Estimation of Contamination of ERS-2 and POSEIDON Satellite Radar Altimetry Close to the Coasts of Australia

It is broadly acknowledged that the precision of satellite-altimeter-measured instantaneous sea surface heights (SSH) is lower in coastal regions than in open oceans, due partly to contamination of the radar return from the coastal sea-surface state and from land topography. This study investigates the behavior of ERS-2 and POSEIDON altimeter waveform data in coastal regions and estimates a boundary around Australia's coasts in which the altimeter range may be poorly estimated by on-satellite tracking software. Over one million 20 Hz ERS-2 (March to April 1999) and POSEIDON (January 1998 to January 1999) radar altimeter waveform data were used over an area extending 350 km offshore Australia. The DS759.2 (5'resolution) ocean depth model and the GSHHS (0.2 km resolution) shoreline model were used together to define the coastal regions. Using the 50% threshold retracking points as the estimates of expected tracking gate, we determined that the sea surface height is contaminated out to maximum distance of between about 8 km and 22 km from the Australian shoreline for ERS-2, depending partly on coastal topography. Using the standard deviation of the mean waveforms as an indication of the general variability of the altimeter returns in the Australian coastal region shows obvious coastal contamination out to about 4 km for both altimeters, and less obvious contamination out to about 8 km for POSEIDON and 10 km for ERS-2. Therefore, ERS-2 and POSEIDON satellite altimeter data should be treated with some caution for distances less than about 22 km from the Australian coast and probably ignored altogether for distances less than 4 km.     

Code of Practice For Ocean Mining: An International Effort to Develop a Code For Environmental Management of Marine Mining

A code of practice for ocean mining has been developed by the International Marine Minerals Society. The code provides general guiding Principles for development of marine mineral resources and delineates Operating Guidelines for application, as appropriate, at specific mining sites. In total 11 operating guidelines are provided to serve as benchmarks for industry and targets for regulatory agencies and other stakeholders. They include the following commitments: •To sustainable development, •To environmentally responsible corporate ethics, •To the development of effective community partnership, •To implementation of environmental risk management, •To the integration of environmental management into all phases of development, •To the establishment of corporate environmental performance targets, •To timely environmental improvements and upgrading, •To responsible rehabilitation of operations sites and decommissioning of facilities, and •To accurate and timely, reporting and documentation, archiving, and performance review.     

The Western European PSSA—Testing a unique international concept to protect imperilled marine ecosystems

Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) are a tool designed to protect vulnerable marine areas from vessel-source pollution through measures approved by the governing body, the International Maritime Organisation. Recent developments triggered by the proposal to designate, amongst others, a large part of the Western European Atlantic a PSSA have brought the instrument to a decisive stage. Although the proposal appears to be lawful, its implications for the concept, which this paper seeks to assess, are questionable. The significance of the instrument is at risk if it is overused. As a consequence, new protective mechanisms should be contemplated.     

南麂列岛海洋自然保护区潮间带贝类资源时空分布

为了解南麂列岛海洋自然保护区潮间带贝类十多年来的动态变化,在1992年研究基础上,于2003年度再赴南麂列岛对岩、沙相贝类进行了研究.本次调查鉴定出贝类105种,其中岩相93种、沙相12种,6种为南麂列岛新记录种,对岩相、沙相贝类组合的生态特征进行了分析,岩相多样性和均匀度指数(1.25~2.20和0.54~0.70)高于沙相的(0.23~0.95和0.17~0.94).岩相贝类数量为3025.70g/m2和2660个/m2,生物量垂直分布为低潮区最高(6471.99g/m2),中潮区居中(3772.09g/m2),高潮区最小(78.35g/m2),栖息密度为中潮区最大(4245个/m2),低潮区居中(2973个/m2),高潮区最小(439个/m2).沙相贝类数量为16.81g/m2和11个/m2,低潮区(29.43g/m2和11个/m2)大于中潮区(14.01g/m2和10个/m2).通过与以往资料比对发现,岩礁贝类数量有所增加,沙滩贝类数量则明显下降,监控区贝类数量明显多于其他区域,对贝类资源变化产生影响的相关因子作了分析探讨.     

An overview of the Oyashio ecosystem

The Oyashio shelf region and the seasonally ice-covered areas north of Hokkaido are highly productive, supporting a wide range of species including marine mammals, seabirds and commercially important species in the western subarctic Pacific. The fishes include gadids, such as walleye pollock and Pacific cod, and subarctic migratory pelagic fishes such as chum salmon and pink salmon. It is also an important summer feeding ground for subtropical migrants such as the Japanese sardine, Japanese anchovy, Pacific saury, mackerels, Japanese common squid, whales and seabirds. In recent decades, some components of the Oyashio ecosystem (i.e., phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, gadid fish, and subtropical migrants) have shown changes in species abundance or distribution that are correlated with environmental changes such as the 1976/1977 and 1988/1989 regime shifts. The First Oyashio Intrusion moved northward from the mid-1960s until the late 1970s, when it moved southward until the 1980s, after which it returned to the north again after the mid-1990s. The sea-surface temperature in spring decreased after the late 1970s, increased after the late 1980s, and remained high during the 1990s. The extent of ice cover in the Sea of Okhostk also decreased during the latest warming in the 1980–1990s but has increased again since the late 1990s. This and other variabilities affect the Oyashio ecosystem and the surrounding region.     

海洋植物营养素的应用研究 Ⅰ.金藻类的培养

用不同含量的93－B型海洋植物营养素对几种常用的金藻类饵料种进行培养对比试验。结果表明,海洋植物营养素用于培养金藻类效果良好,最适使用含量为30mp·L~-1域40mg·L~-1。此时效果与通常被推荐的培养液所培养的对照组相当或更好．含量过高,则造成某些营养盐过量而产生一定的毒害作用。此营养素使用简便。     

厦门港湾和闽南-台湾浅滩海域鱼类感染吸虫的调查研究

本文根据1980～1986年厦门港湾和闽南-台湾浅滩海域的调查资料,报道了该海区鱼类感染复殖吸虫的概况。在我们检查的106种鱼类中,从其中54种的消化道和1种的体腔中发现复殖吸虫标本1269个,感染率为28.24%。本海区鱼类生态习性虽有差异,其感染率和阳性鱼的感染度可能有明显差异,但从总体上看,不同生态类群鱼类的吸虫密度分布甚为均匀。     

海洋真菌及其生物活性物质多样性研究

海洋微生物种类繁多,是筛选新药的丰富资源宝库。近些年来,作为海洋微生物中重要的组成部分的海洋真菌正成为研究的热点,越来越受到国内外学者的关注。本文详细概述了海洋真菌的定义、分布、海洋真菌研究的历史和现状、其所产生的生物活性物质多样性以及存在的问题。     

Advective, orographic and radiation fog in the Tarapacá region, Chile

A project in northern Chile was undertaken to determine the origin and behaviour of fog in the coastal and inland locations of the Tarapacá Region. In the Pampa del Tamarugal, 50 km from the sea, conditions exist for the formation of radiation fog. Advective fog has been studied on the coast and orographic fog was observed at a few coastal sites near mountain ranges with elevations above 1000 m. Fog water collected by two standard fog collectors (SFC) for 3 1/2 years showed an average flux of 8.5 l m⁻² day⁻¹ on the coast and 1.1 l m⁻² day⁻¹ inland 12 km from the coastline. On only a few days in 10 months was water collected at the inland site of Pampa del Tamarugal. GOES satellite images are shown to illustrate the pattern of formation of the stratocumuli cloud over the sea, its approach to the coastline, the entrance of fog by corridors through the coastal range and the presence of radiation fog inland. The results are important for the understanding of fog formation and dissipation along the coastal mountain range and for the recognition of potential sites for the installation of fog water collectors, which can be used as a water source in the Atacama Desert. The results also provide vital information for use in the preservation of the unique ecosystems of the most arid desert of the world.     

From catfish to organic fish: making distinctions about nature as cultural economic practice

This paper addresses the cultural economy of nature and the material culture of economic practice. Attending to ways that cultural notions about the biophysical world play key roles in political economic conflicts, discussion centers on two recent debates involving the cultural economy of seafood production and trade. The first debate is over whether the label “catfish” should include catfish imported from Vietnam into the United States; the second deals with whether fish and shellfish should be eligible to be certified “organic” under new US regulations. Analysis reveals that the key dynamic in these debates is not necessarily how people think about “nature”, but instead is how people make distinctions about the world. Rather than focusing on what is natural or not, key actors make distinctions among both organisms and environments. The ways that different groups define and enclose the biophysical world works to distinguish places as either appropriate or not for certain kinds of production activities. The overall argument is that significance and meaning of the biophysical become implicated in economic geographies by making distinctions about the world that then become important for how economic activity can work. As such, cultural economic approaches should attend to the ways that the biophysical is involved in relations such as competition and international trade, while nature-society approaches should shift focus from Nature to specific aspects of the biophysical world.