Numerical simulation of the tropical Pacific response to equatorial wind stress anomalies

The results of the tropical Pacific response to the sudden onset of the equatorial wind stress anomalies are discussed. The ocean model is a barotropic, non-linearized one that includes reduced-gravity and an equation for the temperature of the ocean mixed-layer. The experiments are based on a state of equilibrium reached through a long running under the action of annual mean wind stress. There are two kinds of westward wind intensity regions: the whole tropical Pacific and the western tropical Pacific, which are all between latitude 6. 8癗 and 6. 8癝.In these cases, the results show that the positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Eastern Pacific and the negative SST anomalies in the Western Pacific are produced, and the positive SST anomalies propagate eastward, just as those observed during the actual El Nino phenomena. The propagations of the Kelvin waves and Rossby waves in the ocean are discussed.Another experiment is also carried out in simulating the process of the decay of El Ni     

Primary productivity in the western tropical Pacific and equatorial warm waters

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The effect of unstable inertia-gravity wave on the occurrence and the development of typhoon and tropical cyclone

In this paper,the analysis of the occurrence and the development of typhoon and tropical cyclone is made with the unstable theory of wave. The result indicates that the primary wave is the unstable inertia-gravity wave in the process of the occurrence and the deveJopmant of typhoon and tropical cyclone: The existence of the deep moist layer and the heating by moisture condensation can impel and intensify the unstability of the wave and is favourable for the reduction of the wave energy dispersion, therefore, it is good for the formation and the development of typhoon and tropical cyclone, and also can slow down the wave speed. Besides, the condition that the change of the specific volume of the basic state with pressure is less than that of adiabatic state may also lead to the wave unstability, thus may have certain effect on the occurrence and the development of typhoon and tropical cyclone.     

Interannual variability of Kelvin wave propagation in the wave guides of the equatorial Indian Ocean,the coastal Bay of Bengal and the southeastern Arabian Sea during 1993–2006

The observed variability of the Kelvin waves and their propagation in the equatorial wave guide of the Indian Ocean and in the coastal wave guides of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the southeastern Arabian Sea (AS) on seasonal to interannual time scales during years 1993–2006 is examined utilizing all the available satellite and in-situ measurements. The Kelvin wave regime inferred from the satellite-derived sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) shows a distinct annual cycle composed of two pairs of alternate upwelling (first one occurring during January–March and the second one occurring during August–September) and downwelling (first one occurring during April–June and the second one occurring during October–December) Kelvin waves that propagate eastward along the equator and hit the Sumatra coast and bifurcate. The northern branches propagate counterclockwise over varied distances along the coastal wave guide of the BoB. The potential mechanisms that contribute to the mid-way termination of the first upwelling and the first downwelling Kelvin waves in the wave guide of the BoB are hypothesized. The second downwelling Kelvin wave alone reaches the southeastern AS, and it shows large interannual variability caused primarily by similar variability in the equatorial westerly winds during boreal fall. The westward propagating downwelling Rossby waves triggered by the second downwelling Kelvin wave off the eastern rim of the BoB also shows large interannual variability in the near surface thermal structure derived from SODA analysis. The strength of the equatorial westerlies driven by the east–west gradient of the heat sources in the troposphere appears to be a critical factor in determining the observed interannual variability of the second downwelling Kelvin wave in the wave guides of the equatorial Indian Ocean, the coastal BoB, and the southeastern AS.     

Nolinear waves and their barotropic stability in the tropical ocean and atmosphere

In this paper, the nonlinear waves and their barotropic stability in the tropical ocean and atmosphere are studied with the qualitative theory of the ordinary differential equation. The relationship is derived between the stability of nonlinear waves with different frequencies and the basic currents and their horizontal shear in the tropical ocean and atmosphere.     

Infragravity waves with internal wave characteristics in the south of the Bohai Sea of China

The measurements by using ADCP (500 KH) and CTD were made during August 2000 in the south (37°55''N, 120°25''E) of the Bohai Sea, where the water depth was about 16.5m. The data of horizontal velocity with sampling interval of 2 min in 7 layers were obtained. The power spec-trum analysis of these data indicates that there are very energetic infragrvity waves with a period of about 6 min. The coherence spetrum analysis and the analysis of temporal variation of shear show that these infragravity waves are mainly the free wave model (properties of edge waves), in the meantimethey possess some characteristics of internal waves, which are likely due to the distinctive marine environment in this area. It is speculated on that the instability processes (chiefly shear instability) of sheared stratified tidal flow owing to the effect of sea-floor slope in the coastal area might be the main mechanism generating these infragravity waves.     

Modeling nonlinear wave–wave interactions with the elliptic mild slope equation

An approach is developed to simulate wave–wave interactions using nonlinear elliptic mild-slope equation in domains where wave reflection, refraction, diffraction and breaking effects must also be considered. This involves the construction of an efficient solution procedure including effective boundary treatment, modification of the nonlinear equation to resolve convergence issues, and validation of the overall approach. For solving the second-order boundary-value problem, the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) scheme is employed, and the use of approximate boundary conditions is supplemented, for improved accuracy, with internal wave generation method and dissipative sponge layers. The performance of the nonlinear model is investigated for a range of practical wave conditions involving reflection, diffraction and shoaling in the presence of nonlinear wave–wave interactions. In addition, the transformation of a wave spectrum due to nonlinear shoaling and breaking, and nonlinear resonance inside a rectangular harbor are simulated. Numerical calculations are compared with the results from other relevant nonlinear models and experimental data available in literature. Results show that the approach developed here performs reasonably well, and has thus improved the applicability of this class of wave transformation models.     

The application of wave refraction-diffraction model with friction

In this paper a refraction-diffraction model with friction is used to compute wave characteristics in a region near a certain port. Comparing with the results from refraction model, and with the data observed during a typhoon in 1985, it is found that the characteristics from the refraction-diffraction model with friction are reasonable, and that the results are in rather good agreement with observations. Thus it can be concluded that the model is effective for computing coastal wave characteristics over complicated bottom topography.     

Numerical modeling on the interaction of internal solitary wave with slope-shelf and modal analysis

On the basis of a nonhydrostatic numerical model,the interaction of internal solitary wave with slope-shelf was studied.The breaking and polarity transformation were analyzed.A "kink" structure,due to shoaling topography and higher nonlinear effect,was found to be generated by the leading wave before breaking.Coherent vortex shedding behind the leading wave was presented.The evolution characteristics of the modal structure were analyzed based on the empirical orthogonal function method.The modal structure was complicated due to the effect of the variable topography,especially when breaking occurred.In the performed experiments,the contributions to the total variance from higher mode jumped from no more than 20% to over 40%.     

The force of oblique incident wave on the breakwater with a partially perforated wall

1 IntroductionRecently breakwaters with perforated front wallshave been widely used. The use of perforated break-waters mainly has two advantages. Firstly, wave forcesacting on the whole structure can be divided into twoparts on two different walls with a phase difference.To select the distance between the two plates suitably,the total wave force on the whole structure can bemaintained at a low level. Secondly, waves will dissi-pate when they transmit over a porous medium. Thus,the reflection…     

The circularly propagating pattern of the low-frequencyfluctuations of monthly MSL in the tropical PacificOcean and its correlation with El Nino

The long-term time series analysis of the SST (sea surface temperature) in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean and the monthly MSL (mean sea level) in the tropical Pacific Ocean is conducted. Their quasiperiodic and low-frequency oscillation features are revealed. The significant periods of low-frequency fluctuations for monthly MSL in the area of 20°N-20° S are between 43. 5 months and 50. 0 months, approximating closely to 47. 6 months which is the significant period of SST in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean. From the results of space-spectral analysis, the low-frequency fluctations of monthly MSL in the tropical Pacific Ocean appear to have a anticlockwise circularly-propagating pattern, which is, the Eastern Pacific Ocean (off-shore of Mexico) →the area of NEC (North Equatorial Current) →the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean→the area of NECC (North Equatorial Counter-Current)→the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean. The phases of the pattern correspond to those of El Nino cycle. On the basis     

Can the mean structure of the tropical pycnocline affect ENSO period in coupled climate models?

The dynamical link between mean state biases and dominant timescales of interannual variability is examined using the output from two state-of-the-art coupled model simulations, results from an ocean-only simulation forced with observed surface fields, and various observational data sets. The focus of this study is the relative role of the mean upper ocean density structure vs. anomalous wind forcing in controlling the spectral characteristics of tropical Pacific interannual variability. It is shown that an extensive South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) creates a potential vorticity (PV) barrier in the Southern Hemisphere similar to the one associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the Northern Hemisphere in both climate models. The PV barrier in the Southern Hemisphere strongly constrains the mean equatorward flow in the ocean model pycnocline, creating a “choke point” for the mean flow around 10°S. It is then examined whether the PV barrier can also limit the anomalous flow associated with mass recharge/discharge to/from the equatorial thermocline at interannual timescales. If the anomalous flow were impeded by the mean PV structure the meridional extent of the area involved in the mass recharge/discharge process would be narrower, leading to a shorter adjustment (and ENSO) timescale. Comparison of the two climate models, both of which have similarly erroneous PV structures in the southern tropical Pacific, but different interannual timescales, shows that the meridional extent of the anomalous meridional transport is primarily controlled by the latitudinal location of the wind stress curl anomalies, while the mean state bias in the Southern Hemisphere does not seem to have any significant influence.     

A simple approximation for wave refraction – Application to the assessment of the nearshore wave directionality

This work presents a simple and relatively quick methodology to obtain the nearshore wave angle. The method is especially valuable for curvilinear coasts where Snell’s law may provide excessively inaccurate results. We defined a correction factor, K, that depends on the geometry of the coast and on the wave climate. The values of this coefficient were obtained minimizing the differences with a sophisticated numerical model. The limitations and performance of the methodology are further discussed. The procedure was applied to a beach in Southern Spain to analyze the influence of shoreline geometry on nearshore wave directionality. Offshore and nearshore distributions of wave period and directions were analyzed, and the results showed that the geometry of the coast played a crucial role in the directionality of the nearshore waves, which also plays an important role in hydrodynamics. The methodology presented here is able to analyze and quantify the importance of this directionality without a noticeable computational cost, even when a long time series of wave data are considered. Hence, this methodology constitutes a useful and efficient tool for practical applications in Coastal and Ocean Engineering, such as sedimentary, wave energy, and wave climate studies.     

Results of Russian studies of the middle atmosphere, 2007–2010

This paper presents a review of the results from Russian studies of the middle atmosphere in 2007–2010 drawn up by the Commission on the Middle Atmosphere of the Section of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences of the National Geophysical Committee, Russian Academy of Sciences, for the National Report on Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences submitted to the XXIV General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (Melbourne, Australia, June 28–July 7, 2011).     

A model of the formation and development of ocean shear wave

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Evaluation of the simulation capability of the Wavewatch Ⅲ model for Pacific Ocean wave

Wave climate analysis and other applications for the Pacific Ocean require a reliable wave hindcast. Five source and sink term packages in the Wavewatch III model(v3.14 and v4.18) are compared and assessed in this study through comprehensive observations, including altimeter significant wave height, advanced synthetic aperture radar swell, and buoy wave parameters and spectrum. In addition to the evaluation of typically used integral parameters, the spectra partitioning method contributes to the detailed wave system and wave maturity validation. The modified performance evaluation method(PS) effectively reduces attribute numbers and facilitates the overall assessment. To avoid possible misleading results in the root mean square error-based validations, another indicator called HH(indicating the two authors) is also calculated to guarantee the consistency of the results. The widely used Tolman and Chalikov(TC) package is still generally efficient in determining the integral properties of wave spectra but is physically deficient in explaining the dissipation processes. The ST4 package performs well in overall wave parameters and significantly improves the accuracy of wave systems in the open ocean. Meanwhile, the newly published ST6 package is slightly better in determining swell energy variations. The two packages(ACC350 and BJA) obtained from Wavewatch III v3.14 exhibit large scatters at different sea states. The three most ideal packages are further examined in terms of reproducing waveinduced momentum flux from the perspective of transport. Stokes transport analysis indicates that ST4 is the closest to the NDBC-buoy-spectrum-based transport values, and TC and ST6 tend to overestimate and underestimate the transport magnitude, respectively, in swell mixed areas. This difference must be considered,particularly in air–wave–current coupling research and upper ocean analysis. The assessment results provide guidance for the selection of ST4 for use in a background Pacific Ocean hindcast for high wave climate research and China Sea swell type analysis.     

Modelling the effect of climate change on the wave climate of the world’s oceans

This paper analyses the trends and the future projections of significant wave height in several ocean areas at different parts of the world. It uses a stochastic Bayesian hierarchical space-time model, with a regression component with atmospheric levels of CO₂ as covariates in order to estimate the expected long-term trends and make future projections towards the year 2100. The model was initially developed for an area in the North Atlantic ocean, and has been found to perform reasonably well there, and it is now investigated how the model performs for other ocean areas. 11 new ocean areas have been analysed with the model, and this paper presents the results pertaining to the estimated long-term trends and future projections of monthly maximum significant wave height for each of the 12 ocean areas.     

Sharing benefits of the common heritage of mankind – Is the deep seabed mining regime ready?

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea declares the seabed beyond national jurisdiction and its mineral resources as the “common heritage of mankind” (CHM). This article examines the operationalisation of the CHM principle in the international seabed mining regime, with focus placed on the sharing of benefits derived from mining. The article begins by providing an overview of the CHM principle, before examining four modalities provided for in the Convention, both institutional and substantial, and their role in giving effect to the CHM principle: (1) financial benefits; (2) the “Enterprise”; (3) the parallel system of reserved areas; and, (4) marine scientific research. Finally, overarching issues are discussed and some suggestions on ways forward are presented. The article considers that the deep seabed mining regime is not yet ready to effectively share the benefits derived from the common heritage of mankind. In particular, the future of the Enterprise is uncertain and changes to the so-called parallel system that affect the CHM have received minimal discussion. Moreover, a lack of publicly available research data related to seabed mining is hindering current benefits for humankind. However, work is underway at the International Seabed Authority to establish rules and policies with respect to the sharing of financial benefits. While the CHM principle remains largely untested, approaches that are transparent, inclusive, accountable, and equitable are more likely to be successful.     

Potential enstrophical diagnostic analyses on the mechanism of change of tropical cyclone intensity

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