WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

17-21 December 2012

DataStreme Ocean will return for Spring 2013 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 14 January 2013. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Ocean News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Sincerely,

Ed Hopkins and the AMS DS Ocean Central Staff

Items of Interest:

Happy Winter Solstice!
Reasons for why world should not end next week -- The media and the public have been calling attention to claims that the world will end this coming Friday, 21 December 2012. However, a group of NASA scientists have provided answers to several frequently asked questions regarding the claims about the anticipated "Armageddon." [NASA Global Climate Change]
Science On a Sphere® celebrates tenth anniversary -- The highly popular Science On a Sphere®, a data visualization tool invented by invented by Dr. Alexander E. (Sandy) MacDonald of NOAA Research, recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of its debut at the NOAA Science Center in Silver Spring, MD. To date, more than 90 of these spheres have been installed around the world in science centers, museums and a variety of other academic institutions. As many as 24.5 million viewers witness displays on these six-foot diameter spheres annually. Different types of movies can be projected on the spheres using four projectors that display weather patterns, storm systems and even the shift of the continents. [NOAA Research]
"The Black Marble" or "Earth at Night 2012" --Planet Earth is often called the "Blue Marble" because visible images made from orbiting satellites or from interplanetary spacecraft show large expanses of blue oceans across the daylight portion of the globe. However, NASA recently released images of the dark side of the planet obtained from the "day-night band" of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on board the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite. This sensor, which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared, uses filtering techniques to observe dim signals such as city lights, gas flares, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight. [NASA Earth Observatory] An impressive view of city lights was made across the 48 coterminous United States in April and October of 2012. [NASA EarthObservatory]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- No organized areas of disturbed tropical weather were found across the North Atlantic or the eastern North Pacific basins during the last week.
In the western North Pacific Ocean basin, the remnants of Super Typhoon Bopha dissipated over the South China Sea off the northwestern coast of Luzon in the Philippines at the start of last week. After becoming a category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale early in the previous week, Bopha weakened to a tropical storm and then to a tropical depression over last weekend. According to Philippine government sources, the official death toll from Super Typhoon Bopha (local name Pablo) had reached 1020 people and the number of missing was 844 at the start of last week. [NZweek] Additional information and satellite images on former Super typhoon Bopha can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the South Indian Ocean basin, Tropical Cyclone Claudia continued to travel southward away from Diego Garcia as a major category 3 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale early last week. Claudia finally weakened to a tropical storm and then became a midlatitude storm by midweek. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite images on Claudia
In the South Pacific basin, Cyclone Evan developed during the middle of last week near American Samoa and Fiji. As a tropical storm, Evan initially moved toward the east-northeast before turning toward the west and intensifying to become a major category 3 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale by late in the week. As Evan approached Pago Pago, the 110-mph winds and the 30-foot sea waves caused serious flooding and wind damage. Cyclone Evan was expected to remain a strong cyclone as it travels to the southwest toward Fiji early this upcoming week. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Cyclone Evan.
Data from polar-orbiting satellite key to forecasting track of Hurricane Sandy -- According to a recent study by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the five-day forecasts made by NOAA of the track of Hurricane Sandy last October would have been several hundred miles off if not for the inclusion of atmospheric data obtained from sensors onboard polar-orbiting satellites. The information from these satellites pinpointed the forecast made five days earlier to within 30 miles of the actual landfall of Sandy along the New Jersey coast. Without the satellite information, Sandy would have been projected to continue traveling to the northeast well off the coast. The ECMWF is an independent, intergovernmental organization supported by 34 European nations, providing global medium-to-extended range weather forecasts. [NOAA News]
One million ocean profiles collected by Argo fleet -- Recently, NOAA oceanographers announced that the one-millionth profile of ocean temperature, salinity and current data had been collected from one of the autonomous Argo device in the fleet of more than 3000 floats deployed in the global oceans. NOAA, in partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Washington, maintains one-half of the worldwide Argo network and supports the US component of the international program. The national Argo data center is located at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami, FL. [NOAA Research]
Forensic science helps safeguard our nation's fisheries -- An article highlights the NOAA's Marine Forensics Program and how the program's analysts conduct a variety of tests using modern DNA techniques to help safeguard the nation's seafood supply and defend protected species from fraud and illegal trade. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
Review of fishery enforcement penalties causes return of fines to some --The Acting US Secretary of Commerce, Rebecca Blank, announced last Friday that NOAA will return fines to some fishermen based upon the recommendations of an independent review of the NOAA enforcement program following complaints leveled against the agency's conduct since 1994. [NOAA News]
Eastern Chukchi Sea food web attributes studied -- The Alaska Fisheries Science Center of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service is conducting an assessment of the key attributes of the eastern Chukchi Sea food web using a mass balance food web model. This effort is being made to obtain a better understanding of the Arctic marine ecosystem off the northwest coast of Alaska. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
"Arctic Summit" addresses US-Canadian research efforts in the Arctic -- Early last week senior leaders from several US and Canadian government agencies met with the US Navy's Chief of Naval Research to address research efforts that both nations are conducting in response to dramatic and accelerating changes in summer sea ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean. [Office of Naval Research]
New forecast system helps transoceanic flights avoid storms -- A prototype weather forecasting system funded by NASA was developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to help airplane pilots and air traffic controllers avoid major storms including thunderstorms during flights across remote regions of the world's oceans. These eight-hour forecasts of dangerous atmospheric conditions are produced by a system that combines satellite data and output from computer weather models to produce maps of storms over most of the oceans. [NASA Headquarters]
Snowfall on Antarctica leads to more ice loss -- Researchers at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research report that increased snowfall in Antarctica due to higher temperatures has created an acceleration of ice discharge from the continent toward the ocean. The researchers also note that sea level will continue to rise despite increased snowfall in Antarctica. [Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research]
Ancient Australian fossils were land not sea dwellers -- A scientist at the University of Oregon claims that the ancient multicellular fossils called "Ediacara biota" first discovered in the 1940s in southern Australia's Ediacara Hills are remnants of land based lichens or other microbial colonies, not from marine organisms as previously thought. These fossils date back to as early as 635 million years ago. [University of Oregon]
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, 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, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

17-18 December 1832...The HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin onboard rounded Cape San Diego at Tierra del Fuego (the southern tip of South America) then sailed through the Strait of Le Maire, to anchor at Good Success Bay and visit Vurland.
17-18 December 1944...A typhoon with wind gusts to 142 mph in the Philippine Sea devastated Task Force 38 of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet northeast of Samar. Approximately 800 men were lost, the destroyers USS Hull, USS Monaghan and USS Spence sank, while 21 other ships were damaged, along with loss of 147 aircraft. The wind and sea tore life vests from the backs of some survivors. (Naval Historical Center) (Accord's Weather Calendar)
19 December 1551...The Dutch west coast was hit by a hurricane.
19 December 1741...Vitus J Bering, Dutch navigator/explorer, died on this date.
19-21 December 1835...The HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin approached New Zealand and sailed into the Bay of Islands.
20 December 1987...Worst peacetime shipping disaster occurred as the Dona Paz, a Philippine ferry, sank after collision with oil tanker Vector off Mindoro island, setting off a double explosion. As many as 1749 confirmed deaths, but the death toll was probably closer to 3000.
21 December 1163...A hurricane hit villages in Holland/Friesland, causing floods.
21 December 1872...The HMS Challenger set sail from Portsmouth, England on the 4-year scientific expedition that would lay the foundation for the science of oceanography. (Wikipedia)
21 December 1936...Ice breaking operations in channels and harbors by the US Coast Guard was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Executive Order No. 7521. (USCG Historian's Office)
22 December 1832...The HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin reached the Barnevelts Islands
22 December 1837...Congress authorized the President "to cause any suitable number of public vessels, adapted to the purpose, to cruise upon the coast, in the severe portion of the season, and to afford aid to distressed navigators." This statute was the first authorizing activities in the field of maritime safety, thereby interjecting the national government into the field of lifesaving for the first time. Although revenue cutters were specifically mentioned, the performance of this duty was imposed primarily upon the Revenue Marine Service and quickly became one of its major activities. (USCG Historian's Office)
22 December 1894...The Dutch coast was hit by a hurricane.
23 December 1811...A cold storm hit Long Island Sound with a foot of snow, gale force winds, and temperatures near zero. During the storm, many ships were wrecked, and in some cases, entire crews perished. (David Ludlum)
23 December 1854...A tsunami struck the coast of Japan, with water in the harbor of Simoda changing depth between 8 and 40 feet. Twelve hours later this giant wave reached the Pacific coast of the U.S. The newly installed self-registering tide gauges noted these waves. The information derived from this event enabled Alexander D. Bache, Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, to apply a newly derived law relating ocean depth to wave speed and provide the first relatively accurate scientific estimate of the depth of an ocean between Japan and the Pacific coast of the U.S. The velocity of the sea wave from Simoda to San Francisco was 369 mph. (Today in Science History)