WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

3-7 December 2007

DataStreme Ocean will return for Spring 2008 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 14 January 2008. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Ocean News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- The only tropical cyclone activity last week was in the western North Pacific basin. Typhoon Mitag, which had become a category-2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale over the Philippine Sea before brushing the northern tip of Luzon, curved eastward and dissipated early over the western Pacific last week. Typhoon Hagibis, the other category-2 typhoon that moved west across the South China Sea toward Viet Nam reversed course and dissipated before reaching the Philippines on Tuesday of last week.
A MODIS image obtained from NASA's Terra satellite shows the two typhoons flanking the Philippines at the start of last week. [NASA Earth Observatory]
An image of the precipitation totals for 19-29 November 2007 across the South China Sea, the Philippines and the Philippines from these two typhoons was generated by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis based in part on data collected by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory]
An image from the MODIS sensors on NASA's Terra satellite made within two days of the landfall of Typhoon on Luzon shows the effects of the torrential rain that produced flooding on this major Philippine island. A comparison of the region's rivers is provided with another Terra MODIS image made in early October. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Two short-lived tropical depressions formed over the western Pacific last week. Tropical Depression 25W formed at the start of the week east of the Philippines, moved along a curved path to the northwest and then north, before dissipating one day after formation. Tropical Depression 26W formed east of Okinawa, but it was an organized system for less than 12 hours as it moved northward over the western Pacific.
An official review of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season -- Last week, the National Hurricane Center issued its preliminary Tropical Weather Summary for the North Atlantic basin that includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, NOAA scientists released an initial review of the 2007 hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin that includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. A composite map of the hurricane and tropical storm tracks is provided. An early assessment was offered by forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center as to how this season compared with the NOAA seasonal forecasts of hurricane activity made earlier in 2007. [NOAA News]
Note: Following its post-storm analysis (as a 11-page pdf file), the National Hurricane Center recently upgraded Tropical Storm Karen to hurricane status, since reevaluation of the wind data indicated minimum sustained near-surface winds had reached 75 mph as the tropical cyclone traveled across the tropical North Atlantic for at least 12 hours on 26 September 2007. Therefore, of the 14 named tropical cyclones that formed in the North Atlantic basin in 2007, six developed into hurricanes (with maximum sustained winds in excess of 74 mph), and two becoming major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale).
Past hurricane counts appear reasonable -- The director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University recently reported that based upon his statistical model, the current climatological lists of numbers of tropical storms and hurricanes that developed annually across the Atlantic basin during the late 19th and early 20th centuries before aircraft and satellite surveillance does not appear to be a serious underestimate. [EurekAlert!]
National Ocean Awareness Campaign introduces "Sanctuary Sam" -- The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program recently announced that "Sanctuary Sam", a California sea lion at SeaWorld in Orlando, FL, would serve as the messenger for the program's new National Ocean Awareness Campaign designed to increase the nation's awareness and literacy of ocean issues. [NOAA News]
Annual List of Fisheries is released -- NOAA's Fisheries Service recently released its annual 2008 List of Fisheries that classifies each of the nation's commercial fisheries, based upon the level of interaction that the fishery has with marine mammals. [NOAA News]
Mobile Bay receives a NOAA PORTS® system -- Officials with NOAA's National Ocean Service recently announced that the Port of Mobile in southern Alabama has become the fourteenth location to receive PORTS® (Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System), a system operated by NOAA that provides real-time oceanographic and meteorological data to mariners. [NOAA News]
Seasonal swings detected in tropical rainfall -- Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have assembled nearly a decade-long data set collected by the sensors on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) to form a climatology of rainfall across the otherwise data-sparse tropics that shows daily rainfall rates across the region during the months of January and July. Seasonal variations in the tropical rainfall rates were apparent. [NASA Earth Observatory]
An international polar research ship could enter uncharted waters -- The European Science Federation, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Maritime Research in Germany and the Germany Federal Ministry of Research and Education are planning to build a polar research vessel called the Aurora Borealis that would be capable of crushing sea ice sideways and stay on station to drill holes in the seafloor some 5000 meters below the surface. However, legal issues need to be clarified as this state-of-the art vessel would be an international ship due to the contributions from several European countries. [European Science Foundation]
Another Antarctic research season commences -- While the Northern Hemisphere enters the winter season, summer is approaching in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning the start of another research season across the Antarctica continent involving atmospheric, geologic and oceanic scientists from academia and governmental research agencies. This research season not only marks the midpoint of the current International Polar Year (IPY), but also the 50th anniversary of work in the Antarctic by Charles Bentley, a noted glaciologist in the Department of Geology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [University of Wisconsin-Madison News]
The German research vessel Polarstern has begun its voyage to the Lazarev Sea and the eastern part of the Weddell Sea to conduct a ten-week expedition that will study climate change and life in the Southern Ocean as part of this year's Antarctic research season. [EurekAlert!]
Last week, a drilling team associated with the Antarctic Geological Drilling (ANDRILL) Program reached a 1000-meter mark in the rock core beneath the sea floor of McMurdo Sound, near the end of the planned extraction of a core that is hoped will provide a reconstruction of the climate over the last 20 million years since the middle Miocene. [EurekAlert!]
Need is claimed for a better ocean observing system -- An international group of marine scientists called the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) warn human safety and prosperity need an improved ocean observing system to monitor the state of the oceans and help in the forecasting of adverse changes in the ocean. [EurekAlert!]
Coral reefs experiencing seasonal temperature swings appear better able to cope -- A study by the Wildlife Conservation Society indicates that coral reefs that live in waters experiencing variable temperatures appear to be able to survive warmer water associated with increases in global temperatures caused by changing climate. [EurekAlert!]
Higher temperatures could be "melting" soft coral -- A professor at Tel Aviv University claims that soft corals appear to be melting and wasting from reef environments because of increased temperature, which could signal a global marine catastrophe. [EurekAlert!]
Observing the geological record from space -- A photograph taken of Venezuela's Isla Blanquilla by an astronaut on the International Space Station shows three separate terraces that contain rocks that date from the Cretaceous Period (146-65 million years ago) to the Paleocene Epoch (65-54.8 million years ago), as well as the records of the sea level fluctuations during the Pleistocene Epoch (1.8 million to 10,000 years ago). [NASA Earth Observatory]
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:

3 December 1952...A remarkable display of sea smoke was seen in Hong Kong harbor. The sea-smoke, induced by a strong surge of arctic air, poured from the water of Kowloon Bay from 8 AM to 9:30 AM. The air temperature near the sea wall was 44 degrees F. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
3 December 1992...The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea carrying 80,000 tons of crude oil ran aground in a storm while approaching La Coruña, Spain, spilling much of its cargo. (Wikipedia)
3 December 1999...After rowing for 81 days and 2962 miles, Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone when she reached Guadeloupe after departing from the Canary Islands. (Wikipedia)
4 December 1786...The first of two great early December storms began. The storm produced high seas at Nantucket that did great damage. (David Ludlum)
4-13 December 1991...Tropical Cyclone Val with gusts to 150 mph caused $700 million damage. Seventeen deaths were reported in American and Western Samoa, with 95 percent of the houses in Savaii either destroyed or badly damaged. Savaii was essentially hit twice by Val as the system completed a loop on the 8^th. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
4 December 2003...A tropical depression became Tropical Storm Odette in the Caribbean well south of Kingston, Jamaica, becoming the first December tropical storm of record to form in the Caribbean Sea. Odette made landfall on near Cabo Falso, Dominican Republic on 6 December, causing eight deaths and destroying 35 percent of the banana crop. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
5 December 1872...A British brigantine, the DeGratia, discovered the American ship Mary Celeste derelict and boarded her. The Mary Celeste, a brigantine had set sail from New York harbor for Genoa, Italy, on 5 November 1872. Everyone aboard the Mary Celeste had vanished-her captain, his family, and its 14-man crew. The ship, which appeared to have been abandoned for approximately nine days, was in perfect order with ample supplies and there was no sign of violence or trouble. The fate of the crew remains unknown. (Infoplease.com) (Wikipedia)
5 December 1492...The explorer Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola, which now contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. (Wikipedia)
5 December 1949...A typhoon struck fishing fleet off Korea; several thousand men reported dead. (Infoplease.com)
6 December 1830...The US Naval Observatory, the first U.S. national observatory, established as the Depot of Charts and Instruments in Washington, DC, under commander of Lieutenant Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough. Its primary mission was to care for the U.S. Navy's chronometers, charts and other navigational equipment. (Naval Historical Center)
7-8 December 1703...A monstrous storm raked southern England and adjacent waters with winds in excess of 100 mph. Approximately 8000 deaths were the result of this storm, mostly at sea. Many naval and supply ships were anchored in harbors or in the English Channel. The Eddystone Lighthouse disappeared. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
7 December 1872...An expedition put to sea from Sheerness aboard the corvette H.M.S. Challenger under the command of Captain George Nares on a 3 1/2-year world oceanographic cruise. During the 68,890 nautical mile cruise that ended on 24 May 1876, the ship traversed the North and South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, traveled north of the limits of drift ice in the North Atlantic polar seas and south of the Antarctic Circle. The scientists onboard the Challenger sounded the ocean bottom to a depth of 26,850-ft, found many new species, and provided collections for scores of biologists. (Today in Science History)
7 December 1932...The first gyro-stabilized vessel to cross the Atlantic, the Conte di Savoia of the Italian Line, arrived in New York City. The ship had 48,502 gross tons, an overall length 814.6 ft by beam 96.1 ft, two funnels, two masts, four screws and a speed of 27 knots. As one of the first ships to be fitted with gyrostabilizers, it was claimed that rolling was limited to a maximum of three degrees. The maiden voyage began from Genoa to Villefranche and New York on 30 November 1932. (Today in Science History)
8 December 1777...Captain James Cook left the Society Islands (French Polynesia).
8 December 1866...The first transpacific side-wheeler steamship launched in the U.S. was the Celestial Empire (later named China) with capacity for 1,300 passengers. The builder, William H. Webb of New York, introduced many features of naval architecture in this liner, since in common use. (Today in Science History)
8 December 1993...The U.S. Secretary of Defense declared that the Global Positioning System (GPS), accurate within 100 meters, had 24 GPS satellites operating in their assigned orbits, available for navigation use at Standard Positioning Service (SPS) levels for civil users. This worldwide satellite-based radionavigation system used as the Defense Department's primary radionavigation system provided authorized users encrypted Precise Positioning Service accurate to at least 22 meters. (Today in Science History)
8 December 2002...Super-typhoon Pongsona hit Guam with sustained winds of 144 mph and gusts to 173 mph, along with a storm surge to 20 feet. The 40-mile wide diameter eye was over Anderson AFB for 2 hours. One indirect death and 193 injuries were attributed to the typhoon. Some bridge pavement was "scrapped off" by wind and wave action. Damage was estimated at $700 million. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
9 December1938...A prototype shipboard radar designed and built by the Naval Research Laboratory was installed on the battleship, USS New York (BB-34). (Naval Historian Center)
9 December 2003…A subtropical storm became Tropical Storm Peter approximately 700 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands. With Tropical Storm Odette having formed in the Caribbean on the 4th, the development of Peter marked the first time since 1887 that two tropical storms formed in the Atlantic Basin in December. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)