The Field Site
The Coastal Processes Research Group's instrumented site sits at Sebastian Inlet State Park on Florida's Atlantic coast — oceanographic instrumentation offshore paired with a weather station on the north jetty, continuously feeding data back to Florida Tech.
Offshore ADCP array
Located approximately 1,500 feet north of Sebastian Inlet and 1,000 feet offshore, in 28 feet of water, an R.D. Instruments Workhorse Sentinel and Nortek Aquadopp series ADCPs are co-deployed for six-month intervals. The real-time data comes from the RDI Sentinel, which is cabled to shore and sent to Florida Tech via a cellular modem.
North Jetty weather station
Mounted 33 feet above the water — the standard reference height for wind data — at the seaward end of the north jetty. The station carries an R.M. Young anemometer, a barometric pressure sensor, an air temperature sensor, a YSI sonde measuring water level and temperature, and a Campbell Scientific data logger. Data is sent to Florida Tech via a cellular modem.
Six decades of observation
Why this site matters
The data collected here aids the Sebastian Inlet District in inlet-management decisions and supports calculations for longshore sand transport, as well as the development and testing of hydrodynamic and sediment-transport numerical models.
Coastal Processes Research GroupFlorida Institute of Technology
150 W. University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901
coastal.fit.edu