An ocean data assimilation system and reanalysis of the World Ocean hydrophysical fields

A new version of the ocean data assimilation system (ODAS) developed at the Hydrometcentre of Russia is presented. The assimilation is performed following the sequential scheme analysis–forecast–analysis. The main components of the ODAS are procedures for operational observation data processing, a variational analysis scheme, and an ocean general circulation model used to estimate the first guess fields involved in the analysis. In situ observations of temperature and salinity in the upper 1400-m ocean layer obtained from various observational platforms are used as input data. In the new ODAS version, the horizontal resolution of the assimilating model and of the output products is increased, the previous 2D-Var analysis scheme is replaced by a more general 3D-Var scheme, and a more flexible incremental analysis updating procedure is introduced to correct the model calculations. A reanalysis of the main World Ocean hydrophysical fields over the 2005–2015 period has been performed using the updated ODAS. The reanalysis results are compared with data from independent sources.     

Regional features of the seasonal variability of linear trends of the temperature fields in the Atlantic Ocean and their relation to the large-scale circulation of waters

By using the data array of satellite measurements of the sea-surface temperature (SST), it is shown that the distributions of linear trends of the SST for 17 years (1986–2002) are closely correlated with the specific features of large-scale circulation of waters. The extreme values of trends of the SST are observed in the zones of the Gulf Stream, East-Greenland, Labrador, and North-Atlantic Currents, North Equatorial Countercurrent, South Equatorial and Antarctic Circumpolar Currents. The differences between the distributions of trends of the SST for some months of the year are revealed. In the zones of currents transporting warm surface waters from the tropical areas, positive trends of the SST are observed for the most part of the year. On the contrary, negative trends are predominant in the zones of currents transporting cold upwelling waters. Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 4, pp. 32–42, July–August, 2008.     

The distribution of particulate organic carbon and nitrogen in some surface waters of the World Ocean

Data is presented for the concentrations of organic carbon and nitrogen, and C:N ratios, in marine particulate matter, and for POC and PN, from surface waters collected in the northeastern Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and China Sea.The organic carbon content of this particulate matter varies between 4.6% and 29.9%, and has an average of 17.8%. The average organic carbon content of particulate matter from the various oceans decreases in the order: Northeastern Atlantic > South Atlantic > Indian Ocean > China Sea.The nitrogen content of the particulate matter varies between 1.0% and 3.9%, with an average of 2.2%, and in general follows the same trend as that of organic carbon.C:N ratios vary between 5.1 and 10.6, and have an average of 7.9.The POC contents of the oceanic waters vary between 6.6 and 211 μg/l, with an average of 52 μg/l. The concentrations in the surface waters decrease in the following order: Northeastern Atlantic τ China Sea > South Atlantic > Indian Ocean.The concentrations, and compositions, of particulate matter from various coastal localities are given for comparison with the oceanic values.     

A climatic model of runoff-driven coastal circulation

A simplified two-layer model is developed to examine long-term effects of freshwater runoff on coastal circulation, with particular emphasis on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The model handles punctual as well as distributed sources in a parabolic formulation free of any wave propagation, where entrainment, Coriolis force and interfacial friction determine the solution of the properties of the upper layer. Solutions are discussed for a steady coastal flow fed by a uniform runoff distribution and for outflow from a point source.     

Some hydrological features of Hawke Bay and nearby shelf waters

Temperature and salinity observations were made in Hawke Bay (east coast, North Island) and in the near shore coastal shelf water immediately to’ the south. Water in the bay was cooler and less saline than the shelf water on the open coast to the south. Hydrological analysis confirms that the main inflow is westward along the approximate centre line of the bay.     

A classification of hydrological climatic seasons in the China seas

By using a method of boundary temperature index of seasons, a classification of hydrological climatic seasons in the China seas is made on the basis statistics of the sea surface air and water temperatures over the years. The results indicate that the assignment of hydrological seasons in the China seas differs with various sea areas. It may be divided into three climatic belts. In the temperate zone area, four seasons are clearly distinct with very long winter. While in the subtropical zone area, there is no winter throughout the year. The autumn is linked together with the spring, and the summer is unusually long. As for the tropical zone area, it is summer all the year round without any other seasons. In addition , the regular pattern of transformation of the four seasons and the regional characteristics of the length of each season are analyzed in greater detail. The results are in agreement with the continental seasonal classification and it is also shown that the results are reasonable and reliabl     

Ocean circulation at and near Cobb Seamount

This paper describes observations of the velocity field over and near Cobb Seamount, a shallow seamount near the bifurcation of the Subarctic Current into the California Current in the northeast Pacific Ocean. The background flow field is examined with surface drifter data acquired as part of the WOCE Surface Velocity Program. The likelihood that a Taylor Cap circulation will be observed at Cobb is then estimated. The actual circulation at Cobb is examined with current meters deployed on three separate visits to the site and surveys of the velocity field carried out using an RDI acoustic Doppler current profiler. The observations indicate that a recirculation around the seamount does exist but not fit well with the theory of formation of a stratified Taylor column. A divergent bottom Ekman layer is also observed, which might have important implications for the trapping and retention of fish larvae near Cobb Seamount.     

Physical and hydrological characteristics of climatic frontal zones in the Tropical Atlantic

Climatic frontal zones are selected in the thermohaline fields of the Tropical Atlantic by analyzing the many-year-average seasonal database reduced to the nodes of a one-degree grid. We determine physical characteristics of the frontal zones, study their spatial and temporal variability, and reveal basic regularities of the appearance of frontal zones in the fields of thermohaline characteristics. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev     

世界大洋潮波特征的比较分析

对TOPEX/Poseidon(以下简称T/P)高度计资料直接分析得到4个主要分潮(M2,K1,S2和O1)的调和常数,并与5个全球大洋潮波模式的模拟结果和138个验潮站观测资料的分析结果进行了系统比较,得出如下结论:在深水大洋,高度计资料直接分析结果与潮波模式模拟结果较一致;模拟出的无潮点的个数和位置也较一致;半日分潮模拟结果比全日分潮要好。5个模式模拟结果之间的差异相对较小,振幅的绝对偏差在1.0 cm左右,迟角的绝对偏差在10(°)左右。在陆架浅海,不同模型结果差异相对较大。高度计资料直接分析结果比模式模拟结果普遍偏小,尤其在陆架浅海更是如此。     

Estimation of the long-term variability of hydrophysical characteristics of the Black Sea based on the assimilation of the climatic hydrological fields L and altimetry data

To study the long-term variability of the thermohaline and dynamic characteristics of the Black Sea, we use three versions of climatic fields, namely, the fields reconstructed in the model according to the old (1903–1982) and new (1903–2003) hydrological climatic data arrays of temperature and salinity and according to the data of satellite altimetry. The analysis of the altimetry-based climatic fields confirms the distinctions (established earlier according to the old and new data arrays) in the seasonal variability of the integral characteristics of temperature and salinity and in the structures of hydrophysical fields in the sea. It is shown that, in the winter-spring season, the thermohaline fields reconstructed according to the new and altimetry data arrays are characterized by a small elevation of the halocline (pycnocline) and the upper boundary of the cold intermediate layer. In all seasons, the altimetry-based surface geostrophic currents contain numerous mesoscale eddies with different signs of rotation. Moreover, in all seasons, the Rim Current reconstructed according to the altimetry data is characterized by a narrower jet almost along the entire its length. This jet is especially intense near the coasts of West Anatolia. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 4, pp. 3–17, July–August, 2006.     

Continental Drift and World Ocean Level Variations

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The ocean level fluctuations relative to continents are caused by both physical processes related to water volume variations and tectonic processes...     

Ocean acidification in New Zealand waters: trends and impacts

The threat posed by ocean acidification (OA) to the diversity and productivity of New Zealand marine ecosystems is assessed in a synthesis of published trends and impacts. A 20-year time series in Subantarctic water, and a national coastal monitoring programme, provide insight into pH variability, and context for experimental design, modelling and projections. A review of the potential impact of changes in the carbonate system on the major phyla in New Zealand waters confirms international observations that calcifying organisms, and particularly their early life-history stages, are vulnerable. The synthesis considers ecosystem and socio-economic impacts, and identifies current knowledge gaps and future research directions, including mechanistic studies of OA sensitivity. Advanced ecosystem models of OA, that incorporate the indirect effects of OA and interactions with other climate stressors, are required for robust projection of the future status of New Zealand marine ecosystems.     

Peculiarities of water circulation in the south-western Indian Ocean

In this paper observational data are used to compute drift and geostrophic current components and to evaluate water transport in the upper 0–800 m ocean layer. Water circulation in the south-western Indian Ocean has been shown to differ from the circulation in similar areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The West Australian current, closing the anticyclonic gyre, is an intervening flow. On the other hand, within the upper 200 m layer, the current flows southward along the West Australian coast, thereby producing specific hydrological conditions in that region. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

The WOCE-era 3-D Pacific Ocean circulation and heat budget

To address questions concerning the intensity and spatial structure of the three-dimensional circulation within the Pacific Ocean and the associated advective and diffusive property flux divergences, data from approximately 3000 high-quality hydrographic stations collected on 40 zonal and meridional cruises have been merged into a physically consistent model. The majority of the stations were occupied as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), which took place in the 1990s. These data are supplemented by a few pre-WOCE surveys of similar quality, and time-averaged direct-velocity and historical hydrographic measurements about the equator.An inverse box model formalism is employed to estimate the absolute along-isopycnal velocity field, the magnitude and spatial distribution of the associated diapycnal flow and the corresponding diapycnal advective and diffusive property flux divergences. The resulting large-scale WOCE Pacific circulation can be described as two shallow overturning cells at mid- to low latitudes, one in each hemisphere, and a single deep cell which brings abyssal waters from the Southern Ocean into the Pacific where they upwell across isopycnals and are returned south as deep waters. Upwelling is seen to occur throughout most of the basin with generally larger dianeutral transport and greater mixing occurring at depth. The derived pattern of ocean heat transport divergence is compared to published results based on air–sea flux estimates. The synthesis suggests a strongly east/west oriented pattern of air–sea heat flux with heat loss to the atmosphere throughout most of the western basins, and a gain of heat throughout the tropics extending poleward through the eastern basins. The calculated meridional heat transport agrees well with previous hydrographic estimates. Consistent with many of the climatologies at a variety of latitudes as well, our meridional heat transport estimates tend toward lower values in both hemispheres.     

Thermostads and circulation in the upper layer of the Atlantic Ocean

There are three major permanent thermostads with roughly the same potential densities in the upper layer of the Atlantic Ocean. One is the thermostad of the 13°C Water in the equatorial Atlantic. The original type of the 13°C Water is formed in the thermocline in the eastern sector of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre by vertical mixing of dense, low-salinity water from the winter outcrop farther south and overlying less dense, high-salinity water. There might also be a lateral contribution of relatively high-salinity water from the Indian Ocean. The original 13°C Water thus formed is transported northwestward along the northern edge of the subtropical gyre and fed into the North Brazilian Current, which flows equatorward along the coast of Brazil. In the region of the equator, the Equatorial Undercurrent and the subsurface North and South Equatorial countercurrents branch off from the North Brazilian Current and carry the 13°C Water eastward to the thermostad region. Vertical mixing does not explain the development of the thermostad, but is found to be essential in determining the ultimate characteristics of the 13°C Water. The other two thermostads are those of the 18°C Water in the Sargasso Sea and the Subantarctic Mode Water in the western South Atlantic. Unlike the 13°C Water, both of these mode waters are formed as thermostads in the surface layer by winter convection, but vertical mixing in the subtropical gyres may play a role in determining their characteristics. All the three thermostads appear to be required to balance the system of flows in opposing directions.     

Anti-warming of deep layers in the World Ocean

Manifestation of the pumping effect (pump up/pump down) in the periodic problem of nonlinear heat conductivity was studied theoretically for the temperature of the deep layers averaged over the latitude and longitude of the World Ocean. It was shown that the pumping effect in the World Ocean is negative; i.e., when the amplitude of the sea surface temperature (SST) fluctuations increases, the temperature in its depths decreases. Thus, heat is pumped from the depths. Vice versa, if the amplitude of the SST fluctuations decreases as compared with the previous period, the temperature in the depths of the ocean increases; i.e., heat is pumped into the deep layers of the ocean. The period of climate warming is characterized by an increase in the amplitude of the interannual SST fluctuations, which, according to the theory developed, should lead to the cooling of the deep layers of the World Ocean.     

The numerical simulation of Pacific Ocean circulation with five-level model

A five-level oceanic primitive equation model has been developed. This model is integrated numerically with annual mean wind stress and heat flux at sea surface for 30 a. The ocean circulations tend to quasi-stability. The simulated results show that the computed annual mean currents and sea surface temperature agree well with the observations.