Lagrangian fronts in the ocean

We introduce the concept of Lagrangian fronts (LFs) in the ocean and describe their importance for analyzing water mixing and transport and the specific features and differences from hydrological fronts. A method of calculating LFs in a given velocity field is proposed. Based on altimeter velocity fields from AVISO data in the northwestern Pacific, we calculate the Lagrangian synoptic maps and identify LFs of different spatial and temporal scales. Using statistical analysis of saury catches in different years according to the Goskomrybolovstvo (State Fisheries Committee of the Russian Federation), we show that LFs can serve as good indicators of places that are favorable for fishing.     

Effect of photochemical self-action of carbon-containing aerosol: Wildfires

It has been shown by numerical simulation that the rate of formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) in smoke plumes caused by vegetation and peat fires under real conditions can significantly depend on the aerosol optical thickness (AOT). The AOT determines the photodissociation rate and hydroxyl radical concentration, which in turn determines the rate of SOA generation as a result of oxidation of semivolatile organic compounds. Quantitative analysis has been carried out for the situation that took place in European Russia during the 2010 Russian wildfires. The state-of-the-art 3D chemical transport model is used in this study; the simulations are optimized and validated using the data of monitoring of the particulate matter in the Moscow region and Finland. The findings indicate that it is important to allow for this effect in studies focused on the analysis and prediction of air pollution due to wildfires, as well as climate and weather studies, whose results may depend on the assumptions about the content and properties of atmospheric carbon-containing aerosol.     

Methods for retrieval of sea wave spectra from aerospace image spectra

An approach to the retrieval of sea wave spatial spectra based on satellite optical imagery in linear and nonlinear approximations is described. Physical mechanisms of the formation of disturbed sea surface brightness fields recorded by remote sensing equipment are analyzed. Wave spectra retrieval methods using brightness field formation models that consider linear and nonlinear dependencies on sea surface slopes are suggested. A method for the construction of operators that retrieve the spatial spectra of surface wave slopes and elevations from aerospace imagery and take into account nonlinear modulations of disturbed sea surface brightness fields is developed. This method is based on the numerical simulation of sea surface images and the construction of a retrieving operator with respect to a set of parameters determined by aerospace imaging conditions. Examples of the use of the developed methods are given.     

Satellite monitoring of trace gas and aerosol emissions during wildfires in Russia

Peculiarities of the formation of carbon gas and fine aerosol emissions into the atmosphere during wildfires are analyzed. A prompt satellite monitoring system and technique for the assessment of burnt areas and volumes of CO₂, CO, and PM_2.5 emissions from wildfires are described. The results of satellite monitoring of the Russian Federation and some Russian regions for different months over 2010–2014 are given; burnt areas and volumes of carbon gas and aerosol emissions throughout the entire territory are assessed. The peculiarities of seasonal frequencies of wildfires and volumes of hazardous gas and fine aerosol emissions in the regions under study are identified.     

Modeling of oil spreading in a problem of radar multiangle diagnostics of Sea surface pollutions

The possibilities of a multiangle method of radar diagnostics to determine thickness of an oil film on a sea surface by comparing the radar data with the quantitative modeling results obtained using the model of oil spreading dynamics are analyzed. The experimental results of the remote sensing of the Caspian Sea water area near the Neftyanye Kamni oil field by the Envisat-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and the new Floating Objects Tracking System (FOTS) model of oil spreading are used for the analysis. The model allows to calculate the dynamics and change in the mass and size of an oil slick basing only on the available data of satellite measurements and atmospheric reanalysis.The model takes into account the main processes that influence the slick formation (gravity spreading, advective transport, dispersion, emulsification, turbulent mixing, and evaporation). This model is used to calculate the thickness evolution and dynamics of the displacement of oil slicks in the period between two consecutive radar images of this region (0.5–4 days) and to estimate the volumes of oil spilled in the field. The good consistence of the height of the oil film calculated using radar measurements and the modeling results confirms the method’s reliability.     

Experimental studies of thermal radiation intensity dependence on near-water wind speed for rough sea surface

The results of in situ measurements of the characteristics of intrinsic microwave radiation from the sea surface are presented. The studies were carried out on the oceanographic platform of the Experimental Department of Marine Hydrophysical Institute during the summer–fall periods for 3 years, which made it possible to accumulate a significant amount of information on the change in the radiation intensity of under different meteorological conditions. Attention is primarily focused on the construction of wind-radiation dependences and their steepness analysis based on the measurement data obtained by a radiometer-polarimeter with a central frequency of received radiation equal to 37.7 GHz. The results are compared with the previous experimental studies and the model estimates of this effect.     

Observations of a cycle of intense coastal upwelling and downwelling at the research site of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in the Black Sea

The paper presents the results of joint analysis of the response of vertical temperature and current velocity profile distributions in the coastal zone of the Gelendzhik region of the Black Sea to strong wind forcing in the third ten-day period of September 2013. This forcing was caused by the propagation of an atmospheric cyclone, which first initiated coastal upwelling that was later replaced by downwelling. We formulate a criterion for the development of full coastal upwelling and demonstrate its efficiency. We assume that frequent events of incomplete coastal upwelling and downwelling are associated with changes in the water dynamics (variations in the intensity and direction of the alongshore current) generally not related to local wind forcing.     

Modeling photosynthesis and the growth of marine phytoplankton

The paper analyzes the most popular models of photosynthesis and growth of marine phytoplankton in the literature and demonstrates their limitations. A new approach to modeling is proposed and used to obtain new models of marine phytoplankton photosynthesis and growth. An important feature of the proposed models is their ability to describe coupled multisubstrate cyclical interactions typical of biochemical and physiological processes. As a first approximation, the mathematical models are represented by equations of nonrectangular hyperbolas. The models describe the stoichiometry of extraction of elements from the medium, whatever the degree of their limitation, an important feature in describing biogeochemical cycles of elements. This stoichiometry is governed by measurable internal parameters of an organism (substrate parameters) and can be a key cause of stoichiometric formation of elements in the ambient medium, described, for example, by the Redfield ratio. The substrate constants are fundamental characteristics of the models, which form “automatically” in the construction of model equations in arbitrary units.