WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DataStreme WES Week Eight: 17-21 March 2008

Water in the News:

(Thurs.) A graduate researcher is recipient of NOAA’s David Johnson Award -- A graduate research associate at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, Texas recently received the prestigious NOAA David S. Johnson Award for his use of satellite ocean temperature data to track whale movements in the North Pacific Ocean. This award recognizes young scientists for their innovative use of environmental satellite data. [NOAA News]
(Thurs.) Volcanic activity on Martian surface is studied -- Scientists who have been studying data from the Martian surface collected by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft report that the Red Planet apparently underwent a series of large scale volcanic upheavals that spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpturing the planetary surface. [ESA]
(Thurs.) Breakup of an iceberg captured by satellite -- Images obtained by the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar and Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer instruments onboard the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite showed the splitting of the large A53A iceberg in the waters of the South Atlantic Ocean off South Georgia Island. [ESA]
(Thurs.) Studying an Antarctic lake in the dark -- Researchers from Montana State University will be conducting research into the life forms that are found in an Antarctic lake during the upcoming austral winter when 24 hour per day darkness descends upon Antarctica. [Montana State University]
(Thurs.) New simulations made of soil water dynamics -- Researchers from the UFZ - Helmholtz Center of Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany and the University of Stuttgart, Germany have been developing simulation models that attempt to accurately model soil water dynamics in a variety of soil types and over various space scales. [Soil Science Society of America]
(Thurs.) More huge dams considered for water-starved West -- An extended drought together with increased demands for water from a population explosion across the West has caused state and local water management officials to consider building more huge dams on rivers. [US Water News Online]
(Wed.) Nation's midsection experiences deadly flooding -- A storm that moved slowly from the southern Plains into the Mississippi Valley at the start of the week was accompanied by rainfall totals of over seven inches in some locales. This torrential rain resulted in flooding of streams across Missouri and Arkansas. Two fatalities in southern Missouri were blamed on the floods. [USA Today]
(Tues.) Last DART buoys are deployed -- Last week, NOAA deployed the final two Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART™) buoys off the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, completing the network of 39 buoy stations across the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico designed as the integral part of the nation's tsunami warning system. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Wave clouds off the Texas Gulf Coast -- A visible image from NOAA's GOES-12 satellite shows a set of wave clouds associated with a disturbance called an "atmospheric gravity wave" that propagated out over the western Gulf of Mexico on Saturday morning from earlier storms that had moved across the Lone Star State. [NOAA OSEI]
(Tues.) Review of winter across the US and the globe -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reported that preliminary climate data for the recently-concluded winter season (December 2007 through February 2008) was the coolest since 2001 across the coterminous US, as well as across the entire planet. While above average temperatures were reported across the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast States, temperatures were below average across the Upper Midwest, the central Plains and a large section of the West. In addition, Pacific storms were responsible for bringing heavy precipitation across the West, resulting in a large snowpack. Above average winter precipitation was reported across much of the nation, with New York State reporting its wettest winter in 113 winters. However, sections of the northern Plains, especially North Dakota, and the southern Plains, primarily Texas, had much below average winter precipitation totals. Presence of a moderate to strong La Niña event appears to have resulted in combined global land and sea surface temperatures for the last three months to be lowest since 2001. Northern Hemisphere snow cover reached record areal coverage in January, which was followed by above average snow cover through February. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) February extremes -- The monthly climatological data for the recently-concluded month of February are currently being compiled and analyzed. However, the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) has provided a preliminary list of the Selected U.S. City and State Extremes February 2008 that includes several noteworthy extremes in the temperature, precipitation and snowfall records across the nation. This page will be updated when additional information becomes available.
(Tues.) Ethanol production could worsen "dead zone" in Gulf of Mexico -- Researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the University of British Columbia warn that the rush of the US to produce corn-based ethanol as a fuel alternative could expand the "dead zone", or a oxygen deficient region in the Gulf of Mexico because of nutrient pollution from croplands entering the waterways draining into the Gulf. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Link seen between increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and decreased soil organic matter -- Research conducted by a soil scientist at the University of Illinois indicates that when carbon dioxide levels increase in the atmosphere, organic matter in the soil decreases, possibly as a result of accelerated decay associated with increased soil moisture. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Interactions between climate, forests and Amazon Basin land use considered -- A recent workshop held in Manaus, Brazil involving more than 50 scientists from the US, Brazil and the United Kingdom focused upon the assessment of the consequences of deforestation and land use in the Amazon upon regional and planetary climate. [EurekAlert!]
World Water Day to be celebrated -- Thursday, 20 March 2008, has been designated by the United Nations as the annual World Water Day, with this year's theme highlighting sanitation issues in accordance with the International Year of Sanitation 2008. Observance of World Water Day around the world arose from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. [UN-Water]
Becoming AWARE -- The National Weather Service has announced that this coming week (17-21 March 2008) has been declared Flood Safety Week across the nation in an attempt to raise the public's attention to the dangers of flooding, as well as the suggested means to protect life and property. A website for flood safety has also been posted at http://www.weather.gov/floodsafety/ . In addition, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia have also identified this coming week as Flood Awareness Week in their respective states.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008, has also been declared Tornado Preparedness Day in Virginia. If you live in the Commonwealth of Virginia, you should take time to become familiar with the various public affairs announcements issued by your local National Weather Service Office. In upcoming weeks, other states will observe Severe Weather Awareness weeks.
Eye on the Tropics -- Two tropical cyclones were found over waters of the South Indian Ocean at the start of last week. Tropical Cyclone Jokwe, which had become a category 3 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity scale, continued its southward trek through the Mozambique Channel. By the end of the week it had weakened and dissipated. An image obtained from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on a NASA satellite shows the temperature of the cloud tops surrounding Jokwe. [NASA Hurricane Page] An image from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite also shows Tropical Cyclone Jokwe. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Kamba, another category 3 tropical cyclone, also traveled across the South Indian Ocean to the southeast of Diego Garcia. By midweek, this cyclone dissipated. An image from the AIRS sensor shows Tropical Cyclone Kamba. [NASA Hurricane Page]
An image made from data collected by the Meteosat-7 satellite at the start of last week shows the clouds surrounding the two relatively intense tropical cyclones (Jokwe and Kamba) in the Indian Ocean. [NOAA OSEI]
Ice "bergs" seen on Lake Michigan -- A series of high resolution MODIS images from NASA's Aqua satellite and photographs from an airplane show floating ice "bergs" being carried across the waters of southern Lake Michigan by strong winds from the southwest. [Milwaukee/Sullivan National Weather Service Forecast Office]
La Niña’s influence -- The anomalistic patterns in the atmospheric and oceanic circulation associated with a La Niña event are not limited to a cooling of the equatorial waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, but to far-flung events across the globe such as: Eastern Australia and southern Africa where vegetation responded to the heavy rain as indicated by the vegetation anomaly images generated from data collected by the sensors on the SPOT Vegetation satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory] and South America, where a satellite image displays the above average 28-day rainfall totals from early February to early March 2008 across Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil that resulted in at least 87 fatalities. This image was generated by the Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from data collected by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The above average precipitation across sections of northern and central South America appear to be associated with La Niña conditions. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Arctic climate models to play role in polar bear decision -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requested output statistics from climate models as part of the information needed as it considers a proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. A climatology professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison evaluated existing models to identify which best represented the observed changes in sea ice, deemed critical for polar bear habitat. [EurekAlert!]
Drug traces appear in New York City reservoirs -- In tests conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of Health, as many as 15 pharmaceuticals were detected in waters taken from the reservoirs feeding the New York City water system in Upstate New York. [US Water News Online]
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]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem

Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest estuarine ecosystem; it is more than 300 km (185 mi) long, 65 km (40 mi) at its broadest, and averages about 20 m (66 ft) deep. The estuary was formed by the post-glacial rise in sea level that flooded the valley of the ancient Susquehanna River. The Bay receives about half its water input from the Atlantic Ocean and the other half from the more than 150 rivers and streams draining a 166,000 square kilometer land area encompassing parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Major rivers emptying into Chesapeake Bay include the Potomac, Susquehanna, York, and James.

An estuary is a complex and highly productive ecosystem formed where seawater and fresh runoff meet. In Chesapeake Bay, more-dense seawater creeps northward along the bottom of the estuary, moving under the less-dense fresh water flowing in the opposite direction. This circulation combined with wind-driven water motions causes salinity to decrease upstream in the Bay, from values typical of seawater at its mouth to freshwater values at its northern margin.

As in all ecosystems, organisms living in estuaries depend on one another and their physical environment for food energy and habitat. This interdependency is evident in food chains, pathways along which energy flows and materials cycle. Phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation (e.g., marsh grass) are the primary producers in estuarine food webs. (Producers acquire energy from solar radiation through photosynthesis and are at the bottom of food chains.) Consumers in food webs are organisms that derive their energy by eating producers or other consumers. Chesapeake Bay consumers include zooplankton, finfish, shellfish, birds, and humans. Through cellular respiration, producers and consumers convert energy to a form that the organism can use for growth and reproduction.

Human activity has greatly modified Chesapeake Bay with consequences for the functioning of its ecosystem. Much of the original forest that covered its drainage basin was converted to farmland, roads, cities, and suburban developments. These modifications accelerated the influx of nutrients (i.e., compounds of phosphorous and nitrogen), sediment, pesticides, and other pollutants. More nutrients spur growth of algal populations and when these organisms die (in mid-summer), their remains sink to the bottom. Decomposition of their remains reduces dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake's bottom water. More sediment makes the water cloudy, reducing sunlight penetration for photosynthesis.

One casualty of human modification of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem was marsh grass--reduced by 90% from historical levels. Marsh grass anchors sediment and dampens wave action thereby controlling erosion and turbidity. Marsh grass is a food source for many organisms including waterfowl and small mammals and serves as primary nursery ground for crabs and many species of fish. Reduction of this habitat along with over-fishing has been implicated in the decline of populations of blue crabs, a mainstay of the Bay fishery for more than a century. Over the past decade, the number of adult female crabs has plunged by about 80%. Without adequate protection by marsh grass, the blue crab is more vulnerable to predation by striped bass (i.e., rockfish). Striped bass turned to blue crabs as a food source when fishing reduced the numbers of menhaden, their preferred food. Menhaden is a marine fish in the herring family and the Bay's top fishery by weight.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Within the waters of Chesapeake Bay, salinity [(is relatively uniform)(varies greatly)].
Marsh grass is a [(producer)(consumer)] in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Historical Events:

17 March 1878...A late-winter thunderstorm produced thunder that boomed like cannon fire in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A lightning bolt entered a home, hurling a young woman sitting at the family piano across the room. (The Weather Doctor)
17 March 1993...A natural dam formed by a landslide three years earlier collapsed because of runoff from rainfall. A wall of water, debris and mud measuring 3 feet high by 45 feet wide crossed I-15 20 miles south of Cedar City, UT. Four injuries were sustained as several vehicles were rolled or tipped over. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
17 March 1998...Calgary, Alberta experienced its worst March snowstorm in 113 years, measuring 13 inches of snow at the airport and from 15 to 18 inches in other parts of the city. (The Weather Doctor)
19 March 1964...Up to 39 inches of snow fell at Cape Whittle for Quebec's greatest one-day snow total. (The Weather Doctor)
20 March 2000...A large iceberg measuring approximately 170 mi by 25 mi calved off Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf near Roosevelt Island. The iceberg was approximately 2.5 times the size of New York's Long Island. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
20-21 March 1948…Juneau, AK received 31.0 inches of snow, to set a 24-hour snowfall record for Alaska's capital. This snowfall record pales compared to the state's 24-hour snowfall record of 62.0 inches set at Thompson Pass on 28-29 December 1955. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
21 March 1876...More than 40 inches of snow stopped traffic in Montreal, Quebec. Trains were delayed and mail carriers resorted to snowshoes. (The Weather Doctor)
22 March 1941...Grand Coulee Dam along the Columbia River in Washington State began to generate electricity. At the time, this dam was the largest in the world. (Wikipedia)

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