Erosion and Accretion of a Placer Mining Beach of SW Indian Coast

The erosion/accretion pattern in a placer mining beach on the southwest Indian coast was monitored for five years to study the role of different driving forces. The beach has maximum width during the fair weather months and least in the rough monsoon months. Apart from hydrodynamic processes, sand mining and presence of sea wall are found to be the driving forces for erosion/accretion. Impact of sand mining is not felt on the beach when the mining is within an optimum level, equivalent to the natural replenishment. It is concluded that, though sand mining will cause erosion in the innershelf, the time taken for a measurable impact can be long if the mining volumes are much less than the annual volume changes.     

Performance evaluation of HWRF model during post monsoon tropical cyclone Nilofar

An accurate tropical cyclone track and intensity forecast is very important for disaster management. Specialized numerical prediction models have been recently used to provide high-resolution temporal and special forecasts. Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast (HWRF) model is one of the emerging numerical models for tropical cyclone forecasting. This study evaluates the performance of HWRF model during the post monsoon tropical cyclone Nilofar on the north Indian Ocean basin. The evaluation uses the best track data provided by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC). Cyclone track, central pressure, and wind speed are covered on this evaluation. Generally, HWRF was able to predict the Nilofar track with track error less than 230 km within the first 66 h of forecast time span. HWRF predicted more intense tropical cyclone. It predicted the lowest central pressure to be 922 hPa while it reached 950 hPa according to IMD and 937 hPa according to JTWC. Wind forecast was better as it predicted maximum wind speed of 122 kt while it reached 110 and 115 kt according to IMD and JTWC, respectively.     

An inverse model of the large scale circulation in the South Indian Ocean

An overview of the large-scale circulation of the South Indian Ocean (SIO) (10°S-70°S/20°E-120°E) is proposed based on historical hydrographic data (1903-1996) synthesized with a finite-difference inverse model. The in situ density, potential temperature and salinity fields of selected hydrographic stations are projected on the basis of EOFs. Then the EOF coefficients (the projected values) are interpolated on the model grid (1° in latitude, 2° in longitude) using an objective analysis whose spatial correlation functions are fitted to the data set. The resulting fields are the input of the inverse model. This procedure filters out the small-scale features. Twelve modes are needed to keep the vertical structures of the fields but the first three modes are sufficient to reproduce the large-scale horizontal features of the SIO: the Subtropical Gyre, the Weddell Gyre, the different branches of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.The dynamics is steady state. The estimated circulation is in geostrophic balance and satisfies mass, heat and potential vorticity conservation. The wind and air-sea heat forcing are annual means from ERS1 and ECMWF, respectively.The main features of the various current systems of the SIO are quantified and reveal topographic control of the deep and bottom circulation. The cyclonic Weddell Gyre, mainly barotropic, transports 45 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶m³/s), and has an eastern extension limited by the southern part of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.The bottom circulation north of 50°S is complex. The Deep Western Boundary Currents are identified as well as cyclonic recirculations. South east of the Kerguelen Plateau, the bottom circulation is in good agreement with previous water mass analysis. The comparison between some recent regional analysis and the inverse estimation is limited by the model resolution and lack of deep data.The meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is estimated from the finite difference inverse model. Between 26°S and 32°S the reversal of the current deepens and reaches 1400 m at 32°S. The major part of the deep meridional transport at 32°S is located between the African coast and the Madagascar Ridge, carried by the Agulhas Undercurrent. The mean value for this meridional thermohaline recirculation is 8.8 ± 4.4 Sv between 26°S and 32°S. The Agulhas Undercurrent (11 Sv) is associated with a weak Agulhas Current (55 Sv). The MOC is thus trapped in the western margin of the Southwest Indian Ridge. The corresponding vertical velocity along 32°S between 30°E and 42°E is 7.2 × 10⁻⁵ ± 8.9 × 10⁻⁵ cm s⁻¹. The net meridional heat flux represents −0.53 PW at 18°S and −0.33 PW at 32°S (negative values for southward transports). The intensity of the meridional heat flux is linked to the intensity of the Agulhas Current and to the vertical mixing.     

TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason Equatorial Sea Surface Slope Anomaly in the Atlantic in 2002: Comparison with Wind and Current Measurements at 23W

A time series of velocity profile in the upper 150 m of the equatorial Atlantic was gathered at 23W in 2002 within the PIRATA program. It constitutes the first time series of near surface current measurements simultaneous with altimetric data in the equatorial Atlantic. The surface slope anomaly along the equator is computed from satellite altimetry, and, as a proxy for the pressure gradient along the equator, compared with the wind and near surface current data. In a first step, a time series of the surface slope anomaly along the equator in the Atlantic is computed from the 10-year-long TOPEX/Poseidon sea level anomalies. A sensitivity study establishes the robustness of the calculation. Apart from a 15 cm bias, the equatorial sea surface slope anomalies estimated either from TOPEX/Poseidon or from Jason over the 6-month overlap (Feb.-Aug. 2002) do not reveal drastic differences. We produce two sea surface slope anomaly composite time series for 2002 (one with T/P data, the other with Jason data during the commissioning phase) and compare them to the wind and velocity data at 23W. As expected, the near surface velocity and depth of the upper limit of the equatorial undercurrent (EUC) are extremely well correlated with the surface pressure gradient anomaly. 10-year-long time series of altimetry-derived zonal sea surface slope anomaly and ECMWF ERA40 wind stress are also well correlated. They exhibit similar spectral content and similar anomalous years. This is a first step towards a full analysis of the EUC dynamics using altimetry, PIRATA data (near surface current and subsurface thermohaline structure) and model. These initial comparisons reinforce the utility of Jason measurements for continuing the 10-year and highly accurate TOPEX/Poseidon time series for study of equatorial signals.     

Stable isotope characteristics of precipitation of Pamba River basin,Kerala, India

Stable isotope composition of precipitation from Pamba River basin, Kerala, India, is evaluated to understand the role of spatial and temporal variations on rainwater isotope characteristics. Physiographically different locations in the basin showed strong spatial and temporal variations. δ ¹⁸O varied from ?7.63 to ?1.75 ‰ in the lowlands; from ?9.32 to ?1.94 ‰ in the midlands and from ?11.6 to ?4.00 ‰ in the highlands. Local Meteoric Water Lines (LMWL) for the three regions were determined separately and an overall LMWL for the whole of the basin was found to be δ ²H = 6.6 (±0.4) δ ¹⁸ O+10.4 (±2.0). Altitude effect was evident for the basin (0.1 ‰ for δ ¹⁸O and 0.8 ‰ for δ ²H per 100 m elevation), while the amount effect was weak. The precipitation formed from the marine moisture supplied at a steady rate, without much isotopic evolution in this period may have masked the possible depletion of heavier isotopes with increasing rainfall. Consistently high d-excess values showed the influence of recycled vapour, despite the prevailing high relative humidity. The oceanic and continental vapour source origins for the south-west and north-east monsoons were clearly noted in the precipitation in the basin. Rayleigh distillation model showed about 30% rainout of the monsoon vapour mass in the basin.