Every 4 hours, a 24-hour forecast is performed using winds from the National Weather Service ETA model and water levels at the mouth of the bay extrapolated from present observations. Model nowcast and forecast fields are presented in graphical format. The hydrodynamic model output velocity fields drive a spill trajectory model to predict the movement of hazardous material spills in Tampa Bay. The resulting residence times vary widely in space and time. Residence time is most sensitive to variations in wind forcing and to variations in freshwater input.
Residence time is a critical control of water quality and pollutant concentration.
We are using two different wireless technologies in Tampa Bay. This radio link has a radius of approximately 30 miles, depending on antenna height. The advantage to the spread-spectrum radio link over the CDPD link is that the cellular frequencies often become crowded and throughput is hindered. The disadvantage to the spread-spectrum radio is its range limitation, although multiple radios can be used as repeaters to easily set up a local network. Because they work in the 900 Mhz frequency band, no special licensing is required.