{"id":7566,"date":"2016-05-11T08:47:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T12:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/?p=7566"},"modified":"2024-05-02T15:18:56","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T19:18:56","slug":"of-space-and-sea-data-challenges-and-creative-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/currents\/2016\/05\/of-space-and-sea-data-challenges-and-creative-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Space and Sea: Data Challenges and Creative Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Katie Mosher<\/strong><\/p>\n May 11, 2016<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> This\u00a0post originally appeared on NC State University’s research blog,\u00a0<\/em>The Abstract<\/a>. The fellowship is open to\u00a0full-time, enrolled graduate students at all accredited colleges or universities within North Carolina.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Left: The GOES satellite is one of NOAA\u2019s data-gathering tools. Courtesy NOAA. Right: Image of harmful algal blooms taken via a high-altitude balloon cruise. Courtesy NASA.<\/p><\/div>\n Investments in space missions could soon return more benefits in coastal North Carolina.<\/p>\n That\u2019s thanks to a new collaboration between North Carolina\u2019s Space Grant<\/a> and Sea Grant programs, both headquartered at NC State University.<\/p>\n \u201cSpace is not that far away,\u201d notes Susan White<\/a>, executive director of the Sea Grant program. She cites the regularity of the International Space Station passing overhead, and myriad active satellites.<\/p>\n White and Chris Brown, the Space Grant director, are eagerly awaiting the May 16 application deadline for a new joint fellowship that will focus on nearshore environs and coastal watersheds.<\/p>\n The research will apply relevant measurement instruments and\/or remote sensing data from sources such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which funds Space Grant, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds Sea Grant.<\/p>\n Those could include, but are not limited to, radiometers, spectroradiometers, satellite sensors, LIDAR, aerial imagery, and other data collected from airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and\/or unpiloted submersibles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe anticipate the new projects will engage students in interdisciplinary topics that draw upon traditional strengths of the Sea Grant and Space Grant programs,\u201d explains Brown, who also is vice president for research for the University of North Carolina system.<\/p>\n He and White anticipate the new collaboration will be a model for other states seeking to expand applied research \u2014 and to realize higher returns on federal investments. That partnership prospect isn\u2019t far-fetched: NASA hires scientists from varied fields, and NOAA Administrator Kathleen Sullivan is a former astronaut.<\/p>\n
<\/a>In North Carolina, both of these multi-institutional programs have successful records of building partnerships to support student research in real-world issues.<\/p>\n