Naval Postgraduate School 
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Research Thrusts
- Coastal Ocean Monitoring using Autonomous and Remote Sensing Instruments
- Real-Time surface current mapping with coastal RADAR systems
- UAV mapping and surveys of river breaching events
- Glider surveys of Monterey Bay
- Ocean Acoustics
- Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment
- Coordinated Arctic Acoustic Thermometry Experiment
- Cross-slope Acoustic Scattering & Transmission Experiment
- Expeditionary and Mine Warfare Applications in the Littoral Zone
- Observations and Predictions of Arctic Change
- Numerical Modeling
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Coastal Morphodynamics
Connections between land and the coastal ocean are complicated by changes in morphology near river mouths. These systems pose challenges to characterizing the coastal ocean environment (sediment concentrations, salinity, temperature, etc) as well as characterizing the coastal morphological response (coastal flooding, beach hazards, beach breaching, etc.). We monitor intermittently breaching systems using remote sensing and in-situ methods including structure-from-motion (SfM), multispectral aerial imagery, circulation (water level and velocity), and water quality (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen). Waves and river discharge play a critical role in modulating outputs from these systems.
Thesis opportunities in this lab include UAS (drone) imagery analysis, machine learning with multispectral images, lab experiments on submerged granular flow, mapping of plume/surfzone dynamics, to name a few. Other opportunities could include morphodynamic modeling of these systems.
Contact: Mara Orescanin
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Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Marine Mammals
The NPS Marine Mammal Monitoring program maintains 3 moorings within the Monterey Bay Naitonal Marine Sanctuary. Long term underwater recordings will provide baseline data on marine mammal vocalizations, allowing researchers to quantify marine mammal species present along the California coastline and help track their migration path/times.
Thesis topics available. Contact John Joseph
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Coordinated Arctic Acoustic Thermometry Experiment (CAATEx)
A joint U.S. - Norway acoustic propagation experiment across the Arctic ocean is underway. Mooring deployments were conducted Aug/Sept 2019, led by the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC), let by Hanne Sagen aboard the K/V Svalbard, deploying 3 moorings in the Eurasian basin of the Arctic.. In Sept/Oct 2019, the USCGC HEALY conducted a 47 day expedition to the Arctic, led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) to deploy 3 moorings in the Canada basin to complete the trans-Arctic propagation array. Naval Postgraduate School personel were onboard both icebreakers to deploy oceanographic instrumentation and provide additional mooring deployment support and assistance.
Potential thesis oportunities: Predictive modeling of the acosutic propagation arrival structures along the experiment path using existing oceanographic data; Annual temperature variability ocross the Arctic ocean (Fall 2020, after recovery); Contact Prof. John Colosi.
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Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment (CANAPE)
Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Postgraduate School teamed with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in a field experiment abord the USCGC Healy to deploy deep-water moorings in the Beaufort Sea.
With changes in the Arctic Ocean structure and ice cover, the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment (CANAPE) deep water comoponent was designed to study the low frequency propagation and ambient noise in the seasonal conditions of open water, marginal ice zone / partial coverage, and complete ice coverage conditions throughout the one year study period.