The International SeaKeepers Society will collaborate with researchers from the Consortium for Advanced Research on the Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE), based at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, and Fleet Miami in a weeklong expedition off the coast of Miami,  to test ocean monitoring devices that can provide aid in response to ocean disasters. The expedition will take place from 15th through to 19th September, 2014 in Miami, Florida.

The focus of this expedition is to test several varieties of ocean monitoring devices to help researchers more accurately measure ocean currents. This type of data can help create more precise ocean current models for use in response to future oil spills or other disasters.

During the expedition the researchers will deploy several different designs of GPS-equipped surface current drifters and observe how each instrument behaves. The researchers will also measure the speed of the water with an acoustic doppler current profile (ADCP) and measure wave height and frequency with wave buoys. An anemometer will be used to determine wind speed and a conductivity temperature depth (CTD) sensor will characterize the ambient stratification in the water column. Combined, all these measurements will provide additional information to scientists on how accurately each drifter design is measuring the currents, which will then be implemented to improve ocean current models.

The expedition will be completed with the support of Fleet Miami, a Florida based Yacht Membership Club that offers members a lifestyle experience once only available to the owners of a superyacht fleet. Fleet Miami is providing Shredder, a 54-foot East Bay, for the research expedition, which will provide an excellent platform for deploying and retrieving CARTHE drifters.

CARTHE is a research team dedicated to predicting the date of oil released into our environment to help inform and guide response teams, thereby protecting and minimizing damage to human health, the economy, and the environment.