Steven Lohrenz

faculty

Steven Lohrenz

Professor

SMAST / Estuarine & Ocean Sciences

508-910-6550

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School for Marine Science & Technology West, New Bedford 112A

Education

1978University of OregonB.A.
1985Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionPh.D

Teaching

  • Satellite Oceanography
  • Phytoplankton Ecology
  • Aquatic Optics

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

General topics of interest and relevance to civil & environmental engineering applications. Topics may include subject matter related to transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, structures design, water resources, fluid mechanics, and/or environmental science and engineering. Laboratory and field exercises may supplement lecture material. Course can be repeated with change of content.

General topics of interest and relevance to civil & environmental engineering applications. Topics may include subject matter related to transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, structures design, water resources, fluid mechanics, and/or environmental science and engineering. Laboratory and field exercises may supplement lecture material. Course can be repeated with change of content.

Analysis and management of geographic information systems. Emphasis will be placed on the nature of geographic information, data models and structures for geographic information, geographic data input, data manipulation and data storage, spatial analytic and modeling techniques, and error analysis. The course is designed to help students gain first-hand experience in data input, data management, data analyses, and result presentation in a geographical information system through labs and projects.

Analysis and management of geographic information systems. Emphasis will be placed on the nature of geographic information, data models and structures for geographic information, geographic data input, data manipulation and data storage, spatial analytic and modeling techniques, and error analysis. The course is designed to help students gain first-hand experience in data input, data management, data analyses, and result presentation in a geographical information system through labs and projects.

Analysis and management of geographic information systems.  Emphasis will be placed on the nature of geographic information, data models and structures for geographic information, geographic data input, data manipulation and data storage, spatial analytic and modeling techniques, and error analysis.  The course is designed to help students gain first-hand experience in data input, data management, data analyses, and results presentation in geographical information system through labs and projects.

Analysis and management of geographic information systems.  Emphasis will be placed on the nature of geographic information, data models and structures for geographic information, geographic data input, data manipulation and data storage, spatial analytic and modeling techniques, and error analysis.  The course is designed to help students gain first-hand experience in data input, data management, data analyses, and results presentation in geographical information system through labs and projects.

Provides an overview of the use of satellite-based remote sensing for making measurements within the marine environment. Each of the primary satellite sensors used by oceanographers is introduced along with the principles behind their operation, measurement retrieval, data handling, and data interpretation/usage. Emphasis is placed on physical and biogeochemical applications of satellite-based data, along with their analysis and advantages, rather than engineering and physical/optical theory of measurement. This course relies heavily on outside readings from the primary oceanographic literature to showcase satellite data analysis and specific applications of these data types. Included in the course are a series of student-led presentations and discussions of assigned class readings and a possible class project utilizing a satellite-derived data set and data processing techniques.

Provides an overview of the use of satellite-based remote sensing for making measurements within the marine environment. Each of the primary satellite sensors used by oceanographers is introduced along with the principles behind their operation, measurement retrieval, data handling, and data interpretation/usage. Emphasis is placed on physical and biogeochemical applications of satellite-based data, along with their analysis and advantages, rather than engineering and physical/optical theory of measurement. This course relies heavily on outside readings from the primary oceanographic literature to showcase satellite data analysis and specific applications of these data types. Included in the course are a series of student-led presentations and discussions of assigned class readings and a possible class project utilizing a satellite-derived data set and data processing techniques.

Study under the supervision of a faculty member in an area not otherwise part of the discipline's course offerings. Conditions and hours to be arranged.

Thesis research on an experimental or theoretical project in Marine Science or Technology under a faculty advisor.

Research

Research activities

  • PI, “An Integrated Terrestrial-Coastal Ocean Observation and Modeling Framework for Carbon Management Decision Support" (collaborative project with Auburn University, University of Delaware, and North Carolina State University) NASA, $1.2M over three years ($228K to UMass Dartmouth)
  • PI, “Research and Education in Quantitative Fisheries and Ecosystem Science,” NOAA (subaward through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), $360K over three years
  • PI, " Collaborative Research: A RAPID response to Hurricane Harvey's impacts on coastal carbon cycle, metabolic balance and ocean acidification", (collaborative project with Univ. Delaware, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, and Dauphin Island Sea Lab), NSF, $34,232 over one year

Research

Research awards

  • $ 50,000 awarded by NP Photonics, Inc. for Atmospheric Aerosol Model and Data Collection Over the Marine Boundary Layer for Imaging/Radiofrequency (RF) and Laser Beam Propagation
  • $ 47,454 awarded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin for Development of Remote Sensing Water Quality Indices in Inland and Coastal Waters (2022-2023 Sea Grant OMNIBUS)
  • $ 811,936 awarded by MASSACHUSETTS TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATIVE for The Marine and Environmental Testing Laboratory

Research

Research interests

  • Biological distributions and productivity
  • Cycling of carbon and nutrients in coastal and ocean waters using ship-based measurements and optical and remotely sensed observations
  • Characterization of land-ocean interactions using coupled ecosystem models to assess impacts of climate and land use change
  • Optical assessment of air-sea carbon fluxes in river-dominated margins
  • Optical detection and assessment of harmful algal blooms

Select publications

  • Tian, H., R. Xu, S. Pan, Y. Yao, Z. Bian, W.-J. Cai, C. S. Hopkinson, D. Justic, S. Lohrenz, C. Lu, W. Ren, and J. Yang (2020).
    Long-Term Trajectory of Nitrogen Loading and Delivery From Mississippi River Basin to the Gulf of Mexico
    Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 34(5), abstract.
  • Fennel, K., S. Alin, L. Barbero, W. Evans, T. Bourgeois, S. Cooley, J. Dunne, R. A. Feely, J. M. Hernandez-Ayon, X. Hu, S. Lohrenz, F. Muller-Karger, R. Najjar, L. Robbins, E. Shadwick, S. Siedlecki, N. Steiner, A. Sutton, D. Turk, P. Vlahos, and Z. A. Wang (2019).
    Carbon cycling in the North American coastal ocean: a synthesis
    Biogeosciences, 16(6), abstract.
  • Lohrenz, S. E., W. J. Cai, S. Chakraborty, W. J. Huang, X. Guo, R. He, Z. Xue, K. Fennel, S. Howden, and H. Tia (2018).
    Satellite estimation of coastal pCO2 and air-sea flux of carbon dioxide in the northern Gulf of Mexico
    Remote Sensing of Environment, 207, 71-83.

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