Environmental Monitoring and Operator Guidance System (EMOGS) for Shallow Water Ports

Silver, Andrew L.; ,

Environmental Monitoring and Operator Guidance System (EMOGS) for Shallow Water Ports

by Andrew L. Silver, Naval Surface Warfare Cent, Bethesda, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Ports '92

Abstract:

Port facilities have increasingly been required to accommodate longer and deeper draft ships. Existing approaches to many ports consist of long shallow channels which can make transits hazardous during certain combinations of wave and tidal conditions. In many cases, increased dredging of the entrance channel is not an option because of either budgetary or environmental considerations. A system, referred to as the Environmental Monitoring and Operator Guidance System or EMOGS, has been developed by the U.S. Navy to aid the port harbor master, pilot boats and ship captains in determining the conditions that would make the transit into the harbor safe. EMOGS obtains near real-time measurements of the water level in the channel and the wave conditions and predict the underkeel clearance during the transit. A complete description of EMOGS as it has been applied at a Navy base is given as well as suggestions for modifications to apply EMOGS to aid in other situations.

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