The SEAMONSTER project currently focuses on a number of particular research areas, though the project is designed to act as a foundation upon which a great diversity of research can be built. Detailed below are a number of questions that the team has been exploring during the first year. Also included are a number of research ideas that have been put forth as possible avenues of exploration for later periods in time. If upon reading this page you are struck with an ingenious idea of how to employ the sensor web, we would enjoy hearing your thoughts.

Current Questions being Pursued

How can a sensor web be used to monitor glacier outburst floods?

What steps need to be taken to measure the local orographic effect (i.e. changes in precipitation with elevation)?

How can small, wireless sensors be used to collect spatially and temporally high-resolution environmental data?

What types of infrastructure and programming are necessary to collect environmental data in the field, transmit this data to a remote database, and then graphical display the data in near-real-time?

How can meteorological and hydrological data be used to model seasonal, daily, and hourly snow and glacial melt?

How do glacial and non-glacial stream differ in biological productivity?

What is happening to the Mendenhall Glacier in terms of mass balance and terminus activity?

How can the SEAMONSTER sensor web be used to enhance the experience of visitors at the U.S. Forest Service Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center?

How can photographs be used to facilitate the virtual exploration of distant watersheds?

 

Possible Questions for Future Years

To what extent is glacier dynamism evident in glacier seismicity?

How do glacial outburst floods influence the movement of glacial ice?

How can a sensor web be used to monitor a glacier’s energy budget?

How does climate influence phenomena occurring within the Lemon watershed?

How can the surface motion of glaciers be used to infer sub-glacial hydrology?

What role can sensor webs play in wildlife and conservation biology?

What role can sensor webs play in monitoring environmental quality?

How can marine located sensors be used to learn about the abundance and behavior of marine mammals?

How can sensor webs be used to monitor oceanographic conditions and how can this be related to marine ecology?