St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Research programs have a primary focus of investigating processes related to coastal and marine environments and societal implications related to natural hazards, resource sustainability, and environmental change.
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Read about our science projects, find out where we are working, and why it matters.
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Peer-reviewed research results and conclusions, authored by Center scientists.
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Inspiring the next generation of Oceanographers during the Great American Teach-In
Research Graduate Assistant Legna Torres-Garcia participated in the Great American Teach-In on Wednesday, November 13. She attended Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. Elementary Center for Mathematics and Engineering to talk with 3rd and 5th grade students about being an oceanographer.
New manuscript shows that warming has reversed long-standing environmental gradients on eastern Pacific coral reefs
A recent manuscript published by Research Oceanographer Lauren Toth (SPCMSC) with academic collaborators suggest that ocean warming is shifting which environments in Pacific Panama will support coral reefs in the future.
New manuscript shows that internal wave cooling may provide global-scale refuge from coral bleaching
Lauren Toth (Research Oceanographer, SPCMSC) published a manuscript this week with academic collaborators showing that the cooling provided to many coral-reef environments by internal waves mitigated thermal stress during the 2015–2016 global El Niño event.
Publications
Hurricane Matthew: Predictions, observations, and an analysis of coastal change
Hurricane Matthew, the strongest Atlantic hurricane of the 2016 hurricane season, made land-fall south of McClellanville, S.C., around 1500 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on October 8, 2016. Hurricane Matthew affected the States of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina along the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Numerous barrier islands...
Birchler, Justin J.; Doran, Kara S.; Long, Joseph W.; Stockdon, Hilary F.
Comparison of methods for modeling fractional cover using simulated satellite hyperspectral imager spectra
Remotely sensed data can be used to model the fractional cover of green vegetation (GV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and soil in natural and agricultural ecosystems. NPV and soil cover are difficult to estimate accurately since absorption by lignin, cellulose, and other organic molecules cannot be resolved by broadband multispectral data...
Dennison, Philip E.; Qi, Yi; Meerdink, Susan K.; Kokaly, Raymond; Thompson, David M.; Daughtry, Craig S.T.; Quemada, Miguel; Roberts, Dar A.; Gader, Paul; Wetherley, Erin; Numata, Izaya; Roth, Keely L. Airborne bacteria in Earth's lower stratosphere resemble taxa detected in the troposphere: Results from a new NASA Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC)
Airborne microorganisms in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere remain elusive due to a lack of reliable sample collection systems. To address this problem, we designed, installed, and flight-validated a novel Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC) for NASA's C-20A that can make collections for microbiological research investigations up to...
David J. Smith; Ravichandar, Jayamary D.; Jain, Sunit; Griffin, Dale W.; Yu, Hongbin; Tan, Qian; Thissen, James; Lusby, Terry; Nicoll, Patrick; Shedler, Sarah; Martinez, P.; Osorio, Alejandro; Lechniak, Jason; Choi, Samuel; Sabino, Kayleen; Iverson, Kathryn; Chan, Luisa; Jaing, Crystal; McGrath, John