Dynamics of the Mackenzie River plume on the inner Beaufort shelf during an open water period in summer

The oceanographic conditions of the Mackenzie River plume in the Arctic Ocean were examined during a 12-day period in August 2007. Field observations in the river channel and the delta region (2–6 m depth), ship-based observations on the shelf and satellite observations of sea surface temperatures indicate that movements of plume density fronts cause changes in water temperatures of over 10  C over a few days. We used a 1D model to compare the strength of stratification versus surface wind stress, and a 3D numerical model to simulate the plume motions under forcing from the river flows, local wind and water level variations from tides and wind-driven surge. The results indicate that the coastal region is stratified with a ∼2 m thick surface plume even in water depths of 3–4 m, resulting in strong vertical variation of horizontal currents. Moderate easterly winds of 5–10 m/s are sufficient to induce offshore transport of the surface plume and onshore transport of the deeper shelf water, leading to large fluctuations in temperature and salinity in the coastal region. This study examined a period of offshore transport and mean water level set-down, and indicates the rapid response of the plume to wind over the shallow delta.     

Oil spill detection on the ocean surface using hybrid polarimetric SAR imagery

Hybrid-polarimetric SAR (synthetic aperture radar) is a new SAR mode, with relatively simple architecture, low cost, and wide swath, which will be carried by several Earth-observing systems from now to the near future. Here, we show how the second Stokes parameter of hybrid-polarimetric SAR can be employed to detect oil on the ocean surface using the classic well-known Otsu threshold methodology, in relation to contributions from different polarizations and dampening effects on backscatter intensity, neglecting the specific scattering mechanisms and oil types for an oil-covered surface. The detection methodology is demonstrated to be reliable in three example cases: oil-on-water experiments conducted by the Norwegian Clean Seas Association, natural oil seeps from the Gulf of Mexico, and observations from the Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster in 2010.     

The effect of wave-induced radiation stress on storm surge during Typhoon Saomai (2006)

The effects of wave-induced radiation stress on storm surge were simulated during Typhoon Saomai using a wave-current coupled model based on ROMS (Regional Ocean Modeling System) ocean model and SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore) wave model.The results show that radiation stress can cause both set-up and set-down in the storm surge.Wave-induced set-up near the coast can be explained by decreasing significant wave heights as the waves propagate shoreward in an approximately uniform direction;wave-induced set-down far from the coast can be explained by the waves propagating in an approximately uniform direction with increasing significant wave heights.The shoreward radiation stress is the essential reason for the wave-induced set-up along the coast.The occurrence of set-down can be also explained by the divergence of the radiation stress.The maximum wave-induced set-up occurs on the right side of the Typhoon path,whereas the maximum wave induced set-down occurs on the left side.     

Nonlinear wave-wave interactions and wedge waves

A tetrad mechanism for exciting long waves, for example edge waves, is described based on nonlinear resonant wave-wave interactions. In this mechanism, resonant interactions pass energy to an edge wave,from the three participating gravity waves. The estimated action flux into the edge wave can be orders of magnitude greater than the transfer fluxes derived from other competing mechanisms, such as triad interactions. Moreover, the numerical results show that the actual transfer rates into the edge wave from the three participating gravity waves are two- to three- orders of magnitude greater than bottom friction.     

Feedback Mechanisms For The Atmosphere And Ocean Surface

Two kinds of feedback mechanisms in the coupling process between the atmosphere and ocean surface are identified in this paper. One is a negative feedback mechanism, which is effective in the dynamic interaction processes through momentum flux exchange. In this mechanism,the ocean extracts momentum from the atmosphere as a forcing field to generate waves, which decelerates atmospheric motions, lessening the intensity of synoptic systems. The second is a positive feedback mechanism, which is effective in the thermal interaction processes through heat flux exchange. This is a mechanism that is effective in the transport of sensible and latent heat fluxes to the atmosphere from the underlyingocean surface. As a result, the atmosphere obtains energy from the ocean, which intensifies atmospheric motions. For storm conditions typical of North Atlantic mid-latitudes, we consider these thermal and dynamical nteractions, the dominance of one over the other, and related implications for storm intensification.     

Wind-generated waves in Hurricane Juan

We present numerical simulations of the ocean surface waves generated by hurricane Juan in 2003 as it reached its mature stage (travelling from deep waters off Bermuda to Nova Scotia and making landfall near Halifax) using SWAN (v.40.31) nested within WAVEWATCH-III (v.2.22; denoted WW3) wave models, implemented on multiple-nested domains. As for all storm-wave simulations, spectral wave development is highly dependent on accurate simulations of storm winds during its life cycle. Due to Juan’s rapid translation speed (accelerating from 2.28 m s⁻¹ on 27 September, 1200 UTC to 20 m s⁻¹ on 29 September, 1200 UTC), an interpolation method is developed to blend observed hurricane winds with numerical weather prediction (NWP) model winds accurately. Wave model results are compared to in situ surface buoys and ADCP wave data along Juan’s track. At landfall, Juan’s maximum waves are mainly swell-dominated and peak waves lag the occurrence of the maximum winds. We explore the influence of surface waves on the wind and show that the accuracy of the wave simulation is enhanced by introducing swell and Stokes drift feedback mechanisms to modify the winds, and by limiting the peak drag coefficient under high wind conditions, in accordance with recent theoretical and experimental results.     

On the deep‐water fetch laws for wind‐generated surface gravity waves

Abstract

With the object of providing an accurate set of open‐sea wave spectra in a variety of conditions, we deployed, in conjunction with CASP, an array of 9 wave buoys (3 directional, 6 non‐directional) along a 30‐km line offshore from Martinique Beach, N.S. A large set of high‐quality wave spectra was collected in conjunction with extensive meteorological information. The data set is unique in the sense that a large onshore swell component was normally present.

Offshore‐wind cases for three windows: ±5°, ±15° and ±30° with respect to the shore normal, have been considered. Wind speed was found to be a strong function of fetch, and attempts were made to allow for this in the analysis. Power‐law regressions have been produced of dimensionless sea energy, peak frequency and high‐frequency spectral level (the Kitaigorodskii “alpha” parameter) vs dimensionless fetch and wind speed (inverse wave age). The regressions are compared with earlier work: the Joint North Sea Waves Project (Jonswap) and the Canada Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW) Lake Ontario study.

The comparisons indicate that dimensionless wave energies, peak frequencies and alpha values in this experiment are comparable with those from earlier experiments; in spite of different wind analysis methods, the CASP and CCIW fetch‐limited growth laws are consistent within the contexts of the two experiments. Differences among the estimated parameters are as large within the analyses of the three windows as they are among the three experiments we compare.     

Air-sea Interaction of Typhoon Sinlaku （2002） Simulated by the Canadian MC2 Model

Three experiments for the simulation of typhoon Sinlaku (2002) over the western North Pacific are performed in this study by using the Canadian Mesoscale Compressible Community (MC2) atmospheric model. The objective of these simulations is to investigate the air-sea interaction during extreme weather conditions, and to determine the sensitivity of the typhoon evolution to the sea surface temperature (SST)cooling induced by the typhoon. It is shown from the three experiments that the surface heat fluxes have a substantial influence on the slow-moving cyclone over its lifetime. When the SST in the East China coastal ocean becomes 1℃ cooler in the simulation, less latent heat and sensible heat fluxes from the underlying ocean to the cyclone tend to reduce the typhoon intensity. The cyclone is weakened by 7 hPa at the time of its peak intensity. The SST cooling also has impacts on the vertical structure of the typhoon by weakening the warm core and drying the eye wall. With a finer horizontal resolution of (1/6)°×(1/6)°, the model produces higher surface wind, and therefore more surface heat fluxes are emitted from the ocean surface to the cyclone, in the finer-resolution MC2 grid compared with the relatively lower resolution of 0.25°×0.25°MC2 grid.     

次重力波对宽刈幅高度计海表面高度观测的影响

次重力波(Infragravity Wave,IGW)是一种频率较低(0.05～0.005 Hz),波长较长(约10 km)的表面重力波。由IGW引起的海表面高度变化会被宽刈幅干涉高度计SWOT(Surface Water and Ocean Topography,SWOT)卫星观测到,因此在使用SWOT观测的海表面高度来反演中尺度、次中尺度大洋环流时,IGW是一种重要的误差来源。根据数值模型模拟的全球IGW时空分布特征,本文以IGW最为活跃的东北太平洋和欧洲西北陆架附近大西洋为研究海域,估算了上述海域由IGW所引起的海表面高度变化,并将计算结果与SWOT Simulator模拟的轨道噪声(±5 cm)比较,首次定量地估算了IGW在SWOT观测海表面高度时的干扰程度。研究表明,IGW所引起的厘米量级的海表面高度变化在SWOT卫星观测海表面流场时是一种重要的,不可忽略的误差来源。在大西洋欧洲西北陆架海域,冬季IGW对海表面高度的贡献可达到SWOT卫星噪声要求水平的25%;然而,对于大陆架狭窄的美国西岸太平洋而言,由岸线产生的IGW将迅速传入深海海域,在广阔的范围内产生显著的"噪声"影响,在SWOT反演海表面流场时由IGW引起的误差将达到SWOT卫星噪声要求水平的15%。     

A Review of Coastal Fog Microphysics During C-FOG

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - Our goal is to provide an overview of the microphysical measurements made during the C-FOG (Toward Improving Coastal Fog Prediction) field project. In addition, we...