The Shell/LSU Breton Sound Ecosystem Project includes data collection from a variety of platforms and sensors to provide a synoptic view and inform a suite of oceanographic and ecosystem models. Output from the models will allow for more accurate prediction of how coastal systems respond to restoration techniques.

The goal of the Shell/LSU Breton Sound Ecosystem Project is to develop the backbone of a delta observation system to study two different hydrologic basins including Breton Sound (impacted by the Caernarvon Diversion) and Barataria Bay (impacted by the Davis Pond Diversion). Our coordinated modeling and field observation system will allow systematic evaluation of working hypotheses concerning how system pulses (freshwater input, storm surge, sea level) drive the geophysical and geomorphic processes that control ecosystem response in biogeochemistry (e.g. nutrient sinks) and energy flow (e.g. higher trophic levels) patterns.

The Shell/LSU Breton Sound Ecosystem Project is coordinated with the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI) at LSU. The Northern Gulf Institute, sponsored by NOAA, includes funding for research objectives that complement the observation and modeling system that is being developed with funding from Shell. Both projects are critical to improving our scientific and engineering capabilities in restoring coastal Louisiana.