An assessment of a nowcast/forecast system for the straits of Florida/Florida Current regime

The Florida Current （FC） largely fills the Straits of Florida and is variable on a broad spectrum of time and space scales. Some portions of the variability are due to variable forcing by tides, winds, heating/cooling, and throughflow; other portions are due to intrinsic instabilities of the FC. To predict, as well as to better understand this complex regime, a nowcast/forecast system （East Florida Shelf Information System （EFSIS）） has been implemented and assessed （http：//efsis. rsmas. miami. edu）. EFSIS is based on an implementation of the Princeton Ocean Model （POM） with mesoscale-admitting resolution on a curvilinear grid. It is forced by a mesoscale numerical weather prediction system （called Eta） run operationally by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction （NCEP）, eight tidal constituents from a global tidal model, and lateral boundary conditions from an operational global ocean prediction model, i.e., the Navy Coastal Ocean Model （NCOM）. Real-time observations of coastal sea level, coastal sea surface temperature, coastal HF radar-derived surface current maps, and FC volume transport are used to verify and validate EFSIS. EFSIS is part of an evolving strategy for real-time predictive coastal ocean modeling methodology, and for fostering the understanding of the variability of the regime on several time and space scales. Here, some of the verification and validation results are provided, as well as diagnostic analyses of dynamical processes. The central point is that an example is provided of a ＇scientific revolution＇ in progress that combines real-time observations and numerical circulation models to yield a credible sequence of synoptic views of coastal ocean circulation for the first time.     

Wave effect on the ocean circulations through mass transport and wave-induced pumping

The wave Coriolis-Stokes-Force-modified ocean momentum equations are reviewed in this paper and the wave Stokes transport is pointed out to be part of the ocean circulations. Using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts 40-year reanalysis data (ERA-40 data) and the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) version 2.2.4 data, the magnitude of this transport is compared with that of wind-driven Sverdrup transport and a 5-to-10-precent contribution by the wave Stokes transport is found. Both transports are stronger in boreal winter than in summers. The wave effect can be either contribution or cancellation in different seasons. Examination with Kuroshio transport verifies similar seasonal variations. The clarification of the efficient wave boundary condition helps to understand the role of waves in mass transport. It acts as surface wind stress and can be functional down to the bottom of the ageostrophic layer. The pumping velocities resulting from wave-induced stress are zonally distributed and are significant in relatively high latitudes. Further work will focus on the model performance of the wave-stress-changed-boundary and the role of swells in the eastern part of the oceans.     

A THREE-LAYER OCEAN CIRCULATION MODEL APPLICATION TO NUMERICAL STUDIES ON THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN CIRCULATION

The formulation and justification of a three-layer baroclinic ocean model developed to simulate thegeneral circulation of the ocean are described in this paper.Test of the model in simulating the annualmean circulation patterns in the North Pacific under the prescribed atmospheric forcing,which consists ofthe climatological surface wind stress and sea surface heat flux,and comparison of the results withobservations showed that the model basically simulated the large scale features of the annual meancirculation patterns in the North Pacific Ocean such as those of the intensified western boundary currentsand the North Equatorial Currents and Undercurrents.But due to the coarse resolution of the model,some details of these currents were poorly reproduced.The seasonal variations of the North Pacific Oceancirculation driven by the seasonal mean sea surface wind stress was calculated,the different aspects of theseresults were analyzed and the main current(the intensified western boundary currents)transports we     

Wind-forced equatorial wave dynamics of the Pacific Ocean during 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 E1 Ni?o events

The equatorial wave dynamics of interannual sea level variations between 2014/2015 and2015/2016 El Nino events are compared using the Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics,Institute of Atmospheric Physics Climate Ocean Model(LICOM) forced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) reanalysis I wind stre s s and heat flux during 2000-2015.In addition,the LICOM can reproduce the interannual variability of sea surface temperature anomalies(SSTA) and sea level anomalies(SLA) along the equator over the Pacific Ocean in comparison with the Hadley center and altimetric data well.We extracted the equatorial wave coefficients of LICOM simulation to get the contribution to SLA by multiplying the meridional wave structure.During 2014/2015 El Nino event,upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves from the western boundary in April2014 reach the eastern Pacific Ocean,which weakened SLA in the eastern Pacific Ocean.However,no upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves from the western boundary of the Pacific Ocean could reach the eastern boundary during the 2015/2016 El Nino event.Linear wave model results also demonstrate that upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves in both 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 from the western boundary can reach the eastern boundary.However,the contribution from stronger westerly anomalies forced downwelling equatorial Kelvin waves overwhelmed that from the upwelling equatorial Kelvin waves from the western boundary in 2015.Therefore,the western boundary reflection and weak westerly wind burst inhibited the growth of the 2014/2015 El Nino event.The disclosed equatorial wave dynamics are important to the simulation and prediction of ENSO events in future studies.     

Assessment of the Tidal Current Energy Resources and the Hydrodynamic Impacts of Energy Extraction at the PuHu Channel in Zhoushan Archipelago,China

An unstructured model FVCOM(The Unstructured Grid Finite Volume Community Ocean Model) with sink momentum term was applied to simulate the tidal current field in Zhoushan Archipelago, China, with focus on the region named PuHu Channel between Putuo Island and Hulu Island. The model was calibrated with several measurements in the channel, and the model performance was validated. An examination of the spatial and temporal distributions of tidal energy resources based on the numerical simulation revealed that the greatest power density of tidal energy during spring tide is 3.6 kW m-2 at the northern area of the channel. Two parameters were introduced to characterize the generation duration of the tidal array that causes the temporal variation of tidal current energy. The annual average available energy in the channel was found to be approximately 2.6 MW. The annual generating hours at rated power was found to be 1800 h when the installed capacity of tidal array is approximately 12 MW. A site for the tidal array with 25 turbines was selected, and the layout of the array was configured based on the EMEC specifications. Hydrodynamic influence due to the deployment of the tidal array was simulated by the modified FVCOM model. The simulation showed that the tidal level did not significantly change because of the operation of the tidal array. The velocity reduction covered a 2 km~2 area of the downstream the tidal array, with a maximum velocity reduction of 8 cm s-1 at mid-flood tide, whereas the streamwise velocity on both sides of the farm increased slightly.     

Impacts of wave and current on drag coefficient and wind stress over the tropical and northern Pacific

By taking into consideration the effects of ocean surface wave-induced Stokes drift velocity U,w and current velocityU,c on the drag coefficient,the spatial distributions of drag coefficient and wind stress in 2004 are computed over the tropical andnorthern Pacific using an empirical drag coefficient parameterization formula based on wave steepness and wind speed.The globalocean current field is generated from the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and the wave data are generated from Wave-watch Ⅲ (WW3).The spatial variability of the drag coefficient and wind stress is analyzed.Preliminary results indicate that theocean surface Stokes drift velocity and current velocity exert an important influence on the wind stress.The results also show thatconsideration of the effects of the ocean surface Stokes drift velocity and current velocity on the wind stress can significantly im-prove the modeling of ocean circulation and air-sea interaction processes.     

Effect of wave-induced Stokes drift on the dynamics of ocean mixed layer

The wave-forcing ’Coriolis-Stokes forcing’ and ’Stokes-vortex force’ induced by Stokes drift affect the upper ocean jointly.To study the effect of the wave-induced Stokes drift on the dynamics of the ocean mixed layer,a new three-dimensional(3D) numerical model is derived using the primitive basic equations and Eulerian wave averaging.The Princeton Ocean Model(POM),a 3D primitive equation ocean model is used with the upper wave-averaged basic equations.The global ocean circulation is simulated using the POM model,and the Stokes drift is evaluated based on the wave data generated by WAVEWATCH III.We compared simulations with and without the Stokes drift.The results show that the magnitude of the Stokes drift is comparable with the Eulerian mean current.Including the Stokes drift in the ocean model affects both the Eulerian current and the Lagranian drift and causes the vertical mixing coefficients to increase.     

Numerical simulation of seawater intrusion from estuary into river using a coupled modeling system

One of the most important causes of the freshwater shortage in estuarine area is the increasing seawater intrusion into the river. To simulate seawater intrusion properly, two important factors should be considered. One is the bidirectional and time-dependent coupling effects between river discharges and tidal forces. The other is the three-dimensional and stratified structure of dynamic processes involved. However, these two factors have rarely been investigated simultaneously, or they were often simplified in previous researches, especially for the estuary connected with an upstream river network through multiple outlets such as the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). In order to consider these two factors, a numerical modeling system, which couples a one-dimensional river network model with a three-dimensional unstructured-grid Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM), has been developed and successfully applied to the simulation of seawater intrusion into rivers emptying into the PRE. By treating the river network with a one-dimensional model, computational efficiency has been improved. With coupling 1D and 3D models, the specification of up-stream boundary conditions becomes more convenient. Simulated results are compared with field measured data. Good agreement indicates that the modeling system may correctly capture the physical processes of seawater intrusion into rivers.     

The effect of Coriolis-Stokes forcing on upper ocean circulation in a two-way coupled wave-current model

We investigated the Stokes drift-driven ocean currents and Stokes drift-induced wind energy input into the upper ocean using a two-way coupled wave-current modeling system that consists of the Princeton Ocean Model generalized coordinate system (POMgcs), Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) wave model, and the Model Coupling Toolkit (MCT). The Coriolis-Stokes forcing (CSF) computed using the wave parameters from SWAN was incorporated with the momentum equation of POMgcs as the core coupling process. Experimental results in an idealized setting show that under the steady state, the scale of the speed of CSF-driven current was 0.001 m/s and the maximum reached 0.02 m/s. The Stokes drift-induced energy rate input into the model ocean was estimated to be 28.5 GW, taking 14% of the direct wind energy rate input. Considering the Stokes drift effects, the total mechanical energy rate input was increased by approximately 14%, which highlights the importance of CSF in modulating the upper ocean circulation. The actual run conducted in Taiwan Adjacent Sea (TAS) shows that: 1) CSF-based wave-current coupling has an impact on ocean surface currents, which is related to the activities of monsoon winds; 2) wave-current coupling plays a significant role in a place where strong eddies present and tends to intensify the eddy’s vorticity; 3) wave-current coupling affects the volume transport of the Taiwan Strait (TS) throughflow in a nontrivial degree, 3.75% on average.     

Seasonal variation of the surface North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) in the western Pacific Ocean

The North Equatorial Countercurrent(NECC) is an important zonal fl ow in the upper circulation of the tropical Pacifi c Ocean, which plays a vital role in the heat budget of the western Pacifi c warm pool. Using satellite-derived data of ocean surface currents and sea surface heights(SSHs) from 1992 to 2011, the seasonal variation of the surface NECC in the western tropical Pacifi c Ocean was investigated. It was found that the intensity(INT) and axis position(Y_(CM)) of the surface NECC exhibit strikingly different seasonal fl uctuations in the upstream(128°–136°E) and downstream(145°–160°E) regions. Of the two regions, the seasonal cycle of the upstream NECC shows the greater interannual variability. Its INT and Y CM are greatly infl uenced by variations of the Mindanao Eddy, Mindanao Dome(MD), and equatorial Rossby waves to its south. Both INT and YC M also show semiannual signals induced by the combined effects of equatorial Rossby waves from the Central Pacifi c and local wind forcing in the western Pacifi c Ocean. In the downstream region, the variability of the NECC is affected by SSH anomalies in the MD and the central equatorial Pacifi c Ocean. Those in the MD region are especially important in modulating the Y CM of the downstream NECC. In addition to the SSH-related geostrophic fl ow, zonal Ekman fl ow driven by meridional wind stress also plays a role, having considerable impact on INT variability of the surface NECC. The contrasting features of the variability of the NECC in the upstream and downstream regions refl ect the high complexity of regional ocean dynamics.     

Interannual variations of North Equatorial Current transport in the Pacific Ocean during two types of El Niño

Interannual variations of Pacific North Equatorial Current (NEC) transport during eastern-Pacific El Niños (EP-El Niños) and central-Pacific El Niños (CP-El Niños) are investigated by composite analysis with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast Ocean Analysis/Reanalysis System 3. During EP-El Niño, NEC transport shows significant positive anomalies from the developing to decay phases, with the largest anomalies around the mature phase. During CP-El Niño, however, the NEC transport only shows positive anomalies before the mature phase, with much weaker anomalies than those during EP-El Niño. The NEC transport variations are strongly associated with variations of the tropical gyre and wind forcing in the tropical North Pacific. During EP-El Niño, strong westerly wind anomalies and positive wind stress curl anomalies in the tropical North Pacific induce local upward Ekman pumping and westward-propagating upwelling Rossby waves in the ocean, lowering the sea surface height and generating a cyclonic gyre anomaly in the western tropical Pacific. During CP-El Niño, however, strength of the wind and associated Ekman pumping velocity are very weak. Negative sea surface height and cyclonic flow anomalies are slightly north of those during EP El Niño.     

The suspended sediment concentration distribution in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea

The distribution of the suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea (BYECS) is studied based on the observed turbidity data and model simulation results. The observed turbidity results show that (i) the highest SSC is found in the coastal areas while in the outer shelf sea areas turbid water is much more difficult to observe, (ii) the surface layer SSC is much lower than the bottom layer SSC and (iii) the winter SSC is higher than the summer SSC. The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) is used to simulate the SSC distribution in the BYECS. A comparison between the modeled SSC and the observed SSC in the BYECS shows that the modeled SSC can reproduce the principal features of the SSC distribution in the BYECS. The dynamic mechanisms of the sediment erosion and transport processes are studied based on the modeled results. The horizontal distribution of the SSC in the BYECS is mainly determined by the current-wave induced bottom stress and the fine-grain sediment distribution. The current-induced bottom stress is much higher than the wave-induced bottom stress, which means the tidal currents play a more significant role in the sediment resuspension than the wind waves. The vertical mixing strength is studied based on the mixed layer depth and the turbulent kinetic energy distribution in the BYECS. The strong winter time vertical mixing, which is mainly caused by the strong wind stress and surface cooling, leads to high surface layer SSC in winter. High surface layer SSC in summer is restricted in the coastal areas.     

太平洋赤道潜流起源的模式研究

基于一个高分辨率准全球海洋模式HYCOM(HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model),研究了热带西太平洋海域赤道潜流的起源。结果表明:赤道潜流在大约130°E处开始,流核位于225 m、2°N附近,最大流速超过15 cm/s,体积输运约1.6×106 m3/s,其水源来自棉兰老海流;在东部140°E断面,赤道潜流的北部主要是由棉兰老海流提供(9.7×106 m3/s),其南部主要是来自新几内亚沿岸潜流(9.1×106 m3/s)。     

Climate variability and predictability associated with the Indo-Pacific Oceanic Channel Dynamics in the CCSM4 Coupled System Model

An experiment using the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4), a participant of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-5 (CMIP5), is analyzed to assess the skills of this model in simulating and predicting the climate variabilities associated with the oceanic channel dynamics across the Indo-Pacific Oceans. The results of these analyses suggest that the model is able to reproduce the observed lag correlation between the oceanic anomalies in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean and those in the cold tongue in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean at a time lag of 1 year. This success may be largely attributed to the successful simulation of the interannual variations of the Indonesian Throughflow, which carries the anomalies of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) into the western equatorial Pacific Ocean to produce subsurface temperature anomalies, which in turn propagate to the eastern equatorial Pacific to generate ENSO. This connection is termed the “oceanic channel dynamics” and is shown to be consistent with the observational analyses. However, the model simulates a weaker connection between the IOD and the interannual variability of the Indonesian Throughflow transport than found in the observations. In addition, the model overestimates the westerly wind anomalies in the western-central equatorial Pacific in the year following the IOD, which forces unrealistic upwelling Rossby waves in the western equatorial Pacific and downwelling Kelvin waves in the east. This assessment suggests that the CCSM4 coupled climate system has underestimated the oceanic channel dynamics and overestimated the atmospheric bridge processes.     

Factors influencing the climatological mixed layer depth in the South China Sea: numerical simulations

The mixed layer depth (MLD) in the upper ocean is an important physical parameter for describing the upper ocean mixed layer. We analyzed several major factors influencing the climatological mixed layer depth (CMLD), and established a numerical simulation in the South China Sea (SCS) using the Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) with a high-resolution (1/12°×1/12°) grid nesting method and 50 vertical layers. Several ideal numerical experiments were tested by modifying the existing sea surface boundary conditions. Especially, we analyzed the sensitivity of the results simulated for the CMLD with factors of sea surface wind stress (SSWS), sea surface net heat flux (SSNHF), and the difference between evaporation and precipitation (DEP). The result shows that of the three factors that change the depth of the CMLD, SSWS is in the first place, when ignoring the impact of SSWS, CMLD will change by 26% on average, and its effect is always to deepen the CMLD; the next comes SSNHF (13%) for deepening the CMLD in October to January and shallowing the CMLD in February to September; and the DEP comes in the third (only 2%). Moreover, we analyzed the temporal and spatial characteristics of CMLD and compared the simulation result with the ARGO observational data. The results indicate that ROMS is applicable for studying CMLD in the SCS area.     

Influence of Headland Breakwaters on Morphological Processes at Longfengtou Beach in Haitan Bay,Facing the Taiwan Strait

Breakwaters can be used as artificial headlands in beach nourishment to mitigate coastal erosion. Longfengtou Beach, located on the southwest coast of Haitan Bay facing the Taiwan Strait on the northeast, suffers severe erosion, where the monsoon causes significant season hydrodynamic variations. Headland breakwaters are intended to be employed to mitigate coastal erosion. A 2D sediment transport model is established using MIKE21 based on current-wave coupling and calibrated by measured data. Summer and winter wave conditions are chosen as characteristic weak and strong waves respectively. The numerical results of suspended sediment concentration and seasonal morphological evolution are compared under the conditions with and without the headland breakwaters. Sediment transport in summer can be regarded as mainly determined by current field, while in winter wave effect is strong enough to change current field. The northern breakwater, nearly perpendicular to the ebb current direction, obstructs the currents and decreases velocity of the ebb currents, and confines the water carrying sediments within the protection area during the flood period. The southern breakwater also breaks the waves in advance and significantly reduces the hydrodynamic effects during the flood period and maintains high suspended sediment concentration in the protection area. In general, two headland breakwaters decrease the erosion near the beach and enlarge the deposition area, which play a significant role in prevention of sediment loss in nearshore area and mitigate coastal erosion.     

Three-dimensional ocean sensor networks: A survey

The past decade has seen a growing interest in ocean sensor networks because of their wide applications in marine research,oceanography,ocean monitoring,offshore exploration,and defense or homeland security.Ocean sensor networks are generally formed with various ocean sensors,autonomous underwater vehicles,surface stations,and research vessels.To make ocean sensor network applications viable,efficient communication among all devices and components is crucial.Due to the unique characteristics of underwater acoustic channels and the complex deployment environment in three dimensional(3D) ocean spaces,new efficient and reliable communication and networking protocols are needed in design of ocean sensor networks.In this paper,we aim to provide an overview of the most recent advances in network design principles for 3D ocean sensor networks,with focuses on deployment,localization,topology design,and position-based routing in 3D ocean spaces.     

Model-simulated coastal trapped waves stimulated by typhoon in northwestern South China Sea

In this paper, we apply an unstructured grid coastal ocean model to simulate variations in the sea level and currents forced by two typhoons in the northwestern South China Sea (SCS). The model simulations show distinct differences for the two cases in which the typhoon paths were north and south of the Qiongzhou (QZ) Strait. In both cases, coastal trapped waves (CTWs) are stimulated but their propagation behaviors differ. Model sensitivity simulations suggest the dominant role played by alongshore wind in the eastern SCS (near Shanwei) and southeast of Hainan Island. We also examine the influence of the Leizhou Peninsula by changing the coastline in simulation experiments. Based on our results, we can draw the following conclusions: 1) The CTWs stimulated by the northern typhoon are stronger than the southern CTW. 2) In the two cases, the directions of the current structures of the QZ cross-transect are reversed. The strongest flow cores are both located in the middle-upper area of the strait and the results of our empirical orthogonal function analysis show that the vertical structure is highly barotropic. 3) The simulated CTWs divide into two branches in the QZ Strait for the northern typhoon, and an island trapped wave (ITW) around Hainan Island for the southern typhoon. 4) The Leizhou Peninsula plays a significant role in the distribution of the kinetic energy flux between the two CTW branches. In the presence of the Leizhou Peninsula, the QZ branch has only 39.7 percent of the total energy, whereas that ratio increases to 72.2 percent in its absence.     

曹妃甸近岸海域垂向悬沙含量遥感反演

利用遥感技术监测水体悬浮泥沙含量是海洋水色遥感的一个重要研究方向。本文以曹妃甸近岸海域4个剖面35个站点开展的现场光谱测量、同步采集的不同深度悬浮泥沙含量样品数据为基础,采用Landsat-5 TM遥感数据,建立水体表、中、底层悬沙含量遥感反演模型,并研究悬沙垂向上的空间分布规律。结果表明,曹妃甸近岸海域泥沙含量在垂向上有明显的相关性,以Landsat-5 TM影像反射率比值（R_TM3/R_TM2）为因子,构建优化的悬浮泥沙含量遥感反演模型,各层模型平均相对误差都在30%以内,表层和中层的平均绝对误差在6 mg/L以下,均方根误差小于10 mg/L,底层的精度略低于表层和中层。研究结果为进一步研究海洋环境泥沙运移规律、优化水动力作用下泥沙运移模型提供支持。     

Numerical simulations of the coastal effects of tsunami waves caused by the 1993 Hokkaido-Nansei-Oki earthquake

Generally, tsunami waves become hazardous only when approaching the coast. Studying the runup and inundation of tsunami waves is important for understanding the tsunami evolution and for tsunami hazard assessment. Here, we simulated the 1993 Hokkaido-Nansei-Oki (HNO) tsunami using a finite-difference model based on nonlinear shallow-water equations. We focused on the runup and inundation of tsunami wave propagation onto coastal area of Okushiri Island near Hokkaido, Japan, and investigate the relationship of different runup heights with the morphology and bathymetry of the seashore. In the simulation, a nested 4-layer grid system and moving boundary technique are adopted to study runup and inundation. The calculated tsunami heights and inundations in the region agreed well with field measurements. The local bathymetric and topographic characteristics had a first-order effect on the runup. Numerical experiments show that the focusing of certain local bathymetric features would amplify both wave height and current velocity remarkably. The results show that computation on dense grids is necessary to reproduce the observed runup heights, and inundation velocity is an important factor preventing tsunami devastation. In addition, we discussed the potential capability of sediment transport to illustrate the impact of tsunami waves on coastal geomorphology.