Measurements of ocean wave and current field using dual polarized X-band radar

A new ocean wave and sea surface current monitoring system with horizontally-(HH) and vertically-(VV) polarized X-band radar was developed. Two experiments into the use of the radar system were carried out at two sites, respectively, for calibration process in Zhangzi Island of the Yellow Sea, and for validation in the Yellow Sea and South China Sea. Ocean wave parameters and sea surface current velocities were retrieved from the dual polarized radar image sequences based on an inverse method. The results obtained from dual-polarized radar data sets acquired in Zhangzi Island are compared with those from an ocean directional buoy. The results show that ocean wave parameters and sea surface current velocities retrieved from radar image sets are in a good agreement with those observed by the buoy. In particular, it has been found that the vertically-polarized radar is better than the horizontally-polarized radar in retrieving ocean wave parameters, especially in detecting the significant wave height below 1.0 m.     

A new modulation transfer function for ocean wave spectra retrieval from X-band marine radar imagery

When imaging ocean surface waves by X-band marine radar,the radar backscatter from the sea surface is modulated by the long surface gravity waves. The modulation transfer function(MTF) comprises tilt,hydrodynamic,and shadowing modulations. A conventional linear MTF was derived using HH-polarized radar observations under conditions of deep water. In this study,we propose a new quadratic polynomial MTF based on VV-polarized radar measurements taken from heterogeneous nearshore wave fields. This new MTF is obtained using a radar-observed image spectrum and in situ buoy-measured wave frequency spectrum. We validate the MTF by comparing peak and mean wave periods retrieved from X-band marine radar image sequences with those measured by the buoy. It is shown that the retrieval accuracies of peak and mean wave periods of the new MTF are better than the conventional MTF. The results also show that the bias and root mean square errors of the peak and mean wave periods of the new MTF are 0.05 and 0.88 s,and 0.32 and 0.53 s,respectively,while those of the conventional MTF are 0.61 and 0.98 s,and 1.39 and 1.48 s,respectively. Moreover,it is also shown that the retrieval results are insensitive to the coefficients in the proposed MTF.     

Effect of non-Gaussian properties of the sea surface on the low-incidence radar backscatter and its inversion in terms of wave spectra by an ocean wave spectrometer

The principle of ocean wave spectrometers was first presented several decades ago to detect the directional wave spectrum with real-aperture radar(Jackson,1981). To invert wave spectra using an ocean wave spectrometer,for simplicity,the hydrodynamic forcing and wave-wave interaction effect are neglected and a Gaussian slope probability density function(pdf) is used to calculate the normalized backscattering cross-section( σ 0) of the ocean surface. However,the real sea surface is non-Gaussian. It is not known whether the non-Gaussian property of the sea surface will affect the performance of the inversion of the wave spectrum if following existing inversion steps and methods. In this paper,the pdf of the sea surface slope is expressed as a Gram-Charlier fourth-order expansion,which is quasi-Gaussian. The modulation transfer function(MTF) is derived for a non-Gaussian slope pdf. The effects of non-Gaussian properties of the sea surface slope on the inversion process and result are then studied in a simulation of the SWIM(Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring) instrument configuration to be used on the CFOSAT(China-France Oceanography Satellite) mission. The simulation results show that the mean trend of σ 0 depends on the sea slope pdf,and the peakedness and skewness coefficients of the slope pdf affect the shape of the mean trend of σ 0 versus incidence and azimuth; owing to high resolution of σ 0 in the range direction,MTF obtained using the mean trend of σ 0 is almost as accurate as that set in the direct simulation; in the inversion,if ignoring the non-Gaussian assumption,the inversion performances for the wave spectrum decrease,as seen for an increase in the energy error of the inverted wave slope spectrum. However,the peak wavelength and wave direction are the same for inversions that consider and ignore the non-Gaussian property.     

LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS OF THE EFFECTS OF VISCOSITY ON SHORT WATER WAVE SPECTRA AND IMPLICATION FOR RADAR REMOTE SENSING OF THE OCEAN SURFACE

Using an X-band radar and a mechanical short wave generator, we measured the dependenceof radar return power on the viscosity of water which was adjusted by changing the watertemperature. From the measurements we drew two inferences: (1) the spectral density of short waterwaves, F, depends strongly on the viscosity of waterF(v)=F_0~mwhere is normalized viscosity, and m=-1.72; and (2) the normalized radar cross section, σ_0(dB), dependsstrongly on the water temperature△σ_0 (dB)=O.217△TAnalyses indicate that these dependencies can be observed in the field only at low wind conditionsat which the Bragg scattering is a dominant mechanism for producing the radar return signals. Theresults of this study can be used to interpret the sharp variability in radar cross section across a watertemperature front and SAR images of oeeanic phenomena.     

Distribution of the nonlinear random ocean wave period

Because of the intrinsic difficulty in determining distributions for wave periods, previous studies on wave period distribution models have not taken nonlinearity into account and have not performed well in terms of describing and statistically analyzing the probability density distribution of ocean waves. In this study, a statistical model of random waves is developed using Stokes wave theory of water wave dynamics. In addition, a new nonlinear probability distribution function for the wave period is presented with the parameters of spectral density width and nonlinear wave steepness, which is more reasonable as a physical mechanism. The magnitude of wave steepness determines the intensity of the nonlinear effect, while the spectral width only changes the energy distribution. The wave steepness is found to be an important parameter in terms of not only dynamics but also statistics. The value of wave steepness reflects the degree that the wave period distribution skews from the Cauchy distribution, and it also describes the variation in the distribution function, which resembles that of the wave surface elevation distribution and wave height distribution. We found that the distribution curves skew leftward and upward as the wave steepness increases. The wave period observations for the SZFII-1 buoy, made off the coast of Weihai (37°27.6′ N, 122°15.1′ E), China, are used to verify the new distribution. The coefficient of the correlation between the new distribution and the buoy data at different spectral widths (ν=0.3−0.5) is within the range of 0.968 6 to 0.991 7. In addition, the Longuet-Higgins (1975) and Sun (1988) distributions and the new distribution presented in this work are compared. The validations and comparisons indicate that the new nonlinear probability density distribution fits the buoy measurements better than the Longuet-Higgins and Sun distributions do. We believe that adoption of the new wave period distribution would improve traditional statistical wave theory.     

A new method for the estimation of oceanic mixed-layer depth using shipboard X-band radar images

Shipboard X-band radar images acquired on 24 June 2009 are used to study nonlinear internal wave characteristics in the northeastern South China Sea. The studied images show three nonlinear internal waves in a packet. A method based on the Radon Transform technique is introduced to calculate internal wave parameters such as the direction of propagation and internal wave velocity from backscatter images. Assuming that the ocean is a two-layer finite depth system, we can derive the mixed-layer depth by applying the internal wave velocity to the mixed-layer depth formula. Results show reasonably good agreement with in-situ thermistor chain and conductivity-temperature-depth data sets.     

Quantification of the impact of environmental factors on chlorophyll in the open ocean

Many previous studies of the impact of oceanic environmental factors on chlorophyll(CHL)in a specific region focused on sea surface temperature(SST),mixed-layer depth(MLD),or wind stress(WS) alone.In this study,relationship between CHL and all those environmental factors(SST,MLD,and WS) in the open ocean was quantified for five regions within the subtropical gyres and the variation trend of 13-year(2003-2015) was analyzed using satellite observations and Argo measurements.The correlation analysis results show that MLD was correlated positively with CHL,SST was correlated negatively with CHL,and the correlation between CHL and WS was either positive or negative.Based on the significance of the correlations,models representing the relationships were established using the multiple linear regression and analyzed,showing that the environmental factors were the major determinants of CHL change.The regression coefficients show that both SST and MLD have remarkable effect on CHL.Our derived models could be used to diagnose the past changes,understand present variability,and predict the future state of CHL changes based on environmental factors,and help us understand the dynamics of CHL variation in the open ocean.     

Preliminary results of assessing the mixing of wave transport flux residualin the upper ocean with ROMS

The effects of the mixing of wave transport flux residual(Bvl) on the upper ocean is studied through carrying out the control run(CR) and a series of sensitive runs(SR) with ROMS model.In this study,the important role of Bvl is revealed by comparing the ocean temperature,statistical analysis of errors and evaluating the mixed layer depth.It is shown that the overestimated SST is improved effectively when the wave-induced mixing is incorporated to the vertical mixing scheme.As can be seen from the vertical structure of temperature 28℃ isotherm changes from 20 min CR to 35 m in SR3,which is more close to the observation.Statistic analysis shows that the root-mean-square errors of the temperature in 10 m are reduced and the correlation between model results and observation data are increased after considering the effect of Bvl.The numerical results of the ocean temperature show improvement in summer and in tropical zones in winter,especially in the strong current regions in summer.In August the mixed layer depth(MLD) which is defined as the depth that the temperature has changed 0.5℃ from the reference depth of 10 m is further analyzed.The simulation results have a close relationship with undetermined coefficient of Bvl,sensitivity studies show that a coefficient about 0.1 is reasonable value in the model.     

Study on evaluation standard of uncertainty of design wave height calculation model

The accurate calculation of marine environmental design parameters depends on the probability distribution model, and the calculation results of diff erent distribution models are often diff erent. It is very important to determine which distribution model is more stable and reasonable when extrapolating the recurrence level of the studied sea area. In this paper, we constructed an evaluation method of the overall uncertainty of the calculation results and a measurement of the uncertainty of the design parameters derivation model, by incorporating the infl uence of sample information on the model information entropy, such as sample size, degree of dispersion, and sampling error. Results show that the sample data size and the degree of dispersion are directly proportional to the information entropy. Within the same group of data, the maximum entropy distribution model has the lowest overall uncertainty, while the Gumbel distribution model has the largest overall uncertainty. In other words, the maximum entropy distribution model has good applicability in the accurate calculation of marine environmental design parameters.     

Comparison of retrieving methods of ocean wave periods from satellite altimeter with buoy measurements

For validating the results of retrieved mean wave period, four empirical algorithms established previously are introduced. Based on the data of over five years derived from TOPEX satellite altimeter for the entire East China Sea, ocean wave periods were calculated and statistical comparison among them was performed. The retrieved mean wave period obtained with our new distribution parameters showed better agreement with the wave period TB measured by buoy than that calculated by other three algorithms. The difference between the mean values of and that of TB is 0.16 s and the RMSE (root mean square error) of is the lowest value (0.48).     

Modeling vertical heat transport in the wave affected surface layer of the ocean

In considering the vertical heat transport problems in the upper ocean, the flat upper boundary approximation for the free surface and the horizontal homogenous hypothesis are usually applied. However, due to the existence of the wave motion, the application of this approximation may result in some errors to the solar irradiation since it decays quickly in respect to the actual thickness of the water layer below the surface; on the other hand, due to the fluctuation of the water layer depth, it is improper to neglect the effects of the horizontal advection and turbulent diffusion since they also contribute to the vertical heat transport. A new model is constructed in this study to reflect these effects. The corresponding numerical simulations show that the wave motion may remarkably accelerate the vertical heat transferring process and the variation of the temperature in the wave affected layer appears in an oscillating manner. Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, No. 2006AA09A309); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 20070411111) and the Fund of Shandong Province for the Excellent Post-Doctors (No. 200603056)     

Calculation of significant wave height using the linear mean square estimation method

Significant wave height is an important criterion in designing coastal and offshore structures. Based on the orthogonality principle, the linear mean square estimation method is applied to calculate significant wave height in this paper. Twenty-eight-year time series of wave data collected from three ocean buoys near San Francisco along the California coast are analyzed. It is proved theoretically that the computation error will be reduced by using as many measured data as possible for the calculation of significant wave height. Measured significant wave height at one buoy location is compared with the calculated value based on the data from two other adjacent buoys. The results indicate that the linear mean square estimation method can be well applied to the calculation and prediction of significant wave height in coastal regions.     

Comparison and analysis of Envisat ASAR ocean wave spectra with buoy data in the northern Pacific Ocean

The validation and assessment of Envisat advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR) ocean wave spectra products are important to their application in ocean wave numerical predictions. Six-year ASAR wave spectra data are compared with one-dimensional (1D) wave spectra of 55 co-located moored buoy observations in the northern Pacific Ocean. The ASAR wave spectra data are firstly quality control filtered and spatio-temporal matched with buoy data. The comparisons are then performed in terms of 1D wave spectra, significant wave height (SWH) and mean wave period (MWP) in different spatio-temporal offsets respectively. SWH comparison results show the evident dependence of SWH biases on wind speed and the ASAR SWH saturation effect. The ASAR wave spectra tend to underestimate SWH at high wind speeds and overestimate SWH at low wind speeds. MWP comparison results show that MWP has a systematic bias and therefore it should be bias-modified before used. The comparisons of 1D wave spectra show that both wave spectra agree better at low frequencies than at high frequencies, which indicates the ASAR data cannot resolve the high frequency waves.     

The South China Sea throughflow: linkage with local monsoon system and impact on upper thermal structure of the ocean

The tendency of South China Sea throughflow (SCSTF) variation associated with the local monsoon system, and its impact on upper-layer thermal structure, are studied using the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) dataset, combined with Ishii reanalysis data. Luzon Strait Transport (LST) is measured and used as an index for studying the SCSTF variation. Results show that LST had an increasing tendency over the last 50 years, mainly in summer and fall. The increasing tendency was 0.017 1 Sv/a in summer and 0.027 4 Sv/a in fall, as estimated by SODA, and 0.018 0Sv/a in summer and 0.018 9 Sv/a in fall, as estimated by "Island Rule" theory. LST increased by 0.53Sv in JJA (June-July-August) and 0.98Sv in SON (September-October-November) after climate shift, as inferred by SODA data. The average LST anomaly in JJA and SON is strongly related to the local monsoon system, especially to variability of the meridional wind stress anomaly after application of a 3-year running mean, with correlation coefficients 0.57 and 0.51, respectively. In addition to the basin-scale wind forcing, the local northeasterly wind stress anomaly in the SCS can push Pacific water entering the SCS more readily in JJA and SON after climate shift, and an SCSTF-associated cooling effect may favor subsurface cooling more frequently after climate shift.     

Joint occurrence period of wind speed and wave height based on both service term and risk probability

Return periods calculated for different environmental conditions are key parameters for ocean platform design.Many codes for offshore structure design give no consideration about the correlativity among multi-loads and over-estimate design values.This frequently leads to not only higher investment but also distortion of structural reliability analysis.The definition of design return period in existing codes and industry criteria in China are summarized.Then joint return periods of different ocean environmental parameters are determined from the view of service term and danger risk.Based on a bivariate equivalent maximum entropy distribution,joint design parameters are estimated for the concomitant wave height and wind speed at a site in the Bohai Sea.The calculated results show that even if the return period of each environmental factor,such as wave height or wind speed,is small,their combinations can lead to larger joint return periods.Proper design criteria for joint return period associated with concomitant environmental conditions will reduce structural size and lead to lower investment of ocean platforms for the exploitation of marginal oil field.     

Characteristics of Thermal and Geopotential Height Differences Between Continent and Ocean and Its Role in the Strength of the Asian Summer Monsoon

The interdecadal factors affecting the summer monsoon winds over Somalia and the South China Sea were studied. Global geopotential heights and wind velocity fields of the 850-hPa and 200-hPa pressure levels, as well as sea surface temperature anomaly data and correlation coefficients were analyzed. The monsoons over Somalia and the South China Sea were found to be two different monsoon systems, operating on different mechanisms and being affected by different ocean-atmosphere interactions. The intensity of the Asian subtropical summer monsoon is influenced by the intensity of the summer monsoon over Somalia in the month of June and by the intensity of the summer monsoon over the South China Sea in the months of June and July. The summer monsoon wind strength over Somalia is affected by regional factors, such as the heating of the Tibetan plateau, and by global mechanisms, such as the subtropical heat exchange with Antarctica. The summer monsoon over the South China Sea is affected by different ocean-atmosphere interactions. The Somalia and subtropical summer monsoons have wind blowing down the pressure gradient from area over ocean to that over land, like typical summer monsoons. The South China Sea summer monsoon has winds that blow down the pressure gradient from area over land to that over ocean. The South China Sea summer monsoon is affected by the Kuroshio Current off the east coast of Japan.     

Comparison of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter derived wave period with ocean buoy data in the East China Sea and South China Sea

Altimeter wave period data obtained from continental shelf seas are analyzed in this paper. Empirical models are introduced for zero up-crossing and peak wave period calculation with TOPEX/POSEIDON data. Their performances are assessed using independent validation dataset in four sites in the open ocean of China. To provide more accurate wave period estimation, new coefficients are applied to reliable in situ data. Comparison of our estimated the wave periods with new linear calibrations based on independent data of Seapac 2100 deployed in the East China Sea and South China Sea showed that the accuracy was improved over estimates determined from earlier empirical models. Regional analysis indicated that the wave period model works better under wind sea condition.