Cold anticyclonic eddies formed from cold pool water in the southern Middle Atlantic Bight

AVHRR satellite imagery of the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight during May 1993 revealed a large area of cold water over the shelf break and slope that appeared to spin up into a series of southward propagating anticyclonic eddies. The eddies had diameters of 35–45 km at the surface and moved southward at about 20 cm/sec. A radial TOYO CTD (to 50m) and ADCP velocity (to 400m) transect was conducted across the southern-most of these eddies. The upper 50 meters had minimum temperatures of less than 7°C and salinities of about 33 pss, characteristics similar to cold pool waters usually found over the continental shelf. ADCP velocity data from one of the eddies revealed anticyclonic flow extending to a depth of about 250m. The transport of cold pool water by the eddies was estimated to be 0.1 to 0.2 Sv which is of the same order as the annual mean alongshore transport of shelf water in this region. The origin of the deeper water within the eddy is unlikely to be the continental shelf because the shelf break is less than 100 m. The depth and velocity profiles along the TOYO transect were consistent with the constant potential vorticity eddy model of Flierl (1979) although the source of the eddy kinetic energy is uncertain. The cause for the exodus of cold pool water from the shelf, which extended northward to at least 38°N, is unclear but must involve the establishment of an alongshore baroclinic pressure gradient against the usual southwestward shelf flow. It is possible that the intrusion of Gulf Stream waters onto the shelf near Cape Hatteras was a precursor of this off shelf transport. The southern-most eddy was marked by high biological productivity and very high oxygen supersaturation. The phytoplankton bloom detected within the exported cold pool water, located over the continental slope, suggests a mechanism whereby production fueled by nutrients derived from the shelf can be locally exported into deep water.     

Detection of antibiotic resistant bacteria inhabiting the sand of non-recreational marine beach

The present study examined the antibiotic resistance of heterotrophic bacteria, which were isolated from the sand of the beach located in the National Park of the southern Baltic Sea coast. The bacteria demonstrated low levels of antibiotic resistance. These microorganisms were the most resistant to cefaclor and clindamycin and the most sensitive to clarithromycin, doxycycline, gentamycin and oxytetracycline. The majority of bacteria inhabiting the sand of the studied beach were resistant to only one antibiotic out of 18 tested antibiotics in this study. The bacteria inhabiting the middle part of the beach and the dune were more antibiotic resistant than bacteria isolated from the seawater and the shoreline-seawater contact zone. Generally, there was no significant difference in antibiotic resistance between bacteria isolated from the surface and the subsurface sand layers. The bacterial antibiotic resistance level depends on the chemical structure of antibiotics.     

Seasonal temperature extremes in Potsdam

The awareness of global warming is well established and results from the observations made on thousands of stations. This paper complements the large-scale results by examining a long time-series of high-quality temperature data from the Secular Meteorological Station in Potsdam, where observation records over the last 117 years, i.e., from January 1893 are available. Tendencies of change in seasonal temperature-related climate extremes are demonstrated. “Cold” extremes have become less frequent and less severe than in the past, while “warm” extremes have become more frequent and more severe. Moreover, the interval of the occurrence of frost has been decreasing, while the interval of the occurrence of hot days has been increasing. However, many changes are not statistically significant, since the variability of temperature indices at the Potsdam station has been very strong.     

Something old,something new,something red,something blue*

Abstract

Hydrologists responsible for flood management need real-time data in order to manage imminent or ongoing floods. In this paper, innovative methods for accessing hydrological data and their spatial visualization are introduced. A multitude of relevant real-time, forecast and historical information is provided in a single, self-updating hydrological map information system. The system consists of a central database and a cartographic user interface and provides harmonized and filtered data in the form of interactive, customizable maps. Maps may also be cross-referenced with historical maps or may be animated for improved comprehension and decision making. Emphasis is placed on the development of the hydrological real-time database that manages large amounts of spatial, temporal and attributive data. The paper focuses on the cartographic user interface, its functionality and the resulting interactive hydrological maps.

Citation Lienert, C., Weingartner, R. &; Hurni, L. (2011) An interactive, web-based, real-time hydrological map information system. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(1), 1–16     

A note on non-stationary stochastic response and strong motion duration

An analysis of the influence of strong motion duration on the response spectra is presented. The analysis is based on the concept of evolutionary power spectral density and first passage estimations for non-stationary random vibrations. To compare the response for different durations the criteria of constant Arias intensity and constant excitation level have been applied. The paper presents a numerical analysis of the effect of strong motion duration on various response statistics for a linear oscillator. Results indicate a decrease of peak response and first passage probability with increasing strong motion duration for constant Arias intensity.     

Induced gravity anomalies and seismic energy as a basis for prediction of mining tremors

The results of prediction of occurrence of mining tremors and bursts in the course of the exploitation of the remaining part of the hard coal in seam 510 of the mine Pstrowski, Upper Silesia, have been presented in the paper. The exploitation has taken place under extremely difficult conditions hazardous for the mining crew.To predict the occurrence of mining tremors, bursts and direction of migration of increased elastic strain in the rock mass, the microgravity method has been applied.The microgravity observations were carried out in the measurement points located at mutual distances equal 20 m in three profiles of the lengths 700 m, 760 m and 260 m respectively. The profiles were located in mining workings in the vicinity of the exploited part of the bed. In the course of exploitation, lasting 25 months, 29 series of measurements including 3600 individual microgravity observations were carried out. Microgravity observations were made with a Worden-Master gravimeter.The observed time changes of gravity microanomalies were essential for prediction. Local negative changes of gravity microanomalies signalled the approaching mining tremor. The tremor would cover an area of the radius 60 m to 100 m. The regional time changes of the gravity microanomalies appearing as linear trends of these anomalies signalled the development of the fields of elastic strain in the whole investigated area and the approaching violent release of elastic strain energy from the rock mass.The values of the amplitudes AMP of the above-mentioned trend were the measure of this hazard. In the course of the investigations each shock was preceded by considerably increased values of AMP.     

全球变暖导致洪水风险增加——长江洪水前景分析

近期在很多地方洪水越来越频繁且破坏性更大.20世纪90年代以来全球大洪水造成社会经济财产巨大损失,30次大洪水每次总损失额均超过10×10⁸美元.1990-1998年的9a时间的大洪水爆发的次数比1950-1985年期间Ma大洪水次数还要多.近年来中国大陆也遭受了若干重大洪水灾害(包括1996和1998年两次大的财产损失).与气候变率和变化相关的洪水灾害和易爆发程度的显著增加,这是当前最紧迫的问题.随着气温升高大气中持水量也增加,因此大规模强度的降水的可能性也增大.己观测到高而集中的大降水事件而且这种趋势在未来气候变暖条件下可能增加,大降水事件的增加是洪灾增加的必然条件.当然也有一些其它的非气象因素加剧洪灾的发生,比如土地利用变化(森林砍伐、城市化)导致土壤持水能力下降,径流系数增加;此外,人类占据了洪泛区,可能导致洪水损失增大.另外物质财富在洪泛区的积聚也导致了洪灾损失增加.毫无疑问,由于人类活动和气候的共同作用,未来洪水风险在很多地方可能增加.洪水易爆发程度被认为是暴露系数和调节能力的函数,而且在许多地方所有这些变量都可能增加.而随着暴露系数比人类调节能力增加快,因此洪水易爆发程度增大.然而,要完全从径流变化中区分气候因素导致的强烈自然变率还是直接的人为环境变化是很困难的.由于使用不同的假定情景和不同的气候模型,得到的未来环境的预测结果差异也很大.IPCC第三次评估报告中广泛讨论了气候变化与洪水之间的关系.IPCC第三次评估报告警告说,在东亚季风区非常湿润的季风季节出现的可能性非常大,进而会导致相应地区洪水风险增加.本文总结了迄今为此可收集到的有关长江洪水的资料.利用一些案例来分析研究未来假定情景下气候对水文的影响,并对东亚地区的模拟结果进行了讨论.