An Expert System For Marine EnvironmentalMonitoring In The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary And Florida Bay

Abstract

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) works cooperatively with the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) in the implementation of the SEAKEYS (Sustained Ecological Research Related to Management of the Florida Keys Seascape) network, which is situated along 220 miles of coral reef tract within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). This network is itself actually an enhanced framework of seven CoastalMarine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations for long-term monitoring of meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind gusts, air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity). To the C-MAN network SEAKEYS adds Oceanographic parameters (sea temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, salinity, fluorometry, optical density) to the stations. As a recent enhancement to the SEAKEYS network, an expert system shell is being employed to provide daily interpretations of near real-time acquired data for the benefit of scientists, fishermen and skin divers. These interpretations are designed to be automatically emailed to Sanctuary managers and to the FIO maintainers of the network. The first set of interpretations include those dealing with environmental conditions conducive to coral bleaching. Other marine environmental interpretations will be forthcoming