Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK SEVEN: 12-16 March 2012

Items of Interest:

Time change -- Daylight Saving Time went into effect this past Sunday morning for essentially the entire nation -- the exceptions include Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and about 18 counties in Indiana. These changes have been mandated by the U.S. Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended Daylight Saving Time across the nation, with the start on the second Sunday in March (11 March 2012) and end on the first Sunday in November (4 November 2012). In other words, following the old adage of "spring ahead, fall behind", you will need to turn your clocks ahead by one hour to conform with the local time observance. Most of Canada also observes Daylight Saving Time changes at the same time [National Research Council Canada].
What does this time change mean to you (other than later sunsets)? Contrary to a popular belief that has surfaced at times, the change from Standard to Daylight Saving Time does not add an extra hour of daylight to the day nor does it affect weather patterns. While the weather will not change because of the time change, the times when you will be able to obtain weather charts will now be one hour later. The reason is that the National Weather Service operates on "Z time" (variously called Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Coordinated Time) which does not observe Daylight Saving Time, and the charts are still produced and transmitted at the same Z time.
While many people want additional daylight after work, some health experts say that the change to Daylight Saving Time is hard on human health, as it affects the natural sleep cycle and circadian rhythms. Increases in sleep disorders, traffic accidents and heart attacks have been seen during the first several days after the time change. [USA Today]
Multi-agency satellite officially begins Earth's weather and climate monitoring -- Early last week, NASA officials announced that their agency had completed commissioning the new Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (NPP) after running extensive tests on all five instruments onboard this polar orbiting satellite launched in October 2011. These instruments are now making global environmental observations that will provide scientists additional information into the dynamics of the entire Earth system involving the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and cryosphere. Improvements in weather and climate forecasting are envisioned based upon data collected by this new satellite that was developed and launched through a partnership between NASA, NOAA and the Defense Department. NOAA will now operate the satellite. [NASA Headquarters]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Organized tropical cyclone activity was confined to the South Indian Ocean during the last week. At the beginning of the week, Tropical Storm Irina was moving southward over the Mozambique Channel, just off the southeast coast of Mozambique. This tropical storm turned to the east and took a somewhat erratic path across the South Indian Ocean to the south-southwest of Madagascar, finally weakening to a tropical depression at the start of this past weekend. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite imagery and additional discus is on on Tropical Storm Irina.
Well to the east, Cyclone Koji formed early last week over the waters of the central tropical South Indian Ocean to the south-southwest of Australia's Cocos Islands. Koji intensified to a category 1 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale by late in the week as it traveled to the southwest across the Indian Ocean, passing well to the southeast of Diego Garcia. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Cyclone Koji.
Hurricane preparedness tour to Mexico and Caribbean set to commence -- Meteorologists and support staff from NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Reserve will begin a ten-day trip on "hurricane hunter" aircraft late this coming week to six coastal communities in Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean. This mission, which includes the Director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center, is designed to familiarize the region's residents of the hurricane monitoring and forecast efforts of the US and to urge these residents to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season. [NOAA News]
Longer-range hurricane forecasts are coming soon -- The director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center, Bill Read, recently told reporters that within two to five years, forecasters should be able to reliably issue forecasts of the positions of hurricanes with lead times of up to one week. Currently, the Hurricane Center issues five-day forecasts for giant storms. [Houma (LA) Today]
Last eligible state joins national coastal management program -- During the last week, Illinois became the last eligible state to join NOAA's National Coastal Management Program (CMP), making the "Prairie State" eligible for approximately $2 million in annual grants designed to help manage its Great Lakes resources. CMP is a voluntary partnership between NOAA and 34 coastal states and territories designed to provide management of coastal resources for sustainable development and protection of natural resources. [NOAA News]
Lost crew of USS Monitor honored -- In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the classic battle between the Union ironclad USS Monitor and the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (on 9 March 1862), NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently released forensic reconstructions of two crew members recovered from the USS Monitor, which sank in a December 1862 storm off the North Carolina coast. Officials with the marine sanctuaries program recently dedicated a plaque in memory of the crew at the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC and they are asking for public help in identifying the sailors whose skeletal remains were found in the ironclad's gun turret. [NOAA News]
Long-term trends in Great Lakes ice cover -- Researchers from NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory were recently interviewed concerning the impacts that ice cover on the North American Great Lakes has on the surrounding region and the changes in the ice cover that the Laboratory has been monitoring over the last four decades. Except for some interannual variability attributed to ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) and NAO/AO (North Atlantic Oscillation/Arctic Oscillation) patterns, a general decrease in ice cover has been observed that have been ascribed to the anthropogenic activity leading to higher global temperatures. [NOAA Research]
Mapping the 2011 Japanese tsunami designed to help preparedness efforts -- A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), the University of Southern California and several Japanese institutions has been studying the impact of last year's deadly Tohoku tsunami upon Japan's Sanriku coast. They have been developing a map of the height of the tsunami and the flood zone based upon eyewitness video and terrestrial laser scanners on tall buildings to determine the flow of the currents in the region. This mapping project could help produce flooding forecasts, improved building designs and evacuation plans designed to reduce the loss of life and property damage. This tsunami, which was triggered by an offshore 9.0-magnitude earthquake, occurred one year ago and was responsible for over 16,000 fatalities. [Georgia Tech]
Japan ends whaling season below its quota -- Japan's Fisheries Agency recently announced it had ended that nation's whaling season and that the Japanese whaling ships were returning to their home ports with less than one third of the number of whales considered to be the annual target. "Sabotage" by anti-whaling activists was being blamed on this season's shortfall. [BBC News]
Certified Gulf crude oil reference material released -- The US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released a new certified reference material Standard Reference Material, entitled "Gulf of Mexico Crude Oil (SRM 2779)", designed to support the federal government's Natural Resources Damage Assessment following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast. [National Institute of Standards and Technology]
Salt marshes could recover from damage caused by Deep Water Horizon oil spill -- A study conducted at the University of Houston indicates that although arthropods and marine invertebrates in coastal salt marshes were damaged by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, some of the animal species living on coastal salt marshes have been able to recover within the last year if their host plants remained health. [University of Houston]
Number of world seabirds is falling -- A recently published study by BirdLife International warns that nearly one half of the world's 346 seabird species have populations that appear to be in decline, with 28 percent of these species considered to be in the highest risk categories. The conservationists participating in the study were particularly concerned about the albatross family. Although seabirds constitute only 3.5 percent of the world's bird species, the seabird populations are thought to be an important indicator of the health of the global oceans. [BBC News]
Some coral species may adapt to warmer oceans -- Researchers at Australia's University of New South Whales and Singapore's Nanyang Technology University claim that although increased global air and ocean temperatures appear to be a threat to coral reefs, some coral species at sites in Singapore and Malaysia have been able to be able to survive and flourish in warmer waters. [EurekAlert!]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Seiche Model

A seiche (pronounced "say-sh") is a rhythmic oscillation of water in an enclosed basin (e.g., bathtub, lake, or reservoir) or a partially enclosed coastal inlet (e.g., bay, harbor, or estuary). With this oscillation, the water level rises at one end of a basin while simultaneously dropping at the other end. A seiche episode may last from a few minutes to a few days. (Refer to pages 156-157 in your textbook for more on seiches.)

With a typical seiche in an enclosed basin, the water level near the center does not change at all but that is where the water exhibits its greatest horizontal movement; this is the location of a node. At either end of an enclosed basin, vertical motion of the water surface is greatest (with minimal horizontal movement of water); these are locations of antinodes. The motion of the water surface during a seiche is somewhat like that of a seesaw: The balance point of the seesaw does not move up or down (analogous to a node) while people seated at either end of the seesaw move up and down (analogous to an antinode).

Go to the University of Delaware's Seiche Calculator at http://www.coastal.udel.edu/faculty/rad/seiche.html. Set the "Modal Number" to 1 and then press "Calculate" for a graphical simulation of a seiche in an enclosed basin.

Partially enclosed basins usually have a node located at the mouth (rather than near the center) and an antinode at the landward end. Go to the Seiche Calculator, set the "Modal Number" to 0.5 and then press "Calculate" for a simulation of a seiche in a basin open to the right. Furthermore, some basins are complex and have multiple nodes and antinodes; these can be simulated on the Seiche Calculator by selecting different values of "Modal Number" greater than one.

The natural period of a seiche depends on the length and depth of the basin and generally ranges from minutes to hours. The period is directly proportional to basin length. For example, the natural period of a seiche in a small pond is considerably less than its period in a large coastal inlet. Also, for the same basin, the natural period is inversely proportional to water depth; that is, the period shortens as water deepens. Using the Seiche Calculator, you may wish to experiment with different basin lengths and depths. Conversely, one can determine the average depth of a lake by determining the period of the seiche and the length of the lake.

Concept of the Week: Questions

In an enclosed basin the node of a seiche is located [(at either end) (near the center)] of the basin.
The natural period of a seiche [(depends on) (is independent of)] the size of an enclosed basin.

Historical Events:

13-15 March 1952...The world's 5-day rainfall record was set when a tropical cyclone produced 151.73 inches rain at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The 73.62 inches that fell in a 24-hour period (15^th-16^th) set the world's 24-hour rainfall record. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
14 March 1891...The submarine Monarch laid telephone cable along the bottom of the English Channel to prepare for the first telephone links across the Channel.
14 March 1903...President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order making Pelican Island near Sebastian Florida a "preserve and breeding ground for native birds," including pelicans and herons, marking the birth of the National Wildlife Refuge System. (Wikipedia)
14 March 1918...The first US concrete seagoing ship was launched at Redwood City, CA. (Today in Science History)
15 March 1493...Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the New World. (Wikipedia)
15 March 1778...Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island was discovered by Captain James Cook.
15 March 1946...For the first time, U.S. Coast Guard aircraft supplemented the work of the Coast Guard patrol vessels of the International Ice Patrol, scouting for ice and determining the limits of the ice fields from the air. (USCG Historian's Office)
15 March 1960...Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve in the Florida Keys was established as the nation's first underwater park. This preserve currently includes John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and the adjacent Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
16 March 1521...Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines. He was killed the next month by natives.
16 March 1834...The HMS Beagle anchored at Berkeley Sound, Falkland Islands.
16 March 1889...A war between the U.S. and Germany was likely averted as a hurricane sank all three U.S. and three German warships in the harbor at Apia, Samoa. Joint U.S., German and Samoan rescue cooperation led to the Treaty of Berlin (1889) that later settled the dispute. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
17 March 1891...The British steamer SS Utopia sank off the coast of Gibraltar, killing 574 people. (Wikipedia)
17 March 1898...The USS Holland, the first practical submarine, was demonstrated by John Holland as it made its first dive in the waters off Staten Island, New York for one hour and 40 minutes. (Naval Historical Center)
17 March 1941...USCGC Cayuga left Boston with the South Greenland Survey Expedition onboard to locate airfields, seaplane bases, radio and meteorological stations, and aids to navigation in Greenland. (USCG Historian's Office)
17 March 1959...The submarine USS Skate (SSN-578) surfaced at the North Pole. (Naval Historical Center)