Seasonal variations of sound speed in the Arabian Gulf

Sound-speed computations from CTD casts in the Arabian Gulf during 1992, reveal spatial and temporal variations in acoustic properties. Hydrographic conditions affecting sound speed propagation were seasonally investigated. A monotonic decrease in sound speed profiles with depth was commonly observed at almost all the stations in the Gulf. However, an exception occurred at Hormuz strait during winter. The water exchange pattern between the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf seems to influence the sound-speed structure, especially in the southern part of the latter. Winter profiles along the Gulf axis showed almost vertically homogenous sound speed. Maximum speeds are observed in summer, with a strong gradient associated with the development of the summer thermocline layer. Horizontal distributions in both winter and summer show a decreasing trend in sound speed from the Strait of Hormuz to the head of the Gulf. The resultant profiles provide a more comprehensive and reliable data set than any that have been reported in the literature. Shallowness and multiple refraction and reflection in the Arabian Gulf may cause sound speed energy to be trapped. No sound channel was detected inside the Gulf. A correlation analysis shows that sound speed is closely correlated with temperature throughout the Gulf, except in winter in the southern half where salinity effects, as a result of inversion and water exchange at the entrance, are found to be dominant.     

Acoustic characteristics of seawater in the area of the coastal discharge front off the Guinean shore

Regularities in the structure and variability of the acoustic characteristics of Guinean shelf waters during the rainy season have been identified as a result of the generalization of the sound speed fields derived from temperature and salinity observations. Three areas with qualitatively different hydroacoustic properties have been revealed, namely, (i) near-shore shallow waters, where a near-surface haline acoustic channel occurs by virtue of intensive seawater freshening; (ii) a discharge front accommodating an intermediate acoustic waveguide in the temperature jump layer; and (iii) off-shore shelf areas displaying a characteristic alteration of the sound speed vertical gradient sign at thec(z) profile.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

The impact of environmental gradients on the early life inshore migration of the short-finned squid Illex illecebrosus

Recruitment of the short-finned squid Illex illecebrosus to adult feeding grounds on the shelf off eastern Canada constitutes an important transition from warm food-limited Gulf Stream waters to cold and productive slope and coastal waters. The impact of such gradients was addressed by analysing the gladius growth of 1585 juvenile squid collected across the Gulf Stream and shelf/slope fronts during research cruises conducted between 1979 and 1989. Temperature- and size-specific growth potential, as estimated by a bioenergetics model, were compared to measured gladius growth rates and revealed that young Illex were energetically expensive and food-limited in Gulf Stream waters (their hatching environment). Growth condition improved inshore, where metabolic costs decreased and more food became available. Similar patterns were observed when size-specific growth rates of squid caught across the temperature and food gradients were directly compared. In addition, transport processes in the Gulf Stream and slope water played an important role in providing access and retention in favourable areas. Juvenile onshore migration seems to be driven by elevated food requirements and involves physiological adaptations to compensate for decreasing temperatures. The individual "success" in terms of growth and survival may depend, however, on access to concentrated patches of food which, in turn, will be determined by timing and the transport dynamics of the main water masses.     

Hurricane effects on surface gulf stream currents

A 3-dimensional model methodology for predicting the upper ocean currents under the combined influence of Gulf Stream and hurricane is described. Predicted currents are highly dependent on the turbulence closure scheme and nonlinear interactions. New field data will be required to determine the appropriate formulation for turbulent momentum transfer. However, the model points out the importance of nonlinear terms in the equations of motions for preserving the jet-like structure of the Gulf Stream and for properly accounting for interaction between the Gulf Stream and a hurricane. A potentially worst case condition is obtained for the so-called resonant hurricane.     

Structure,transport and potential vorticity of the Gulf Stream at 68°W: Revisiting older data sets with new techniques

The stream-coordinates mean structure of the Gulf Stream at 68°W is derived using new methods for both defining stream coordinates and interpreting bottom pressure and inverted echo sounder travel times collected during the extensive Synoptic Ocean Prediction experiment. These new analyses provide pictures of the vertical structure of Gulf Stream flows that are demonstrably dynamically consistent with the density field at all depths, in contrast to previous work that relies on simple vertical interpolations to fill gaps between sparse current meter measurements. This new view of the Gulf Stream suggests a slightly higher total mean transport, with the increases coming from both baroclinic and barotropic components, and slightly stronger recirculation cells, particularly on the southern side. The recirculation of the Gulf Stream appears to have a weak baroclinic component, perhaps 10% of the total. A significant advantage of the methodology is the ability to obtain sensible vertical and horizontal gradients of currents and density so that the vertical and cross-stream structures of the components of the mean potential vorticity can be clearly imaged. One new feature from this calculation is that the along-stream gradient of the cross-stream velocity, a term that is often ignored in potential vorticity analyses, is non-negligible (though small) and is asymmetric about the current axis. Both the derived structure and implied dynamics of the circulation can be significantly altered by small changes to the method of calculating daily stream coordinates, e.g., by carefully filtering out observations in rings or not. Arrays of pressure-equipped inverted echo sounders provide the opportunity (at reasonable cost) for properly defining the stream coordinates of energetic jets such as the Gulf Stream.     

Acoustic characteristics of the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean

The vertical structure of the climatic and seasonal fields of the estimated speed of sound in the north-east Atlantic Ocean is considered. Zonation according to typicalc(z) profiles allowing for seasonal variations was carried out. It is shown that the water areas with a dual-channel vertical hydroacoustic structure vary essentially throughout the year. The features of the structure of the sound speed field in the lenses of the Mediterranean Sea waters are investigated. The effect produced by a lens on the characteristics of the sound propagation is studied.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

海底声学原位测试声速提取技术研究

海底沉积物的声学声速特性是沉积物声学中的一个重要的研究方向。正确提取声学原位测量的声速对海底沉积物声学反演至关重要。分析了海底声学原位测试系统的输出子波特性,提出了基于子波提取的互相关双向极值声速提取法。在声速提取过程中,发现某些通道实测声波到达时会出现超出正常范围的异常。分析后认为异常通道的到达波相位出现180°反至现象。通过互相关数值的负极小值提取的声波到达时对互相关正极大值所获得的到达时曲线进行校正后提取声速,得到了正确的结果,说明了本方法的正确性。     

Dissolved iodine across the Gulf Stream Front and in the South Atlantic Bight

The distributions of iodide, iodate and total iodine were determined along a transect from the Sargasso Sea and across the Gulf Stream to the continental shelf of the South Atlantic Bight during November 1990. The western boundary of the Gulf Stream at the outer shelf-upper slope was characterized by steeply sloping isotherms and isopleths of iodide and iodate, resulting from a dome of cold water that was rich in iodate and nearly devoid of iodide at the slope. Both the mid and the inner shelf were relatively well mixed vertically. The concentration of iodate in the surface waters decreased shoreward from >0.3 μM in the Sargasso Sea/Gulf Stream/outer shelf, to 0.29 μM in the midshelf, 0.19 μM in the outer-inner shelf and 0.11 /IM in the inner-inner shelf. Concomitantly, the concentration of iodide increased from <161 nM to 175 nM, 257 nM and 300 nM. The concentration changes were more abrupt in the inner-inner shelf within about 30 km from the shore. There was no evidence of significant concentrations of organic iodine. These distributions of iodide and iodate suggest that the South Atlantic Bight may act as a geochemical processor of dissolved iodine. Iodate is added to the shelf during topographically induced upwelling and frontal exchange with the Gulf Stream. In the shelf waters, iodate is reduced to iodide in situ. Iodide is exported from the shelf to the Gulf Stream which may eventually further transport it to the ocean interior. A ☐ model calculation suggests that 28% and 43% of the iodate added to the Bight and the inner shelf, respectively, are converted to another form in these waters, almost all of which is iodide. About a third of the reduction of iodate to iodide in the Bight occurs in the inner shelf. Thus, the inner shelf may be the most geochemically active zone within the Bight. The residence times of iodide relative to its production and that of iodate relative to its removal are 3.1 and 3.6 months in the Bight and 0.9 and 1.8 months in the inner shelf.     

Numerical Simulation of the Gulf Stream and the Deep Circulation

The Gulf Stream system has been numerically simulated with relatively high resolution and realistic forcing. The surface fluxes of the simulation were obtained from archives of calculations from the Eta-29 km model which is an National Center for Environment Prediction (NCEP) operational atmospheric prediction model; synoptic fields are available every 3 hour. A comparison between experiments with and without surface fluxes shows that the effect of the surface wind stress and heat fluxes on the Gulf Stream path and separation is closely related to the intensification of deep circulations in the northern region. Additionally, the separation of the Gulf Stream and the downslope movement of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) are reproduced in the model results. The model DWBC crosses under the Gulf Stream southeast of Cape Hatteras and then feeds the deep cyclonic recirculation east of the Bahamas. The model successfully reproduces the cross-sectional vertical structures of the Gulf Stream, such as the asymmetry of the velocity profile, and this structure is sustained along the downstream axis. The distribution of Root Mean Square (RMS) elevation anomaly of the model shows that the eddy activity of the Gulf Stream is realistically reproduced by the model physics. The entrainment of the upper layer slope current into the Gulf Stream occurs near cross-over; the converging cross-stream flow is nearly barotropic. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On anticyclonic spin-off eddies in the Gulf Stream

The eddy formation determined as an anticyclonic spin-off eddy of the Gulf Stream is analysed from the CTD data of surveys made in the Gulf Stream region. The differences in its structure and conditions of formation from cyclonic eddies of this type observed previously are examined. Barotropic instability of the Gulf Stream's main jet is considered as a possible reason for such unstable disturbances existing at the south boundary of the Gulf Stream.Translated by M. M. Trufanov.     

An offshore eddy in the California current system part III: Chemical structure

From January 9 to 17, 1981, detailed physical, chemical and biological measurements were made through the historical surface signature (Berstein, Breaker and Whritner, 1977; Burkov and Pavlova, 1980; Simpson, 1982) of a warm-core eddy in the California Current System. The data show a three-layer system: surface layer to 75 m, intermediate cold-core region to about 200 m, and the physically dominant subsurface warm-core eddy to about 1400 m. The chemical structure simultaneously possesses characteristics of both warm- and cold-core eddies. This structure results from a complex interplay among non-local eddy generation processes at the time the three-layer system was formed and a continuous set of interactions within the three-layer system, both inshore (cold) and offshore (warm) waters of the California Current and coastal and local biological processes (e.g. this California Current System eddy is $\text{not}$ an isolated structure like some Gulf Stream rings). The dominant biological/chemical process in the euphotic zone is phytoplankton photosynthesis; photosynthetic alteration of the chemical structure below 100 m is much reduced. The effects of heterotrophic activity on the deeper-lying chemical structure, however are not as significant as those of autotrophs on the chemical structure of the euphotic zone. Hence, below 100 m, the distribution and structure of chemical properties is controlled primarily by physical processes. The continuous set of interactions of the three-layer system with coastal and oceanic waters of the California Current make this offshore eddy in the California Current System fundamentally different chemically and biologically from cold-core Gulf Stream rings and rather similar to some of the warm-core eddies found in the East Australian Current.     

Corrosion enhancement of an undersea repeater due to the hall effect

The analysis of the failure mechanism of an undersea telecommunication repeater has pointed to the corrosion-accelerating electric current generated by the Hall effect. The interaction between the earth's magnetic field and the moving ionic sea water of the Gulf Stream produced an electric potential on the outer conductor of the coaxial cable. With an outer-conductor fracture there was a net unbalance of induced circulating electrical current in each repeater section. This paper considers the velocity profile of the Gulf Stream across the cable route, measured Hall potentials on other cable systems, the interfacial resistance of a repeater housing in sea water, and the continuity of the cable outer conductor to show that the necessary conditions for corrosion acceleration were indeed satisfied.     

Research on the sediment acoustic properties based on a water coupled laboratory measurement system

Abstract

The high-frequency acoustic properties of seafloor sediments are very significant in seafloor study and underwater acoustic study field. In order to measure the sound speed and the attenuation for the small-scale sediment cores more accurately, this study developed a water coupled acoustic laboratory measurement system based on Richardson-Briggs technique. This method used the correlation comparison of waveforms received in sediment core and in identical reference tubes filled with water to measure sound speed and attenuation. The sound speed and attenuation of a clayey silt sediment sample were measured using the water coupled acoustic laboratory measurement system. This frequency dependence of the sound speed and attenuation showed that the clayey silt sediment has a weak positive sound speed dispersion, while the attenuation increases with a strong positive gradient within the measurement frequency range. This study also noted that the measured sound speed ratio match well with the empirical equations from literature. The measured attenuation factor data can fall in the Hamilton’s empirical prediction range.     

浅海沉积声学原位探测系统研制及深海功能拓展

海底沉积物的声速和声衰减系数等声学特性参数是影响水下声场空间结构、水声通讯、水声设备使用性能、海底目标探测的重要因素。介绍了最新研制的浅海海底沉积声学原位测量系统的工作原理、结构组成和性能特点,并对系统在黄海和南海海底沉积物声学特性调查中的应用情况进行了总结。最后,对系统在满足深海应用方面的功能拓展进行了讨论和展望。     

On gyre interactions

The principal meeting point of the subtropical and subpolar gyres of the North Atlantic is at the Tail of the Grand Banks where the two western boundary currents, the Gulf Stream and Labrador Current, join forces as the North Atlantic Current, which flows northeast almost 10° in latitude before turning east as the Subpolar Front, ultimately feeding the Labrador and Nordic Seas and the thermohaline overturning. After the Gulf Stream turns into the North Atlantic Current at the Grand Banks, its role shifts from a wind-driven current to a link in the large-scale thermohaline circulation. The processes governing this transition, in particular the continued transport north of mass and heat, are questions of considerable climatic importance. The North Atlantic Current is a very unusual western boundary current in that its mass transport decreases in the downstream direction.The mean path and annual shifting of the eastward flowing Gulf Stream is conjectured to result from a time-varying shelf-Slope Water overflow of waters from the Labrador shelf. As the volume transport increases in fall and deepens the Slope Water pycnocline, it forces the Gulf Stream south and deepens the Sargasso Sea thermocline as well. The timing of these steps governs the June maximum in baroclinic transport. There is some evidence that this ‘back-door’ gyre interaction may operate on interannual time scales as well. The question then arises whether the shelf-to-Slope Water Sea transport also plays a role in governing the separation of the Gulf Stream.The widely observed robustness of the width of the Gulf Stream appears to result from a tight balance between the release of available potential energy and the kinetic energy of the current. A broader current would release more energy than can be ‘disposed of’, while a narrower current requires more kinetic energy than is available to sustain it. It is shown that for plausible dissipation rates in the recirculation gyres, the amount of energy that needs to be expelled from the Gulf Stream is such a small fraction of that advected through as to be vitually undetectable, hence the stiffness of the current.     

基于WOA13数据的海区位置对北大西洋声波导影响分析

应用WOA13季节平均数据和BELLHOP模型,在季节、声源频率等因素确定的情况下,分10 m表面声源和250 m水下声源,分析北大西洋冬季东、西部海区的声波导情况。在给出不同海区位置的声速场和声波导具体信息的基础上,研究其规律:最小声速值和声道轴深度由直布罗陀海峡向外递减扩散,表层声速值和声速梯度由南向北递减,声跃层存在于低纬度海区,混合层在低纬度通常在100 m以内,在高纬度增加至100 m以上。10 m深度表面声源的汇聚区反转深度随纬度增加逐渐减少,西部海区深于东部海区;西部海区的汇聚区跨度大于东部海区,东西部跨度最大值出现在25°N和15°N,传播损失基本一致。250 m水下声源的汇聚区反转深度浅于10 m深度表面声源时,同样是西部海区大于东部海区,汇聚区跨度呈低-高-低规律,东西部跨度最大值出现在35°N和25°N;东部海区25°N以南、西部海区15°N以南,不同接收深度上的传播损失差异较大,以北差异较小。同时简要叙述了声影区对目标探测的影响。     

Continental slope sea level and flow variability induced by lateral movements of the Gulf Stream in the Middle Atlantic Bight

As described by [Csanady, G.T., Hamilton, P., 1988. Circulation of slope water. Continental Shelf Research 8, 565–624], the flow regime over the slope of the southern Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) includes a current reversal in which southwestward flow over the upper and middle slope becomes entrained in the northeastward current adjacent to the Gulf Stream. In this paper we use satellite-derived data to quantify how lateral motions of the Gulf Stream impact this current system. In our analysis, the Gulf Stream’s thermal front is delineated using a two-year time series of sea surface temperature derived from NOAA/AVHRR satellite data. Lateral motions of the Gulf Stream are represented in terms of temporal variations of the area, east of 73°W, between the Gulf Stream thermal front and the shelf edge. Variations of slope water flow within this area are represented by anomalies of geostrophic velocity as derived from the time series of the sea level anomaly determined from TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite altimeter data. A strong statistical relationship is found between Gulf Stream displacements and parabathic flow over the continental slope. It is such that the southwestward flow over the slope is accelerated when the Gulf Stream is relatively far from the shelf edge, and is decelerated (and perhaps even reversed) when the Gulf Stream is close to the shelf edge. This relationship between Gulf Stream displacements and parabathic flow is also observed in numerical simulations produced by the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Model. In qualitative terms, it is consistent with the notion that when the Gulf Stream is closer to the 200-m isobath, it is capable of entraining a larger fraction of shelf water masses. Alternatively, when the Gulf Stream is far from the shelf-break, more water is advected into the MAB slope region from the northeast. Analysis of the diabathic flow indicates that much of the cross-slope transport by which the southwestward flow entering the study region is transferred to the northeastward flow exiting the region occurs in a narrow band roughly centered at 36.75°N, order 150 km north of Cape Hatteras. This transport, and thus the cyclonic circulation of the southern MAB, strengthens when the Gulf Stream is relatively close to the shelf edge, and weakens when the Gulf Stream is far from the shelf edge.     

WOA18模型在远海地形测量中的运用研究

随着我国远海地形测量的日益频繁,进一步提高测量的效率和精度成为研究的热点。利用WOA18数据,对远海地形测量所涉及海域温盐等海洋要素时空分布规律展开预先分析,由此得到该海域声速垂直和水平分布规律,再利用层内常梯度的声线跟踪方法,对相关海域声速剖面获取频次和线性变化开始深度展开定量研究。结果表明,WOA18数据不但能较好优化远海多波束地形测量声速剖面,还能对声速剖面获取的频次和线性变化开始深度做出较好预测,研究结果对提高远海地形测量的精度和效率具有较高价值。     

Primary acoustic characteristics of waters in the North-West Atlantic synoptic-scale vortical features

The CTD survey data collected in the course of implementation of the POLYGON-70 and POLYMODE projects are applied to gain a deeper insight into the structure of the sound speed field and elements of its vertical stratification in the areas of synoptic-scale vortical formations of the North-West Atlantic. The effect of vortical features on the structure of the acoustic fields is studied in the ray approximation. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Ocean acoustic tomography as a data assimilation problem

The ocean acoustic tomographic (OAT) approach to sound speed field estimation is generalized to include a variety of sources of information of interest such as an oceanographic model of the sound speed field, direct local sound speed measurements, and a full field acoustic propagation model as well as measurements. The inverse problem is presented as a four-dimensional field estimation problem using a variational approach commonly used in oceanographic data assimilation. The current OAT approach is shown to be a special case of the general framework. The matched-field tomography (MFT) approach is also discussed within this context. A simple implementation of this novel approach is then investigated in the absence of a suitable oceanographic model, and acoustic propagation is accounted for using a standard parabolic equation model. The inverse equations derived are validated numerically through a simple inversion example, and some issues on environmental mismatch and computations are discussed. The developments then provide a basic framework for ongoing data-model melding in acoustically focused oceanographic sampling (AFOS) network