The Seasat scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR): Instrument description and performance

The scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) is an imaging 5-frequency radiometer flown on the Seasat and Nimbus-7 earth satellites launched in 1978. It measures dual-polarized microwave radiances from the earth's atmosphere and surface, primarily for the purpose of deriving global and nearly all-weather measurements of sea surface temperature, wind speed, and atmospheric liquid water and water vapor. This paper describes the SMMR instrument and its calibration, antenna pattern measurements, and data processing procedures. Analysis of early data from the Seasat SMMR shows that the expected engineering performance in flight was achieved, and the measurement of sea surface temperature and wind speed with accuracies of 1.5 K and 2 m/s, respectively, may be achievable once the geophysical data processing algorithms and analysis have been completed.     

一次新的厄尔尼诺事件即将形成

一次新的厄尔尼诺事件即将形成宋家喜（国家海洋环境预报中心，北京）在１９９１～１９９５年的五年中，赤道东太平洋共发生了三大厄尔尼诺事件，即１９９１年５月至１９９２年６月，１９９３年３月至１０月，１９９４年１０月至１９９５年２月。也有人认为是一次长厄尔尼...     

北冰洋表层积雪中7Be、210Po和210Pb的分布特征

大气输送的放射性核素7Be、210Po和210Pb,可以作为研究北冰洋大气沉降通量、海洋现代沉积以及海冰中物质传输的重要示踪剂,已被广泛应用于包括气团运动、土壤侵蚀以及水系统中颗粒物循环过程的研究。本文报道了2018年北极高纬度浮冰区表层积雪中7Be、210Po和210Pb的活度特征。7Be、210Po和210Pb的比活度变化范围分别为33.6～632.68 mBq/L、36.2～87.5 mBq/L、30.9～194.49 mBq/L。本文的研究发现,北冰洋表层积雪中7Be和210Pb比活度小于中纬度大陆地区。研究区域表层积雪中7Be的比活度随着纬度的增加而增加。此外,表层积雪中210Po/210Pb活度比值范围为0.70～1.48 (平均为0.93),210Po与210Pb活度已基本达到平衡,表明积雪样品年龄可能较“老”。     

Comparison of seasonal and interannual variability of snow cover in Russian watersheds according to observations and reanalyses

Seasonal and interannual variability of the water equivalent of snow over the period 1966–1996 is analyzed with the use of the ERA/ECMWF reanalysis data, two versions of the NCEP reanalysis, and ground-based instrumental observations. Regions have been determined where snow characteristics from various sources are most consistent. In general, the snow water equivalent data from the ERA reanalysis are closer to the snow survey data than the NCEP reanalysis data. The best consistency of the water equivalent of snow in the reanalyses with measured data is observed in the period when the snow cover begins to form, in November and December, and the largest discrepancies are found for the snowmelt period, April and May. The interannual variability of the water equivalent in Asian Russia in the 1990s is better reproduced by the NCEP/DOE-II reanalysis. The snow cover data from satellite observations are compared with ground-based instrumental observations. It is shown that large discrepancies between the snow surveys and satellite observations may be observed at the snow-cover boundary during periods of snow formation and snowmelt.     

新疆冬春季强降水过程的水汽来源及输送特征分析

利用常规观测资料和6 h一次的NCEP 1°×1°再分析场资料对新疆2015年2月12—14日北疆暴雪过程和2015年5月17—21日南疆暴雨过程的环流形势和主要影响系统进行分析,并基于HYSPLIT模式模拟的后向轨迹分析强降水的水汽来源和输送特征。结果表明:1) 2次强降水过程均发生在高空低槽东移,低层有低涡,地面有锋面气旋,高空有辐散的天气背景下。2)冬季暴雪过程中,北疆水汽主要源自西亚和中亚地区。其中源自西亚地区的干气块下沉到近地面时从下垫面获得水汽,对强降雪的贡献最大;其次是起源于中亚西南部地区近地层的湿气块对强降雪的贡献。3)春季暴雨过程中,南疆的水汽主要来自中亚的哈萨克斯坦。其中来自哈萨克斯坦南部上空的干空气下沉到近地层时从下垫面获得水汽,对强降雨的贡献最大;其次是源自哈萨克斯坦东部和东南部对流层低层的湿气块对强降雨的贡献大。4) 2次强降水过程中水汽主要来自陆地而不是海洋,气块在近地层移动或下沉到近地层时,下垫面水汽蒸发使气块变湿,是强降水的水汽主要贡献者;表明春季和冬季的水汽输送通道与夏季来自阿拉伯海等低纬的水汽通道不同。     

Ocean Color Satellite Imagery and Shipboard Measurements of Chlorophyll a and Suspended Particulate Matter Distribution in the East China Sea

Satellite-derived ocean color data of Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) on board the Nimbus-7 and Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) on board the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) are jointly used with historical in situ data to examine seasonal and spatial distributions of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations in the East China Sea. Ocean color imagery showed that Chl-a concentrations on the continental shelf were higher than those of the Kuroshio area throughout the year. Satellite-derived Chl-a concentrations are generally in good accordance with historical in situ values during spring through autumn (although no shipboard in situ measurement was conducted at nearshore areas). In contrast, ocean color imagery in winter indicated high Chl-a concentrations (4–10 mg m^–3) on the continental shelf where bottom depth was less than 50 m when surface water was turbid (2–72 g m^–3 of SPM at surface), while historical in situ values were usually less than 1 mg m^–3. This suggests that resuspended bottom sediment due to wind-driven mixing and winter cooling is responsible for the noticeable overestimation of satellite-derived Chl-a concentrations. The algorithm for ocean color needs to be improved urgently for turbid water.     

积雪密度演变对北极积雪深度模拟的影响

积雪具有复杂的时空分布,在高纬度地区的气?冰?海耦合系统中扮演了重要的角色。准确的积雪质量平衡计算可以帮助我们更好地理解海冰演变过程以及极区冰雪与大气之间的相互作用。雪密度是影响积雪质量平衡众多因素中的重要因子。现有的一维高分辨率冰雪热力学模型（如HIGHTSI）中,使用常数块体雪密度均值将降雪雪水当量转化为积雪深度。本文参考拉格朗日冰上积雪模型（SnowModel-LG）模式对积雪分层压实的处理,简化为新、旧两个雪层,并在质量守恒条件下同时考虑新、旧雪层深度对压实增密的响应,将该物理过程加入HIGHTSI模式中。利用ERA-Interim再分析数据作为大气强迫,针对北极15个冰质量平衡浮标沿其漂移轨迹模拟了降雪积累期海冰表面雪密度变化对积雪深度变化的影响,在原HIGHTSI设置下分别采用定常块体雪密度均值330 kg/m3（T1试验）、接近实际的常数新雪密度200 kg/m3（T2试验）以及改进后框架下新、旧雪层随时间压实增密的雪密度（T3试验）计算积雪深度,并将模拟结果与浮标观测进行对比。结果表明,本文改进的算法对雪密度变化的处理更为合理,且能较好地再现积雪深度的变化;考虑新、旧雪层深度对压实增密的响应能较好地避免以较低的降雪密度持续过度积累,以浮标观测为标准,分层积雪密度压实计算得到的平均绝对误差相对T2减小了5 cm。     

南海北部底层沉积物捕获器中海雪和生物粪粒组成及来源探究

Sediment traps are an important tool for studying the source, composition and sedimentation processes of sinking particulate matter in the ocean. An in situ observational mooring(TJ-A-1) is located in the northern South China Sea(20.05°N, 117.42°E) at a water depth of 2 100 m and equipped with two sediment traps deployed at 500 m and 1 950 m. Samples were collected at 18-day intervals, and 20 samples were obtained at both depths from May 2014 to May 2015. Large amounts of fecal matter and marine snow were collected in the lower trap. The fluxes of marine snow and fecal pellets exhibited a fluctuating decrease between May 2014 and early August 2014 and then stabilized at a relatively low level. Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed that the main components of the marine snow and fecal pellets were diatoms, coccolithophores, radiolarians, and other debris, all of which are planktons mostly produced in photic zone. Used in conjunction with the particle collection range estimates from the lower trap and data on ocean surface chlorophyll, these marine snow and fecal pellets were related to the lateral transport of deep water and not vertical migrations from overlying water column. Moreover, the source area might be southwest of Taiwan.     

The usefulness of Nimbus CZCS imagery in the South-Western Indian Ocean

Aspects of the South-West Indian Ocean circulation, such as currents and their meanders and eddies, are chromatographically identified in the area 20–40°S, 30–40°E from the level-2 images of the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Colour Scanner (CZCS). Notwithstanding the inescapable obstruction presented by the extensive cloud-cover over this subtropical region, CZCS imagery is especially useful in areas of weak thermal gradients. Other regions where colour imagery is fruitful are those where oceanographic features originate from deep-sea water masses with large phytoplanicton concentrations or where coastal waters with distinct colour signals are entrained.     

“12·14”山东暴雪过程积雪深度特征及成因

利用常规观测、积雪深度逐时加密观测资料和欧洲中期天气预报中心（European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts,ECMWF）第五代大气再分析（ECMWF Reanalysis v5,ERA5）资料,对2023年12月13—15日山东一次极端暴雪天气过程积雪特征及其成因进行分析,得到以下结论：（1）此次过程是一次江淮气旋暴雪天气过程,具有持续时间长、降水相态复杂、基础温度低、降温幅度大和积雪深度厚等特征。（2）最大小时新增积雪深度可达8 cm;过程平均雪水比为0.7 cm·mm^-1,呈“西大东小” 的分布特征。（3）有积雪的站近地面温度从开始降雪到地面产生积雪,气温和雪面温度均呈下降趋势,0 cm地温在降雪前期降温明显,积雪形成后地温不再明显变化。无积雪的站在整个降雪时段内近地面温度可分为4种情况。（4）雪水比随气温变化最明显;积雪形成之后地温对雪水比大小影响不大;当雪水比小于0.75 cm·mm^-1时,雪水比随雪面温度降低而增大,当雪水比大于0.76 cm·mm^-1后,雪面温度不再有明显变化。     

山东深秋一次暴雪过程雪水比影响因子分析

利用地面气象观测站资料、加密地面观测资料和欧洲中期天气预报中心（European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts,ECMWF）第五代大气再分析数据（ECMWF Reanalysis v5,ERA5;分辨率为0.25°×0.25°）逐小时资料,对山东2021年11月6—8日极端暴雪过程雪水比影响因子进行研究。结果显示：此次暴雪过程平均雪水比分布总体呈“北大南小、西大东小”的分布特征,降雪初期产生的雪水比小,降雪中后期产生的雪水比大;温度偏高、云内液态水含量较高的地区雪水比较小,温度偏低、云内液态水含量较低的地区雪水比较大;雪水比与地面气温、地表温度呈负相关,地面气温与雪水比的相关性最大,积雪产生之后地表温度与雪水比变化无明显相关。     

近岸水域CZCS资料分析

Ｎｉｍｂｕｓ－７卫星上的多通道扫描辐射计─━海岸带水色扫描仪（ＣＺＣＳ），被设计用来提供海洋近表层浮游植物色素浓度和其他与水色有关现象（如悬浮沉积物、有机污染等）的资料。由于自然和人为的排放以及由潮流引起的再悬浮沉积物的影响，对近岸水域ＣＺＣＳ遥感资料的分析存在一定的困难，对于近岸水域应作出慎重的研究，因为此类水域的生物－海洋学状况具有较大变化性。计算时必须对每一种情况作出试验，以便找出卫星辐射率测量与浮游植物色素分布，近岸上升流锋，有机污染以及悬浮沉积物之间的关系．本文阐述和讨论了ＣＺＣＳ资料的处理以及估算近岸水域色素和县浮沉积物浓度的算法．     

Diel variations of marine snow concentration in surface waters and implications for particle flux in the sea

Successive measurements of the size distribution and abundance of marine snow in the upper 100 m of the Santa Barbara Channel, California, with an in situ still camera system following 11 tagged water masses revealed a consistent pattern of nighttime decreases in the abundance of large particles. A net nocturnal reduction in particulate flux from the upper 100 m as calculated from camera profiles occurred in 75% of the day–night comparisons, and nighttime aggregate carbon losses resulted in a 38% average reduction in camera-derived aggregate flux. Intensive investigation of three stations for 24–48 h each indicated that nighttime decreases in aggregate concentrations and derived aggregate flux could be registered throughout the observed water column. Nocturnal decreases in marine snow concentration are unlikely to result from diel variations in the production of marine snow either as feeding webs of zooplankton or through variations in aggregation rates of smaller particles. Moreover, measured diel variations in the intensity of surface mixing and convective overturn during one of the 24 h deployments were not intense enough to produce aggregate fragmentation and reduced aggregate flux. Nighttime increases in large crustacean zooplankton (i.e., euphausiids and the large copepod Calanus pacificus) could explain some or all of the reduction in aggregate abundance at most stations. Fragmentation and consumption of marine snow by migrating macrozooplankton could produce our observed synchronous diel cycles in marine snow concentration. This is the first empirical evidence of a diel pattern in the concentration and calculated particulate flux of large sinking particles in near-surface waters. The data presented here are consistent with the only other existing diel study, which also reported decreases in marine snow abundance at night at 270 m depths in the oceanic north Atlantic. Diel variations in the sizes and concentrations of marine snow may impact water column processes dependent upon particle availability and size, such as grazing and remineralization, and may generate a diel cycle of food availability to the benthos.     

A scanning multichannel microwave radiometer for Nimbus-G and SeaSat-A

A scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) has been designed for the Nimbus-G spacecraft and incorporated also into the SeaSat-A payload for the primary purpose of determining sea surface temperatures and wind stress on a nearly all-weather basis. Observations of microwave polarization components will be made at wavelengths of 0.8, 1.4, 1.7, 2.8, and 4.6 cm over a swath 822 km wide below the Nimbus-G and 595 km wide below the SeaSat-A spacecraft. The smallest spatial resolution cell is about 20 km at a wavelength of 0.8 cm, and proportionately larger at the other wavelengths. Using algorithms based on a combination of experimental data and physical models for converting the observed brightness temperatures, the indicated accuracies of the results (excluding conditions of significant rainfall) are within 1 K for sea surface temperature and 2 m/s for surface wind speeds, over a range from 0-50 m/s.     

The Seasat scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR): Radiometric calibration algorithm development and performance

Radiometric calibration algorithms for processing Seasat scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) flight data are presented. An equation is derived which accounts for losses and reradiation in the microwave components and nonlinearities in the radiometer. The application of pre-launch calibration data to this derivation is described. A performance evaluation of the post-launch operation of the algorithm is presented, indicating temperature resolution of 0.63 K at 6.6 GHz and 1.39 K at 37 GHz.     

Detection of rapid deposition of sea ice-rafted material to the Arctic Ocean benthos using the cosmogenic tracer Be

During three icebreaker cruises in the Arctic Ocean under different sea-ice conditions in 2002, undisturbed benthic surface sediments were collected and assayed for the presence of a short-lived (t_1/2=53 d), particle-reactive cosmogenic radionuclide, ⁷Be, that is solely derived from atmospheric deposition. Under largely ice-covered conditions in May–June 2002, we did not detect this radionuclide in benthic surface sediments, despite significant inventories present in ice-rafted snow on the overlying sea ice (mean=86.8 Bq m⁻²±32.0 SD; n=9). During the July–August 2002 Shelf–Basin Interactions (SBI) cruise aboard the USCGC Healy and during a simultaneous cruise of the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the Bering and Chukchi Shelf, which occupied the same general region following retreat and dissolution of Arctic ice cover, the ⁷Be present in this snow as well as surface deposition on to the sea ice-free water surface was detected in many benthic surface sediments, including some as deep as 945 m in Barrow Canyon. Inventories of ⁷Be in sediments were as high (60 Bq m⁻²) as the entire decay-corrected inventory present earlier in some snow samples collected on the sea-ice cover. Other deposition indicators such as the inventories of sediment chlorophyll, sediment oxygen respiration rates and ²³⁴Th-derived export fluxes also showed post-ice melt particle deposition and vertical transport, but in most cases the ⁷Be deposition was not tightly correlated with these other indicators, suggesting that ⁷Be sedimentation may not be controlled by the same processes. Our observations indicate that materials in sea ice, including contaminants, particulate organic, and mineral matter originating from atmospheric deposition or entrained in continental shelf sediments and rafted onto sea ice, can be rapidly transported to depth. The re-distribution of these materials as sea-ice drifts and eventually melts has the potential for impacting Arctic Ocean biogeochemical cycles and contaminant concentrations in areas of the Arctic remote from the original point of deposition.     

北极夏季海冰反照率的观测和数值模拟试验

在中国第3次北极科学考察浮冰站开展了积雪/海冰反照率观测.本文对观测结果进行了分析,并结合一维高分辨雪/冰模式(HIGHTSI)对3个常用的反照率参数化方案在天气尺度的表现进行了评估.观测期间测站反照率变化范围0.75～0.85,其天气尺度变化同天气和表面冰、雪状况紧密相关,降雪和吹雪过程可改变表面积雪厚度及水平分布,...     

“12·14”山东暴雪过程降水相态的多源观测分析

基于毫米波云雷达、降水天气现象仪、风廓线雷达、双偏振雷达、自动气象站等多源观测资料及欧洲中期天气预报中心（European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts,ECMWF）第五代大气再分析（ECMWF Reanalysis v5,ERA5）资料,对2023年12月14日山东暴雪过程的环流背景和降水粒子微物理参数进行分析,探讨新型观测资料在降水相态监测与预报中的应用。结果表明：（1）此次过程受高空槽、低空西南急流和江淮气旋影响,伴随地面气温下降和中层暖层消退,出现雨、雨夹雪、冰粒和雪等相态。（2）降水天气现象仪探测发现,雪和雨的下落末速度均较小,雪粒子直径超过8 mm,雨粒子直径大多在4 mm以下。（3）毫米波云雷达观测到反射率因子、径向速度、谱宽和垂直液态水含量降低时,雨夹雪转为雪。（4）风廓线雷达显示雨夹雪和冰粒阶段对应强的低空西南急流和最大垂直速度（4~5 m·s^-1）,转雪时3 km以下垂直速度降低至2 m·s^-1左右。（5）相关系数（C_c）、差分反射率（Z_DR）和水平极化反射率因子（Z_h）等双偏振参量可判断融化层亮带,亮带的下降和消失可指示此次过程雨向雪的转换。     

Effect of a snow cover on microwave backscatter from sea ice

The effect of a snow cover on sea ice upon radar backscatter at microwave frequencies (X- andKu-baud) can be important. The effect of scattering from the snow cover on thesigmadegof first-year ice is shown to be severe (5 cm of dry snow can raisesigmadegby 8 dB at 9 GHz), while that onsigmadegof multiyear ice is shown to be smaller. The low thermal conductivity of snow compared to that of sea ice effectively raises the temperature of the upper surface of the ice, resulting in higher dielectric constants for the ice, thereby modifying the backscatter both from the ice surface and from the scattering volume. The temperature effect of a 10-cm snow cover on 3-m-thick multiyear ice is to lower thesigmadegby only about 0.3 dB for air temperature of-20degC. The effect on 1-m-thick first-year ice is even less. Hence, the volume-scattering effect of snow is more important than the temperature effect. The presence of a wet snow cover can block the volume-scattering contribution of the multiyear ice. The effect of wet snow cover on first-year ice should be smaller than that Of dry, snow, becausesigmadegof wet snow is lower than that of dry snow.     

西威佛斯海洋水色研究计划概述

１９９５年春，美国国家宇航局（ＮＡＳＡ）将发射一颗携带宽视场海洋观测传感器（ＳｅａＷｉＦＳ）的海洋卫星（Ｓｅａｓｔａｒ）．宽视场海洋观测传感器是继工作了七年多，于１９８５年停止发送资料的Ｎｉｍｂｕｓ－７海岸带水色扫描仪（ＣＺＺ）之后的第一个星载海洋水色传感器，不像作为概念验证性实验的海岸带水色扫描仪那样，宽视场海洋观测传感器被设计用来提供充分精确的光合色素浓度资料以进行海洋初级生产力和生物地球化学定量研究［４］。宽视场海洋观测传感器将常规地每二日一次提供全球复盖资料。美国国家宇航局空间科学应用署（ＡＳＳＡ）和哥达德空间飞行中心（ＧＳＦＣ）为了发展、管理海洋水色研究资料系统而制定了宽视场海洋观测传感器计划，这个系统能有效地收集、处理、校正、检验、存档以及发布由宽视场海洋观测传感器接收到的资料。本文主要介绍了宽视场海洋观测传感器计划的目的意义，研究内容以及其他概况［２，３］。