AGU Fall Meeting • San Francisco, 11–15 December 2006
Presentations of interest to SCCOOS participants

Large Distributed Arrays of Geophysical and Environmental Sensors POSTER SESSION (Union 05)
Using modern technological systems, it is now possible to monitor the Earth and its space environment with increasing accuracy and frequency, and to receive the data with near-real-time promptness, using very large arrays of data acquisition and data transportation links. These systems are revolutionizing the Earth and environmental sciences across all of its many sub-disciplines. Examples include global and continental-scale distributions of seismometers, magnetometers and voltmeters, infrasonic sensors, hydroacoustical and pressure sensors, tidal and stream gauges, thermometers, anemometer, precipitation and humidity gauges, gravimeters, sondes, energy particle sensors, molecularly imprinted polymer sensors, photodiodes, radiometers, and bolometers. Practical issues of importance in operating such arrays include deployment, siting and security, power supplies and communication links, clean long-term operation, and real-time data transmission. The purpose of this special session is to bring together working representatives involved with very large distributed arrays of sensors in order to foster communication about the practicalities of operating such systems, to discuss theoretical issues that might pertain to their management and future development, and to promote cooperation and coordination.

Advances in Environmental Sensor Networks (Earth and Space Science Informatics- IN02)
Environmental sensor networks are an exciting new way to sense the environment. These can remotely monitor remote or hazardous environments in a “smart” way and send their data back to base. They can be used to understand the fundamental processes operating in the environment, and/or automatically respond to natural disasters. There are many places in the world that have never had any monitoring, which is vital if we are to record the effects of climate change. This session will bring together the latest research in Environmental Sensor Networks from a range of environments: coastal, glacial, volcanic etc, and discuss the future challenges.

Instrumented Earth: Connecting International e-Science Initiatives to Understand the Earth System (E&SS Informatics - IN04)
Environmental science is at the leading edge of efforts to take advantage of cutting edge geoinformatic tools in combination with real-time, multi-disciplinary data collected at frequencies and scales appropriate to understand Earth processes. The emerging field of Geoinformatics enables earth scientists to take advantage of the unprecedented amount of digital geodata and computing power available through electronic networks. Geoinformatics exploits the enormous potential and global nature of the World Wide Web and grid computing to organize the research community and broader public by linking computing and data resources. This linkage allows users to turn observational and computational geodata into knowledge. Computational and vizualization tools from geoinformatics along with real-time data enable the “now state” of the Earth system to be monitored and studied. These tools also facilitate collaborative multi-disciplinary research by connecting earth simulation and observation increasing our capacity to understand the Earth as a dynamic and complex system in which natural resources can be managed in a sustainable way. Furthermore, the power of geoinformatics with cross-diciplinary applications and products will provide an important link between academia, the public, and industry. This session will bring together leaders from international eScience initiatives to discuss ways to achieve better connectivity between these efforts in order to achieve a global effort that will address planetary-scale problems which can only be resolved through cross-disciplinary e-science. This session will also discuss ways individual research efforts can be transformed into a broader, global effort and be integrated with international centers of excellence and e-science programs.

Earth and Space Science Cyberinfrastructure: Application and Theory of Knowledge Representation (E&SS Informatics - IN10)
Cyberinfrastructure for the Earth and Space sciences is being developed to support next generation scientific research, with an aim to achieve gains in the efficiency and creativity of scientific activities. Such research utilizes large numbers and volumes of heterogeneous data generated by observational and theoretical means, and often consumed or produced in complex and distributed scientific workflows spanning many discipline boundaries. An important aspect of cyberinfrastructure is the representation of geoscientific knowledge, such as theories, ontologies, classification schemes, taxonomies, models, etc., that exist in addition to data and in support of it. These knowledge representations and their related infrastructure serve two main purposes: (1) scientific, as key ingredients in the development and testing of geoscientific hypotheses, and (2) engineering, by enabling resources to be annotated, discovered, integrated and used within cyber-based distributed systems. This session welcomes submissions that demonstrate how representations of Earth and Space Science knowledge and its related cyberinfrastructure are currently meeting scientific or engineering goals. Contributions should highlight the value added from the represented knowledge through description of either: a working example, the intended function of a system being built, or the practical benefits of an advance in theory. Selected contributions from the session may also be considered for publication in a special issue of Computer and Geosciences on the same theme.

Nearshore Processes (Ocean Sciences - OS17)
For over 30 years, our understanding of nearshore processes has developed and grown in large part from the pioneering work of Dr. Edward B. Thornton and others. In this session we invite abstracts that focus on the dynamics of waves, currents, turbulence, and sediment transport from the beach face to the shelf break along both sandy and muddy coastlines. Abstracts covering all aspects of nearshore processes research are welcome. Topics of particular interest include: 1) sediment transport processes and bottom boundary layer dynamics, 2) waves and wave-driven circulation, 3) nearshore processes in muddy environments, 3) coastal morphodynamics, 4) swash zone processes, and 5) nearshore turbulence. Abstracts of an observational, theoretical, or modeling nature are welcome, including papers influenced by the works of Dr. Edward B. Thornton. When submitting an abstract for this session, please send a copy to both conveners: Joe Calantoni (joec@nrlssc.navy.mil) and Jamie MacMahan (macmahan@coastal.udel.edu).