Development and application of an operational tide and storm surge prediction model for the seas around Taiwan

Storm surges are abnormal rises in sea level along coastal areas and are mainly formed by strong wind and atmospheric depressions.When storm surges coincide with high tide,coastal flooding can occur.Creating storm surge prediction systems has been an important and operational task worldwide.This study developed a coupled tide and storm surge numerical model of the seas around Taiwan for operational purposes at the Central Weather Bureau.The model was calibrated and verified by using tidal records from seas around Taiwan.Model skill was assessed based on measured records,and the results are presented in details.At 3-minute resolution,tides were generally well predicted,with the root mean-square errors of less than 0.11 m and an overall correlation of more than 0.9.Storms(winds and depressions) were introduced into the model forcing by using the parameter typhoon model.Five typical typhoons that threatened Taiwan were simulated for assessment.The surges were well predicted compared with the records.     

Secondary production of the eusirid amphipod <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pontogeneia rostrata</Emphasis> Gurjanova, 1938 (Crustacea: Peracarida) on a sandy shore in Korea

The secondary production of the eusirid amphipod Pontogeneia rostrata Gurjanova, 1938, was examined on a sandy shore in Korea. Secondary production was estimated using a size-frequency method. The biomass structure of P. rostrata included one peak in spring, with maximum biomass occurring in April. The annual secondary production of this species was 0.57 g DW m⁻² yr⁻¹ with an annual P/B ratio of 6.97. Secondary production of P. rostrata fell within the range observed for other amphipods on intertidal sandy shores, although the production/biomass (P/B) ratio was higher than those recorded previously from the sampling site and from other tidal and estuary areas, as the number of generations increases the P/B ratio. The results showing high abundance and P/B ratios suggest that P. rostrata plays an important role in the sandy shore ecosystem as a trophic link between primary producers and higher consumers.     

Robust control based on feedback linearization for roll stabilizing of autonomous underwater vehicle under wave disturbances

In the case of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle(AUV) navigating with low speed near water surface,a new method for design of roll motion controller is proposed in order to restrain wave disturbance effectively and improve roll stabilizing performance.Robust control is applied,which is based on uncertain nonlinear horizontal motion model of AUV and the principle of zero speed fin stabilizer.Feedback linearization approach is used to transform the complex nonlinear system into a comparatively simple linear system.For parameter uncertainty of motion model,the controller is designed with mixed-sensitivity method based on H-infinity robust control theory.Simulation results show better robustness improved by this control method for roll stabilizing of AUV navigating near water surface.     

Parametric vibration of submerged floating tunnel tether under random excitation

For the study of the parametric vibration response of submerged floating tunnel tether under random excitation,a nonlinear random parametric vibration equation of coupled tether and tube of submerged floating tunnel is set up.Subsequently,vibration response of tether in the tether-tube system is analyzed by Monte Carlo method.It may be concluded that when the tube is subjected to zero-mean Gaussian white noise random excitation,the displacement and velocity root mean square responses of tether reach the peak if the circular frequency of tube doubles that of tether;the displacement and velocity root mean square responses of tether increase as the random excitation root mean square increases;owing to the damping force of water,the displacement and velocity root mean square responses of tether decrease rapidly compared with tether in air;increasing the damping of the tether or tube reduces the displacement and velocity root mean square responses of tether;the large-amplitude vibration of tether may be avoided by locating dampers on the tether or tube.     

北太平洋500hpa候高度场的主成分分析

对太平洋500hPa候高度场和距平场进行了主成分分析,得出反映500hPa候高度特征的典型场。指出候高度场的第1特征向量的空间型是季节变化的主要型,它可解释总方差的74.5％,候高度场的其余特征向量与距平场的特征向量是按顺序的对应相似。这些典型场可以很好地描述北太平洋的大气环流特征。距平场的第1特征向量空间型清楚地反映了与厄尔·尼诺现象有关的环流型。     

Further evidence for non-reemergence of winter SST anomalies in the North Pacific eastern subtropical mode water area

Following our previous study (Sugimoto and Hanawa, 2005b), we further investigate the reason why reemergence of winter sea surface temperature anomalies does not occur in the North Pacific eastern subtropical mode water (NPESTMW) area, despite its occurrence in the North Pacific subtropical mode water and North Pacific central mode water areas. We use vertical temperature and salinity profiles of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment Hydrographic Program and Argo floats with high vertical and temporal resolution, together with heat flux data through the sea surface. We point out first that one of the causes for non-occurrence of reemergence is that the thickness of NPESTMW is very thin. In addition to this basic cause, two major reasons are found: a vigorous mixing in the lower portion of NPESTMW and less heat input from the atmosphere in the warming season. Since, in the lower portion of NPESTMW and deeper, the stratification is favorable for salt-finger type convection to occur compared with the other mode water areas, vigorous mixing takes place. This is confirmed by both a large Turner Angle there and the existence of staircase structures in vertical temperature and salinity profiles. From the viewpoint of heat input, the NPESTMW area gradually gains heat in the warming season compared with other mode water areas. As a result, NPESTMW cannot be capped so quickly by the shallow summer mixed layer, and water properties of NPESTMW are to be gradually modified, even in the upper portion.     

Long-term (1998–2007) trends on the spatial distribution of heterotrophic ciliates in the East China Sea in summer: effect of the Three Gorges Dam construction

The spatial distribution of heterotrophic ciliates, environmental factors and potential food items (bacteria, Synechococcus spp. and nanoflagellates) were measured in the East China Sea to examine which variables contributed importantly to the long-term distribution of ciliates between 1998 and 2007. In July 1998 and June 2003, heterotrophic ciliates were found to be abundant (1,000–2,000 × 10³ cells m⁻³) in regions where surface salinity <32 but extremely low (<500 × 10³ cells m⁻³) in shelf waters of surface salinity >32. After August 2003, shortly after the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, we found no significant areal differences in the abundance of heterotrophic ciliates (HC). However, we found a significantly negative correlation between temperature and HC abundance of surface water after the completion of the dam, suggesting that temperature had a greater influence on HC abundance, once the original saline state had changed. For the long-term trends on the vertical distribution of HC, their abundance was significantly higher in the upper 50 m of the water column than at either 75 or 100 m. Abundance of Synechococcus spp. at these levels varied significantly in regions of surface salinity <32, suggesting that ciliates and picophytoplankton contribute greatly to mediating the transfer of organic matter to higher trophic levels in this marine ecosystem.     

Numerical simulation of groundwater flowing to horizontal seepage wells under a river

A horizontal seepage well, consisting of an interconnected vertical well, galleries, chambers and small-diameter radiating bores, is used to acquire relatively clean water that has been filtered through natural alluvial deposits in a riverbed. It has wide application, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. The lack of calculation formulae or models for horizontal seepage wells, up until now, has resulted in several false applications. Based on the analysis of groundwater flow characteristics, it has been concluded that several flow regimes coexist and hydraulic head loss exists in the horizontal seepage well. To avoid the difficulty of confirming the flux or head distribution in such a complex system, the model boundary of the whole horizontal seepage well has been moved to that of just the vertical well, and the well-aquifer system was treated as a heterogeneous medium, where the horizontal seepage well itself is a highly permeability medium. A mathematical model has been developed, based on the coupled seepage-pipe flow, by the introduction of equivalent hydraulic conductivity according to different flow regimes. Then a three-dimensional finite difference numerical model, based on the mathematical model, was developed and applied to a horizontal seepage well in China. The numerical model verified the groundwater flow characteristics of the horizontal seepage well. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Autochthonous inheritance of zircon through Cretaceous partial melting of Carboniferous plutons: the Arthur River Complex,Fiordland, New Zealand

TIMS and SHRIMP U–Pb analyses of zircons from Milford Orthogneiss metadiorite (P = 1–1.4 GPa; T ≥ 750°C) of the Arthur River Complex of northern Fiordland reveal a bimodal age pattern. Zircons are predominantly either Paleozoic (357.0 ± 4.2 Ma) and prismatic with oscillatory zoning, or Cretaceous (133.9 ± 1.8 Ma) and ovoid with sector or patchy zoning. The younger age component is not observed overgrowing older grains. Most grains of both ages are overgrown by younger Cretaceous (~120 Ma) metamorphic zircon with very low U and Th/U (0.01). We interpret the bimodal ages as indicating initial igneous emplacement and crystallisation of a dioritic protolith pluton at ~357 Ma, followed by Early Cretaceous granulite-facies metamorphism at ~134 Ma, during which a significant fraction (~60%) of the zircon grains dissolved, and subsequently reprecipitated, effectively in situ, in partial melt pockets. The remaining ~40% of original Paleozoic grains were apparently not in contact with the partial melt, remained intact, and show only slight degrees of Pb loss. Sector zoning of the Cretaceous grains discounts their origin by solid state recrystallisation of Paleozoic grains. The alternative explanation—that the Paleozoic component represents a 40% inherited component in an Early Cretaceous transgressive dioritic magma—is considered less likely given the relatively high solubility of zircon in magma of this composition, the absence of 134 Ma overgrowths, the single discrete age of the older component, equivalent time-integrated ¹⁷⁷Hf/¹⁷⁶Hf compositions of both age groups, and the absence of the Cambrian-Proterozoic detrital zircon that dominates regional Cambro-Ordovician metasedimentary populations. Similar bimodal Carboniferous-Early Cretaceous age distributions are characteristic of the wider Arthur River Complex; 8 of 12 previously dated dioritic samples have a Paleozoic component averaging 51%. Furthermore, the age and chemical suite affinity of these and several more felsic rocks can be matched with those of the relatively unmetamorphosed Carboniferous plutonic terrane along the strike of the Mesozoic margin in southern Fiordland, also supporting the in situ derivation of the Carboniferous “inherited” component.