By Megan Sam
University of Florida researchers are giving their storm-tracking Sentinel towers a major upgrade – adding new water quality sensors to the high-tech, hurricane-ready structures. Standing 33-feet-tall and built to withstand major storms, these towers already monitor wind, waves and storm surge in real-time. Now, they’ll also capture water quality conditions, offering a fuller picture of what’s happening along the Florida coast before, during and after a hurricane hits.
“We often see water quality decline along coastlines after storms,” said Zanti Rains, a graduate student in environmental engineering sciences. “We want to understand whether the mixing of storm surge and runoff is driving those changes. If we can identify patterns or pinpoint the causes, this research could support more informed coastal management decisions ahead of future hurricanes.”
Elise Morrison, Ph.D., an assistant professor in environmental engineering sciences and affiliate faculty member with the UF Center for Coastal Solutions (CCS), is leading the upgrade. She is working alongside Rains, who is designing a custom instrument mount for the tower to house two advanced water quality sensors — one that profiles ocean currents and measures wave characteristics, and another that monitors conductivity, algae levels, pH, dissolved oxygen and other key water quality indicators. Together, these instruments will help researchers study how storm surge and runoff interact, and how those interactions may impact water quality in the aftermath of hurricanes.
What sets these towers apart is their ability to withstand hurricane-force conditions and gather data in places where other instruments can’t reach. While most hurricane monitoring equipment is placed inland to avoid storm surge damage, this leaves critical gaps in nearshore data — gaps the Sentinel towers are designed to fill.
“The Sentinels are anchored into the beach, providing a strong foundation for resisting extreme wind and wave loads,” said Brian Phillips, Ph.D., Sentinel project lead and CCS affiliate faculty member. “They are designed to be flooded, allowing us to capture storm surge and wave information.”
Real-time data from the Sentinel towers is used by emergency managers, law enforcement and the NOAA National Hurricane Center to inform reentry plans and storm advisories. After storms, the data supports hurricane model validation and helps assess damage to coastal areas.
With hurricane season in full swing, the team is gearing up to deploy the upgraded system in the field, ready to capture valuable data from the next major storm. In May, Rains and Todd Van Natta, director of field research at the CCS, completed a successful test of the new instrument at the UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Sciences. Looking ahead, the team is also developing a next generation Sentinel station, designed for faster, more efficient deployment — expanding their ability to cover more of the coastline before a hurricane makes landfall.
“From the lab staff who help build and maintain the equipment to the researchers who deploy them, everyone is dedicated to better understanding these coastal hazards,” said Phillips. “Ultimately, we bring accurate, verified data to support hurricane modeling, emergency response management and post-disaster assessment.”