Coastal flooding due to synoptic scale,meso-scale and remote forcings

Coastal flooding occurs due to storm surges generated by tropical and extra-tropical cyclones on the globe. The meteorological forcing fields for the generation of storm surges are the tangential surface wind stress on the ocean surface and the normal atmospheric pressure gradients associated with the weather systems. The large scale forcing from the cyclones is referred to as the synoptic scale and storm surge prediction from synoptic scale forcing is well developed and is reasonably satisfactory around the world. However, coastal flooding also occurs from weather systems, with forcing on a meso-scale and also from remote forcing. It is proposed here that the term “Storm surge” be used to only refer to coastal flooding from synoptic scale forcing and the terminology “Rissaga” be used for coastal flooding from meso-scale forcing. For flooding due to remote forcing, a new term “Kallakkadal” is proposed.     

A review of storm-surge research in China

In this paper are briefly introduced: (1) the general situations of storm hazards caused by different weather types; (2) the acquisition of data needed in storm-surge forecasting; (3) the current forecasting techniques of storm surges; (4) the calculations of storm surge with different return periods for coastal engineering and the exploitation of the ocean; and (5) the basic theoretical study of storm surges.     

Marine Ecosystem—Based Management: Definition,Principles, Framework and Practice

As the largest ecosystems of the earth, marine ecosystem provides many types of ecosystem service to human. More than 60% of the global population lives the coastal area. A healthy ocean is critical to our economy, health and way of life. However, with rapid population growth and densely inhabited coastal areas, our dependence on marine resources is greater than ever. The overuse and mismanagement of ecosystem services have placed great pressure on marine systems, thereby threatening the future of marine ecosystems, and the services they provide. With anthropogenic pressures increasing in coastal cities, adopting ecosystem-based management frameworks that minimize impacts on marine environments while allowing for sustainable development is critical. Marine Ecosystem-Based Management seeks to manage marine resources in ways that protect ecosystem health while providing the ecosystem services needed by people. Rather than focusing solely on a single species or resource, MEBM incorporates science and balances the demands of user groups in a manner that produces management strategies that are more likely to be sustainable than traditional approaches. The definition, principles and framework were discussed in this paper based on the summary of literature, and two examples were introduced. Last, some suggestions were put forward to marine ecosystem management for ocean ecosystem and for healthy coastal resources sustainable utilization.     

基于生态系统的海洋管理理论与实践

海洋孕育了丰富的生态系统服务功能,包括为人类提供多种海产食物、净化海洋环境和提供宜人景观及发展空间等。随着工程科技水平的提高,人类对海洋资源和空间的开发利用越来越多、越来越快,对海洋生态系统的影响也越来越大,这一问题在我国尤为突出。近20年来一些发达国家通过推行基于生态系统的海洋管理(MEBM),在海洋生态系统的框架下规范和管理开发活动,特别是在解决区域性海洋管理问题方面取得了一定成效,值得我们借鉴。概述了海洋生态系统及其服务功能,回顾了海洋开发中存在的问题以及MEBM的发展历程,系统阐述了MEBM的原则和措施,剖析了国内外MEBM的成功案例,探讨了在中国实施MEBM的必要性和前提条件。近年来,我国依据海洋功能区划来管理海洋开发已取得一定的成果。建议以此为基础,强化相关生态科学研究及相应技术和法规支撑,从而为我国海洋经济可持续发展提供保障。     

中国沙尘暴天气的新特征及成因分析

2000～2002年,中国北方地区频频发生沙尘暴天气,给当地和广大下游地区工农业生产、交通运输、空气质量和人民的日常生活都带来了极大危害。沙尘暴天气呈现频次高、发生时间提前、发生期时间长、强度大、影响范围广等新特征。对气候变化和地理环境背景的分析研究表明,近年来中国北方沙尘暴频繁爆发的原因主要是:1)近两年处于反厄尔尼诺(拉尼娜)事件的高峰期,使东亚冬季风频繁,导致大风天气频繁发生;2)在沙尘暴发生季节,中国北方降水明显减少,气温回升迅速且温度偏高于往年,使解冻的地表土层疏松,为沙尘暴的发生提供了丰富的沙源;3)近年来中国北方干旱加剧、土地荒漠化严重,使原本广阔的戈壁沙漠面积更加扩大,有利于沙尘暴天气的发生,这与不合理的土地利用状况有关。     

Abundance and Community Structure of Airborne Microorganisms over the Ocean and Their Influencing Mechanisms

Airborne microorganisms play an essential role in the microbial propagation and maintenance of the ecosystem diversity, and also significantly affect the climate by acting as effective Ice Nucleus (IN) and Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN). The ocean is a vital source and destination for airborne microbes. Nevertheless, little information has been obtained on the distribution of abundance and diversity of airborne microorganisms over the ocean. This paper systematically reviewed the abundance, size distribution, and community structure of airborne microorganisms over the ocean, as well as various environmental and meteorological factors that control the distribution of microbes in marine aerosols. The commonly used methods for detecting airborne microorganisms and their development prospects were also discussed. We pointed out that sampling and detection of extremely low concentration microorganisms in marine aerosols are key problems to be solved in this field, and future research directions include the increase of the cruising observation in open oceans and combination of advanced molecular techniques and other traditional methods. This paper provides extensive and crucial information for subsequently in-depth research on airborne microorganisms over the ocean, revealing their sources, activities, climate and ecological effects.     

数据同化在海洋生态模型中的应用和研究进展

将数据同化方法引入海洋生态系统动力学模型研究,利用现有的观测数据,获得最佳的模式参数、初始场或提高状态模拟,是当前多学科交叉研究的热门领域。本文依据国内外研究进展,主要就海洋生态模型研究中所采用的变分伴随、卡尔曼滤波、模拟退火法方法进行了介绍,总结了数据同化在我国的海洋生态系统研究中的现状和发展趋势。     

Tidal-shelf sedimentation: an example from the Scottish Dalradian

The Jura Quartzite, a formation of probably late Precambrian metasediments over 5 km thick from the Caledonian belt in Southwest Scotland, has been divided into a coarse and three fine facies. The former comprises cross-bedded sands with some laminated sands and silt horizons, interpreted as the deposits of shallow marine tidal dunes and other bedforms together with some beach units. Deposition from suspension of silt and sand formed climbing dunes while largescale erosion produced flat or channelled surfaces. The fine facies comprise laterally persistent, parallel and cross-laminated sand units from millimetres to decimetres thick, interbedded with muds. The coarse and fine facies can be finely interbedded, the former sometimes filling decimetre deep, straight channels, cut in the latter. The fine facies exhibit structures indicative of deposition from decelerating currents and are interpreted as shallow marine storm deposits. The facies are compared with a model developed from published observations on modern shelf areas. Zones of erosion, large and small dunes, flat bedded sand and mud are considered to be the end product of a wide spectrum of tidal and storm conditions. During severe storms the fair weather tidal dunes may be modified or washed out, new dunes may be initiated downcurrent of the normal dune field while storm-sand layers are deposited in the distal zones. Hence, the nature of the preserved sediment blanket reflects the rare severe storm event rather than normal tidal conditions. The Jura Quartzite was deposited in a tidal gulf intimately connected with an ocean basin. The north-northeast directed palaeocurrent modes are probably roughly parallel to the coastline.     

Simultaneous meteorological tsunamis and storm surges at Buenos Aires coast,southeastern South America

Meteorological tsunamis are frequently observed in different tide stations at the southeastern coast of South America. They are associated with the occurrence of atmospheric gravity waves during the passages of cold fronts over the Buenos Aires Province continental shelf. On the other hand, storm surges are also frequent in the region, and they are associated with strong and persistent southerlies, which are also frequent during cold front passages. The impact of meteorological tsunamis in coastal erosion and in the statistics of storm surge trends is discussed in this paper. For this study, fifteen meteorological tsunamis (with maximum wave heights higher than 0.20 m), seven of them simultaneous to the occurrence of storm surge events (with extreme levels higher than |±0.60 m|), are selected from April 2010 to January 2013. The impact of meteorological tsunamis in the storm erosion potential index (SEPI) is evaluated. Not significant differences are obtained between SEPI calculated with and without filtering the meteorological tsunami signal from the storm surge data series. Moreover, several experiments are carried out computing SEPI from synthetic sea level data series, but very low changes (lower than 4 %) are also obtained. It is concluded that the presence of moderate meteorological tsunamis on sea level records would not enhance this index at the Buenos Aires Province coast. On the other hand, taking into account that meteorological tsunamis can reach up the 20–30 % of the storm surge height, it was concluded that the statistics of storm surge trends (and their uncertainties) should be revised for Mar del Plata data series.     

Landslide susceptibility mapping using precipitation data,Mazandaran Province,north of Iran

A tropical cyclone was formed over central northern Africa near Egypt, Libya and Crete, and it moved and deepened toward the north–northeast; meanwhile, the storm destroyed many regions in the west, southwest and central of Turkey. The cyclone carried huge dust from the north of Africa to Turkey and reduced the visibility to less than 1 km and raised the wind speed. As a result of severe storm, some meteorological stations have new extreme values that the strongest wind speed measured was 81 knots in the central region of Turkey. Medicane with wind speed 81 knots especially over Turkey is a rare event. This devastating cyclone carried exceptionally very strong winds (>80 kts) with favorable conditions to follow windstorm conceptual model. The cyclone caused adverse conditions such as excessive injuries, fatal incidents and forest fires. Mesoscale vortex formed and affected particularly the middle and western regions of Turkey. The vertical thermodynamic structure of storm is compared with April values of 40 years of datasets over Istanbul. Moreover, four different winds {measurement masts} of Istanbul Atatürk Airport are used for the microscale analysis of different meteorological parameters during deepened pressure level. In addition, divergence and vorticity of stormy weather are discussed in details during the effective time period of storm by solving equations and validated using ERA-40 reanalysis. We obtained many monitoring data sources such as ground base, radar, radiosonde and satellite display the values of the intensity of wind speed caused by cyclones of tropics have revealed similarities.     

Storm surges in the northern part of the Sea of Japan

All the available historic records of sea level and appropriate weather charts have been used to study storm surges in the northern part of the Sea of Japan. The generation of surges in this area was investigated by means of a two-dimensional numerical model. Computed sea levels were compared with hourly observed residual sea levels in De-Kastri. The agreement between computed and observed storm surges is quite satisfactory. The relative importance of various meteorological parameters and bottom topography in formation of the strong storm surge on 20–21 September 1975 was studied numerically.     

10～30d延伸期天气预报方法研究进展与展望

10~30 d延伸期预报是国际大气科学关注的研究热点。这一时间段的预报对开展防灾、救灾工作具有极其重要的价值和意义,该工作需要结合初始气象条件、海洋、大气以及气候的影响因素,其中观测资料具有复杂性、综合性、全球性等,这些科学大数据反映和表征着复杂的自然现象与关系,具有高度数据相关性和多重数据属性,预测过程十分复杂。分析了延伸期预报的各种主流方法,其中重点介绍了动力模式、经典统计和大数据方法 3类预报方法的研究现状,并探讨了各种方法的优势和不足,在此基础上对目前延伸期预报领域存在的问题进行了讨论和总结。对延伸期预报方法的未来发展方向和应用前景给以展望。     

Implications of trace fossil assemblages from Late Paleozoic Glaciomarine Talchir Formation, Raniganj Basin, India

The trace fossil assemblages of the ice-marginal shallow marine sediments of the Talchir Formation (Permo-Carboniferous), Raniganj Basin, India, record the adverse effect of extreme climatic conditions on biota. The glaciomarine Talchir succession starts with glacial sediments near the base and gradually passes to storm-laid shallow marine sediments up-section. The fine-grained storm sediments host abundant trace fossils. Although the studied ichnites characteristically show marginal marine affinity, the ichnodiversity and bioturbation intensity suggest a lower than normal shallow marine trace fossil population. Further, endobenthic annelids, worms and crustaceans are identified as dominant trace-makers.

Sediment reworking near the ice-grounding line, extremely cold climate, high-energy storm sedimentation and anomalous water chemistry hindered organic colonization during the early phases of Talchir sedimentation. Later, climatic amelioration ushered in a favourable ambience for the benthic community to colonize within or beyond the storm weather wave-base in the outer shoreface–shelf environment. Fluctuating storm energy dominantly controlled the availability and influence of other environmental stimuli in the environment, and thus, governed the distribution, abundance and association of the studied ichnites. However, impoverished ichnodiversity, sporadic distribution of the traces, overall smaller burrow dimensions, absence of body fossils, dominance of worms and annelids as trace-makers all indicate a stressed environmental condition, induced by cold climate and lowered marine salinity due to influx of glacier melt-out freshwater during climatic amelioration, in the Permo-Carboniferous ice-marginal sea.     

Storm surges in the Arabian Gulf

The storm surge phenomenon in the Arabian Gulf, including the Strait of Hormuz, is discussed with particular emphasis on the development of mathematical models for prediction purposes. The Gulf is mainly influenced by extra-tropical weather systems, whereas the region south of the Strait of Hormuz is affected by tropical cyclones. The west-to-east directed extra-tropical cyclone tracks and the generally east-to-west directed tropical cyclone tracks converge near the Strait of Hormuz. A meso-scale weather system that deserves special attention in prescribing the meteorological forcing functions is the so-called winter Shamal. A two-dimensional numerical model is developed to study the storm surges in the Arabian Gulf. The results show that the Gulf is subject to major negative and positive storm surges. Strong winds associated with the Shamal system, coupled with atmospheric pressure gradients, topography and tidal effects, can give rise to water level deviations of several meters. Storm surges observed during the period 17–19 January 1973 show that negative values in the 0.5 to 1.0m range were widespread in the Gulf.     

Location-specific weather predictions for Sriharikota (13.72°N, 80.22°E) through numerical atmospheric models during satellite launch campaigns

Accurate knowledge of different meteorological parameters over a launch site is very crucial for efficient management of satellite launch operations. Local weather over the Indian satellite launch site located at Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR: 13.72°N, 80.22°E) is very much dependent on the atmospheric circulation prevailing over the Bay of Bengal oceanic region and topography-induced convective activities. With a view to providing severe weather threat prediction in terms of launch commit criteria (LCC), two numerical atmospheric models namely high-resolution regional model (HRM) and advanced regional prediction system (ARPS) are made operational over SHAR in a synoptic and mesoscale domain, respectively. In the present research article, two launch campaigns through Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11 and PSLV-C12) when contrasting weather conditions prevailed over the launch site are chosen for demonstration of potential of two models in providing location-specific short-to-medium-range weather predictions meeting the needs of LCC. In the case of PSLV-C11 campaign, when the launch site underwent frequent thundershower-associated rainfall, ARPS model–derived meteorological fields were effectively used in prediction of probability of the wet spells. On the other hand, Bay of Bengal underwent severe cyclonic storm during PSLV-C12 campaign, and its formation was reasonable captured through HRM simulations. It is concluded that a combination of HRM and ARPS provide reliable short-to-medium-range weather prediction over SHAR, which has got profound importance in launch-related activities.     

Synoptic analysis of dust storm over Arabian Peninsula: a case study on February 28, 2009

Sand and dust storms are causing hazards and problems in aviation as well as the dangers and distresses they cause on living things. The low meteorological visibility, the presence of strong winds with gust, and the transport of dust and sand particles by the wind are dangerous on landing and departure of aircrafts, and even on planes that are parked. The main aim of the study is to examine the meteorological conditions causing the dust storm that took place in the Arabian Peninsula on February 28, 2009, and to determine the source of dust caused dust storm, sand storm, blown sand, and blown dust at the airports. Within the scope of the study, aviation routine weather report (METAR) and aviation selected special weather report (SPECI) reports have been assessed at many airports over Arabian Peninsula (AP), the northern part of the AP and North Africa. As model outputs; NCEP–DOE Reanalysis 2 data, BSC–DREAM8B, and HYSPLIT model were used. In the satellite images; METEOSAT MSG dust RGB images, MODIS, and Kalpana-1 data were used. According to obtained results, dust storms were detected in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). At Al-Ahsa Airport in Saudi Arabia, the lowest visibility measured on February 28, 2009, dropping to 200 m, which was dominated by blowing sand. The source region of the dust observed at Dubai Airport in UAE is the eastern regions of the Rub’al Khali Desert located between Saudi Arabia, Oman, and UAE.     

Study of the relationship between geopotential height anomaly over Europe and extreme abnormal weather over the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East during December 2013

The Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East (EMME) is suffering from abnormal cooling of weather conditions and existence of an extreme weather phenomenon known as ice storm Alexa. The present paper investigates the weather conditions over Europe that causes this abnormal weather over the EMME through December of 2013. Daily data sets of several meteorological elements (temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, sea level pressure, and geopotential height at level 500 hPa, etc.) over the northern hemisphere, including Europe and EMME of December of 2013, have been used through the present work. In addition, to that, a time cross section analysis of the daily operational data for meteorological elements (mean surface temperature, temperature and geopotential height at level 500 hPa, relative humidity, precipitation rate, and sea surface pressure) was done over the EMME for December 2013. The methodology of anomaly and correlation coefficient techniques for the data sets has been used. The results uncovered that the EMME has abnormal and very cold weather conditions due to the inference of meridional blocking persisted over Europe and the existence of the extremely negative geopotential height anomaly aloft over Eastern Europe throughout this month.     

东海海洋环境监测网浮标观测站布设及其科学意义

基于海洋环境监测现状与发展,针对目前东海区浮标站位较少、布局不均和观测功能设置不完善等限制了其在海洋预报、防灾减灾、维权执法等方面保障功能的提高问题,为满足东海区观测形势需要,结合重要流系和重要海洋现象监测、台风与风暴潮预警预报、海洋权益维护及保障等需求,设计了较为科学合理的东海区浮标观测网布局。在现有浮标观测系统的基础上增加18个浮标站位,其中包含11个10m浮标、7个3m浮标和3个潜标,新的东海区浮标观测网系统将与海洋(台)站、海上平台、海基床、岸基雷达等观测系统共同构建东海区实时立体海洋观测网。     

Ocean geography for ocean science

The expanding needs for ocean resources, together with the design and diffusion of new kinds of deep-ocean and coastal management patterns, have changed profoundly in the transition from modern to post-modern society. As a result, the scientific approach to the ocean has also undergone profound changes, which have marked the epistemology of disciplines, their logical backgrounds and methods. This process has been driven by oceanography, which was born in the 19th century and has benefited, first, from the monitoring techniques from surface ships, then from the exploration of the water column and seabed, and finally from the satellite monitoring systems. While that process was evolving, geography has been involved in investigations of marine and coastal uses and the interaction between human communities and the ocean. Since the mid-1980s, and especially because of the inputs of Agenda 21 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED, 1992), oceanography has been required to deal also with deep-ocean and coastal management issues. To respond to this need, interaction of oceanography with other disciplines is essential. In this prospect geography has an important role because, on the basis of its heritage, it could contribute to (i) the epistemological discussion of the building up of ocean science, (ii) the analysis of the human communities/ocean ecosystems interaction, and (iii) the design of sustainable development-consistent management patterns. The conceptual background and external epistemology needed by ocean geography to optimise this role are presented and discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

地震与气象异常

本文介绍了地震前和地震后气象异常的一些研究成果。统计结果表明,强震前1～4年震中地区出现干旱的概率比较大。我国寒冷时期地震的频数远较温暖时期高,地震前震中地区有增温现象。海洋和周缘发生特大地震过后,北半球和中国气温下降明显,黄河和长江可能出现洪灾。地震前、地震时和地震后,地震与气象的关系,是一个值得探索研究的领域。