Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN PREVIEW WEEK: 19-23 January 2015

Items of Interest:

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2015 Campaign is underway -- The series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2015 has begun with a 10-night campaign that runs through Tuesday 20 January. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Orion in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. In addition to the 11-20 January campaign, the other five GLOBE at Night campaigns during the first half of 2015 are on 9-18 February; 11-20 March; 9-18 April, 9-18 May and 8-17 June. [GLOBE at Night]
End of a long polar night -- After being below the horizon for approximately 65 days, the Sun should rise at Barrow, the northernmost city in Alaska, for the first time this new year on this coming Friday, 23 January 2015, at 1:05 PM Alaska Standard Time (AKST). However, the Sun will only remain above the horizon for only 69 minutes, as it will set again at 2:14 PM. Although the Sun set last fall at 1:45 PM AKST on 18 November 2014, residents of Barrow had roughly three hours of some diffuse sunlight each day that is equivalent to civil twilight, provided the cloud cover was not too thick. To check the sunrise and sunset times of Barrow or any location in the United States go to the US Naval Observatory's on-line, interactive service for the entire year.
Ocean charts, units, location and time -- Please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth for a description of a several types of oceanographic charts along with the definitions of some units commonly used in ocean science to locate positions on the Earth's surface and to identify time.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week, organized tropical cyclones (low pressure systems such as tropical storms and hurricanes that form over tropical oceans) were found across the Indian Ocean basin of the Southern Hemisphere and the western Pacific in the Northern Hemisphere:

In the South Indian Ocean Basin, Tropical Cyclone Bansi formed at the start of last week several hundred miles north of Saint-Denis de la Réunion. Bansi intensified to become a major category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale by late last week as it traveled to the east and then east-southeast. By this past weekend, Bansi had weakened to a category 1 cyclone. Forecasts indicate that Bansi should continue weakening as a tropical storm as it would continue to travel toward the southeast across the open waters of the southern Indian Ocean over the first part of this week. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Cyclone Bansi.
Late last week Tropical Storm Chedza formed from a tropical low pressure area over the waters of the over the Mozambique Channel between Mozambique and Madagascar. Traveling to the east and east-southeast, Chedza made landfall along the western coast of Madagascar and then continued across this island, weakening to a tropical depression. Current forecasts indicate that Tropical Depression Chedza should continue weakening as it would travel toward the east-southeast across the western South Indian Ocean away from landmasses. Additional information on Tropical Storm Chedza and accompanying satellite imagery are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In western North Pacific, a tropical depression formed early last week approximately 250 miles east of Yap in the Caroline Islands. By late in the week, this tropical depression intensified to become a tropical storm and then a typhoon that was identified as Typhoon Mekkhala as it traveled generally to the west toward the Philippines. On Saturday (local time) Mekkhala was a category 1 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it approached Samar and Leyte in the eastern Philippines from the southeast. On Sunday Mekkhala weakened to a tropical storm as it traveled to the northwest toward Luzon. The strong winds and heavy rains accompanying Tropical Storm Mekkhala caused Pope Francis to cut short his trip to some of the central Philippine Islands that had been devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Additional information concerning Typhoon Mekkhala can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.

Mid-January view of Great Lakes ice cover from space -- A natural color image made early last week from data collected by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument onboard NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite shows the extent of ice cover on the North American Great Lakes. According to the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, ice covered 29.3 percent of the five Great Lakes as of 13 January 2015. [NOAA View]
Public comments sought on proposed revisions to National Standard guidelines for federal fisheries management -- NOAA Fisheries officials is currently seeking public comment through the end of June 2015 on a proposed revision of the guidelines for sections of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The proposed revisions involve guidelines to the National Standard 1, 3 and 7 of the act that assist the eight regional fishery management councils and NOAA Fisheries in developing effective fishery management plans. [NOAA Fisheries Newsroom]
Loggerhead turtles discovered off California coast after a mysterious migration -- A NOAA Fisheries marine research survey made approximately 200 miles off the southern California coast has discovered numerous juvenile loggerhead turtles. This discovery provides new details as to a mysterious migration made by the endangered loggerhead turtles across the Pacific Ocean from the Japanese islands to near Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. The more than 6000-mile journey has been called the "the lost years" because of the length of time when the turtles disappear. [NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center News]
Plastic fibers found to be a pollutant in Lake Michigan -- Scientists from several research institutions in New York State and Wisconsin have discovered unusually large quantities of micro-fibers along with other plastic fragments in the waters of southern Lake Michigan. The micro-fibers appear to have come from the washing of clothes that were made from polyester or polyurethane. [NOAA Sea Grant News]
Monitoring the southern extent of the Northern Hemisphere's seasonal sea ice -- An true color image obtained earlier this month from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA's Terra Satellite shows the sea ice covering eastern Russia's Sea of Okhotsk. Located near 45 degrees North latitude, the Sea of Okhotsk represents the current southernmost extent of seasonal sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere, caused by a combination of extremely cold air spreading outward from eastern Siberia and the large quantities of freshwater coming from the Amur River and other streams. However, the regional sea ice production has decreased between 1974 and 2008. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Global weather and climate for 2014 reviewed -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that based upon their preliminary analysis of worldwide land and ocean surface temperature data, the calendar year of 2014 was the warmest since sufficiently detailed world-wide climate records began in 1880. They found that the annual worldwide combined land and ocean surface temperature for 2014 was approximately 0.69 Celsius degrees (or 1.24 Fahrenheit degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average. Separately, the globally averaged land surface temperature for 2013 was 1.00 Celsius degree above the 20th century average, or the fourth highest annual land temperature on record, while the globally averaged ocean surface temperature for the year was 0.57 Celsius degrees above the 20th century average, or the highest on record. The scientists indicated that a ENSO-neutral conditions (standing for El Niño/Southern Oscillation) were found throughout the the year. ENSO-neutral conditions refer to lack of either an El Niño or La Niña event that are anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation regime favoring warm or cool waters in the equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Arctic sea ice remained well below the long-term averages that cover the period of record beginning in 1979 when satellite surveillance of the polar ice caps began. During the winter growth season, the sea ice covering the Arctic reached a maximum extent that was the fifth smallest on record, while at the end of the summer melt season, the sea ice was the sixth smallest on record. Conversely, sea ice around Antarctica was well above average. During the winter growth season, the ice around that content reached a record for the satellite period, while during the summer melt season, the ice extent was the third largest on record.
The scientists also note that the preliminary global precipitation data from land-based stations indicate 2014 was slightly below long-term averages across the land areas. Although some areas of the planet were exceptionally wet, others experienced drought conditions. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
NCDC also provides a map showing the Global Significant Weather and Climate Events map for 2014.
Using a slightly different methodology for averaging global surface temperatures, scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) reported that the global average temperature for 2014 also was the highest reading since 1880. [NASA GISS]
Phytoplankton color the waters off Alaska -- An image obtained from data collected from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on NASA's Landsat 8 satellite last September shows multiple colors in the near surface waters of the Bering Sea surrounding Alaska's Pribilof Islands. The milky green and light blue shading of the water was caused by a phytoplankton bloom that contains vast numbers of microscopic phytoplankton, primarily in the form of coccolithophores that have chalky calcite scales. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Many of the "planetary boundaries" have been exceeded by humanity -- In an updated report entitled "Planetary Boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet," an international team of researchers warns that human civilization has crossed four of nine so-called planetary boundaries as the result of human activity. Climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, and altered biogeochemical cycles like phosphorus and nitrogen runoff have all passed beyond levels that put humanity in a "safe operating space." The report will be discussed during this upcoming week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. [University of Wisconsin-Madison News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme Ocean Website

Welcome to DataStreme Ocean! You are embarking on a study of the world ocean and the role of the ocean in the Earth system. This unique teacher enhancement course focuses on the flow and transformations of energy and water into and out of the ocean, the internal properties and circulation of the ocean, interactions between the ocean and the other components of the Earth system, and the human/societal impacts on and responses to those interactions. Throughout this learning experience, you will be using the DataStreme Ocean website to access and interpret a variety of environmental information, including recent observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DS Ocean website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Ocean News that includes Ocean in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to the ocean), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to the ocean in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past events such as tsunamis or specific advances in the understanding of oceanography). When appropriate, a feature called Supplemental Information-In Greater Depth will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the DS Ocean website to access and download the weekly "Current Ocean Studies" (plus supporting images) that complement Investigations found in your Ocean Studies Investigations Manual. These materials should be available Monday morning. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic Current Ocean Studies and answer forms as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DS Ocean website provides links to the Earth System, information on Physical & Chemical, Geological, and Biological aspects of the ocean, Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, the Great Lakes, and extras-a glossary of terms, maps, educational links, and DataStreme Ocean information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the DS Ocean website.

Under Physical & Chemical, click on Sea Surface Temperatures. This image uses a color scale to depict the global pattern of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) (in degrees Celsius) averaged over a recent 7-day period and based on measurements by infrared sensors onboard Earth-orbiting satellites. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Compare SSTs in the Northern Hemisphere with those in the Southern Hemisphere. Return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Geological, click on Current Earthquake Activity. The USGS Current World Seismicity page provides a global map of the locations of seismic (earthquake) events color-coded for the past seven days. The size of the squares represents the magnitude of recent earthquakes. Note how earthquakes are concentrated along the margin of the Pacific Ocean. Details of recent earthquakes can be found by clicking on their map squares. Return to the DS Ocean website.

The ocean is home to a wide variety of habitats and organisms. Under Biological, click on Ocean "Color" (Productivity). This is a satellite-derived (SeaWiFS) color-coded map of biological productivity in the surface waters of the world ocean is averaged from October 1978 to date. Orange and red indicates the highest productivity, while dark blue and violet indicate the lowest productivity. Note the vast areas of relatively low productivity over the central regions of the subtropical ocean basins. Individual months within this period may be chosen for viewing. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, click on TRMM Tropical Rainfall. The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) page includes color-coded maps of the Monthly Mean Rainrate (in mm per day) across the tropics for the last 30 days ending on the present date. Changes in rainfall are linked to large-scale shifts in the atmosphere/ocean circulation in the tropics. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DS Ocean website. You should "bookmark" ("favorites") this page on your computer. Return frequently to learn more about the many resources on the ocean in the Earth system. Bon voyage!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest global sea surface temperature map indicates that SSTs are generally higher over the [(western)(eastern)] tropical Pacific Ocean.
The USGS map of Current Earthquake Activity indicates that earthquakes appear to be more common along the [(east)(west)] coast of North America.

Historical Events

19 January 1840...LT Charles Wilkes, USN was the first American to sight the eastern Antarctic coast, claiming this portion of the continent for the United States. The group that he led explored a 1500-mile stretch of the coast of eastern Antarctica, which later became known as Wilkes Land. (Naval Historical Center)
19 January 1946...Staged jointly by the USCG and USN, the first public demonstration of LORAN was held at Floyd Bennett Field in New York. (USCG Historian's Office)
19 January 1996...The tug Scandia and its barge, the North Cape, ran aground on the shore of Rhode Island, spilling 828,000 gallons of oil, the worst spill in that state's history. The Coast Guard rescued the entire crew, pumped off 1.5 million gallons of oil and conducted skimming operations. (USCG Historian's Office)
20 January 1606...As many as 2000 people died around the Severn Estuary in England as the result of severe flooding. (The Weather Doctor)
20 January 1850...The Investigator, which was the first ship to effect a Northwest Passage, left England.
20 January 1914...The International Ice Patrol Convention was signed. (USCG Historian's Office)
20 January 1986...The United Kingdom and France announced plans to construct the Channel Tunnel, a railway tunnel underneath the English Channel, also known as the "Chunnel." (Wikipedia)
21 January 1881...The light was first shown at Tillamook Lighthouse, located 19 miles south of the Columbia River entrance on the Oregon coast. (USCG Historian's Office)
21 January 1941...The first commercial extraction of magnesium from seawater was made at Freeport, TX.
21 January 1954...The first nuclear powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched on the Thames River in Groton, CT, representing a landmark in the history of naval engineering and submersible craft. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christened the vessel, which sailed beneath the Arctic icepack to the North Pole in 1958. (Today in Science History)
23 January 1622...William Baffin, the English explorer who sought the Northwest Passage as a route around the northern coast of North America, died at an estimated age of 38 during the war between the Shah of Persian and the Portuguese. In 1615, he explored what is now known as Baffin Bay, coming within 800 miles of the North Pole. His voyages were made with scientific care, determining latitudes, and observing tides. With records made of his compass needle, he made the first magnetic chart. He was the first to attempt a determination of longitude by observing the moon. (Today in Science History)
23 January 1960... The Trieste, In 1960, a specially constructed submersible bathyscaphe descended to a depth of 35,810 feet in the Pacific Ocean called the Challenger Deep, the deepest point known to exist on Earth, in the Marianas Trench near Guam. (Today in Science History)