Development Page--Not for Official Use

Note: This project is defunt due to lack of funding

The Freeport Flowinfo system provides real-time data dissemination for such parameters as water level, wind speed/direction, and water temperature to ship captains and pilots at Port Freeport. These data are collected by a computer (running RedHat linux) in the Port Freeport office from a Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network (TCOON) tide gage[1] located at a DOW chemical plant within the port. The Flowinfo system uses a modem to call the tide gauge every 12 minutes and download the latest six-minute data.

Water current, salinity, water temperature and other meteorological conditions are also collected from the ship channel by a data collection computer developed by CBI-DNR[2].

Texas Map	Freeport Area

Once retrieved to the Port Freeport office, these data are displayed as text on a terminal and are disseminated via voice modem to the ship pilots. Also, data are retrieved from the computer in the Port Freeport office to the DNR every 24 hours.