Geophysical Model Function for Wind Speed Retrieval from SARAL/AltiKa

With the launch of SARAL/AltiKa altimeter, efforts have been made to develop wind speed retrieval algorithms. Here we present two algorithms for estimating and validating wind speed from AltiKa. The first method is based on a theoretical Geophysical Model Function (GMF) using forward model simulations for Ka band specifications. The second is the model function developed using the matched database of input and output vectors of Normalized Radar Cross Section (NRCS) from AltiKa and wind speed measurements from concurrent Jason-2 altimeters. Since the NRCS depends on both the surface roughness due to surface wind speed and on mean square slope of the surfaces, the significant wave height is used along with wind speed for model development as an proxy variable. Both the theoretical and empirical GMFs are evaluated for retrieval of wind speed from AltiKa and validated with NDBC buoys data. The empirical model provide wind speed retrieval accuracy of 1.4 m/s. The accuracy of wind retrievals from theoretical model is also in the similar range (1.6 m/s), indicating the sound physical basis applicable for the future altimeters with various incidence angles. The retrieved wind speed is applied for various case studies, bringing out all the regional and global features quite well.     

Viruses,bacteria, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates in Laptev Sea plankton

The paper considers the concentrations and functional characteristics of viruses, bacteria, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates determined for the first time in the Laptev Sea in August-September, 2014. The abundance of bacteria, viruses, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates varied from 110.1 × 10³ to 828.4 × 10³ cells/mL, from 384.2 × 10³ to 2932.8 × 10³ particles/mL, and from 108 to 651 cells/mL, respectively. The daily bacterioplankton production varied from 4.2 × 10³ to 381.7 × 10³ cells/mL, with an average of 117.6 × 10³ cells/mL. Electron transmission microscopy has for the first time shown that the frequency of visibly infected bacterial cells varied from 0.2 to 2.0% (0.8% on average) of N_B. The average virus-induced mortality of bacteria was 6.3% of bacterioplankton production, with variations ranging from 1.4 to 16.9%. Grazing on bacteria by heterotrophic nanoflagellates contributed more to bacteria mortality than virus-induced bacterial lysis. By grazing on bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates consumed large quantities of viruses located on the surface and inside bacterial cells.     

Remote Sensing Observations of Ocean Surface Chlorophyll and Temperature with the Impact of Cyclones and Depressions over the Bay of Bengal Water

MODIS-Aqua derived eight-day composite chlorophyll concentration data analyzed to study the impact of cyclones and depressions on the Bay of Bengal productivity. A total of 15 cyclonic storms and depressions picked up from the India Meteorological Department datasets. MODIS-Aqua data analyzed during October 2002 to December 2009. There was observation of depressions (D), deep depressions (DD), cyclonic storms (CS), severe cyclonic storms (SCS), and very severe cyclonic storms (VSCS) with categories of intensities (“T” numbers 1.5–6) and wind speeds (25–108 knots). The chlorophyll concentration observed to be high (1.0–5.0 mg/m³) with the impact in the coastal and offshore waters. Quickscat scatterometer data showed high wind speed (about 10 meters/second). Sea surface temperature (SST) observed to be decreased (roughly 2°C) with effect of cyclones. The cyclone numbers, intensity, and chlorophyll concentration has been observed to be increasing from 2002 to 2009, with observation of VSCS “Sidr” during 2007. The study would be interesting to link carbon flux/sequestration, marine food chain, and harnessing fishery resources in a postcyclone period.     

Limited differences among habitats in deep‐sea macro‐infaunal communities off New Zealand: implications for their vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance

The spread of human activities into the deep sea may pose a high risk to benthic communities and affect ecosystem integrity. The deep sea is characterized by physical and biological heterogeneity and different habitat types are likely to differ in their vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts. However, across‐habitat comparisons are rare, and no comprehensive ecological risk assessment has yet been developed. To address this gap in our knowledge, we compared macro‐infaunal community structure in four habitats (slope, canyons, seamounts and methane seeps) at depths between 700 and 1500 m in the Hikurangi Margin and Bay of Plenty regions off New Zealand. The most striking contrast in community structure was between the two study regions, due to an order of magnitude difference in macro‐infaunal abundance that we believe was caused by differences in surface productivity and food availability at the sea bed. We found differences in structural and functional attributes of macro‐infaunal communities among some habitats in the Hikurangi Margin (slope, canyon and seep), but not in the Bay of Plenty. We posit that differences between canyon and slope communities on the Hikurangi Margin are due to enhanced food availability inside canyons compared with adjacent slope habitats. Seep communities were characterized by elevated abundance of both symbiont‐bearing and heterotrophic taxa, and were the most distinct, and variable, among the habitats that we considered on the Hikurangi Margin. Communities of seamounts were not distinct from slope or canyon communities on the Hikurangi Margin, probably reflecting similar environmental conditions in these habitats. The communities of deep‐sea canyon and seep habitats on the Hikurangi Margin were sufficiently dissimilar from each other and from slope habitats to warrant separate management consideration. By contrast, the low dissimilarity between communities of canyon and slope habitats in the Bay of Plenty suggests that habitat‐based management is not required in this region, for macro‐infauna at least. Although the two study regions share similar species pools, populations of the Hikurangi Margin region may be less vulnerable than the sparser populations of the Bay of Plenty due to the higher availability of potential colonizers and faster population growth. Thus regions, and habitats in some regions, should be subject to separate ecological risk assessment to help identify the key risks and consequences of human activities, and to inform options for reducing or mitigating impacts.     

Methoxy formation in the reaction of CH3O2 radicals with NO

Formation of methoxy (CH₃O) radicals in the reaction (1) CH₃O₂+NOCH₃O+NO₂ at 298 K has been observed directly using time resolved LIF. The branching ratio % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaeqOXdyMaae% 4qaiaabIeadaWgaaWcbaGaae4maaqabaGccaqGpbGaaeiiaiaabIca% ieqacaWF9aGaa8hiaiaa-nbicaWFGaGaeuiLdqKaai4waiaaboeaca% qGibWaaSbaaSqaaiaabodaaeqaaOGaae4taiaac2facaWFVaGaeuiL% dqKaai4waiaaboeacaqGibWaaSbaaSqaaiaabodaaeqaaOGaae4tam% aaBaaaleaacaqGYaaabeaakiaac2facaqGPaaaaa!4E31!\[\phi {\rm{CH}}_{\rm{3}} {\rm{O (}} = -- \Delta [{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{3}} {\rm{O}}]/\Delta [{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{3}} {\rm{O}}_{\rm{2}} ]{\rm{)}}\] has been determined by quantitative cw-UV-laser absorption at 257 nm of CH₃O₂ and CH₃ONO, the product of the consecutive methoxy trapping reaction (2) % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaae4qaiaabI% eadaWgaaWcbaGaae4maaqabaGccaqGpbacbeGaa83kaiaa-bcaieaa% caGFobGaa43taiaa+bcacaGFOaGaa83kaiaa+1eacaGFPaGaa4hiai% abgkziUkaabccacaqGdbGaaeisamaaBaaaleaacaqGZaaabeaakiaa% b+eacaqGGaGaaeOtaiaab+eacaqGGaGaa4hkaiaa-TcacaGFnbGaa4% xkaiaa+5cacaGFGaGaa4hiaiabeA8aMnaaBaaajqwaacqaaiaaboea% caqGibWaaSbaaKazcaiabaGaae4maaqabaqcKfaGaiaab+eaaSqaba% aaaa!55AC!\[{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{3}} {\rm{O}} + NO ( + M) \to {\rm{ CH}}_{\rm{3}} {\rm{O NO }}( + M). \phi _{{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{3}} {\rm{O}}} \] is found to be (1.0±0.2). The rate constant k ₁ is (7±2) 10^-12 cm³/molecule · s in good agreement with previous results.     

Differences in Kilometre‐scale wind and humidity boundary‐layer structure at GATE

Abstract

During the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GA TE) in the summer of 1974, identical tethersonde packages were flown to heights of 1,000 m from two ships with a crosswind separation of approximately 4 km. The differences in the profiles and fixed level time series from the two packages are a measure of spatial variability in the tropical marine boundary layer.

Correlation analysis indicate a cellular pattern in the large‐scale wind field. Similar analyses of the temperature and humidity fields give quite different results.     

Cainozoic Stratigraphy of the lake Eyre basin and part of the arid region lying to the South

The Cainozoic history of the Lake Eyre region opened with a period of deep weathering during which many of the older rocks were extensively kaolinized. Following erosion and later deposition of a thin sheet of Tertiary fluviatile deposits, a period of weathering resulted in the widespread formation of silcrete. Another period of erosion and deposition was followed by soil formation and minor silici‐fication.

An important period of erosion followed during which some of the main elements of the present landscape were outlined. Warping during this interval gave rise to shallow basins in which lacustrine sediments accumulated. At about the same time, a system of mound springs developed near the western margin of the Great Artesian Basin. Another major period of erosion followed, by which time the main topographic features of the present landscape had evolved. This last event probably took place near the close of the Tertiary. Throughout the Tertiary, drainage was external and ancestral Lake Eyre remained fresh.

The Quaternary was characterized by four periods of aeolian and, to a lesser extent, water erosion and deposition alternating with periods of landscape stability, when weathering and soil formation took place.

Throughout the Cainozoic there was an alternation of relatively humid and dry periods, but true aridity and internal drainage did not appear until the Quaternary. Sand ridges were not formed until the late Quaternary. Intervals of gentle warping occurred from time to time during the Tertiary, but the Quaternary has for the most part been a period of stability. These events have given rise to a sequence of distinctive rock and soil‐stratigraphic units whose characteristics are considered in some detail.     

The Volch’etundrovsky Massif of the autonomous anorthosite complex of the Main Range, the Kola Peninsula: Geological, petrogeochemical, and isotope-geochronological studies

The Volch??etundrovsky Massif occupies the middle part of the autonomous anorthosite complex of the Main Range, has a sheet morphology and marks the tectonic suture between the Kola block and the Belomorian mobile belt. The massif is characterized by homogenous structure and consists of the volumetrically dominant Main Zone including leucogabbro, leucogabbronorites, and anorthosites, and Marginal Zone made up of leuconorites and gabbronorites with subordinate plagioclasites and orthopyroxenites. Chemically, the rocks of the Volch??etundrovsky Massif are ascribed to the normal (tholeiitic and calc-alkaline) petrochemical series with typomorphic high Al₂O₃ contents (11.71?C29.32 wt %). With Al₂O₃ increase in the leuconorite-anorthosite series, the SiO₂ and TiO₂ contents show weak variations, CaO and alkalis insignificantly increase, whereas the MgO and FeO contents sharply decrease. The rocks of the Volch??etundrovsky Massif reveal significant REE fractionation and increase in total REE content in the leuconorite-anorthosite series, most approximating the Paleoproterozoic (Sumian) anorthosites of the Kola region. The anorthosites and leucogabbro are characterized by flat HREE, while the leuconorites is strongly depleted in HREE due to garnet fractionation. All rocks of the massif have significant positive Eu anomalies caused by the plagioclase accumulation. Zircons are characterized by LREE depletion and enrichment in HREE. This defines the steep positive slope of the plots complicated by the negative Eu and positive Ce (in zircons from leucogabbro) anomalies, which is typical of the REE distribution patterns in the unaltered zircons from igneous rocks. In zircons from anorthosites, the Ce anomaly is weak to absent. The trace-element distribution in the rocks of the Volch??etundrovsky Massif show positive Ba, Ta, Pb, Sr, Sc, and V anomalies, being controlled by the mineral specifics of the massif and the presence of definite accessory minerals. New U-Pb zircon data on the rocks of the Volch??etundrovsky Massif indicate that the leuconorites from the Marginal Zone were formed 2473 ± 7 Ma and 2463 ± 2.4 Ma ago, and the leucogabbro from the Main Zone, 2467 ± 8 Ma. These rocks have negative ?_Nd(T) from -1.54 up to -3.10, which indicates their derivation from enriched mantle reservoir variably contaminated by crustal material. The anorthosites of the Main Zone define an U-Pb age of 2407 ± 3 Ma and ?_Nd(T) = ?3.78, which presumably reflect the timing of hydrothermal-metasomatic alterations in the upper part of the magmatic chamber accompanied by significant crustal contamination.     

Suspended sediment concentration in a buoyant plume: Fraser River,Canada

A study of suspended sediment concentration in the buoyant plume of the Fraser River, Canada, showed that unstratified flow conditions at the river mouth caused resuspension of sandy bed material and high concentrations of coarse sediment. When flow at the mouth was stratified, sediment was fine-grained and concentrations were low. Application of a multivariate model revealed that suspended sediment concentration along the plume axis was controlled primarily by distance seaward of the river mouth, secondly by tidal height, and least by sediment concentration in the river.