Annual Report 2008.pdf - SAMSI

to quickly assimilate information in the workshop’s tutorials and talks, and synthesize new
research
aims and angles of attack.
Biography - Paul Flikkema is Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Northern Arizona
University. He received the PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland,
College Park. He has been a JSPS Visiting Researcher at Yokohama National University,
Visiting Research Scientist at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Tokyo, and a Nokia Fellow
at Helsinki University of Technology. His research interests include wireless communication
and networks, with a recent emphasis on cross-layer design with application to ad-hoc and
wireless sensor networks and inference of the embedding environment.
Robert Ghrist
University of Illinois
ghrist@math.uiuc.edu
“A Topological Integration Theory for Sensor Networks”
Many of the mathematical challenges associated with sensor networks are problems of the
"local-to-global" variety. Algebraic topology is a mathematical discipline specifically designed
to integrate local data about a space into a global algebraic form. The goal of this talk is to
introduce some new methods for sensor networks based on algebraic topology. The talk will
focus on a specific integration theory coming from algebraic topology which allows for data
aggregation over a sensor network. The talk will be at an introductory level.
Mike Godin
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
godin@mbari.org
“Challenges of Designing and Operating an Autonomous Ocean Sampling
Network”
A primary challenge in oceanography is that the ocean varies in space and time, and traditional
observation techniques undersample that variability. However, an Autonomous Oceanographic
Sampling Network (AOSN) approach can be used to resolve internal ocean processes in space
and time. In such a system, a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) makes ocean
measurements that are assimilated (along with other measurements) into a set of ocean models
that reveal hidden ocean processes. In the Monterey Bay region, the components necessary for
operating an AOSN system in are falling into place: a set of moored data buoys already provide
continuous ocean measurements at fixed locations, and an undersea cabled observatory will be
completed this year. A series of large field programs in the region have generated a body of
experience in the synoptic observation of oceanographic processes and real-time modeling. The
AOSN group at MBARI is addressing the goal of providing a continuous synoptic view of the
region. We are pursuing a new class of AUVs that are capable of overcoming coastal ocean
currents and capable of multi-month missions, we are determining the optimum path of AUVs to
enhance models' predictive skill, and we are generating data exploration and collaboration tools.