Isolation,Morphological Characteristics and Proteomic Profile Analysis of Thermo-tolerant Pyropia yezoensis Mutant in Response to High-temperature Stress

Ocean Science Journal - Elevated temperature is considered an important abiotic stressor affecting the growth and survival of intertidal organisms, such as red algae. In this study, a mutation for...     

Risk assessment of ballast water-mediated invasions of phytoplankton: A modeling study

Phytoplankton, particularly toxin producing phytoplankton, is of primary concern with respect to bioinvasions in aquatic environments. I examined the risk of phytoplankton invasions through ballast water with specific reference to the likely factors important for the growth of post-discharged phytoplankton (i.e. physiological state, growth rate, lag period for growth, water dilution rate, and the size of seed population). Model results suggest that invasions are most probable when large numbers of metabolically active and fast growing phytoplankton requiring small size of seed population are introduced into relatively low flow regimes. Strategies to minimize invasions of phytoplankton therefore may require either significantly reducing the physiological state of the phytoplankton or reducing its cell density below the seed population size required, although the best strategy would be a combination of both. Incorporation of the population growth of phytoplankton at low density into risk assessments based on information such as habitat match/mismatch and invasion history may provide insights for setting up regional, cost-effective strategies to minimize the risk of the invasions of phytoplankton.     

High-Reflectivity Coatings for a Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectropolarimeter

Precise polarization measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region are expected to be a new tool for inferring the magnetic fields in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. High-reflectivity coatings are key elements to achieving high-throughput optics for precise polarization measurements. We fabricated three types of high-reflectivity coatings for a solar spectropolarimeter in the hydrogen Lyman-\(\upalpha \) (Ly\(\upalpha \); 121.567 nm) region and evaluated their performance. The first high-reflectivity mirror coating offers a reflectivity of more than 80 % in Ly\(\upalpha \) optics. The second is a reflective narrow-band filter coating that has a peak reflectivity of 57 % in Ly\(\upalpha \), whereas its reflectivity in the visible light range is lower than 1/10 of the peak reflectivity (\(\sim 5~\%\) on average). This coating can be used to easily realize a visible light rejection system, which is indispensable for a solar telescope, while maintaining high throughput in the Ly\(\upalpha \) line. The third is a high-efficiency reflective polarizing coating that almost exclusively reflects an s-polarized beam at its Brewster angle of 68° with a reflectivity of 55 %. This coating achieves both high polarizing power and high throughput. These coatings contributed to the high-throughput solar VUV spectropolarimeter called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP), which was launched on 3 September, 2015.     

Increasing underwater vehicle autonomy by reducing energy consumption

In this paper, we concern ourselves with finding a control strategy that minimizes energy consumption along a trajectory connecting two given configurations. We develop an algorithm, based on our previous work with the time optimal problem, which provides implementable control strategies that are energy efficient. We find an interesting correlation between the duration of these trajectories and the optimal duration. We present the algorithm, control strategy and experimental results from our test-bed vehicle.     

Quantitative estimation of intertidal sediment characteristics using remote sensing and GIS

High spatial resolution satellite data (IKONOS) combined with in situ data was used to quantitatively estimate the spatial distribution of tidal flat characteristics for the Hwangdo tidal flat, Cheonsu Bay, Korea. The classification result was accurate in terms of a comparison with the in situ data, and the overall accuracy was 90.7%, which confirmed the validity of the classification. GIS analysis based on a probabilistic model was applied to a quantitative estimation of the relationship between each surface sediment facies and the spectral reflectance. Mud flat facies showed a high positive correlation (R² = 0.91), and sand flat facies showed a high negative correlation (R² = 1.00), which was a good reflection of the sedimentary characteristics of Hwangdo tidal flat. Relationships between each sediment facies and DEM also showed good agreement with the topographic characteristics in the study area. The study revealed that intertidal surface sediment classification using high resolution remote sensing imagery and in situ data successfully shows spectral and topographic characteristics of the study area. It was noted that spectral reflectance was affected by a combination of environmental factors, including grain size, topography, and remnant surface water. It is possible to determine the type of tidal flat through quantitative estimates of the spatial distribution of surface sediments according to their spectral reflectance.     

Feeding activity of the copepod Acartia hongi on phytoplankton and micro-zooplankton in Gyeonggi Bay,Yellow Sea

To improve our understanding of the trophic link between micro-zooplankton and copepods in Gyeonggi Bay, Yellow Sea, the diet composition, ingestion rates, and prey selectivity of Acartia hongi, known as the most abundant and widespread copepod species, was estimated by conducting in situ bottle incubation throughout the different seasons. The results showed that A. hongi preferentially grazed on ciliate and heterotrophic dinoflagellate of a size ranging from 20 to 100 μm rather than phytoplankton. Although micro-zooplankton comprised only an average 13.7% of the total carbon available in the natural prey pool, micro-zooplankton accounted for >70% of the total carbon ration ingested by A. hongi throughout the year, except for winter diatom blooming periods when A. hongi obtained about 60% of its carbon ration from phytoplankton. Our results demonstrated that A. hongi modified their diet composition and feeding rates in response to change in composition and size of prey available to them, and that A. hongi preferentially ingested micro-zooplankton over phytoplankton. Feeding activity of A. hongi could therefore affect the species composition and size structure of natural plankton communities in this study area, particularly the micro-zooplankton. Strongly selective feeding and high grazing pressure by A. hongi on micro-zooplankton shows the role of trophic coupling between copepods and the microbial food web in the pelagic ecosystem of Gyeonggi Bay.     

Simulation for the propulsion of a micro-hydro robot with an unstructured grid

The flow mechanism of contractive and dilative motion was numerically investigated to obtain a propulsive force in a highly viscous fluid. The computing program for the analysis of complicated motions was numerically developed with a cell-centered, unstructured grid scheme. The developed program was validated by the well-known equation of an oscillating plane below viscous fluid for an unsteady problem, which is known as Stokes’ second problem. Validation has continued through comparison with the experimental results.In this case, sinusoidal motion was applied to the validation, instead of trochoidal motion, because it was very difficult to actually simulate trochoidal motion in this experiment. Finally, the validation and comparison with the nodal-point scheme was accomplished by Stokes’ problem, which is the famous problem at a low Reynolds number. The validated code was applied to contractive and dilative motion in a narrow tube, whose motion was embodied by trochoidal movement. In a highly viscous fluid, such as a very sticky honey or a swamp, the computed results show that a viscous force can be used for propulsion instead of a dynamic force.From the present results, it was found that a propulsive force can be obtained by contractive and dilative motion at a low Reynolds number, which can be applied to the propulsion of micro-robots in a highly viscous fluid such as a blood vessel or a swamp. This research could also be considered fundamental research for the propulsion of micro-hydro robots, which are expected to be actively studied in the future in accord with further development of nanotechnology.     

Coupled process-based cyclone surge simulation for the Bay of Bengal

We have developed a wind-wave-surge coupled process-based numerical model for simulating storm surge, consisting of a meso-scale atmospheric model (MM5), a third-generation spectral wave model (WW3) and a coastal ocean model (POM). We introduced an additional sea surface shear stress by wave dissipation into the model to consider the process of energy transfer from winds to currents through whitecap breaking. We demonstrate the importance of this energy transfer path through a hindcast simulation of a cyclone surge in April, 1991 in the Bay of Bengal: it helps generate mean current and has wave effects on wind-induced current fields in extremely shallow water areas.     

Long-term trends in pelagic environments of the east sea ecosystem

Physical and biological environmental variations in the East Sea were investigated by analysing time-series of oceanographic data and meteorological indices. From 1971 to 2000, dominant periodicity in water temperature variations had two apparent periods of 3 to 4 years and of decades, especially in the southwestern part of the East Sea affected by the influence of inflowing Tsushima warm current. Fluctuating water temperature within a certain period appears to respond to El Niño events with a time lag. It was found that there was a strong correlation between water temperature and El Niño events with a time lag of 1.5 and 5.5 years for periods of 3 to 6 years and of decades, respectively. Corresponding with El Niño events, water temperature variability also showed strong correlation with shift and/or changes in biological and chemical environments of nutrient concentrations, zooplankton biomass, and fisheries. However, there also occurred a short-term periodicity of water temperature variations. Within a period of 1 to 4 years, a relatively short-term cycle of water temperature variation had strong correlation with other climate indices such as Pacific Decadal Oscillation and monsoon index. After comparing coherence and phase spectrum between water temperature and different climate indices, we found that there was a shift of coherent periods to another climate index during the years when climate regime shift was reported.     

Interdecadal changes in TC activities that affect Korea

The present study elucidated the fact that remarkable interdecadal variation exists in the time series of the tropical cyclone (TC) frequency that affects Korea during June–October. These variations were identified through statistical change-point analysis, and the results showed that significant variation existed in 1983 and 2004. Therefore, data in 2005 and thereafter were excluded and differences in TC activities during the period after 1983 (1984–2004) and a period before 1983 (1968–1983), as well as differences in large-scale environments were analyzed. During the period of 1984–2004, TCs mainly occurred in the northwest quadrant of the subtropical western North Pacific (SWNP). The TCs move from the east sea of Philippines, pass the East China Sea, recurved, and moved to Korea and Japan. During the period of 1968–1983, TCs occurred in the southeast quadrant of the SWNP and showed a characteristic westward movement from the southeast of Philippines toward the southern coast of China and the Indochina Peninsula. Therefore, the intensity of TCs during the former period, which were supplied with greater heat and water vapor from the sea, were stronger, while TCs during the latter period quickly dissipated after landing in the southern coast of China and the Indochina Peninsula due to the effects of topography. Thus, the lifetimes of the TCs were short and their intensities were weak. The cause of these differences in TC activities between the two periods was identified through differences in stream flows between the 850 hPa level and the 500 hPa level. At the 850 hPa level, anomalous cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulations are reinforced in most waters north (south) to 10° N, and thus, more (fewer) TCs occur in the northwest (southeast) quadrant of the SWNP during the period of 1984–2004 (1968–2003). At the 500 hPa level, since the center of anomalous cyclonic circulation is located in the southeastern region of China southeast to the east sea of the Philippines, anomalous southerlies from the east sea of Philippines to Korea and Japan are predominant. Due to the anomalous steering flows of these anomalous southerlies, the TCs during the period of 1984–2004 show the aforementioned paths. On the other hand, anomalous northerlies or northeasterlies are reinforced in regions in the west of the center of these anomalous cyclonic circulations, and thus, these anomalous steering flows serve the role of preventing TCs from moving toward the southern coast of China the Indochina Peninsula during the period of 1984–2004. During the period of 1984–2004, vertical wind shears and sea surface temperatures are high and low, respectively, in most waters of the SWNP. Therefore, more TCs occur and are reinforced during this period.