Remote estimation of surficial seafloor properties through the application Angular Range Analysis to multibeam sonar data

The variation of the backscatter strength with the angle of incidence is an intrinsic property of the seafloor, which can be used in methods for acoustic seafloor characterization. Although multibeam sonars acquire backscatter over a wide range of incidence angles, the angular information is normally neglected during standard backscatter processing and mosaicking. An approach called Angular Range Analysis has been developed to preserve the backscatter angular information, and use it for remote estimation of seafloor properties. Angular Range Analysis starts with the beam-by-beam time-series of acoustic backscatter provided by the multibeam sonar and then corrects the backscatter for seafloor slope, beam pattern, time varying and angle varying gains, and area of insonification. Subsequently a series of parameters are calculated from the stacking of consecutive time series over a spatial scale that approximates half of the swath width. Based on these calculated parameters and the inversion of an acoustic backscatter model, we estimate the acoustic impedance and the roughness of the insonified area on the seafloor. In the process of this inversion, the behavior of the model parameters is constrained by established inter-property relationships. The approach has been tested using a 300 kHz Simrad EM3000 multibeam sonar in Little Bay, NH. Impedance estimates are compared to in situ measurements of sound speed. The comparison shows a very good correlation, indicating the potential of this approach for robust seafloor characterization.     

Phytoplankton biomass and size fractions in surface waters of the Australian sector of the southern ocean

We collected surface water along the 142nd E meridian from Tasmania to Antarctica in December 1999. We measured temperature, salinity and total chlorophyll a; additionally, we collected suspended particle size fractions and used fluorometric analysis to determine the quantity of chlorophyll a in each of four cell size classes: picoplankton (<3 μm), two nanoplankton fractions (3–10 μm and 10–20 μm) and microplankton (> 20 μm). Changes in temperature and salinity show that we crossed 6 water masses separated by 5 fronts. We found low abundance (<0.2 mg m⁻³) of chlorophyll in all size classes, with the exception of higher values near the continent (0.2 to 0.4 mg m⁻³). Lowest chlorophyll values (<0.1 mg m⁻³) were found in the Polar Frontal Zone (51° to 54°S). Microplankton made up the largest portion of total chlorophyll throughout most of the region. We conclude that biomass of all phytoplankton fractions, especially pico-and nanoplankton, was constrained by limiting factors, most probably iron, throughout the region and that ecosystem dynamics within a zone are not circumpolar but are regionalized within sectors.     

南大洋深海嗜冷菌2-5-10-1及其低温脂肪酶的研究

从南大洋普里兹湾的水样中筛选到一株产低温脂肪酶的深海嗜冷菌2-5-10-1,对其生长及产酶情况和酶性质做了初步研究.该菌株的最适生长温度为5℃,此时分泌的胞外脂肪酶最多;添加Tween80,橄榄油可显著促进脂肪酶的产生.该脂肪酶的最适作用温度为35℃,在0～20℃均保持较高的酶活性,在0℃可保持37%的相对酶活性;酶的最适作用的pH值为7.5,在pH6～9的范围内均存在较高酶活性;对热较敏感,在60℃保温15min可丧失50%以上的酶活性.该脂肪酶的催化作用不需要金属离子的参与,Cu2+和Zn2+对酶活有着强烈的抑制作用.     

南黄海夏季海水pCO2研究Ⅱ--下层海水涌升和长江冲淡水对海-气界面CO2通量的贡献

根据2001年7月对南黄海的大面积调查,研究了南黄海夏季pCO2的分布机制,着重讨论下层海水涌升和长江冲淡水对海-气界面CO2通量的贡献,并给出了南黄海海-气界面CO2通量。研究结果表明:夏季南黄海总体上是CO2的1个弱源,大约向大气中释放45.05×104t C。夏季南黄海表层海水pCO2分布表现出了极大的不均性,其汇区主要由长江冲淡水造成,影响区域占汇区吸收CO2的99.9%;而在源区,下层海水涌升虽然面积较小却占源区释放CO2的35.2%。可见陆架边缘海区源/汇格局的地域差异非常之特别。     

波浪底摩擦力对重砂富集的影响——以鲁南近岸区为例

根据浅水波浪的底摩擦效应，对鲁南灵山湾和臼－岚山镇近岸区进行了波浪的海底摩擦力计算。波浪的海底摩擦力等值图与已知滨海锆石砂矿资料对比表明，底摩擦力大于０．１８Ｎ／ｍ＾２的动力分选区有利于重矿物砂富集。据此，进一步预测了鲁南近岸带的砂矿富集区。     

The Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front: physical and biological coupling at South Georgia

The coupling of physics and biology was examined along a 160 km long transect running out from the north coast of South Georgia Island and crossing the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) during late December 2000. Surface and near surface potential TS properties indicated the presence of three water types: a near-shore group of stations characterised by water which became progressively warmer and fresher closer to South Georgia, an offshore grouping in which sea surface temperatures and those at the winter water level were relatively warm (1.8°C and 0.5°C, respectively), and a third in which surface and winter water temperatures were cooler and reflected the presence of the SACCF. The transect bisected the SACCF twice, revealing that it was flowing in opposite directions, north-westward closest to South Georgia and south-eastwards at its furthest point from the island. The innermost limb was a narrow intense feature located just off the shelf break in 2000–3500 m of water and in which rapid surface baroclinic velocities (up to 35 cm s⁻¹) were encountered. Offshore in the outermost limb, shown subsequently to be a mesoscale eddy that had meandered south from the retroflected limb of the SACCF, flow was broader and slower with peak velocities around 20 cm s⁻¹. Chlorophyll a biomass was generally low (<1 mg m⁻³) over much of the transect but increased dramatically in the region of the innermost limb of the SACCF, where a deepening of the surface mixed layer was coincident with a subsurface chlorophyll maximum (7.4 mg m⁻³) and elevated concentrations down to 100 m. The bloom was coincident with depleted nutrient concentrations, particularly silicate, nitrate and phosphate, and although ammonium concentrations were locally depleted the bloom lay within an elevated band (up to 1.5 mmol m⁻³) associated with the frontal jet. Increased zooplankton abundance, higher copepod body carbon mass and egg production rates all showed a strong spatial integrity with the front. The population structure of the copepods Calanoides acutus and Rhincalanus gigas at stations within the front suggested that rather than simply resulting from entrainment and concentration within the jet, increased copepod abundance was the result of development in situ. Estimates of bloom duration, based on silicate and carbon budget calculations, set the likely duration between 82 and 122 d, a figure supported by the development schedule of the two copepod species. Given this timescale, model outputs from FRAM and OCCAM indicated that particles that occurred on the north side of South Georgia in December would have been in the central-southern Scotia Sea 2–3 months earlier, probably in sea ice affected regions.     

Understanding El Niño — The importance of Grey Literature in Coastal Ecosystem Research and Management

Access to information about past states of the environment and social systems is fundamental to understand, and cope with, the challenges of climate change and over-exploitation of natural resources at the onset of the 21st century. The loss of (old) data is a major threat to understanding better and mitigating long-term effects of human activities and anthropogenic changes to the environment. Although this is intuitively evident for old and local literature of any kind, even present-day international publishing of papers without the underlying raw data makes access to basic information a crucial issue. Here, we summarise experience resulting from a EU-funded International Science & Technology Cooperation (INCO) project (CENSOR) addressing Coastal Ecosystem Research and Management in the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) context. We show that indeed “Grey Literature” is still one of the most important sources of knowledge about natural science research and management of natural resource systems in Latin American countries. We argue that public archiving of original data of present-day research and old (Grey) Literature and easy public access are important for appreciating today's global environmental challenges caused by human activities, both past and present.     

南京市首级高程控制网的建立及跨江水准的研究

本文首先介绍了南京市首级高程控制网的概况,接着重点讨论了跨江水准测量方法的选择,并全面分析了测距三角高程法影响精度的三个因素,结合南京市首级高程控制网全面介绍了数据处理的有关问题。