Joe Talbert Field Engineer II jtalbert@apl.washington.edu Phone 206-616-7756 |
Education
B.S. Environmental Studies, Western Washington University, 1994
Projects
![]() |
Wave Measurements at Ocean Weather Station PAPA As part of a larger project to understand the impact of surface waves on the ocean mixed layer, APL-UW is measuring waves at Ocean Weather Station Papa, a long-term observational site at N 50°, W 145°. |
29 Aug 2019
|
![]() |
![]() |
Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic CODA Arctic coastlines are eroding at rates of meters per year. As the whole Arctic shifts into a modern epoch of seasonal ice cover and warmer temperatures, Arctic coastal processes are shifting, too. The overall goal of this research is to improve scientific understanding of waveiceocean interactions along the Arctic coast, with particular attention to the oceanographic parameters that affect erosion. |
8 Jan 2019
|
![]() |
![]() |
Measuring Vessel Wakes in Rich Passage, Puget Sound APL-UW is using wave buoys to measure the wakes of Washington State DOT car ferries as they transit through Rich Passage. The objective is to assess the effectiveness of the speed reduction protocol through the passage, which is intended to minimize the vessel wake and minimize any subsequent changes to the shoreline. |
22 Oct 2014
|
![]() |
Videos
![]() |
Mapping Underwater Turbulence with Sound |
More Info |
9 Apr 2018
|
![]() |
|||||
To dock at a terminal, large Washington State ferries use their powerful engines to brake, generating a lot of turbulence. Doppler sonar instruments are capturing an accurate picture of the turbulence field during docking procedures and how it affects terminal structures and the seabed. This research is a collaborative effort between APL-UW and the UW College of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. |
![]() |
Ferry-Based Monitoring of Puget Sound Currents Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers are installed on two Washington State Department of Transportation ferries to measure current velocities in a continuous transect along their routes. WSDOT ferries occupy strategic cross-sections where circulation and exchange of Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean waters occurs. A long and continuous time series will provide unprecedented measurements of water mass movement and transport between the basins. |
9 May 2014
|
![]() |
![]() |
Turbulence Generated by Tides in the Canal de Chacao, Chile At a proposed tidal energy conversion site in southern Chile, APL-UW researchers are measuring the magnitude and scales of turbulence, both to aid in the design of turbines for the site and to understand the fundamental dynamics of flows through the channel. |
More Info |
7 Mar 2013
|
![]() |
|||||
Principal Investigator Jim Thomson chronicled all phases of the Chilean experiment through posts to the New York Times 'Scientist at Work' blog. |
Publications |
2000-present and while at APL-UW |
![]() |
A new version of the SWIFT platform for waves, currents, and turbulence in the ocean surface layer Thomson, J., M. Moulton, A. de Klerk, J. Talbert, M. Guerra, S. Kastner, M. Smith, M. Schwendeman, S. Zippel, and S. Nylund, "A new version of the SWIFT platform for waves, currents, and turbulence in the ocean surface layer," Proc., IEEE/OES 12th Currents, Waves, Turbulence Measurement and Applications Workshop, 10-13 March, San Diego, CA (IEEE, 2019). |
More Info |
10 Mar 2019 ![]() |
![]() |
|||||
The Surface Wave Instrument Float with Tracking (SWIFT) is a freely drifting platform for measurements of waves, currents, and turbulence in the ocean surface layer. This platform |
![]() |
Biofouling effects on the response of a wave measurement buoy in deep water Thomson, J., J. Talbert, A. de Klerk, A. Brown, M. Schwendeman, J. Goldsmith, J. Thomas, C. Olfe, G. Cameron, and C. Meinig, "Biofouling effects on the response of a wave measurement buoy in deep water," J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 32, 1281-1286, doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0029.1, 2015. |
More Info |
1 Jun 2015 ![]() |
![]() |
|||||
The effects of biofouling on a wave measurement buoy are examined using concurrent data collected with two Datawell Waveriders at Ocean Station P: one heavily biofouled at the end of a 26-month deployment, the other newly deployed and clean. The effects are limited to the high-frequency response of the buoy and are correctly diagnosed with the spectral "check factors" that compare horizontal and vertical displacements. A simple prediction for the progressive change in frequency response during biofouling reproduces the check factors over time. The bulk statistical parameters of significant wave height, peak period, average period, and peak direction are only slightly affected by the biofouling because the contaminated frequencies have very low energy throughout the comparison dataset. |
![]() |
Turbulence measurements from moving platforms Thomson, J., J. Talbert, A. de Klerk, S. Zippel, M. Guerra, and L. Kilcher, "Turbulence measurements from moving platforms," Proc. 11th IEEE/OES Current, Waves and Turbulence Measurement (CWTM) Workshop, 2-6 March, St. Petersburg, FL, doi:10.1109/CWTM.2015.7098107 (IEEE, 2015). |
More Info |
2 Mar 2015 ![]() |
![]() |
|||||
Two recent methods for making high-fidelity turbulence measurements from moving platforms are described and demonstrated. The first is a method for measuring profiles of near-surface turbulence from a wave-following 'SWIFT' buoy. The second is a method for measuring time series of turbulence from a submerged compliant mooring. Both approaches use coherent Doppler instruments and inertial motion units (IMUs). In the buoy method, wave motions (e.g., pitch, roll, and heave) are quantified via GPS and IMU measurements. These wave motions are not present in the turbulence observations, because buoy follows the wave orbital motion, and thus the turbulent velocities are processed in the wave-following reference frame. In the mooring method, IMU measurements track the mooring motions (e.g., strum and kiting) and these motions are removed in post-processing to obtain turbulent velocities in the fixed earth reference frame. These approaches successfully quantify turbulence in regions previously unavailable or limited by the noise and spatial aliasing of sampling from bottom-mounted platforms. |