Ongoing Projects and Upcoming Events
at Anne Arundel Community College

The School of Arts and Sciences announces the installation and activation of an automated weather station and weather camera at the Arundel Mills campus. The AMIL weather station, along with the existing weather station at GBTC, makes our College a member of the extensive AWS weather and Homeland Security network. The GBTC weather station was also upgraded with the installation of a weather camera so that each station can provide both meteorological data as well as near real-time video stills.  Both weather stations have been featured on local weather broadcasts.

Analyzing the minute-by-minute changing weather conditions, made possible by the network of AWS stations, can help give a good real-time practical understanding of the dynamics of our atmosphere.

Current weather conditions at the Glen Burnie Town Center can be accessed online at:

http://www.aws.com/single_site.asp?id=ANNEA

For Arundel Mills use:  

http://www.aws.com/single_site.asp?id=ARNCC

At either of these sites, select "Camera Page" for still video images of the local area.  Refresh the browser periodically (camera pans to new location every ten minutes) to see additional camera views.  

One such project is a SCUBA diver's training program run in conjunction with NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Admin.) and the Magothy River Association. In this program, we run workshops to train already certified divers to work on oyster reefs in the Magothy River and the Chesapeake Bay. We teach divers how to work in low-visibility water by practicing in the AACC pool with facemasks partially covered and we show them how to monitor oyster health in the Bay. We also teach divers about the ecology of the oyster reefs and their importance in Chesapeake Bay. This program will soon be expanded to include planting and monitoring of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) as well.

A second project is the monitoring of bathing water quality at beaches on the Magothy and Severn Rivers. Dr. Sally Hornor of the Biology Dept. and the Environmental Center runs this program in the summers. Students collect water samples at the beaches and are taught how to enumerate bacteria and determine water quality characteristics. This program pays students for their time and provides an opportunity to learn techniques useful in job-hunting in environmental science and ecology.