Wave climate variability in the North-East Atlantic Ocean over the last six decades

Ocean surface gravity waves play a major role in many engineering and environmental problems, both in the open ocean and in coastal zones. Therefore, it is essential to improve our knowledge on spatial and temporal variability of wave climate. This study aims at investigating this variability in the North-East Atlantic Ocean (25°W–0°W and 30°N–60° N), using a 57-year hindcast (1953–2009) obtained with a spectral wave model forced with reanalysis wind fields. The hindcast analysis reveals firstly strong seasonal fluctuations of wave climate, with winters characterized by large and long-period waves of mean direction spreading from south-west to north-west, and summers characterized by smaller and shorter-period waves originating from norther directions. From northern (55°N) to southern (35°N) latitudes, the significant wave height (Hs) decreases by roughly 40%, the mean wave direction (Mwd) rotates clockwise by about 25% while the peak period (Tp) only grows by 5%. These three parameters also exhibit a strong inter-annual variability, particularly when winter-means (from 1st of December to 1st of April) are considered. Linear trend analysis over the studied period shows spatially variable long-term trends, with a significant increase of Hs (up to 0.02 m yr^?1) and a counterclockwise shift of Mwd (up to ?0.1° yr^?1) at northern latitude, contrasting with a fairly constant trend for Hs and a clockwise shift of Mwd (up to +0.15° yr^?1) at southern latitudes. Long-term trends of Tp are less significant, with still a slight increase in the north-eastern part of the study area (up to +0.01 s yr^?1). Eventually, a comparison between the inter-annual variability of the winter-means of the three selected wave parameters and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reveals: (1) a strong positive correlation between Hs and the NAO index at northern latitudes (correlation coefficient up to R = 0.91) and a significant negative correlation at southern latitudes (up to R = ?0.6); (2) no significant correlation for Mwd north of 40°N and a clear positive correlation southward of 40°N (up to R = 0.8) and (3) a northward increasing correlation for Tp (up to R = 0.8). Long-term trends for Hs, Mwd and Tp are finally explained by a significant increase in the NAO index over the studied period.     

Adaptation of fisheries and mariculture management to extreme oceanic environmental changes and climate variability in Taiwan

This study presents the response of fisheries management to the extreme climatic events that affect marine capture fisheries and mariculture in Taiwan. Two regional approaches that can be applied universally to help capture fisheries and mariculture adapt to extreme weather events are also proposed. In the winter of 2008, an anomalously strong and continuous northeasterly wind caused by a La Niña event drove the cold China Coastal Current southward to penetrate the southern Taiwan Strait, and a portion of this current intruded eastward to the southern Penghu Archipelago. The cold current intrusion appreciably damaged marine aquaculture and the wild fish population, causing the death of more than 73 t of wild fish and 80% of cage aquaculture fish at the Penghu Islands. This extremely cold seawater event occurred between late January and the beginning of February 2008. To recover fishery resources around the waters of Penghu, fishery-related agencies adapted recovery measures over 3 years starting in April 2008 that included hatchery juvenile release, environmental monitoring, fishery subsidies, and ecological field investigations. This study suggests that responding to extreme climatic influences on fisheries and mariculture should include (1) establishing an early warning system by connecting fisheries agencies and marine research institutions to assist decision makers in performing time-adaptive measures, (2) temporarily suspending fishing activities after the occurrence of a natural disaster to help recover fishery resources and ecosystems, (3) altering the governance of farming fishing right so that fish farmers can temporarily transfer their aquaculture cages from high-risk areas to waters outside the influence of extreme weather events, and (4) continually filing surveys to understand the recovery status of marine ecosystems.     

Wave climate off northern Norway

The wave climate off northern Norway is considered and the investigation is based on wave measurements made at Tromsøflaket by means of a waverider buoy during the years 1977–1981. Data quality of waverider measurements is briefly commented upon; however, more emphasis is given to an evaluation of the long-term representativity of the actual measuring period and to a procedure accounting approximately for a lack of representativity. The wave climate is presented in terms of a smoothed joint probability density function of the significant wave height, H_s, and the spectral peak period, T_p. Based on this distribution a consistent design curve in the H_s, T_p space is established.     

Fishermen's perspectives on climate variability

Understanding fishermen's perspectives and responses relating to climate variability is important for sustainable fisheries management. To this end, a survey of captains of commercial passenger fishing vessels (CPFVs) was conducted in San Diego. The survey demonstrates that fishermen have observed and adapted to changes in the environment and fish populations associated with climate variability. However, only 12.9% of respondents agreed that global climate change is a possibility. In order to explain fishermen's divergent beliefs on climate change, a semiparametric discrete choice model is used to identify the potential determinants. The empirical results highlight the importance of the following factors: fishermen's experience, observations of the phenomena that are associated with climate variability, and an interaction of fishermen's experience and their observations.     

Wave climate variability in the North Atlantic in recent decades in the winter period using numerical modeling

The study focuses on investigating significant wave height, including both mean and extreme values, in the North Atlantic in winter during the period from 1979 to 2010. We perform a 32-year wind wave hindcast for the North Atlantic using a spectral ocean wave model (WaveWatch III) and a high-resolution nonhydrostatic atmospheric model (WRF-ARW), which provides the wind forcing function. Analysis of the 32-year hindcast of wave characteristics in the North Atlantic reveals stronger mean and extreme waves simulated with high resolution modeling systems and identifies significant downward trends in the mean significant wave height in the subpolar North Atlantic. Such trends were not found in the wave characteristics from ERA-Interim reanalysis. At the same time, the 32-year hindcast did not confirm the statistically significance of strong positive trends in the central Atlantic diagnosed by ERA-Interim reanalysis; differences between the reanalysis and hindcast are discussed.     

Wave climate in a groin field

Wave records at seven different locations within a groin field have been analysed by both statistical and spectral approaches to study the general wave climate. The wave heights and periods from the wave records were obtained by both upcross and downcross methods for the statistical approach. The variation of different wave height and wave period parameters with respect to the time of measurement at a particular location and its variation at different locations within the groin field at a particular instant of time are presented and discussed in detail in this paper. It is generally found that the wave heights follow the Weibull distribution.     

The ocean's role in climate variability

Because of its vast volume and heat capacity, the ocean contains most of the memory of the earth's ocean - atmosphere coupled system. It has been suggested that the ocean may delay global warming by absorbing large amounts of heat, that it may cause ab- rupt climate change due to its disrupted thermohaline circulation, and that it may set the time-scales for various climate oscilla- tions. Although the slow pace and persistence of oceanic variations give hope to long-range prediction, there still exist large uncer- tainties in climate predictability. Presently available observations and models are generally inadequate for studying and predicting long-term climate changes. However, some short-term fluctuations such as ENSO have been well studied and shown to be highly predictable even with simplified models.     

Seasonal variations of wind and waves over Taiwan waters

We here investigate the frequency and intensity of oscillations in oceanographic data within intraseasonal time scales using spectral analysis of surface wind and wave time-series data collected at off-island weather stations or moored buoys around Taiwan. Data from marine weather stations were used to trace atmospheric conditions, while we used buoy data to examine sea states. The spectra and wavelet scalogram of the wind fields revealed oscillations with a period of around 20–33 days, and the energy density of the wind field at the off-island stations was stronger than that at the data buoy stations. However, the wavelet scalogram of the wave height measured at the buoy stations was stronger than its associated wind field. This long-period oscillation is consistent with the wavelet scalogram of the wind field calculated from the off-island weather stations. About 20–33 day oscillations exist within intraseasonal variations, which are closely linked to the atmospheric environment and to wind and ocean wave fields. Oscillations with a period of 5–10 days are a pronounced feature over northeastern Taiwan waters during the winter season and can be interpreted as the wave pattern following synoptic weather systems.     

山东半岛东部沿海海浪预报方法初步探讨

本文采用麦夸特法（Levenberg—Marquardt）＋通用全局优化的拟合方法,依据山东半岛不同海区海浪和风的实况资料,确定不同海区拟合方程,拟合方程以WRF风场预报模式预报24小时风速为预报因子,以海浪浪高为预报量。根据拟合方程计算出的每个海区的浪高的值,对每个海区分别进行海浪的浪高预报,产品以GRADES图形的形式输出。     

An ocean model for climate variability studies

Models of the time dependent ocean circulation can be simplified considerably by filtering out all short term, small scale motions which are unimportant for climatic processes. For time scales large compared with a day and space scales large compared with the internal Rossby radius of deformation (～50 km), the currents in most of the interior ocean can be determined diagnostically as quasi-equilibrium fields, so that only the salinity and temperature fields need be treated prognostically.Regions of closed f/h contours, however, represent exceptions. Here trapped vorticity gyres exist as free flow solutions without external forcing, and in the presence of forcing the barotropic velocity field must therefore be determined prognostically through a potential vorticity equation for the gyres.Lateral boundary layers and the equatorial regions also require separate treatment. These were not considered specifically, but it is suggested that integrated (parametrical) models analogous in structure to mixed-layer models or the integrated boundary layer models of aerodynamics may be the most appropriate technique for coupling these regions to the interior ocean in a comprehensive ocean model suitable for climate studies.A coupled multi-region model of the global ocean circulation based on these scale considerations could be sufficiently cost-effective to permit systematic investigation of the role of the oceanic heat storage and transport in climate variability studies over a wide spectrum of space and time scales.The analysis of the seasonal variations of the interior ocean circulation represents a simple example in which the filtered model yields considerably simpler and more readily interpretable results than a fully three-dimensional, unfiltered model.     

Spatio-temporal variability of the relative transparency of Black Sea waters

The Black Sea relative transparency database covering the period from 1922 to 1993 is described. Seasonal and interannual variabilities of the Secchi disc depthz _σ are studied, along with the meteorological, hydrophysical and biological parameters affecting it. Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Synoptic variability of currents in the coastal waters of Sochi

We performed investigations of synoptic variability of bottom and surface currents, the flow rate of the Mzymta River, and the wind speed measured with high resolution (10 min periodicity) in the coastal zone of the city of Sochi in May 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Based on the measurements, a Fourier spectral analysis and harmonic analysis were carried out for both low-frequency and high-frequency components of the variability of the current velocities and wind speed. The analysis revealed a similarity of the structures of the main oscillation periods for the currents in the low-frequency spectrum and significant fluctuation periods for the currents in the high-frequency range. In addition, we studied the internal waves generated by the river plume.     

台湾海峡气候特点分析

台湾海峡是典型的季风区,气候的显著特点是风大、浪高、海雾分布有明显的地域特征,海峡两岸降水差异明显,在台风季节里受台风影响显著。本文依据历年海洋气象调查资料,按1°×1°的分辨率对海面风、海浪、气温、降水等气象水文要素进行统计分析,阐明了台湾海峡的气象水文要素分布特点及其变化规律。     

Synoptic variability of the acoustic characteristics in tropical Atlantic waters

Synoptic variability of the sound speed and parameters of the SOFAR channel in the tropical Atlantic are considered. The synoptic component of the temporal and spatial dispersions of sound speed is singled out. The synoptic processes are shown to essentially affect the vertical hydroacoustic structure on a 1-month scale. It has been found that synoptic variations in the sound speed field penetrate as far as the SOFAR channel axis and deform it considerably.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Impacts of climate variability and change on fishery-based livelihoods

There is increasing concern over the consequences of global warming for the food security and livelihoods of the world's 36 million fisherfolk and the nearly 1.5 billion consumers who rely on fish for more than 20% of their dietary animal protein. With mounting evidence of the impacts of climate variability and change on aquatic ecosystems, the resulting impacts on fisheries livelihoods are likely to be significant, but remain a neglected area in climate adaptation policy. Drawing upon our research and the available literature, and using a livelihoods framework, this paper synthesizes the pathways through which climate variability and change impact fisherfolk livelihoods at the household and community level. We identify current and potential adaptation strategies and explore the wider implications for local livelihoods, fisheries management and climate policies. Responses to climate change can be anticipatory or reactive and should include: (1) management approaches and policies that build the livelihood asset base, reducing vulnerability to multiple stressors, including climate change; (2) an understanding of current response mechanisms to climate variability and other shocks in order to inform planned adaptation; (3) a recognition of the opportunities that climate change could bring to the sector; (4) adaptive strategies designed with a multi-sector perspective; and (5) a recognition of fisheries potential contribution to mitigation efforts.     

Impact of climate variability on an east Australian bay

The climate along the subtropical east coast of Australia is changing significantly. Rainfall has decreased by about 50 mm per decade and temperature increased by about 0.1 °C per decade during the last 50 years. These changes are likely to impact upon episodes of hypersalinity and the persistence of inverse circulations, which are often characteristic features of the coastal zone in the subtropics and are controlled by the balance between evaporation, precipitation, and freshwater discharge. In this study, observations and results from a general ocean circulation model are used to investigate how current climate trends have impacted upon the physical characteristics of the Hervey Bay, Australia. During the last two decades, mean precipitation in Hervey Bay deviates by 13% from the climatology (1941–2000). In the same time, the river discharge is reduced by 23%. In direct consequence, the frequency of hypersaline and inverse conditions has increased. Moreover, the salinity flux out of the bay has increased and the evaporation induced residual circulation has accelerated. Contrary to the drying trend, the occurrence of severe rainfalls, associated with floods, leads to short-term fluctuations in the salinity. These freshwater discharge events are used to estimate a typical response time for the bay.     

Impacts of climate change on commercial fish stocks in Norwegian waters

The Norwegian fishing areas extend over various marine ecosystems that will respond differently to climate change. In the North Sea the productivity of the boreal fish species are likely to decrease under global warming and new warm-water species are expected to become more abundant. In the arctic marine ecosystem of the Barents Sea the fish productivity is expected to increase and their distributions expand northward and eastward under global warming increasing the importance of the Russian as well as the Norwegian sectors of the Barents. In the past, decadal-scale climate variations have been shown to strongly influence productivity and distributions of fish stocks. The importance of such shorter-term variations are expected to continue also under global warming. Under global warming the optimum temperature for fish farming along the Norwegian coast will be displaced northwards from the northern part of West Norway towards the Helgeland coast.     

Ecological characteristics of planktonic ostracoda in the western waters of Taiwan Straits

In the sea area west of the middle line of Taiwan Straits, 116°40′～120°30′E, 22°22.9′～25°43′N, four cruises of comprehensive survey were conducted by the Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, from May, 1984 to February, 1985. The data concerned were taken from the quantitative samples obtained by using large-sized standard zooplankton nets, while the values adopted such as hydrological and chemical data of the various stations were from the average values of the field data of each one-meter layer.