Observing the Texas Coast

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM), sometimes referred to as the western Mediterranean, is a dynamic and interesting body for study with diverse uses and needs from a wide range of communities. Environmental issues are similar to many other semi-closed basins and the main ones, nutrient and chemical discharge, land run-off and physical currents, as well as oil spills and the many natural seeps creates many issues such as eutrophication, an annual hypoxic zone, Harmful Algal blooms, ocean acidification and oil blowouts to name a few.

The Texas Automated Buoy System is constituted of 8 real time coastal buoys operated by the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group. Through a JIP, 2 additional buoys were added at the Flower Garden Banks. to support decision-making should there be a spill. In addition a numerical circulation modeling group at Texas A&M University Oceanography Department was also funded to connect the data from the buoys to a predictive model also funded by TGLO. This observing system has proved its worth over the years as spills have occurred which have been tracked for rapid and effective coastal protection. Recently, other instrumentation has been developed to more holistically study the Gulf of Mexico and particularly the Texas Coast. Eight 5-Hz coastal radars spaced approximated 80 km along the coast are being installed from South Padre Island to the Sabine. Autonomous Surface Vehicles (Autonaut and Liquid Robotics Wave Gliders) will complement the buoy network and coastal radars by establishing a series of transects that will transit through out the observational footprint. The first data emerging from this integration will be presented.