OCTOPUS,an Octo parameter underwater sensor,for use in biological oceanography studies

A realtime monitoring system for observing physical, biological, and optical oceanographic parameters in shallow waters was developed. It consists of a CTD with oxygen sensor, anin situ fluorometer, anin situ transmissometer, and anin situ quanta meter together with an on-deck quanta meter. The system is also equipped with a water sampling device. Water sampling can be done during the upward cast on the basis of depth profiles of temperature, salinity, oxygen,in situ fluorescence, transmittance, and underwater irradiance taken during the downward cast.     

A numerical study of a tide with four harmonic constituents at the open boundary

The tidal current in Kagoshima Bay is simulated by the two-dimensional subdomain finite-element method. At the open boundary, the sea level is forced to be oscillatory with a linear combination of the four harmonic constituents (M2, S2, K1, O1) of the tide. A calculation having only M2 sea level at the open boundary is also performed and the harmonic constants of M2 are compared with those calculated by the four components.In the calculated velocity vector, a large difference between the two maxima or the two minima in one day appears when the vector is directed to the open sea. On the other hand, when it is directed into the bay, the two extreme velocities are almost equal. In tide-killer residual flow, the flow pattern is almost independent of the tidal age; however, the absolute value of the current velocity depends on the tidal age. The pattern is nearly the same as that calculated by giving only M2 sea level at the open boundary.In relation to the nonlinear interaction, the kinetic energy ratio KER is defined by the ratio of kinetic energy of the induced harmonic components to that of harmonic constituents given at the open boundary. KER is large where the tidal current is disturbed by obstacles,e.g. along the west coast at the mouth of the bay and in the southern sea of Mt. Sakurajima. The distribution of KER seems to be independent of the number of harmonic constituents (one or four) given at the open boundary. The difference of kinetic energy of the M2 tidal constituent between the two calculations.i.e. with the open boundary conditions of four components (M2, S2, K1, O1) and of a single component (M2), is found to be large where the current velocity is large.     

Statistical properties of microwave backscattering from laboratory wind-wave surfaces

The microwave backscattering from wind-wave surfaces is observed in a windwave tunnel under various conditions of the wind and wind waves, and its statistical features are investigated. The dependence of the backscattered power on the wind speed and the incident angle shows similar features to those predicted by models proposed previously. However, the dependence of the backscattered power on the incident angles also corresponds to the asymmetrical feature of the wind-wave surfaces with respect to the wind direction. The spectral analyses of time series of the backscattered intensity show that the propagating speed of fine structures of the wind-wave surface contributing to the backscattering at large incident angles does not coincide with the phase speed of the freely propagating Braggwaves. Atupwind incidence, the surface structures of wind waves contributing to the backscattering propagates with the dominant waves at their phase speed. This result is inconsistent with the two-scale model in which the Bragg waves are simply superimposed on longer waves, but is consistent with the results of optical observation by Ebuchiet al. (1987). At downwind incidence, the propagating speed is slower than the phase speed of the dominant waves.     

Microzooplankton standing crop in the western subtropical pacific off the Bonin Islands in winter, 1980

Quantitative data on the vertical distribution and biomass of microzooplankton are presented for the western subtropical Pacific west of the Bonin Islands in winter. Microzooplankton other than foraminifera and radiolarians showed similar vertical distribution to chlorophylla. Among microzooplankters, naked ciliates, tintinnids and copepod nauplii were dominant components both in number and volume. Naked ciliates were the most dominant, comprising 82.2 % and 47.7 % of the total microzooplankton by number and volume, respectively. Copepod nauplii, occupying less than 10 % by number, accounted for 35.7 % of the volume of all microzooplankton. Tintinnids contributed less to the microzooplankton standing crop, 12.6 % of the total by number and 17.3 % by volume. Calculated microzooplankton wet weight varied from 0.84 to 1.80 g m^?2 and corresponded to 9.9–18.1 % of net zooplankton weight. The relative abundance of microzooplankton to net zooplankton in this study is comparable to that previously reported in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean, but a little higher than in oceanic subarctic areas.     

Sea surface temperature observation by Global Imager (GLI)/ADEOS-II: Algorithm and accuracy of the product

A sea surface temperature (SST) retrieval algorithm for Global Imager (GLI) aboard the ADEOS-II satellite has been developed. The algorithm is used to produce the standard SST product in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The algorithm for cloud screening is formed by combinations of various types of tests to detect cloud-contaminated pixels. The combination is changed according to the solar zenith angle, which enables us to detect clouds even in the sun glitter region in daytime. The parameters in the cloud-detection tests have been tuned using the GLI global observations. SST is calculated by the Multi-Channel SST (MCSST) technique from the detected clear pixels. Using drifting buoy measurements, match-up data are produced to derive the coefficients of the MCSST equations and to examine their performance. The bias and RMSE of the GLI SST are 0.03 K and 0.66 K for daytime and, −0.01 K and 0.70 K for nighttime, respectively.     

Sensitivity of CFCs and Anthropogenic CO2 Uptake in a North Pacific GCM to Mixing Parameterization and Surface Forcing

Distributions and characteristics of water mass and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the North Pacific are investigated by using a General Circulation Model (GCM). The anthropogenic CO₂ uptake by the ocean is estimated with velocity fields derived from the GCM experiments. The sensitivity of the uptake to different diffusion parameterizations and different surface forcing used in the GCM is investigated by conducting the three GCM experiments; the diffusive processes are parameterized by horizontal and vertical eddy diffusion which is used in many previous models (RUN1), parameterized by isopycnal diffusion (RUN2), and isopycnal diffusion and perpetual winter forcing for surface temperature and salinity (RUN3). Realistic features for water masses and CFCs can be simulated by the isopycnal diffusion models. The horizontal and vertical diffusion model fails to simulate the salinity minimum and realistic penetration of CFCs into the ocean. The depth of the salinity minimum layer is better simulated under the winter forcing. The results suggest that both isopycnal parameterization and winter forcing are crucial for the model water masses and CFCs simulations. The oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ in RUN3 is about 19.8 GtC in 1990, which is larger by about 10% than that in RUN1 with horizontal and vertical diffusive parameterization. RUN3 well simulates the realistic water mass structure of the intermediate layer considered as a candidate of oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO₂. The results suggest that the previous models with horizontal and vertical diffusive parameterization may give the oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ underestimated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spatiotemporal Decreases of Nutrients and Chlorophyll-a in the Surface Mixed Layer of the Western North Pacific from 1971 to 2000

Using time series of hydrographic data in the wintertime and summertime obtained along 137°E from 1971 to 2000, we found that the average contents of nutrients in the surface mixed layer showed linear decreasing trends of 0.001∼0.004 μmol-PO₄ l⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and 0.01∼0.04 μmol-NO₃ l⁻¹ yr⁻¹ with the decrease of density. The water column Chl-a (CHL) and the net community production (NCP) had also declined by 0.27∼0.48 mg-Chl m⁻² yr⁻¹ and 0.08∼0.47 g-C-NCP m⁻² yr⁻¹ with a clear oscillation of 20.8±0.8 years. These changes showed a strong negative correlation with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index (PDO) with a time lag of 2 years (R = 0.89 ± 0.02). Considering the recent significant decrease of O₂ over the North Pacific subsurface water, these findings suggest that the long-term decreasing trend of surface-deep water mixing has caused the decrease of marine biological activity in the surface mixed layer with a bidecadal oscillation over the western North Pacific.     

Spatial Variability of Living Coccolithophore Distribution in the Western Subarctic Pacific and Western Bering Sea

Vertical distributions of coccolithophores were observed in the depth range 0–50 m in the western subarctic Pacific and western Bering Sea in summer, 1997. Thirty-five species of coccolithophores were collected. Overall, Emiliania huxleyi var. huxleyi was the most abundant taxon, accounting for 82.8% of all coccolithophores, although it was less abundant in the western Bering Sea. Maximum abundance of this species was found in an area south of 41°N and east of 175°E (Transition Zone) reaching >10,000 cells L⁻¹ in the water column. In addition to this species, Coccolithus pelagicus f. pelagicus, which accounted for 4.2% of the assemblage, was representative of the coccolithophore standing crop in the western part of the subarctic Pacific. Coccolithus pelagicus f. hyalinus was relatively abundant in the Bering Sea, accounting for 2.6% of the assemblage. Coccolithophore standing crops in the top 50 m were high south of 41°N (>241 × 10⁶ cells m⁻²) and east of 170°E (542 × 10⁶ cells m⁻²) where temperatures were higher than 12°C and salinities were greater than 34.2. The lowest standing crop was observed in the Bering Sea and Oyashio areas where temperatures were lower than 6–10°C and salinities were less than 33.0. From the coccolithophore volumes, the calcite stocks in the Transition, Subarctic, and the Bering Sea regions were estimated to be 73.0, 9.7, and 6.9 mg m⁻², respectively, corresponding to calcite fluxes of 3.6, 0.5, and 0.3 mg m⁻²d⁻¹ using Stoke's Law. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Calibration of hydrological models in ungauged basins based on satellite radar altimetry observations of river water level

This paper proposes a new orientation to address the problem of hydrological model calibration in ungauged basin. Satellite radar altimetric observations of river water level at basin outlet are used to calibrate the model, as a surrogate of streamflow data. To shift the calibration objective, the hydrological model is coupled with a hydraulic model describing the relation between streamflow and water stage. The methodology is illustrated by a case study in the Upper Mississippi Basin using TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) satellite data. The generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) is employed for model calibration and uncertainty analysis. We found that even without any streamflow information for regulating model behavior, the calibrated hydrological model can make fairly reasonable streamflow estimation. In order to illustrate the degree of additional uncertainty associated with shifting calibration objective and identifying its sources, the posterior distributions of hydrological parameters derived from calibration based on T/P data, streamflow data and T/P data with fixed hydraulic parameters are compared. The results show that the main source is the model parameter uncertainty. And the contribution of remote sensing data uncertainty is minor. Furthermore, the influence of removing high error satellite observations on streamflow estimation is also examined. Under the precondition of sufficient temporal coverage of calibration data, such data screening can eliminate some unrealistic parameter sets from the behavioral group. The study contributes to improve streamflow estimation in ungauged basin and evaluate the value of remote sensing in hydrological modeling. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.