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WAVCIS WAVCIS is the Wave-Current-Surge Information System for Coastal Louisiana, housed in the LSU Coastal Studies Institute along with the Earth Scan Lab. This system was initiated in 1998 under the direction of the late Dr. Gregory Stone. WAVCIS is the most established ocean observing program in the Gulf of Mexico, and gives LSU researchers a set of tools unlike any other college or university in the Gulf region. Under normal conditions, the real-time nature of these systems is useful for the oil and gas industries, as well as recreational and commercial fishermen, because it allows them to gauge sea conditions and make informed decisions in terms of how dangerous it will be to make supply trips to offshore rigs or to start working fishing grounds. WAVCIS uses an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiling (ACDP) system, in which small instruments are placed at six different sites on the seabed along the coast of Louisiana. These instruments project acoustic Doppler waves to the sea surface and record the reflection back to the sea floor. These data are recorded and transmitted via a solar-powered cellular phone system back to the WAVCIS lab at LSU, then archived online and made available. In the wake of the oil spill, these data were useful because they provided three-dimensional, real-time profiles of wave height, period, direction and differential current speed in the water column. Because of the unique nature of the Deepwater Horizon spill, no models were available to tell responders where the oil would Figure 4.5 WAVCIS image of ocean currents and data platforms.