Testing Replaced Instruments on Coral Reefs Could Help Protect Puerto Rico From Future Hurricanes
When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, it also damaged USGS oceanographic instruments installed just offshore.
To test the replacement devices, research geologist Curt Storlazzi and colleagues recently placed the instruments in a high-priority coral reef restoration site off the Isla Verde neighborhood of San Juan. USGS scientists also installed video cameras on top of a building looking over the area. Data from this test will improve computer models of how coral reefs cause waves to break and buffer the shoreline from flooding during hurricanes and help inform how coral reef rehabilitation can reduce future coastal hazards to the Isla Verde shoreline neighborhood and the adjacent Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
USGS is working with three partners on this study. NOAA plans to use the results to guide a $31 million reef restoration project at five sites around the island. The University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez will use the findings to improve coastal hazard forecasts. And Arrecifes Pro Ciudad, a community-based effort, will use the findings to help protect and restore the Isla Verde Coral Reef Marine Reserve near San Juan.
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Equipment Repair and Replacement—Coral Reef Monitoring Equipment in Puerto Rico
The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force had ongoing priority studies to guide watershed and coral reef restoration to reduce coastal hazards and increase the resiliency of coastal communities in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria damaged or destroyed sensors and associated hardware related to this work.
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