Correcting underwater images distorted by surface waves

An experiment on the correction of underwater images distorted by waves at the air-water interface was conducted using a laboratory modeling installation intended for experimental examination of light and image transfer across a water surface covered with waves. A digital color camera was used for the simultaneous formation of the image of the underwater test object through the disturbed surface and of the superimposed glitter pattern. Both images are spectrally separated. Processing the glitter pattern makes it possible to obtain the values of the surface slopes at a limited number of points and to use these slopes for retrieval of image fragments. The total corrected image is formed by integration of about 300 partially corrected fragments. This image is close to that obtained through a wave-free water surface.     

Evaluation of chemical ozone loss in the stratosphere over the Kola Peninsula in the 2002/2003 winter from microwave sounding data

From long-term observations of ozone evolution in the stratosphere of the Kola Peninsula in the 2002/2003 winter, the rates of chemical destruction of ozone and its net loss at isentropic levels of 530 K (an altitude of about 22 km) and 465 K (an altitude of about 19 km) ar evaluated with consideration for diabatic descent of air masses. These rates were ?18.6±3.3 and ?14.3±2.9 ppb/day and the net loss of ozone due to its chemical destruction over the period from December 1, 2002, to March 5, 2003, reached 1.77±0.33 ppm and 1.36±0.29 ppm, respectively. At the lower level, these data are in satisfactory agreement (to within measurement errors) with other measurements that were taken at that time. At a potential-temperature level of 530 K, the ozone loss in the 2002/2003 season evaluated from our data and from similar microwave measurements performed in Kiruna (Sweden) virtually coincides and testifies to the fact that the net loss increases with altitude. These inferences are inconsistent with the results obtained with the Match technique and the method of averaging over a vortex, which indicate that the ozone loss decreases with altitude. However, since polar stratospheric clouds were detected regularly in December and early January at levels up to 600 K or higher, it may be suggested that the ozone loss at these altitudes can be comparable to the values found for isentropic levels of 465 to 475 K.     

Polar stratospheric clouds from satellite observational data

The spectral aerosol-extinction coefficients (SAECs) obtained from SAGE III measurements are used to study the physical and integral microphysical characteristics of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). Different criteria for PSC identification from SAEC measurements are considered and analyzed based on model and field measurements. An intercomparison of them is performed, and the agreement and difference of the results obtained with the use of different criteria are shown. A new criterion is proposed for PSC identification, which is based on the estimate of how close the measured vector of the spectral attenuation coefficient is to a model distribution of the PSC ensemble. On the basis of different criteria, cases of PSCs are isolated from all SAGE III observations (over 30000). All selection criteria lead to a qualitatively and quantitatively similar space-time distribution of the regions of PSC localization. The PSCs observed in the region accessible to SAGE III measurements are localized in the latitudinal zones 65°–80° in the Northern Hemisphere and 45°–60° in the Southern Hemisphere during the winter-spring period. In the Northern Hemisphere, PSCs are observed within the longitudinal zone 120° W–100° E with the maximum frequency of PSC observation in the vicinity of the Greenwich meridian. In the Southern Hemisphere, the region of PSC observation is almost the same in longitude but with a certain shift in the maximum frequency of PSC observation to the west. This maximum is observed in the vicinity of 40°W, and the region of usual PSC observation is the neighborhood of 60° of the maximum’s longitude. The physical parameters of PSCs are estimated: the mean heights of the lower and upper boundaries of PSCs are 19.5 and 21.9 km, respectively, and the mean cloud temperature is 191.8 K. The integral microphysical parameters of PSCs are estimated: the total surface of NAT particles S _NAT = 0.41 μm²/cm³; the total volume of NAT particles V _NAT = 1.1 μm³/cm³; and, for all aerosol and cloud particles together, S is 2.9 ± 1.5 at a standard deviation of 2.7 μm²/cm³ and V is 2.8 ± 1.5 at a standard deviation of 4.2 μm³/cm³. A high frequency of PSC occurrence and high values of S and V in PSCs both for all particles and for NAT particles have been noted in January–February 2005 as compared to the rest of the period of SAGE III measurements for 2002–2005.     

Negative correlations of variations in near-water wind and surface wind waves

The relationship between the intensity of surface wind waves and near-water wind is analyzed. The data of measuring wind waves and near-water wind under natural conditions in the Black Sea (July 2004) and Norwegian Sea (June 2003, 16th cruise of the R/V Akademik Sergei Vavilov) are used. A phenomenon of negative correlations has been found between the intensity of wind waves and near-water wind in regions of substantial restructuring of wind waves in the field of inhomogeneous flows: wind-wave amplification during wind decay and vice versa. Examples of such observations are presented, a theoretical model is constructed for the observed phenomenon, and a good agreement is obtained between theory and experiment.     

Variations in the concentration of mesospheric ozone during the total solar eclipse of March 29, 2006, from microwave radiometric data

We present the results of microwave observations of the ozone content variability in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere during a total solar eclipse of March 29, 2006 at the Kislovodsk high-altitude scientific station. An increase in the concentration of mesospheric ozone was recorded during the eclipse. At a height of 60 km, the ozone concentration increased by 40%, which is close to the value of diurnal ozone variations.     

Relationships between interannual variations in stratospheric warmings, tropospheric circulation, and sea surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere

The leading modes of interannual and long-term variations in the stratospheric and tropospheric circulation and total ozone (TOMS data) and their relations to Northern Hemisphere sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are investigated using the monthly mean NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for the winter months of 1958–2003. Strong correlations are indicated between the interannual total ozone variations over Labrador and the North Atlantic and changes in the stratospheric polar vortex. The onset of major stratospheric warmings is connected not only with the strengthening of westerlies at the 500-hPa level in the midlatitude Atlantic, but also with the weakening of tropospheric winds over the north of eastern Siberia and strengthening over the Far East. In years with major stratospheric warmings, abnormally cold winters are observed in Eurasia, especially in eastern Siberia and northeastern China. The calculated simultaneous (with no time lags) correlations of the stratospheric circulation changes with El Niño/La Niña events give evidence of low correlations between the tropical Pacific SST anomalies and the stratospheric dynamics in the Arctic. However, there are high correlations of the extratropical Pacific and Atlantic SST anomalies with interannual tropospheric and stratospheric circulation variations, the stratospheric dynamics being more strongly connected with Pacific SST than with Atlantic SST anomalies. The interannual changes in tropospheric circulation are coupled to SST anomalies in both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Mechanisms of long-term changes in the interactive ocean-atmosphere-ozone layer system are discussed.     

Influence of the sea surface temperature conditions in the Pacific subarctic frontal zone on the pink salmon’s winter survival ability

Similar to other high-latitude ocean basins, the subarctic Pacific exhibits strong seasonal and inter-annual variations in the abiotic factors of the environment, which, in turn, strongly influence biological objects. One of the principal factors of this kind is the temperature regime. For our research, we chose pink salmon because more than 90% of its natural mortality occurs precisely during the wintering period. The lifetime of pink salmon is only one year, and the conditions of their populations reflect the thermal regime of the given year. The main wintering area of Asian pink salmon is the part of the subarctic frontal zone located south of the Aleutian Islands (43°–46°N). This region features sufficiently high wintertime concentrations of chlorophyll a and temperature conditions favorable for pink salmon wintering. The interannual temperature variability in the frontal zone is close to zero, and the width of the frontal zone may significantly change depending on the winter severity. In “milder” winters, the area of wintering extends, while, in “severe” winters, it is rather narrow, the forage base for fish decreases, they become more accessible for predators, and their survival rates sharply drop.     

大洋富钴结壳的基本框架——超微生物建构的锰质叠层石柱体

大洋富钴结壳和锰结核一样是潜在的海底矿产资源,对其成因的研究将有助于指导找矿和资源评价。通过大型反光显微镜、透射电子显微镜和其他测试手段,系统研究了结壳的结构构造、物质组成以及叠层石纹层与超微生物的关系。发现结壳与光滑型锰结核的叠层石类型及超微生物种极其相似,它们都以微小叠层石和中华微放线菌为主要特征,具有相同的生物成因机制。认为超微生物建构的锰质叠层石柱体是大洋富钴结壳的基本框架,从而对结壳矿体的形成提出了新的见解。     

Surface current field and seasonal variability in the Kuroshio and adjacent regions derived from satellite-tracked drifter data

The muhiyear averaged surface current field and seasonal variability in the Kuroshio and adjacent regions are studied. The data used are trajectories and （1/4） ° latitude by （1/4） ° longitude mean currents derived from 323 Argos drifters deployed by Chinese institutions and world ocean circulation experiment from 1979 to 2003. The results show that the Kuroshio surface path adapts well to the western boundary topography and exhibits six great turnings. The branching occurs frequently near anticyclonic turnings rather than near cyclonic ones. In the Luzon Strait, the surface water intrusion into the South China Sea occurs only in fall and winter. The Kuroshio surface path east of Taiwan, China appears nearly as straight lines in summer, fall, and winter, when anticyclonic eddies coexist on its right side; while the path may cyclonically turning in spring when no eddy exists. The Kuroshio intrusion northeast of Taiwan often occurs in fall and winter, but not in summer. The running direction, width and velocity of the middle segment of the Kuroshio surface currents in the East China Sea vary seasonally. The northward intrusion of the Kuroshio surface water southwest of Kyushu occurs in spring and fall, but not in summer. The northmost position of the Kuroshio surface path southwest of Kyushu occurs in fall, but never goes beyond 31 °N. The northward surface current east of the Ryukyu Islands exists only along Okinawa-Amami Islands from spring to fall. In particular, it appears as an arm of an anti- cyclonic eddy in fall.