study is part of a larger effort in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the National Park Service (NPS) to study coastal processes on Fire Island. For more information about how this research fits with other programs conducted on coastal change, see the US Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Coastal Change Processes Project web site: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_change/index.html.