An overview of SAX99: acoustic measurements

A high-frequency acoustic experiment was performed at a site 2 km from shore on the Florida Panhandle near Fort Walton Beach in water of 18-19 m depth. The goal of the experiment was, for high-frequency acoustic fields (mostly In the 10-300-kHz range), to quantify backscattering from the seafloor sediment, penetration into the sediment, and propagation within the sediment. In addition, spheres and other objects were used to gather data on acoustic detection of buried objects. The high-frequency acoustic interaction with the medium sand sediment was investigated at grazing angles both above and below the critical angle of about 30°. Detailed characterizations of the upper seafloor physical properties were made to aid in quantifying the acoustic interaction with the seafloor. Biological processes within the seabed and the water column were also investigated with the goal of understanding their impact on acoustic properties. This paper summarizes the topics that motivated the experiment, outlines the scope of the measurements done, and presents preliminary acoustics results     

Overview of the marine environmental problems of the West and Central African region

A review of the environmental problems caused by land-based activities in the West and Central African region is presented. Action at national or regional levels being taken or contemplated about the priority environmental issues are identified. Finally, the extent of integrated pollution prevention, or control strategy, arrangements and extent of integrated coastal area management arrangements in place are discussed.     

Polychaete Communities of Greece: An Ecological Overview

Abstract. Benthic samples were collected from 188 stations distributed over the Aegean and Ionian Seas (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean). Sampled substrata represented a variety of biotopes in soft bottoms with depths ranging from 3 to 380 m. The samples yielded a total of 398 species of polychaetes. Detrended Correspondence Analysis was applied to the whole set of data as well as to three bathymetric groups into which the data was divided. The results showed that in each bathymetric group, different factors determine the spatial distribution of species. Over the whole data set the type of substrata proved to be the major factor, whereas depth is the second most important. Other controlling factors were the substratum type and exposure to hydrodynamism in the shallow group, depth and substratum in the intermediate, and sediment granulometry and depth in the deep one. Diversity, species number and density tended to decrease with depth, while diversity and species number are favoured by coarse material in the sediment.     

河口岸滩侵蚀研究进展

系统了介绍了几十年来岸滩侵蚀的研究进展,认为大部分研究成果多是对岸滩侵蚀的机理和侵蚀过程的研究,主要采用定性的或者定性—半定量的研究方法,因为横向输砂的机理还不是很清楚,定量分析的数学模型研究较多但不成熟。在深入分析的基础之上,就今后岸滩侵蚀的研究工作进行了讨论,并提出了几点建议。     

Detecting regime shifts in the ocean: Data considerations

We review observational data sets that have been used to detect regime shifts in the ocean. Through exploration of data time series we develop a definition of a regime shift from a pragmatic perspective, in which a shift is considered as an abrupt change from a quantifiable ecosystem state. We conclude that such changes represent a restructuring of the ecosystem state in some substantial sense that persists for long enough that a new quasi-equilibrium state can be observed. The abruptness of the shift is relative to the life-scale or the reproductive time-scale of the higher predators that are influenced by the shift. In general, the event-forcing is external to the biological ecosystem, usually the physical climate system, but we also identify shifts that can be ascribed to anthropogenic forcing, in our examples fishing. This pragmatic definition allows for several different types of regime shift ranging from simple biogeographic shifts to non-linear state changes. In practice it is quite difficult to determine whether observed changes in an oceanic ecosystem are primarily spatial or temporally regulated. The determination of ecosystem state remains an unresolved, and imprecise, oceanographic problem.We review observations and interpretation from several different oceanic regions as examples to illustrate this pragmatic definition of a regime shift: the Northeast Pacific, the Northwest and Northeast Atlantic, and Eastern Boundary Currents. For each region, different types of data (biological and physical) are available for differing periods of time, and we conclude, with varying degrees of certainty, whether a regime shift is in fact detectable in the data.     

Modelling of complex coastal environments: Some considerations for best practise

The numerical modelling of large-scale sediment transport and coastal morphology frequently requires significant model reduction and optimisation in order to achieve expedient conclusions. This study provides a detailed sensitivity analysis of various model ‘reduction’ techniques using the Bristol Channel, western U.K. as a case study. The work elucidates a number of the best practises for employment of state-of-the-art systems to complex coastal regions.     

海底浊流研究百年回顾

本文概括性地回顾了一个多世纪以来浊流研究的历史和发展过程。浊流既是解决许多海洋地质学和沉积学基础科学问题的关键,又与海洋资、能源和海底灾害防护等应用性研究息息相关,多国科学家近百年的努力在浊流理论的发展、实验室水槽数据采集和数值模拟的优化等方面都有很大的进步。但由于浊流的不可预测性和破坏性,如何在现场实时、连续地对浊流实施观测至今仍然是浊流研究的瓶颈。南海东北部海域集天时、地利于一体,在此实施多学科浊流现场观测研究有望实现在‘破坏性’浊流的机制、过程、和沉积响应研究方面的突破。     

North Pacific Synthesis of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study: Overview

This special issue is comprised of 13 papers, including this overview, and focuses on the synthesis of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) in the North Pacific which took place from 1997 through 2003. The effort was led by the JGOFS North Pacific Synthesis Group, with the aim of quantifying CO₂ drawdown by physical and biological pumps in the North Pacific by identifying and studying the regional, seasonal to inter-annual variations in the key processes, and understanding their regulating mechanisms. Emphasis was placed on the similarities and differences of the biogeochemical regimes in the eastern and western subarctic Pacific. Effort was also made to address the future research directions which arose from the scientific findings during the North Pacific JGOFS process study. A brief overview of the papers from view points of CO₂ drawdown by physical and biological pumps, spatial variability, and temporal variability from seasonal to decadal scales is made, followed by suggestions for the directions of future research. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Atlantic remote sensing land ocean experiment (ARSLOE): Overview

ARSLOE was a multiorganization experiment held October 6-November 30, 1980, near Duck, North Carolina. It provided a large number of wind-wave and related measurements to intercompare and develop wave measurement systems, to evaluate and improve wave models, and to provide basic information on wave mechanics in shallow water. This paper provides an overview of the experiment.     

Overview of the KwaZulu-Natal sardine run

This paper provides an introduction to, and overview of, the natural phenomenon known as the KwaZulu-Natal sardine run. Previous literature on this topic and hypotheses about the reasons why, and the mechanisms how, the run occurs are briefly synthesised and described. Papers contributing to this suite that detail more recent work on a variety of aspects of the sardine run, ranging from physical oceanography through sardine biology and ecology to socio-economic and ecological consequences, are outlined. Such studies will lead to improved understanding of the factors that regulate the timing and intensity of the run, which may permit predictions of whether it will occur, when fish will arrive on the KZN beaches, and how long it will persist. Such predictions would have substantial benefits for this ecologically and economically important event.     

多AUV集群控制技术综述

多 AUV 集群控制是指通过多 AUV 相互协调完成特定的作战任务,需要解决的具体问题包括协同编队、协同导航、任务分配、通讯机制、协同定位、避碰和避障等。多 AUV 集群控制技术注重系统的冗余性和时效性,系统对个体的失效具有鲁棒性。系统性地阐述了集群控制技术的理论研究现状,探讨了多 AUV 集群控制需要解决的关键技术问题,对比了目前各类先进集群控制算法的优缺点,最后结合理论研究和 AUV 集群控制技术发展现状对集群控制技术发展进行了展望。     

Mucus Aggregates in the Adriatic Sea: An Overview of Stages and Occurrences

Abstract. The wide range of macroscopic mucus aggregates in the Adriatic Sea is documented. These structures arc considered to be initially produced by diatoms. A differentiation into five states or stages: macroflocs, stringers, clouds, creamy surface layers, and gelatinous surface layers is proposed. This classification is based not only on size and shape, but also takes relative position in the water, stability, behavior, and effect on benthos into consideration. An interrelationship between these aggregates - as different manifestations or phases of the same phenomenon - is postulated.
Macroflocs and stringers arc more common. Larger aggregates (clouds, creamy layers, gelatinous layers) arc less frequent. The general term "marine snow" is inadequate to describe the entire range of aggregate sizes and shapes, while the Italian designation "mare sporco" (dirty sea) is misleading. Two massive occurrences of dense clouds coupled with surface accumulations were recorded in the Adriatic in 1988 and 1989. The effect of the various stages on the shallow coastal ecosystem of the Northern Adriatic Sea is discussed.     

Ecosystem considerations of the KwaZulu-Natal sardine run

The annual winter sardine run along the South African east coast impacts the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) coastal system in a variety of ways. These include ecological impacts, such as enrichment of a largely oligotrophic environment, competition between migrant sardine Sardinops sagax, other migrant and resident small pelagic fish species, and interactions with predators, as well as the socio-economic impacts of the sardine run on the local people. Enrichment of KZN coastal waters with organic nitrogen contained within the sardine is compared with alternative sources of nitrogen such as upwelling, river, sewage and stormwater runoff, and groundwater discharge. The sardine run appears to contribute most nitrogen to this system—96 000 t compared to 500–3 300 t for each of the other significant sources at trophic level 2, although upwelling estimates are extremely wide. Nonetheless, the majority of surviving sardine, their young and predators return southwards, suggesting that the nett export of nitrogen to KZN waters during the run is likely to be of a similar order of magnitude as that from other sources. Further, whereas the sardine supply of nitrogen is exclusively during winter, the bulk of the riverine input is in summer, thus ensuring that nitrogen supply in the region is maintained at fairly constant levels throughout the year. Competition for food between small pelagic fish is minimised by resource partitioning, but further dietary data are needed for resident species. Although interactions between sardine and top predators must exist, further studies are needed to confirm links between top predator life cycles and the sardine run. The estimated value of sardine as a tourist spectacle is compared to that from a seasonal beach-seine or boat-based purse-seine fishery for this species. Whereas the estimated value of the sardine as a tourist attraction appears substantially higher than could be derived from catching them, the small-scale beach-seine fishery itself draws tourists and also provides limited, seasonal employment opportunities.     

海洋雷达探测技术综述

通过简要回顾半个世纪以来海洋雷达技术发展历程的特点和规律,结合海洋雷达技术发展现状,介绍海洋雷达涉及的关键技术并进行应用场景分析。总结我国海洋雷达技术近30 a来的发展及其与国际水平的主要差距,提出"十三五"期间我国海洋雷达技术优先发展项目的建议,即超视距雷达广域海洋监测技术、浮动/机动平台高分辨率海洋雷达技术、新体制微波海洋雷达技术以及海洋雷达数据管理与应用技术等。     

琉球海流的研究进展

文章对近期有关琉球海流的研究进行了综述。指出琉球海流是北太平洋一支重要的西边界流,具有如下特征:琉球海流的表层部分受中尺度涡影响强烈,其流速和流量存在有较稳定的次表层极大值,琉球海流在冲绳岛和奄美大岛间得到了显著增强,是一支可和黑潮相匹敌的海流。有关琉球海流的以下几方面内容有待今后更深入研究:(1)琉球海流的起源,其形成的动力学机制及琉球海流在冲绳岛以南的时空变化;(2)琉球海流次表层极大值形成、维持及在冲绳岛以北得到显著增强的动力学机制;(3)琉球海流对东海的影响及其水和热流量在黑潮中所起的作用。