Morpholithodynamic processes in the coastal zone of the Anapa spit barrier

The results of field studies of the beach dynamics and the continental slope (over the depth range from 0 to 5 m) of the Anapa spit barrier that were carried out in 2002–2005 using ten lateral profiles are presented. The analysis of the location of the submarine ridges based on the data of 1992 up to a depth of 11 m has shown that the configuration thereof facilitates the transport of sediments to the southeast, thus bypassing Cape Anapa. No resultant accumulation of beach-forming sediments on the southeastern flank of the spit barrier occurs within the submarine slope bordering the high coast, thus provoking the active erosion of the town beach over the last 25–30 years. The main reasons for this are the tectonic deformation of the coastal region and the submarine slope between the harbor and the central part of the town beach, as well as the change in the azimuth orientation of the resultant waves from 135° in the 1960s–1970s to 210° over the past decade. The relatively stable coast and the regions of intense erosion of the accumulative body of the Anapa spit barrier were revealed on the basis of the measurements and the analysis of the topographic data.     

环渤海沿岸海表温度资料的均一性检验与订正

本文对环渤海沿岸具有代表性且资料完整的6个海洋观测站的月均海表温度(SST)序列作均一性检验和订正。我国海洋观测站密集度低,难以选择参考序列,本文首先采用不依赖参考序列的惩罚最大F检验(PMFT)方法对SST序列检验,利用详尽的元数据对检验结果进行确认,再对不连续点订正,该方法适用于元数据详尽的海洋观测站。对于元数据不详尽的观测站,使用惩罚最大T检验(PMT)方法,选取与海洋台站距离近且相关显著的气象观测站的均一化地面气温序列来制作参考序列,对SST序列进行检验和订正。结果表明,环渤海地区SST序列都存在一定非均一性,观测站较大距离迁移和观测系统变更(从人工观测到自动化观测)是造成非均一性的重要原因。订正后的环渤海地区年平均SST增温趋势更加明显。本文使用不同方法来检验SST序列的均一性,该思路对沿海其他海区观测站SST均一性检验和订正有一定参考价值和应用前景,可为沿海气候变化研究提供科学准确的第一手资料。     

Field studies of the motion of sediments in the coastal zone of the sea

We present the results of measurements carried out with the help of the “Donnaya Stantsiya” complex of equipment in the coastal zone of the Crimean shelf near Evpatoriya and near the southeast end of the Kosa Tuzla Island. For the same intensity of winds in these regions, the intensities of waves and turbulence in the coastal zone near Evpatoriya are much higher and, hence, the fluxes of suspended sediments are more intense. The accumulated data are intended for the correction of the kinetic model used for the evaluation of the characteristics of the field of suspended sediments in the shallow-water areas.     

Features of wind field over the sea surface in the coastal area

In this paper we analyze SAR wind field features, in particular the effects of wind shadowing. These effects represent the dynamics of the internal atmospheric boundary layer, which is formed due to the transition of the air flow arriving from the rough land surface to the “smooth” water surface. In the wind-shadowed area, the flow accelerates, and a surface wind stress increases with fetch. The width of the shadow depends not only on the wind speed and atmospheric boundary layer stratification, but also on geographic features such as windflow multiple transformations over the complex surface land–Lake Chudskoe–land–Gulf of Finland. Measurements showed that, in the area of wind acceleration, the surface stress normalized by an equilibrium value (far from the coast) is a universal function of dimensionless fetch Xf/G. Surface wind stress reaches an equilibrium value at Xf/G ≈ 0.4, which is the scale of the planetary-boundary-layer relaxation.     

Information-and-measuring drifter system for the monitoring of currents in the coastal zone of the sea

The autonomous drifting buoys equipped with satellite link turn into one of the most important components of the global system of operative observations of the ocean and the surface layer of the atmosphere. However, on the regional level, the problem of analysis of the surface circulation of waters in the coastal zone and sea straits remains quite urgent because the available drifters cannot be used in this case due to their sizes and long intervals between measurements. We present the results of development and testing of a new drifter system aimed at measuring currents. The system is based on the use of buoys operating at depths less than 1 m. To improve the space-and-time resolution of measurements, the buoys are equipped with receivers of the global positioning system (GPS) and GSM modems for the data transfer via cellular communication networks. The drifter system guarantees the possibility of determination of the coordinates of buoys with a resolution of 3 min in time and 14 m in space. We describe the specific features of the design of the proposed information-and-measuring drifter system and present the first results of application of new buoys called “minidrifters” for the pilot monitoring of currents in the Kerch Strait.     

基于合成孔径雷达的长江口海表流场反演

Range Doppler velocities derived from the Envisat advanced synthetic aperture radar（ASAR） wide swath images are analyzed and assessed against the numerically simulated surface current fields derived from the finite volume coastal ocean model（FVCOM） for the Changjiang Estuary. Comparisons with the FVCOM simulations show that the European Space Agency（ESA） Envisat ASAR based Doppler shift anomaly retrievals have the capability to capture quantitative information of the surface currents in the Changjiang Estuary. The uncertainty analysis of the ASAR range Doppler velocity estimates are discussed with regard to the azimuthal and range bias corrections, radar incidence angles, inaccuracy in the wind field corrections and the presence of rain cells.The corrected range Doppler velocities for the Changjiang Estuary area are highly valuable as they exhibit quantitative expressions related to the multiscale upper layer dynamics and surface current variability around the East China Sea, including the Changjiang Estuary.     

河口海岸带地区营养盐收支及模型研究

据统计,现代海岸带虽然只占世界海洋表面的15%,水体积的0.5%,但目前世界上大约50%～60%的人口集中在距离海岸60 km的狭长地带[1].随着人口增长、工农业和市政建设的发展,近几十年间河口及近岸地区的营养盐浓度不断增加,全球范围内氮、磷向海岸带的输送量分别增加2.5和2倍[2].营养盐含量的增加及营养盐比例(如N∶P、Si∶N和Si∶P)[3,4]的变化,引起河口海岸带地区的富营养化加剧,导致浮游植物群落结构的变化并且伴随着有害藻华的出现和持续.为更好地了解并控制河口海岸带地区的富营养化过程,研究营养盐的收支是极为必要的.     

基于11年高度计数据的中国海海平面变化初步研究

利用1992年10月~2004年1月共11 a的TOPEX/Poseidon(T/P)和Jason-1高度计数据,对中国海海平面的时空变化变化做了初步分析,并且对11 a间海平面的上升速率进行了分析。研究发现中国海海平面11 a间的一些基本的变化特征:(1)11 a间中国海海平面变化被两次厄尔尼诺-拉尼娜现象分成了5个阶段;(2)中国海海平面变化以1 a周期为主,其中黄海和东海变化较为相似,以1 a周期信号为主,而渤海则还有2个月的周期信号,南海还有0.5 a信号;(3)11 a间,渤海海平面变化振幅最大,黄海和东海次之,南海变化最小,南海海平面变化受厄尔尼诺-拉尼娜事件影响程度最大,黄海和东海次之,渤海最小;(4)中国海海平面的上升速率为0.593 cm/a,渤海、黄海、东海、南海的上升速率依次为0.365,0.517,0.683,0.611 cm/a。分析结果为中国海海平面的变化规律、厄尔尼诺现象对中国海海平面变化的影响以及对未来海平面上升趋势的预测提供了有力的依据。     

Non-hydrostatic finite element model for coastal wave processes

This paper presents the application of the depth-integrated non-hydrostatic finite element model, CCHE2D-NHWAVE (Wei and Jia, 2014), for simulating several types of coastal wave processes. Specifically, the model is applied to (1) predict the swash zone hydrodynamics involving wave bore propagation, (2) resolve wave propagation, breaking, and overtopping in fringing reef environments, (3) study the vegetation effect on wave height reduction through both submerged and emergent vegetation zones using the drag force term technique, and (4) simulate tsunami wave breaking in the nearshore zone and inundation in the coastal area. Satisfactory agreement between numerical results and benchmark data shows that the non-hydrostatic model is capable of modeling a wide range of coastal wave processes. Furthermore, thanks to its simple numerical formulation, the non-hydrostatic model also demonstrates a better computation efficiency when comparing with other numerical models.     

Flow resistance in the coastal zone

The apparent bed roughness, the roughness value experienced by a mean flow outside the wave-boundary layer, is deduced from the physical bed roughness and the wave–current interaction mechanism. Both the physical bed roughness and the wave–current interaction are described by a (combination of) model(s). Modelling of the apparent bed roughness leads to realistic results, however, the final results are rather sensitive to the particular choice of these models. Four bed form models and two wave–current interaction models were implemented in a 1-DV flow model to calculate near-bed velocities. A comparison between measured and predicted velocities shows that reasonable results can be obtained in this way. A constant bed roughness of 0.1 m, however, leads to even better results at this site during all conditions. This can be explained by the reversed influence of the form roughness and the wave–current interaction on the apparent bed roughness value for varying wave conditions.     

Measurements of the atmospheric turbulence in the coastal zone of the sea during weak wind from a mountainous coast

Results of measurements of the atmospheric turbulence in the layer between 1.5 and 21 m above sea level and the drag coefficient of the sea surface as the wind blows from a 4-km-long mountainous slope with a mean inclination of 11° are presented. The measurements of wind-speed profiles and its fluctuations at several levels, waves, and the main meteorological parameters were carried out in autumn 2005 and 2008 from a stationary platform located in the Black Sea at a distance of approximately 1 km from the southern coast of Crimea. It is shown that during weak synoptic wind a low-level wind jet develops at night over the sea with a maximum velocity up to 5–6 m/s at a level of approximately 6 m over the sea induced by the katabatic wind over the coastal slope. According to the approximate estimates, the horizontal scale of the low-level jet can reach a few tens of kilometers. This flow is characterized by the dissipation rate of the turbulence energy independent of height and low-frequency velocity fluctuations related to the gravity waves and advection of turbulence from the coast. It is shown that the lower part of the boundary layer (up to a height of 3 m) is adjusted to the sea-surface roughness. The dependencies of the drag coefficient on the wind speed or wave age are steadier than in the data for the open sea. However, the age of the waves is not a universal parameter at long and short fetches.     

A stochastic model of the atmospheric precipitation in the coastal zone of the Tropical Atlantic

A stochastic prognostic model of the atmospheric precipitation in the tropical area of the Atlantic Ocean is developed on the basis of a large data array. The data represent a series of monthly precipitation rates for 31 towns in the Republic of Guinea covering a period of 35–64 years as well as satellite data on the meridional displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone during 11 years. The model takes into account major regularities of the tropical precipitation: their impulsive periodic regime, trends, and the modulation of the stochastic component by the determined variability.Translated by Mikhai M. Trufanov.     

Influence of processes of nonlinear transformations of waves in the coastal zone on the height of breaking waves

Using data from laboratory, field, and numerical experiments, we investigated regularities in changes in the relative limit height of breaking waves (the breaking index) from peculiarities of nonlinear wave transformations and type of wave breaking. It is shown that the value of the breaking index depends on the relative part of the wave energy in the frequency range of the second nonlinear harmonic. If this part is more than 35%, then the breaking index can be taken as a constant equal to 0.6. These waves are spilling breaking waves, asymmetric on the horizontal axis, and are almost symmetric on the vertical axis. If this part of the energy is less than 35%, then the breaking index increases with increasing energy in the frequency range of the second harmonic. These waves are plunging breaking waves, asymmetric on the vertical axis, and are almost symmetric on the horizontal axis. It is revealed that the breaking index depends on the asymmetry of waves on the vertical axis, determined by the phase shift between the first and second nonlinear harmonic (biphase). It is shown that the relation between the amplitudes of the second and first nonlinear harmonics for an Ursell number less than 1 corresponds to Stokes’ second-order wave theory. The empirical dependences of the breaking index on the parameters of nonlinear transformation of waves are proposed.     

Probability distributions of peaks,troughs and heights of wind waves measured in the black sea coastal zone

The present paper examines the adequacy of different probability density functions to describe the peaks, troughs and peak-to-trough excursions of wind waves measured in the coastal zone of the Bulgarian part of the Black sea. For that purpose various theories for non-Gaussian random process are applied. Some theories depend on the mean, variance and coefficient of skewness γ₃ of the process. Others also take the coefficient of kurtosis γ₄ into consideration. The analyzed field data are gathered in the coastal zone of the Bulgarian part of the Black sea with depth decreasing from 18 to 1.3 m. The measurements are carried out simultaneously for 11 points with time series of 20 min duration. The coefficients of skewness and kurtosis in those time series are expressed as functions of depth and spectral peak frequency. Analogous dependencies on depth of other parameters are also found. As a result of the investigation it is concluded that the probabilities of occurrence of large wave crests and heights are underpredicted by all of the theories considered.     

Visualising the spatial extent of predicted coastal zone inundation due to sea level rise in south-west Western Australia

Visualising coastal zone inundation is crucial for both a quick assessment of coastal vulnerability and a full understanding of possible implications to population, infrastructure and environment. This study presents a simple but effective method of assessing the spatial extent of coastal zone inundation due to predicted sea level rise using commonly available elevation and image data as well as GIS software. The method is based on the geometrical principle of matching the raised sea level with the corresponding elevation contour line on land. Results for a test area along the south-west coast of Western Australia (∼200 km of coast line) show that a sea level rise of less than 0.5 m over the 21st century will have only minor impact but will become important when added to an extreme sea level event (e.g. storm surge). Both century-scale (∼0.5 m) based on tide gauge records and larger (>few metres) longer-term sea level rise predictions based on the melt of ice covered areas show essentially the same areas that are most vulnerable. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by the detection of areas that can be protected by relatively small flood protective structures at river and estuary entrances, thus providing valuable information for policy makers and local councils.     

Climate change, sea level rise and integrated coastal zone management: An IPCC approach

Expansion of economic activities, urbanisation, increased resource use and population growth are continuously increasing the vulnerability of the coastal zone. This vulnerability is now further raised by the threat of climate change and accelerated sea level rise. The potentially severe impacts force policy-makers to also consider long-term planning for climate change and sea level rise. For reasons of efficiency and effectiveness this long-term planning should be integrated with existing short-term plans, thus creating an Integrated Coastal Zone Management programme.As a starting point for coastal zone management, the assessment of a country's or region's vulnerability to accelerated sea level rise is of utmost importance. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has developed a common methodology for this purpose. Studies carried out according to this Common Methodology have been compared and combined, from which general conclusions on local, regional and global vulnerability have been drawn, the latter in the form of a Global Vulnerability Assessment.In order to address the challenge of coping with climate change and accelerated sea level rise, it is essential to foresee the possible impacts, and to take precautionary action. Because of the long lead times needed for creating the required technical and institutional infrastructures, such action should be taken in the short term. Furthermore, it should be part of a broader coastal zone management and planning context. This will require a holistic view, shared by the different institutional levels that exist, along which different needs and interests should be balanced.     

Morphogenetic classification of the Arctic coastal zone

Arctic coastal evolution is the result of interactions between exogenic and endogenic processes. In the arctic region, this evolution differs from that in other areas of the worlds oceans as a result of interactions between modern wave and ice factors, and the influences of glaciations and large-scale sea level changes in the past. Geologic structure, origin and development determine contemporary relief morphology. Morphology appears to be the most significant relief characteristic, but it is controlled by a set of interactive processes active over long periods. Our approach, in which a multitude of interacting factors are simultaneously analyzed and determined, could be called morphogenetic. We consider marine coasts and offshore zones (shelf) as a unit, and providing a general explanation for their evolution. The classification presented here is based upon the general approach given in the Science and Implementation Plan of Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD), a project of the International Arctic Science Committee and the International Permafrost Association. Our classification extends beyond the morphological ACD classification to include a morphogenetic classification.