The School for Marine Science and Technology of UMass Dartmouth hosted a consortium of 20 universities and organizations last week to plan the initial stages of a system to monitor the changing conditions and health of coastal waters from to . The consortium is developing a sophisticated network of weather stations, satellites, coastal radars and robotic underwater vehicles to produce a three-dimensional view of conditions in the coastal Mid-Atlantic. The current, three-year phase of the project is funded with an $8.7-million grant from the . The Mid-Atlantic Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System, or MARCOOS, will provide decision-makers with information that will aid in search-and-rescue operations…