Predictability of Interannual Variability in the Kuroshio Transport South of Japan Based on Wind Stress Data over the North Pacific

It is expected that a roughly two-year forecast of the Kuroshio transport variation can be made from a past record of wind stress data over the ocean, since it takes nearly ten years for the first-mode baroclinic Rossby wave to traverse the entire basin in the midlatitude North Pacific (∼30°N). We therefore investigated the predictability using an ocean general circulation model driven by the wind stress data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. Referring to a hindcast experiment as the control run, we carried out fifteen forecast experiments, the initial conditions of which are taken from the hindcast experiment at intervals of two years during the period from the end of 1969 to the end of 1997. Each of the forecast experiments is driven only by wind stress in the year preceding each experiment. The forecasted Kuroshio transport anomaly south of Japan agrees better with the hindcasted one during the first two years of the forecast in most cases. In some cases, however, significant disagreements occur, most of which are likely due to larger unpredictable variations caused by wind stress anomalies near Japan. At the end of forecast year 2, the anomaly correlation coefficient is about 0.7, and rms of the forecast error is smaller than rms of the hindcasted anomaly. These results indicate that the prediction of the interannual variability in the Kuroshio transport could be made two years in advance at a statistically significant level. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The role of marine spatial planning in sea use management: The Belgian case

The expansion of offshore activities and the increasing need to meet international and national commitments to biodiversity conservation have led to an enhanced interest in marine spatial planning (MSP) as a tool for sea use management. Several European countries, on their own initiative or driven by European legislation and policy, have taken global leadership in implementing MSP. This article will discuss the Belgian experiences with MSP. It will give a short historical overview based on legal developments and review the implementation process of a ‘Master Plan’ as a spatial management policy for the Belgian Part of the North Sea. Additionally, this article will reflect on the research that has been done in Belgium to apply a land-use planning approach to the marine environment. The MSP process in Belgium shows that a spatial approach to sea use management is possible despite the lack of a legal zoning framework. However, it concludes that a legal basis for MSP, in addition to the current permit system, would provide a more strategic and integrated framework for ecosystem-based, sea use management.     

E1 Nio phenomenon in simple ocean data assimilation data

1 IntroductionIt is well known that interaction between the trop-ical ocean and atmosphere produces the largest inter-annual climate signal, El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO). In past decades many efforts have been madein understanding and predicting ENSO: such as the hy-pothesis of Bjerknes (1969) that ENSO arises as aself-sustained cycle in which SSTA in the Pacific O-cean causes the trade winds to strengthen or slackenand that this in turn drives the ocean circulation changesthat …     

The Agulhas Ridge, South Atlantic: The Peculiar Structure of a Fracture Zone

The Agulhas Ridge is a prominent topographic feature that parallels the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ). Seismic reflection and wide angle/refraction data have led to the classification of this feature as a transverse ridge. Changes in spreading rate and direction associated with ridge jumps, combined with asymmetric spreading within the Agulhas Basin, modified the stress field across the fracture zone. Moreover, passing the Agulhas Ridge’s location between 80 and 69 Ma, the Bouvet and Shona Hotspots may have supplied excess material to this part of the AFFZ thus altering the ridge’s structure. The low crustal velocities and overthickened crust of the northern Agulhas Ridge segment indicate a possible continental affinity that suggests it may be formed by a small continental sliver, which was severed off the Maurice Ewing Bank during the opening of the South Atlantic. In early Oligocene times the Agulhas Ridge was tectono-magmatically reactivated, as documented by the presence of basement highs disturbing and disrupting the sedimentary column in the Cape Basin. We consider the Discovery Hotspot, which distributes plume material southwards across the AAFZ, as a source for the magmatic material.     

厦门海洋生物入侵的危害及管理对策

本文系统地分析了厦门海洋生物入侵的成因、现状、危害及治理方法,认为互花米草和海洋动物沙筛贝是主要的入侵物种,其严重的生态、经济和社会危害不可低估.同时明确防止海洋生物入侵的总体目标,进而提出强化管理的系列对策.     

Management of a shallow temperate estuary to control eutrophication: The effect of hydrodynamics on the system’s nutrient loading

The Mondego estuary, a shallow warm-temperate intertidal system located on the west coast of Portugal, has for some decades been under severe ecological stress, mainly caused by eutrophication. Water circulation in this system was, until 1998, mainly dependent on tides and on the freshwater input of a small tributary artificially controlled by a sluice. After 1998, the sluice opening was effectively minimised to reduce the nutrient loading, and the system hydrodynamics improved due to engineering work in the upstream areas. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the mitigation measures implemented in 1998. Changes to the hydrodynamics of the system were assessed using precipitation and salinity data in relation to the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nutrients, as well as the linkage between dissolved N:P ratios and the biological parameters (phytoplankton chlorophyll a concentrations, green macroalgal biomass and seagrass biomass). Two distinctive periods were compared, over a ten year period: from January 1993 to January 1997 and from January 1999 until January 2003. The effective reduction in the dissolved N:P atomic ratio from 37.7 to 13.2 after 1998 is a result of lowered ammonia, but not the oxidised forms of nitrogen (nitrate plus nitrite), or increased concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphorus. Results suggest that the phytoplankton is not nutrient limited, yet maximum and mean biomass of green macroalgae was reduced by one order of magnitude after the mitigation measures. This suggests that besides lowering the water residence time of the system, macroalgal growth became nitrogen limited. In parallel to these changes the seagrass-covered area and biomass of Zostera noltii showed signs of recovery.     

新型波浪采集系统平台设计

主要介绍了新型波浪采集系统的设计思想与主要参数，采集、存储、运算和电源控制部分的结构与组成，以及各部分的特点和关键技术。     

多波束数据的海底数字地形模型构建

提出大批量多格式原始多波束数据的DTM构建方法，以满足大区域、大比例尺海底地形制图的需要。在多种格式原始多波束数据接口和系统内部标准数据结构的基础上，通过对数据文件、数据种类和数据运算量的有效组织管理，实施边读入、边权重配赋的网格插值，分析了高斯、指数和距离平方反比权重函数的适用性，及最小值、最大值和平均值的实用性。在权重配赋网格插值基础上，提出分形fBM和张力样条配合使用的方程式插值方法，保证DTM数据的有效外延和地形分辨。整套算法效率高，并能有效保证DTM的精度，对存储在外部介质的数据遍历一次即可完成网格插值。