Comparison of wind and wave measurements and models in the Western Mediterranean Sea

We have hindcast the wind and wave conditions in the Mediterranean Sea for two one month periods. Four different meteorological models and three different wave models have been used. The results have been compared with satellite and buoy wind and wave observations.Several conclusions concerning both the instruments and the models have been derived. The quality of both wind and wave results has been assessed. Close to the coasts high resolution, nested wave models are required for sufficient reliability.A wave threshold analysis suggests a sufficient reliability only off the coast, with a substantial decrease for low wave heights.     

海洋遥感四维测量应用

机载成象光谱仪遥感海洋是在轨星载海洋传感器定标校验的一种方法。本文研究了海洋航空遥感的四维测量方法,以及实现卫星、飞行遥感和船舶同步测量的重要意义。     

Assessment of wind-forcing impact on a global wind-wave model using the TOPEX altimeter

The study presents assessment of an operational wave model (Wavewatch III), focusing upon the model sensitivity to wind-forcing products. Four wind fields are used to drive the model, including the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and three other products that assimilate various satellite wind measurements having high spatial resolution, including the QuikSCAT scatterometer. Three wave field statistics: significant wave height, mean zero-crossing wave period, and mean square slope are compared with collocated TOPEX altimeter derivatives to gauge the relative skill of differing wind-forced model runs, as well as to demonstrate an extended use of the altimeter beyond simply supplying wave height for wave model validation and assimilation. Results suggest that model output is critically sensitive to choice of the wind field product. Higher spatial resolution in the wind fields does lead to improved agreement for the higher-order wave statistics.     

基于遥感和GIS的舟山岛岸线资源时空变迁及其利用演进研究

本文以舟山岛为例,以乡镇街道为基本分析单元,根据遥感与GIS方法,进行了1999-2012年间海岸线长度与人工岸线比例、曲折度、利用集约度、资源利用类型的时空变化观测与统计分析。结果表明:(1)舟山岛的岸线在1999年至2012年间不断变化,但变化幅度逐渐减缓,逐渐趋于稳定。区域集中性明显,主要集中在生态风险低的区域。在岸线范围变化的同时,人工化指数也在不断上升;(2)本岛岸线利用方式变化明显,主导利用方式为港口与工业岸线和城镇生活岸线。岸线各利用类型存在部分相互转化,主要是对其它用途岸线开发。舟山岛岸线利用用途相互转化较为合理;(3)随着岸线范围与利用类型的变化,舟山岛岸线利用集约度不断提高,说明本岛对于岸线利用的定位逐渐精准化。结合舟山市海洋功能区划岸线管理效果的回顾性分析,对舟山岛乃至更多海岛县的岸线资源未来的可持续发展提出合理意见。     

Remote Acoustic Habitat Assessment Techniques Used to Characterize the Quality and Extent of Oyster Bottom in the Chesapeake Bay

Underwater acoustic technologies may be used for remote sensing of estuarine and coastal benthic habitat in addition to more traditional methods of assessing the seabed. These systems use reflected sound energy to identify surface objects, texture, and subbottom density discontinuities, and to classify benthic habitat. We evaluated the ability of subbottom profiling systems, side scan sonar, and acoustic seabed classification systems (ASCS) to assess oyster habitat in the Chesapeake Bay. Our criteria were the systems' abilities to assess the quality and quantity of oyster shell resources and to integrate with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology for the charting of the seabed. Although all systems examined have previously been used for benthic habitat assessment, we found that ASCS offered the most promise as a stand alone system for mapping complex and heterogeneous habitat typical of oyster bottoms. The results from this study suggest that ASCS technology is highly suited for the identification and charting of oyster shell as well as distinguishing among different combinations of shell and fine sediments. Such systems also offer excellent linkage with GIS display and analysis capability.     

双通道高光谱地物波谱仪测量水体的遥感反射率

遥感反射率是描述水体光谱特征的重要参数之一,是海洋水色遥感的基础物理量。高光谱地物波谱仪具有通道多、覆盖波长广、通道带宽窄等优点,在水体水色特性研究方面具有独特的优势,文章在简要介绍水体遥感反射率测量原理基础上,对几个关键技术问题进行讨论,最后给出一些应用效果。     

基于多时相GF-1和Landsat影像的连云港市44年海岸线遥感监测与演变分析

海岸线的动态变化监测可为海岸带防护、海岸带资源开发利用和可持续发展过程中的决策支持提供理论支撑。文中基于1973-2017年覆盖连云港市的Landsat系列和GF系列卫星影像数据,结合海岸线分类体系,提取了连云港市10期海岸线信息,并分析了海岸线演变特征及其成因。结果表明:(1) 2017年连云港市海岸线总长度为205.90 km,主要岸线类型为建设围堤和港口岸线,两类岸线总长为120.52 km,占总岸线长度的58.53%;(2) 1973-2017年连云港市海岸线长度整体呈现增长态势,44年间海岸线长度共增长了57.17 km,年增长率约为1.3 km/a。连云港市海岸线主要增长的岸线类型为建设围堤、港口岸线和生物岸线;(3) 44年间,连云港市海岸变化主要的海岸线类型为粉砂淤泥质岸线、生物岸线、港口岸线、建设围堤和盐田围堤;(4) 2017年连云港市自然岸线长度为69.15 km,占总岸线长度的33.6%,44年间,自然岸线长度减少了28.8km,年减少率为0.65 km/a。自然岸线减少的原因主要为养殖业发展、城市扩张建设和港口建设。     

Sensitivity of wave model predictions to wind fields in the Western Mediterranean sea

The paper compares the wave hindcast in the Western Mediterranean sea using the reanalysis wind fields from HIPOCAS and ERA-40 from ECMWF for November 2001. The study has concentrated on the Mediterranean coast of Spain where there are known difficulties with the wind and wave modelling. Two winter storms have been compared. The main differences between the significant wave heights using the ERA-40 reanalysis (ECMWF) and HIPOCAS reanalysis winds were observed to increase when moving southwards in the geographical domain at the offshore locations. Systematic negative biases of Hs were obtained with the ERA-40 data at all the coastal locations analyzed, whereas positive biases are typical for the HIPOCAS reanalysis. For offshore and coastal locations when using the ERA-40 data the Hs biases increased moving to South, while this pattern was not so clear for the HIPOCAS data. The inconsistencies in the comparisons of modelled waves against measurements seem to be associated with the quality of the wind fields.     

微波辐射计遥感海洋盐度的研究进展

介绍了微波辐射计遥感海洋盐度的原理,回顾了在海水微波辐射亮度温度模型,机载、星载微波辐射计遥感海洋盐度实验,以及星载微波辐射计研究计划方面的进展。指出了为提高海洋盐度测量精度和空间分辨率,在盐度遥感机理、微波辐射计、及盐度反演研究方面的发展趋势。     

Estimation of Contamination of ERS-2 and POSEIDON Satellite Radar Altimetry Close to the Coasts of Australia

It is broadly acknowledged that the precision of satellite-altimeter-measured instantaneous sea surface heights (SSH) is lower in coastal regions than in open oceans, due partly to contamination of the radar return from the coastal sea-surface state and from land topography. This study investigates the behavior of ERS-2 and POSEIDON altimeter waveform data in coastal regions and estimates a boundary around Australia's coasts in which the altimeter range may be poorly estimated by on-satellite tracking software. Over one million 20 Hz ERS-2 (March to April 1999) and POSEIDON (January 1998 to January 1999) radar altimeter waveform data were used over an area extending 350 km offshore Australia. The DS759.2 (5'resolution) ocean depth model and the GSHHS (0.2 km resolution) shoreline model were used together to define the coastal regions. Using the 50% threshold retracking points as the estimates of expected tracking gate, we determined that the sea surface height is contaminated out to maximum distance of between about 8 km and 22 km from the Australian shoreline for ERS-2, depending partly on coastal topography. Using the standard deviation of the mean waveforms as an indication of the general variability of the altimeter returns in the Australian coastal region shows obvious coastal contamination out to about 4 km for both altimeters, and less obvious contamination out to about 8 km for POSEIDON and 10 km for ERS-2. Therefore, ERS-2 and POSEIDON satellite altimeter data should be treated with some caution for distances less than about 22 km from the Australian coast and probably ignored altogether for distances less than 4 km.     

Analysis of the Voyager storm

We analyse the wind and wave conditions present in the Mediterranean Sea at the time and location when the cruise ship Voyager was reportedly hit by one or more big waves and suffered substantial damage. The analysis is done using wind and wave modelling supported by satellite and buoy wind and wave data. Granted the hindcast of the storm, we also analyse the local conditions for the possibility of freak waves.     

Satellite wave measurements for coastal engineering applications

Measurements from the GEOSAT, ERS-1 and 2 and Topex/Poseidon satellites have now accumulated to over 15 years of global ocean wave and wind data. Extraction of wave height, wind speed and wave period from the satellite altimeters and directional wave spectra from the synthetic aperture radars are reviewed along with recent validation and calibration efforts. Applications of the data to a variety of problems illustrate the potential of satellite wave measurements.     

Estimation of Contamination of ERS-2 and POSEIDON Satellite Radar Altimetry Close to the Coasts of Australia

It is broadly acknowledged that the precision of satellite-altimeter-measured instantaneous sea surface heights (SSH) is lower in coastal regions than in open oceans, due partly to contamination of the radar return from the coastal sea-surface state and from land topography. This study investigates the behavior of ERS-2 and POSEIDON altimeter waveform data in coastal regions and estimates a boundary around Australia's coasts in which the altimeter range may be poorly estimated by on-satellite tracking software. Over one million 20 Hz ERS-2 (March to April 1999) and POSEIDON (January 1998 to January 1999) radar altimeter waveform data were used over an area extending 350 km offshore Australia. The DS759.2 (5'resolution) ocean depth model and the GSHHS (0.2 km resolution) shoreline model were used together to define the coastal regions. Using the 50% threshold retracking points as the estimates of expected tracking gate, we determined that the sea surface height is contaminated out to maximum distance of between about 8 km and 22 km from the Australian shoreline for ERS-2, depending partly on coastal topography. Using the standard deviation of the mean waveforms as an indication of the general variability of the altimeter returns in the Australian coastal region shows obvious coastal contamination out to about 4 km for both altimeters, and less obvious contamination out to about 8 km for POSEIDON and 10 km for ERS-2. Therefore, ERS-2 and POSEIDON satellite altimeter data should be treated with some caution for distances less than about 22 km from the Australian coast and probably ignored altogether for distances less than 4 km.     

卫星海洋遥感的发展和预报中心遥感应用

本文简要介绍了卫星海洋遥感的发展情况和可获得的海洋气象观测数据,介绍了预报中心卫星遥感的发展历史和现今状况,以及为海洋环境监测和预报提供的海洋遥感信息产品,并给出了部分产品示例.     

热红外测量海表面温度中的ε修正

提出了一种简单的用红外辐射计获得海表面温度的方法。该方法应用了一个快速、均匀搅拌的水浴与一支精密的水银温度计，获取海表面温度的反演系数(又称等效比辐射率)，避开了海水辐射率、大气温度和红外辐射计的响应函数等问题。在未知辐射率、大气温度、响应函数的情况下，仍可得到高于0.2℃的精度。     

The sheltering effect of the Balearic Islands in the hindcast wave field

The sheltering effect of the Balearic Islands in the hindcast wave field was studied for typical Mediterranean wave situations of Llevant, Tramuntana and Mestral and for mild conditions such as the Garbí and Ponent winds. For this purpose, a third generation wave model was applied to the Mediterranean Sea and different patterns of the sheltered areas were found for the various representative situations depending on the wind variability and on the magnitude of the wind speed. From the analysis it was concluded that the sheltered zones created during storms generally persist for short periods of time of the order of 6 h, possibly reaching a maximum of 12 h. In contrast with earlier results obtained for swell dominated ocean areas, it was observed that in this area, due to the short fetches the sea states are mainly local wind seas and thus the wave field behind the islands depends on the local wind.     

Wind-driven interannual variability over the northeast Pacific Ocean

Interannual variability of the sea surface height (SSH) over the northeast Pacific Ocean is hindcast with a reduced-gravity, quasi-geostrophic model that includes linear damping. The model is forced with monthly Ekman pumping fields derived from the NCEP reanalysis wind stresses. The numerical solution is compared with SSH observations derived from satellite altimeter data and gridded at a lateral resolution of 1 degree. Provided that the reduced gravity parameter is chosen appropriately, the results demonstrate that the model has significant hindcast skill over interior regions of the basin, away from continental boundaries. A damping time scale of 2 to 3 years is close to optimal, although the hindcast skill is not strongly dependent on this parameter.A simplification of the quasi-geostrophic model is considered in which Rossby waves are eliminated, yielding a Markov model driven by local Ekman pumping. The results approximately reproduce the hindcast skill of the more complete quasi-geostrophic model and indicate that the interannual SSH variability is dominated by the local response to wind forcing. There is a close correspondence the two leading empirical orthogonal modes of the local model and those of the observed SSH anomalies. The latter account for over half of the variance of the interannual signal over the region.     

Remote Sensing of Mangrove Change Along the Tanzania Coast

This article contributes to the understanding of the changes in distribution and total area of mangrove forests along the mainland Tanzania coast over the past decade. Mangroves are recognized as critical coastal habitat requiring protection and special attention. The Tanzania coastline forms a suitable habitat for establishment of mangrove forests. Mangrove forests are distributed from Tanga in the north to Mtwara in the south covering approximately 109,593 hectares from 1988-1990 and about 108,138 hectares in 2000. The largest continuous mangrove stands are found in the districts of Rufiji, Kilwa, Tanga-Muheza, and Mtwara. Comparison of data between these two time periods shows that the geographic coverage of mangroves has no dramatic change in the past decade. The Tanzania Mangrove Management Project and other closely related programs and efforts pertaining to mangrove conservation contribute to direct restoration and natural regeneration of mangroves. This study documents the changes of mangroves and demonstrates that remote sensing and GIS offer important data and tools in the advancement of coastal resource management and ecosystem monitoring. Application of geographic information technologies is critical for improved coastal resources management and decision making for sustainable development in Tanzania.     

Remote Sensing of Mangrove Change Along the Tanzania Coast

This article contributes to the understanding of the changes in distribution and total area of mangrove forests along the mainland Tanzania coast over the past decade. Mangroves are recognized as critical coastal habitat requiring protection and special attention. The Tanzania coastline forms a suitable habitat for establishment of mangrove forests. Mangrove forests are distributed from Tanga in the north to Mtwara in the south covering approximately 109,593 hectares from 1988-1990 and about 108,138 hectares in 2000. The largest continuous mangrove stands are found in the districts of Rufiji, Kilwa, Tanga-Muheza, and Mtwara. Comparison of data between these two time periods shows that the geographic coverage of mangroves has no dramatic change in the past decade. The Tanzania Mangrove Management Project and other closely related programs and efforts pertaining to mangrove conservation contribute to direct restoration and natural regeneration of mangroves. This study documents the changes of mangroves and demonstrates that remote sensing and GIS offer important data and tools in the advancement of coastal resource management and ecosystem monitoring. Application of geographic information technologies is critical for improved coastal resources management and decision making for sustainable development in Tanzania.