Coupling winds to ocean surface currents over the global ocean

A Wind stress–Current Coupled System (WCCS) consisting of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and an improved wind stress algorithm based on Donelan et al. [Donelan, W.M., Drennan, Katsaros, K.B., 1997. The air–sea momentum flux in mixed wind sea and swell conditions. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 27, 2087–2099] is developed by using the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF). The WCCS is applied to the global ocean to study the interactions between the wind stress and the ocean surface currents. In this study, the ocean surface current velocity is taken into consideration in the wind stress calculation and air–sea heat flux calculation. The wind stress that contains the effect of ocean surface current velocity will be used to force the HYCOM. The results indicate that the ocean surface velocity exerts an important influence on the wind stress, which, in turn, significantly affects the global ocean surface currents, air–sea heat fluxes, and the thickness of ocean surface boundary layer. Comparison with the TOGA TAO buoy data, the sea surface temperature from the wind–current coupled simulation showed noticeable improvement over the stand-alone HYCOM simulation.     

Parametric estimation of ocean surface currents with HF radar

Ocean surface currents can be estimated, over a large coastal area, by utilizing the backscatter of high frequency (HF) radar waves from ocean gravity waves. Although the overall backscatter mechanism is complicated, the surface current information is contained within the spectral characteristics of two dominant Bragg components. The accuracy of the current estimate, following the usual FFT-based spectral estimate, is limited by the frequency resolution of the FFT and the time-varying characteristics of the Bragg components. This paper describes a high resolution parametric estimation of the ocean currents based on a recently proposed technique for analyzing time-varying signals. This technique, together with a time-domain ocean clutter model, allows all the Bragg signal information to be extracted from the two dominant eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a matrix constructed from the radar data. Using signals from an operational coastal surveillance radar, current estimates made using this technique are compared with those estimated by the conventional FFT-based method     

Reflection of large-scale inhomogeneities in the air-sea boundary layer on the intensity of surface wave breaking in the ocean

An overview of experiments is given on the observation of the dependence of the intensity of wind wave breaking on large-scale currents' inhomogeneities and atmospheric boundary layer stratification. The data were interpreted using a model in which the variance of the wind wave breaking intensity reflects fluctuations in the influx of energy to wind waves due to various factors. Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Validation and error analysis of wave-modified ocean surface currents in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

By incorporating the wave-induced Coriolis-Stokes forcing into the classical Ekman layer, the wave-modified ocean surface currents in the northwestern Pacific Ocean were estimated. Thus, the ocean surface currents are the combination of classical Ekman current from the cross-calibrated multi-platform(CCMP) wind speed, geostrophic current from the mean absolute dynamic topography(MADT), and waveinduced current based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) Interim Re-Analy...     

Notes on global climate and ocean currents

The problems related to the role of both natural and anthropogenic factors in global climate change are considered. The role of ocean circulation in the Earth’s global thermodynamic processes is qualitatively analyzed. The balances of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and in the ocean and the effect of anthropogenic factors are analyzed. The requirements for new-generation models of the Earth’s climate are formulated.     

Measurement of ocean surface currents using a long-range,high-frequency ground wave radar

High-frequency (HF) ground wave radar (GWR) is emerging as a significant tool for monitoring ocean surface conditions at ranges well beyond the line-of-sight horizon that limits conventional systems. An experimental GWR system at Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada that has been operational since 1991, has the ability to performing routine surveillance of oceanic surface parameters and surface target detection. Operating in the frequency range between 5 and 8 MHz, the frequency modulated interrupted continuous wave (FMICW) radar has a nominal range capability of 200 km. An experiment was performed during the period of October 20-November 21, 1992 to test the surface current measuring capability of the Cape Race system. Here, near real-time radial surface current information is extracted from the Doppler spectra of the radar time series data and a comparison is performed to the Lagrangian velocities derived from the position-time tracks of Accurate Surface Tracker (AST) drifters. A wide range of oceanic conditions were experienced during the experimental period, and favorable results were obtained from the comparison regardless of the sea state conditions. The analysis shows the standard deviation in the radar radial velocity component to be approximately 5 cm/s     

Fast geometric transformation of scanner images for the operative tracking of surface currents in the ocean

A method for the fast transformation of initial images into preset map projections is suggested bases on the analysis of the NOAA satellite scanner images transmitted in the APT regime. The objective was to attain such an accuracy of the geographic reference which is necessary for the tracking of mesoscale phenomena in the ocean. Specific geometric distortions of the APT data are taken into consideration. The feasibility of the verification of the reference accuracy using the coastline contours bank is shown. As an example of the application of the above methods, an automatically plotted map of the surface current is supplied.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

High-frequency ocean radar derived characteristics of sea surface currents in the Ariake Sea,Japan

Composite analysis was conducted using high-frequency radar data obtained during 2006–2015 in order to gain a better understanding of the current field in the Ariake Sea. The seasonally averaged surface current in the Ariake Sea was directed southward in all seasons, except around river mouths during summer. Heavy rainfall enhanced the outflow along the eastern coast of the Shimabara Peninsula from Isahaya Bay to the southern area 2–5 days after heavy rainfall. Spring–neap differences were clearly seen in the southward current along the Shimabara Peninsula. Interannual variation in the M₂ tidal current amplitude was synchronized with the lunar nodal cycle.     

How faithfully will the geostrophic currents represent the existing ocean currents?

It is widely recognized that the geostrophic flows computed by the dynamic method of Bjerknes and collaborators represent the actual currents pretty faithfully. However, what would be the reason that a geostrophic current derived by only retaining the terms of Coriolis and the pressure gradient forces in the hydrodynamical equations agrees so closely with the actual ocean current of the same area? In this attempt was assumed an imaginative ocean of homogeneous water and uniform depth on a rotating earth but with neither continent nor islands. The average wind distribution observed along several meridians over the Pacific Ocean was assumed to prevail in this sea throughout with no variation in east-west direction. Taking the curvature of the earth surface, rotation of the earth, Coriolis forces, pressure gradients and the horizontal and vertical eddy viscosity into account, the equations of motion were solved and velocity components were derived for all latitudes. A comparison of the east-west components thus obtained with the corresponding components of the geostrophic flows, reveals that they agree well in higher latitudes but there appears a remarkable disagreement in lower latitudes. This means that a special care must be taken in replacing the existing currents with the geostrophic flows at lower latitudes.     

利用卫星测高、GRACE和GOCE资料估计全球海洋表面地转流

重力恢复和气候试验GRACE(gravity recovery and climate experiment)卫星极大地提高了地球重力场的精度和分辨率,特别是中长波分量,联合卫星测高数据可获得全球海洋表面大尺度洋流循环。另外,新一代地球重力和海洋环流探测卫星GOCE(gravity field and steady-state ocean circulation explorer)于2009年3月成功发射,采用卫星重力梯度测量原理,对重力场的高频部分非常敏感,使其高分辨率监测全球海洋循环成为可能。本文利用1~7年GRACE观测数据确定的重力场模型和18个月GOCE观测数据确定的地球重力场模型GO_CONS_GCF_2_TIM_R3,联合卫星测高确定的平均海面高模型MSS_CNES_CLS_11,分别估计全球海洋表面地转流,并且与实测浮标数据结果进行比较。分析表明GOCE重力卫星确定的重力场模型具有更高的空间分辨率,能够确定高精度和高空间分辨率的全球海洋地转流,如墨西哥湾暖流的细节和特征,并且与实测浮标结果基本一致。而基于1~4年GRACE观测资料的模型不能很好估计全球地转流特征,基于7年GRACE观测资料的重力场模型ITG-Grace2010s确定的全球地转流的精度仍低于18个月GOCE观测数据确定的地球重力场模型GO_CONS_GCF_2_TIM_R3的结果,估计的全球地转流仍含有较大的噪声,不能很好地反应中小尺度地转流细节特征。并计算ITG_Grace2010s和GOCE_TIM3的稳态海面地形和全球平均地转流的内符合精度,结果显示,在全球范围内,GOCE_TIM3的稳态海面地形和全球平均地转流的精度都比ITG_Grace2010s结果的精度有着很大的改善,其中ITG_Grace2010s的稳态海面地形的精度为21.6cm,而GOCE_TIM3的结果则为7.45cm,ITG_Grace2010s的全球平均地转流的精度为40.7cm/s,而GOCE_TIM3的结果则为19.6cm/s。     

一种基于表面状态参数的三维海洋动力学模型数值求解方法*

大面积的海洋表面实时运动状态可以通过遥感技术获取, 而海洋内部的运动状态只能进行定点观测, 无法达到大面积的实时监测。基于海洋动力学基本原理, 在正压浅海大陆架模式下, 在三维空间构建海洋表面与内部运动状态的关系模型; 利用遥感探测的海洋表面流速与流向数据, 结合海域的浪高、风速状态参数, 运用有限差分法反演出深层海流的流速与流向信息。反演结果符合海洋动力学规律, 反映出了深层流整体分布状态, 扩展了雷达遥感应用范围。     

Lidar sensing of topographic inhomogeneities on the rough sea surface

The results of lidar sensing of the sea surface carried out from an oceanographic platform in the Black Sea under different hydrometeorological conditions are considered. It is found that the frequency, time, and intensity of the mirror-reflected lidar specks of light vary essentially when the wind wave structure anomalies appear, which arise owing to some physical processes evolving in the air-sea boundary layers. The effects conditioned by an unsteady and non-uniform wind, the hydrological front, the slicks related to internal waves and Langmuir circulation, industrial pollution of the sea surface by surface-active substances, and rainfall are estimated quantitatively. A conclusion about the prospects of application of the lidar specks indication method for ecological monitoring and control of the sea surface state and internal basins is drawn.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

On several mechanisms of the formation of the compensated thermohaline inhomogeneities in the ocean

The process of the geostrophic adjustment in the stably stratified two-component medium is studied in the framework of a linear approximation. We demonstrate that, at the final stage of that process, a stationary trace is generated by the distribution of the temperature and salinity, whose horizontal inhomogeneities mutually compensate in the field of the density. The compensation level for the stationary thermohaline distributions forming during the geostrophic adjustment is estimated. The origination mechanism of compensated thermohaline inhomogeneities in hydrodynamically stable shear flows is examined. We show that, in such flows, the disturbances of the fields of buoyancy (density), pressure, and velocity damp with time, whereas the compensated disturbances of the fields of the temperature and salinity are carried off by the flow without damping. Based on the explicit solutions of the dynamic equations, it is shown that the evolution of the compensated distribution of the temperature and salinity in the shear flows usually results in the sharpening of the spatial gradients. This feature may be, among others, related to one of the factors of the origination of the fine structure of the ocean: the small-scale thermohaline inhomogeneities, which exist against the background of the smooth vertical distribution of the density.     

Inertial oscillations over the background of shear currents in the ocean

Inertial oscillations observed in the seas and oceans are frequently characterized by various hodographs of current velocities different from circular anticyclonic motion as follows from the simplest model. It is supposed in [1] on the basis of the data analysis of measurements carried out on the shelf near Gelendzhik in the autumn of 2009 that the observed distortions of hodographs of inertial currents are the consequences of superposition of inertial oscillations and background shear current. In this work we construct a simple model of inertial oscillations over the background of a shear current based on the exact solution of shallowwater equations, which generally confirms the hypothesis suggested in [1].     

Determination of instantaneous sea surface,wave heights,and ocean currents using satellite observations of the global positioning system

Abstract

Using GPS phase observations in the kinematic mode, we are able to achieve centimeter accuracy in relative three‐dimensional coordinates. This could be verified even for fast‐moving sensors in aircraft, such as airborne photogrammetric cameras, at the time of exposure. Sophisticated kinematic software has been developed resolving cycle slips and carrier‐phase ambiguities during motion. To determine the instantaneous sea surface, the GPS receiver is placed in a free‐drifting buoy with the antenna on top. Differencing the 1‐Hz observations, wave heights can be determined as well as velocity and direction of ocean (tidal) currents.

This article deals with the experiences from a test for the practical realization of this proposal. Hardware installation, software, and data analysis are described. Plans to use such an observational scenario of a GPS buoy array in the North Sea for the calibration of the radar altimeter of the European satellite ERS‐1 are presented.     

On the theory of calculation of currents in the world's ocean straits

The paper considers the statement of the problem on quasi-stationary diagnosis of currents, temperature, salinity, and density fields for multiply connected areas with fluid boundaries. The principles of self-similar parameterization over the vertical axis are applied by introducing models for the vertical substance distribution, which have two regularly varying functions. The problem is reduced to handling a set of Poisson equations, enabling the boundary conditions to be automatically determined at the island shores. A scheme is presented for calculating current velocity components at an arbitrarily oriented transect. Several examples of current velocity computation for the topographically complex oceanic areas are given which support the data collectedin situ. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Numerical simulation of the upper ocean currents in South China Sea

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Bathymetric influence on mean currents in two high-resolution near-global ocean models

The question of whether mean flow generation by eddies interacting with sloping bathymetry significantly influences World Ocean circulation is approached by examining output from two near-global circulation models, OFES and the LANL/NPS POP model, having ∼1/10° lateral resolution. In each of these vigorously eddying models, the mean currents over sloping bathymetry tend preferentially to align with the direction of topographic Rossby wave propagation, in accordance with theories of eddy-topographic interaction. This tendency, which is particularly strong near the ocean bottom and at abyssal depths, prevails both globally and within a variety of circulation regimes including the subpolar and subtropical gyres and the extra-equatorial tropics. By contrast, two coarser (∼1–2°), non-eddying models exhibit flow alignments throughout much of the abyssal ocean that are oppositely directed. This result suggests that eddies play an essential role in determining the direction of mean circulation over slopes, and that non-eddying models could benefit from a parameterization of this effect.     

On the problem of the computation of spectra of small-scale inhomogeneities in hydrophysical fields of the ocean

A novel form of correlation window employed to calculate the spectral density of a random process using a Fourier transform of the correlation function is proposed. It is shown that, concerning its metrologic characteristics, the value of the spectral density obtained does not yield the best autoregression estimates. A fast recurrent estimational algorithm is suggested to increase the efficiency of the calculational procedure.Translated by M. M. Trufanov.