Overview
Kevin Gamiel, RENCI’s engagement manager at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) leads RENCI’s collaborations with CSI. The efforts are designed to use RENCI cyberinfrastructure to enhance the reach and effectiveness of CSI programs Current initiatives include:
Roanoke Island campus design
Gamiel, in collaboration with staff at RENCI’s Europa Center headquarters, provides technical consulting for the design of the UNC Coastal Studies Institute’s Roanoke Island campus. The design includes a Social Computing Room modeled on the room at RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill, office space for several RENCI staff and a modest data center.
Autonomous vertical profiling system
RENCI is a key contributor to a UNC Institute for Marine Sciences project that was recently awarded $50,000 by the UNC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. RENCI will redesign and upgrade an autonomous vertical profiling system (AVP) to support the research needs of the UNC marine science community. Many projects already count on continuous unattended monitoring systems, which include vertical profiles of water quality parameters. The planned enhancements will not only increase the reliability of the system, but will allow easy integration of new sensors and instrumentation in order to address new scientific needs.
Surface reflectance measurement
Kevin Gamiel worked with CSI’s Richard Miller to automatically measure surface reflectance in a marine environment. Dr. Miller’s remote sensing research requires gathering water surface reflectance baseline data from each geographical region being studied, a task which is time consuming, expensive and often impractical. Gamiel’s RENCI team designed an economical, automated system to continually collect the baseline data. The prototype has been built and data collection should begin in early 2010.
NC Aquarium exhibit
Kevin Gamiel is working with the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island on a new science exhibit. Gamiel and his team are writing software for the exhibit that extracts data from a sensor package in Albermarle Sound, stores the data and displays it on a Flash-based Web page on a display in the exhibit.
Immersive Media
Gamiel is experimenting with using RENCI’s Dodeca 2360 camera system—an 11-camera geo-referenced imagery system that captures high definition video in full 360 degrees, for a number of coastal projects:
- Dare County officials and RENCI at CSI are exploring using the RENCI Immersive Media camera for storm-related damage assessment. Baseline data has been collected by attaching the camera to a helicopter and to the roof of a car. The footage will be processed and analyzed in early 2010. RENCI is also working with the Dare County Tax Assessment Department to assess the efficacy of using the Immersive Media camera to improve tax assessments. Footage has been collected for most streets in Duck and Southern Shores.
- Last summer the camera system was attached to the bottom of a helicopter and used to acquire a 360-degree, high-definition view of the North Carolina coastline. The flyover provided the state with a “before” view of the coast, which could be compared to a post-hurricane or nor’easter view to assess coastal damage and pinpoint the areas most vulnerable to winds and floods. The state’s emergency management division funded the flyover.
- Gamiel shot video of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the iconic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to see how the camera system might be used to document places of historical and cultural significance. Gamiel shot the national seashore grounds around the lighthouse and captured a full 360-degree view from atop the lighthouse. Gamiel also recorded damage caused by a nor’easter last November by attaching the camera system to the roof of a car and driving along the beach.
Region III floodplain mapping
RENCI continues to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck and with Elizabeth City State University to compute high-resolution models that will be used to develop improved floodplain maps for the Corps’ Region III coastal area, which includes the northern Outer Banks. The work requires the use of RENCI supercomputers and storm surge and weather models that have been integrated by RENCI.
Overview
Kevin Gamiel, RENCI’s engagement manager at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) leads RENCI’s collaborations with CSI. The efforts are designed to use RENCI cyberinfrastructure to enhance the reach and effectiveness of CSI programs Current initiatives include:
Roanoke Island campus design
Gamiel, in collaboration with staff at RENCI’s Europa Center headquarters, provides technical consulting for the design of the UNC Coastal Studies Institute’s Roanoke Island campus. The design includes a Social Computing Room modeled on the room at RENCI at UNC Chapel Hill, office space for several RENCI staff and a modest data center.
Autonomous vertical profiling system
RENCI is a key contributor to a UNC Institute for Marine Sciences project that was recently awarded $50,000 by the UNC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. RENCI will redesign and upgrade an autonomous vertical profiling system (AVP) to support the research needs of the UNC marine science community. Many projects already count on continuous unattended monitoring systems, which include vertical profiles of water quality parameters. The planned enhancements will not only increase the reliability of the system, but will allow easy integration of new sensors and instrumentation in order to address new scientific needs.
Surface reflectance measurement
Kevin Gamiel worked with CSI’s Richard Miller to automatically measure surface reflectance in a marine environment. Dr. Miller’s remote sensing research requires gathering water surface reflectance baseline data from each geographical region being studied, a task which is time consuming, expensive and often impractical. Gamiel’s RENCI team designed an economical, automated system to continually collect the baseline data. The prototype has been built and data collection should begin in early 2010.
NC Aquarium exhibit
Kevin Gamiel is working with the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island on a new science exhibit. Gamiel and his team are writing software for the exhibit that extracts data from a sensor package in Albermarle Sound, stores the data and displays it on a Flash-based Web page on a display in the exhibit.
Immersive Media
Gamiel is experimenting with using RENCI’s Dodeca 2360 camera system—an 11-camera geo-referenced imagery system that captures high definition video in full 360 degrees, for a number of coastal projects:
- Dare County officials and RENCI at CSI are exploring using the RENCI Immersive Media camera for storm-related damage assessment. Baseline data has been collected by attaching the camera to a helicopter and to the roof of a car. The footage will be processed and analyzed in early 2010. RENCI is also working with the Dare County Tax Assessment Department to assess the efficacy of using the Immersive Media camera to improve tax assessments. Footage has been collected for most streets in Duck and Southern Shores.
- Last summer the camera system was attached to the bottom of a helicopter and used to acquire a 360-degree, high-definition view of the North Carolina coastline. The flyover provided the state with a “before” view of the coast, which could be compared to a post-hurricane or nor’easter view to assess coastal damage and pinpoint the areas most vulnerable to winds and floods. The state’s emergency management division funded the flyover.
- Gamiel shot video of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the iconic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse to see how the camera system might be used to document places of historical and cultural significance. Gamiel shot the national seashore grounds around the lighthouse and captured a full 360-degree view from atop the lighthouse. Gamiel also recorded damage caused by a nor’easter last November by attaching the camera system to the roof of a car and driving along the beach.
Region III floodplain mapping
RENCI continues to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck and with Elizabeth City State University to compute high-resolution models that will be used to develop improved floodplain maps for the Corps’ Region III coastal area, which includes the northern Outer Banks. The work requires the use of RENCI supercomputers and storm surge and weather models that have been integrated by RENCI.
Funding
State of North Carolina
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, UNC Chapel Hill
Partners
UNC Coastal Studies Institute
UNC Chapel Hill
North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island
Dare County Tax Assessment Department
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
North Carolina Division of Emergency Management
Elizabeth City State University
Project Team
Kevin Gamiel, project lead, RENCI at CSI
Rick Miller, CSI
John McCord, CSI
More information
Coastal Studies Institute
