MOT

UMass School of Marine Sciences > Marine Observation Technologies

Technology for Accurate and Extensive Measurements

Increasingly sophisticated interdisciplinary marine science has spurred engineering advances both in the instrumentation used to measure marine environments and the signal processing techniques used to analyze the resulting data.  Scientific and policy studies considering the complex interrelated nature of marine environments demand accurate and extensive measurements.  In response to these demands, modern marine observation systems are routinely microprocessor controlled, often autonomous vehicles or moorings, and frequently communicate automatically with each other and scientists to report measured data and receive updated instructions and measurement protocols.  The engineering design of these instrumentation systems requires expertise spanning several traditionally distinct engineering disciplines.  In addition, the extensive data records generated by these instruments and the more subtle and complicated scientific questions addressed provide novel challenges in signal processing and analysis.

Students studying both system design and signal analysis must be informed by a solid foundation in ocean science to understand the context of the questions addressed by the instruments and data they produce.  Often, they must incorporate knowledge of the marine policy issues driving scientific studies to focus the design and analysis on the most important questions and frame the results in an appropriate manner.  Simultaneously, policy and science students must have a clear working knowledge of the realistic capabilities of ocean measurement systems to design meaningful standards and studies, as well as a clear sense of the time and effort required to obtain observations necessary for meaningful answers.