Services
- Third-party testbed for quantitatively evaluating the performance of new and existing coastal technologies in the laboratory and under diverse environmental conditions. Instrument performance demonstrations and verifications are necessary so that effective existing technologies can be recognized and so that promising new technologies can become available to support coastal science, resource management, and ocean observing systems. To this end, ACT serves as an unbiased, third party testbed for evaluating sensors and sensor platforms for use in coastal environments.
ACT conducts two types of Technology Evaluations. Technology Verifications are rigorous evaluations of commercially available instruments to verify manufacturers’ performance specifications or claims, which must be carried out at five or more (but typically at all) Partner sites. Technology Demonstrations are a less rigorous exercise where the abilities and potential of a new technology is established by working closely with developers/manufacturers to field test instruments in diverse coastal waters. Although all Partner Institutions are involved in Demonstrations, the field tests are typically conducted at only two or three sites. The results of these evaluations are released to the public as either Verification or Demonstration Statements.
- Capacity building through technology specific workshops that review the current state of instrumentation, build consensus on future directions, and enhance communications between users and developers. ACT workshops are designed to aid resource managers, coastal scientists, and private sector companies by identifying and discussing the current status, standardization, potential advancements, and obstacles in the development and use of sensors and sensor platforms for studying, monitoring, and predicting the state of coastal waters. The workshop goals are to both help build consensus on the steps needed to develop useful tools while also facilitating the critical communications between the various groups of technology developers, manufacturers, and users.
- Information clearinghouse through a searchable online database of environmental technologies and community discussion boards. This is a living database that is continuously updated and allows the user to identify technologies available to meet their needs. One can search by environmental parameters, sensor type, or manufacturer.
Read more about this topic: Alliance For Coastal Technologies
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