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Diving into Her Work

MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Melissa Moulton and colleagues in the PV Lab at WHOI undertook an unprecedented study to learn how, when, and where potentially dangerous rip currents form on beaches. At a research beach in Duck, N.C., they dredged a channel, which induced the formation of rips. Then they installed arrays of sensors in the surf zone: altimeters to record changing depths and shapes of the seafloor; current meters to measure the speeds and directions of current; and other sensors to measure wave heights and directions. The data will reveal insights into how rips form. (Photo by Steve Elgar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)