$207,700

Hoefler Consulting Group - Anchorage, AK

Chief, Alaska Environmental Studies Section

Wind time-series that can be used to understand the spatial and temporal variability of winds across the coastal portion of the Beaufort Sea.  Winds shall be used to validate oil spill trajectory analysis and used with future MMS studies in the development of a mesoscale meteorological model for the Beaufort Sea.  Data is presently being utilized for MMS field studies in the Beaufort Sea such as Canimida, the collection of surface currents from using high frequency Doppler radar, in addition to the MMS Bowhead Aerial Survey Program (BWASP).

This study is a continuation of a previous study to collect a longer term set of wind measurements and other meteorological data from five MMS stations along the Beaufort Sea coast.  Preliminary data measurements from the nearly completed earlier study suggests that there may be a strong orographic effect of the wind field from the Brooks Range as evident from the cross correlation analysis conducted on the MMS stations.  The data from this study was used with other MMS efforts to collect surface and sub-surface current measurements along the Beaufort Sea coast out to 80 km.  The data was also used during other MMS field studies in the Beaufort Sea and oil spill modeling efforts.  These data are going to be critical towards future mesoscale meteorological modeling efforts planned by MMS for the Beaufort Sea.

The objectives of this study are to continue to collect meteorological data in Beaufort Sea locations subject to current and proposed development.  This study will add an additional year of data.  This study will develop a wind time series for oil weathering models and sensitivity testing of MMS’s nearshore and general regional circulation and trajectory models for the Beaufort Sea.

1. Maintain year-round continuous operation of all MMS meteorological stations along the Beaufort Sea coast and offshore islands.
2. Audit equipment
3. Upload meteorological data to an MMS web site
4. QA/QC data and provide COTR with daily (business days only) updates
5. Maintain web site, stations status, and update new interpreted data from meteorological stations.
6. Provide data download utility.
7. Provide historical meterological station data from stations located from Barrow, Alaska to the Mackenzie Delta, Canada.
8. Produce final report and data deliverables.
9. Decommission stations at the end of the contract or seek to transfer stations to other organizations that can maintain the stations and continue to collect the data

The stations are all operating well.  Data are being uploaded to the project located at web site www.redsat.com/mms

12/9/2006

www.resdat.com/mms

March 9, 2006

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