Improvements in navigation using SeaBeam crossing errors

Adjustments to satellite constrained navigation are required to match SeaBeam bathymetric data at track crossings due to errors in dead reckoning and inaccuracies in satellite fixes. By shifting one of the SeaBeam swaths involved in a track crossing relative to the other and calculating the sum of the squares of the differences in bathymetry within the area of overlapping coverage, we map a two-dimensional error surface whose minimum corresponds to the best estimate of the correction to navigation required at the crossing point. Estimates of the covariance of this correction are derived from the error surface. We employ the curve fitting technique of Tarantola and Valette (1982) to invert for a smooth correction function to a starting model of the position of the ship as a function of time. This technique incorporates formal errors assigned to dead reckoning, satellite fixes, and the shifts required to match bathymetric swaths at crossing points in a simultaneous inversion for the correction function for all tracks within the study area.In a test of the method in a study area on the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a data set involving two cruises, 30 days of SeaBeam data, and 753 track crossings, we found that crossing SeaBeam swaths can potentially resolve the relative position of the ship on the two tracks to within 30 to 70 m. The inversion procedure yielded a much better constrained navigation function and much improved match of bathymetry. The final model of the navigation fit crossing shifts about as well as satellite data (with respect to their assigned data errors) with the RMS value of the crossing shifts decreasing from 1200 m in the original satellite-constrained navigation to 200 m in the final solution. However, the potential resolution of position using SeaBeam swaths was not fully achieved in the solution because there are systematic bathymetric artifacts in SeaBeam data, multiple local minima in the error surfaces in highly lineated topography, inadequate dead reckoning data, occasional bad satellite fixes, and limitations on the short period corrections allowed in the model.     

A Study of Lift Force and Instantaneous Velocity Field Around an Oscillating Circular Cylinder

-Force measurements of oscillatory flow acting on a single circular cylinder have been carriedout.The experiments were done by oscillating a circular cylinder in still water.Instantaneous forces and ve-locity fields around the cylinder were measured by Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV).The Keulegan-Car-penter number(KC)varied in the range from 5 to 20 and the viscous parameter β=Re/KC was set at500(Re is Reynolds number).It was found that the strength and frequency of the lift force increased withKC number,the main frequency of the lift force being three times the frequency of the oscillatory flow atKC=20.The movement and strength of the vortices around the cylinder are discussed for differentKC numbers.     

Characteristics of Kd （490） around Nansha Islands in the South China Sea

The diffusion attenuation coefficient for downwelling irradiance, Ka(490), is an important optical parameter of seawater. The optical property, Kd(490), around Nansha Islands in the South China Sea was analyzed based on optical data profiles measured with SPMR (SeaWiFS Profiling Multichannel Radiometer) and SMSR ( SeaWiFS Multichannel Surface Reference ) instrument in April and May, 1999. The results show that Kd(490) is closely correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration, Ccgka, and that the vertical distribution of Kd(490) shows the strong stratification of the water column in this area. Kd(490) has a similar vertical co-variation as KL(490), the diffusive attenuation coefficient for upwelling radiance.Both coefficients increase with depth in the upper layer, where KL(490) is greater than Kd(490); and after a depth, approximatively at the chlorophyll maximum, they decrease with depth, with the former being smaller than the latter.     

Current Measurements of the Japan Sea Proper Water and the Intermediate Water by ALACE Floats

The subsurface current of the Japan Sea was observed by two Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer (ALACE) floats. One float, having a 20-day cycle, was deployed on 29 July 1995 in the eastern Japan Basin and drifted in the northeastern part of the basin until 15 September 2000. The other float, with a 10-day cycle, was deployed on 4 August 1995 in the western Japan Basin and drifted in the western Japan Basin, in the Yamato Basin and around the Yamato Rise until it reached its life limit in mid-May 2000. An anticlockwise circulation in the eastern Japan Basin was observed and it was assumed to be in the upper portion of the Japan Sea Proper Water (UJSPW) or in the intermediate water. The spatial scale of the circulation increased as the depth decreased. A clockwise circulation was observed around the Yamato Rise in the UJSPW. Smaller clockwise and anticlockwise rotations were observed in the western Japan Sea, where a seasonal variation was seen in drift speed with different phase by depth. The correlation coefficient between drift speeds of two floats indicated little coherence among the subsurface circulation between the east and the west of the Japan Basin, or between the north and the south of the subpolar front. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Image processing for video images of buoy motion

In this paper, image processing technique that reduces video images of buoy motion to yield time series of image coordinates of buoy objects will be investigated. The buoy motion images are noisy due to time-varying brightness as well as non-uniform background illumination. The occurrence of boats, wakes, and wind-induced white caps interferes significantly in recognition of buoy objects. Thus, semiautomated procedures consisting of object recognition and image measurement aspects will be conducted. These offer more satisfactory results than a manual process. Spectral analysis shows that the image coordinates of buoy objects represent wave motion well, indicating its usefulness in the analysis of wave characteristics.     

Deep-circulation flow at mid-latitude in the western North Pacific

Direct current measurements with five moorings at 27–35°N, 165°E from 1991 to 1993 and with one mooring at 27°N, 167°E from 1989 to 1991 revealed temporal variations of deep flow at mid-latitude in the western North Pacific. The deep-circulation flow carrying the Lower Circumpolar Deep Water from the Southern Ocean passed 33°N, 165°E northwestward with a high mean velocity of 7.8 cm s⁻¹ near the bottom and was stable enough to continue for 4–6 months between interruptions of 1- or 2-months duration. The deep-circulation flow expanded or shifted intermittently to the mooring at 31°N, 165°E but did not reach 35°N, 165°E although it shifted northward. The deep-circulation flow was not detected at the other four moorings, whereas meso-scale eddy variations were prominent at all the moorings, particularly at 35°N and 29°N, 165°E. The characteristics of current velocity and dissolved oxygen distributions led us to conclude that the deep-circulation flow takes a cyclonic pathway after passing through Wake Island Passage, passing 24°N, 169.5–173°E and 30°N, 168–169°E northward, proceeds northwestward around 33°N, 165°E, and goes westward through the south of the Shatsky Rise. We did not find that the deep-circulation flow proceeded westward along the northern side of the Mid-Pacific Seamounts and eastward between the Hess Rise and the Hawaiian Ridge toward the Northeast Pacific Basin.     

台站用百叶箱内外气温比对与分析

用双通道自动测温表对台站用的百叶箱内外气温进行了同步比对测量与分析。指出自然通风时，百叶箱对箱内气温变化产生一定程度的滞后和热辐射作用。滞后作用较明显。     

岩样孔隙汞渗入量超声法精密测定

采用声学方法精密测定汞被高压强压入储油岩样的渗入体积，对岩芯孔隙结构测定中的汞体积计量方法作了重要改进。本方法以无水酒精作为计量工作介质，在其中发射声波，通过对汞界面反射声波的识别，进行非接触的声学测量，从根本上解决了当前国内外采用的电阻法，电容法无法避免的由于汞腐蚀或油污染而要求经常进行与有毒汞接触的清洗，并且确保了计量系统工作性能的长期稳定与准确可靠。在０．０１ＭＰａ至５０ＭＰａ压强范围内连续计量，量程０～１０ｍｌ，准确度０．０１ｍｌ。     

利用放射性示踪沙定量观测长江口北槽航道抛泥区底沙运动

１９９１年６月在国际原子能机构的合作下，在长江口北槽航道上抛泥区进行了一次大规模的放射性示踪沙试验。示踪核素为钪－４６，总活度为１７．９５×１０~（１０）Ｂｑ（４．８５Ｃｉ），示踪沙投放总量为４９５ｇ。本试验目的是通过定量观测底沙运移的方向、路线、速度和输沙率，以期为北槽航道上抛泥区今后能否继续作为抛泥区使用提供直观可靠论据。本次试验观测资料表明，在北槽航道上抛泥区，在中小讯期间，无论是涨潮时投放的示踪沙还是落潮时投放的示踪沙都受落潮流控制，并向北槽航道中段输移。据测量资料分析，在上口抛泥区投放的示踪沙最终沿着１１０°的运动方向以７５８ｍ／ｄ的运动速度，在２６９~＃航标附近进入挖槽，单宽输沙率为４７．８ｍ~３／ｍｄ。