{"id":25379,"date":"2018-11-13T17:32:08","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T22:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=25379"},"modified":"2018-11-15T12:43:22","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T17:43:22","slug":"bringing-the-bay-observatory-to-3d-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2018\/11\/13\/bringing-the-bay-observatory-to-3d-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing the Bay Observatory to 3D life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
RISD graduate student and C-AIM researcher Stewart Copeland in his Providence studio developing new 3D models of the Bay Observatory’s equipment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PROVIDENCE, R.I.\u2014Stewart Copeland<\/strong> has been a webmaster, documentary filmmaker, and even a touring musician over the past 10 years. Now, the Tennessee native is developing 3D models of sensor buoys which comprise the integrated Bay Observatory, a new array of equipment to monitor the ecological changes of Narragansett Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up an hour south of Nashville, and I\u2019m not a water person,\u201d admits Copeland, a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design\u2019s Edna Lawrence Nature Lab<\/a>. \u201cBut I\u2019m learning a lot about the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SensorLaunch\"
C-AIM researchers and students run a test launch of a sensor buoy this past spring. (Photo by Timo Kuester)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The observatory, which is being deployed by the Rhode Island Consortium for Coastal Ecology Assessment, Innovation and Modeling<\/strong> (RI C-AIM), encompasses multiple marine research tools that will gather new data about Narragansett Bay\u2019s ecosystems, from nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton populations to water circulation patterns.<\/p>\n

But Copeland, alongside Neal Overstrom<\/strong>, a co-principal investigator for the consortium and the Nature Lab\u2019s director, is working to visualize not the data collected from the observatory through 3D modeling, but these tools which make subsequent research possible.<\/p>\n

\"buoydrawing\"<\/a>
Copeland starts his 3D modeling process by examining the buoys and creating technical drawings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe get way too used to aerial views, dots on a map showing a buoy\u2019s placement,\u201d the RISD student explains. \u201cBut passing by it on a boat, you see this yellow thing with solar panels on it. It has all this technology extending from its bottom, and then life grows on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really exciting, and the challenge is showing more about the place itself from where all this data is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The buoys will be moored at specific locations in Narragansett Bay this coming spring. Overstrom likened the buoys to a Mars rover, a vehicle oftentimes drawing more interest as a sojourning machine than in the data it collects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese sensor buoys are entities in and of themselves, out there on Narragansett Bay day and night, through all kinds of weather,\u201d he asserts. \u201cThe question for us is, how do virtual representations further inform what these buoys are doing above and beyond being critical platforms for data collection?\u201d<\/p>\n

Copeland is also working closely with Dr. Harold \u2018Bud\u2019 Vincent<\/strong>, lead researcher for RI C-AIM coordinating the installation of the Bay Observatory\u2019s equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201c3D models allow ocean engineers to do things such as assess the buoyancy and stability of a buoy prior to assembly and deployment into the water, and also visualize placement of the many component parts inside,\u201d explains Vincent, associate professor of ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island<\/a>. \u201c3D modeling offers a source of permanent documentation for future engineering changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"buoygif\"
After creating technical drawings, Copeland takes a multitude of photos of the sensor buoy equipment, which he will utilize in a 3D visualizing computer program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe can share with the public what is happening \u201cunder the hood\u201d of the buoys with the 3D models as well, which is a great opportunity for outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Copeland, the test is utilizing current modeling technology to develop the most detailed 3D representations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start to rebuild an object digitally, you learn what 3D tools can and can\u2019t do,\u201d he says. \u201cWhile I am trying to think about how the project can grow, I also want to generate 3D assets that are useful to all of the consortium.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funded by a $19 million grant from the NSF through EPSCoR, and also a $3.8 million state match, the consortium is a collaboration of engineers, scientists, designers and communicators from eight higher education institutions across the state\u2014University of Rhode Island (lead), Brown University<\/a>, Bryant University<\/a>, Providence College<\/a>, Rhode Island College<\/a>, Rhode Island School of Design<\/a>, Roger Williams University<\/a>, and Salve Regina University<\/a>\u2014across the state developing a new research infrastructure to assess, predict and respond to the effects of climate variability on coastal ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Working together with businesses and area communities, the consortium seeks to position Rhode Island as a center of excellence for researchers on Narragansett Bay and beyond.
\nFor more information about the consortium and its researchers at institutions across the state, including URI, visit www.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Written by Shaun Kirby, RI C-AIM Communications & Outreach Coordinator<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stewart Copeland has been a webmaster, documentary filmmaker, and even a touring musician over the past 10 years. Now, the Tennessee native is developing 3D models of sensor buoys which comprise the integrated Bay Observatory, a new array of equipment to monitor the ecological changes of Narragansett Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1994,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-front-page-slider-post","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1994"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25379"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25535,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25379\/revisions\/25535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}