Weekly Ocean News

WEEK ONE: 7-11 September 2009

ITEMS OF INTEREST --

A catalog of satellite orbits around Earth -- The NASA Earth Observatory has prepared a well illustrated overview of the three classes of orbits that satellites are place in to observe environmental conditions in the Earth-atmosphere planetary system. [NASA Earth Observatory]

Ocean in the News:

Summer's sea level anomaly along the US Atlantic Coast explained -- A new technical report entitled "Elevated East Coast Sea Level Anomaly: June-July 2009" produced by NOAA scientists explains that the observed higher than normal sea levels along the nation's Atlantic coast during this past summer has been caused by steady and persistent winds from the northeast along the weakening of the Florida Current Transport, an ocean current that feeds into the Gulf Stream. [NOAA News]
Seven students awarded NOAA marine resource conservation scholarships -- NOAA recently awarded seven outstanding graduate students from around the nation Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarships so they can pursue their advanced degrees in the fields of marine biology, coastal resource management and maritime archeology. The scholarships have been established in memory of Dr. Foster and her work in NOAA involving marine resource conservation. [NOAA News]
Rules for charter boat operations enforced -- NOAA's Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement, together with state law enforcement agencies from Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, has been investigating and citing the owners and operators of 15 charter boats of operating illegally while in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. [NOAA News]
National policy for sustainable marine aquaculture to be pursued -- Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., US Under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA Administrator recently announced the intent that during the next several months NOAA will develop a comprehensive national policy for sustainable marine aquaculture, along with providing a framework for addressing aquaculture activity in federal waters. [NOAA News]
Improved engagement with nation's recreational fishing community sought -- Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., US Under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA Administrator recently announced her intent to have NOAA adopt policies and practices that would ensure continuation of the highly popular saltwater recreational fishing for future generations as well to provide protection for ocean ecosystems. [NOAA News]
New catch-share program announced for Gulf -- The NOAA's Fisheries Service announced that it will implement new catch shares for commercial grouper and tilefish fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico beginning next year based on recommendations from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in an effort to improve working conditions and profitability for the fishers. [NOAA News]
Satellites and submarines monitor sea ice thickness -- Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Washington have been assembling observations of the ice thickness of ice covering the Arctic Ocean from submarine and recent satellite observations to produce a record that extends back nearly 50 years. They note that sea ice thickness, which influences the Arctic basin's climate and ecosystems, had declined by over 50 percent from a peak back in 1980. [NASA Earth Science News Team]
Explaining the increase in Antarctic sea ice -- Scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Goddard and the University of Washington have explained the observed increases in sea ice on the Southern Ocean around Antarctica with three theories — ozone depletion, changing ocean dynamics, and the flooding of sea ice. [NASA Earth Science News Team]
Oil slick seen Down Under -- An image obtained at the end of August from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite shows an oil slick that spread out on surface waters of the Timor Sea off the northwestern coast of Western Australia from a leaky oil well. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Early warning signals can indicate critical change thresholds ahead -- A group of scientists from the Wageningen University in The Netherlands, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Scripps Institution of Oceanography warn that certain signals can become apparent that would provide warnings of impeding abrupt changes in the planetary climate and ocean circulation as many of these systems approach a critical state of transition or tipping point, when a sudden shift to new conditions would occur. [EurekAlert!]
Oceanic methane gas likely exits through seafloor vents--Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claim that methane trapped under the oceans may be escaping into the oceans and then the atmosphere through vents in the sea floor at rates faster than previously thought. [MIT Civil & Environmental Engineering Dept.]
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.

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD --

A request: If you have some ocean-related experience that you would like to share with other DataStreme Ocean participants, please send them to the email address appearing at the bottom of this document for possible inclusion in a News file. Thank you. EJH

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme Ocean website

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Ocean News.

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 an earthquake. 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 averaged from the year 1978 to date. Orange and red indicates the highest productivity and 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.

7 September 1934...US Coast Guard (USCG) vessels responded to a fire aboard the liner Morro Castle six miles off the New Jersey coast. This disaster, which resulted in the loss of 133 of the 455 passengers and crew, led to a Senate investigation and subsequent changes in maritime safety regulations. (USCG Historian's Office)
8 September 1900...The greatest weather disaster in U.S. records occurred when a hurricane struck Galveston, TX. Waves fifteen feet high washed over the island demolishing or carrying away buildings, and drowning more than 6000 persons. The hurricane destroyed more than 3600 houses, and total damage was more than $30 million. Winds to 120 mph, and a twenty-foot storm surge accompanied the hurricane. Following the storm, the surf was three hundred feet inland from the former water line. The hurricane claimed another 1200 lives outside of the Galveston area. (8^th-9^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
Editor's note: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted a webpage commemorating the Galveston, TX hurricane of 1900. This page contains links to historic photos and excerpts of an eyewitness description of storm by Isaac Cline, the chief forecaster of the Galveston U.S. Weather Bureau Office.
9 September 1945 - A "computer bug" is first identified and named by LT Grace Murray Hopper while she was on Navy active duty in 1945. It was found in the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator at Harvard University. The operators affixed the moth to the computer log, where it still resides, with the entry: "First actual case of bug being found." They "debugged" the computer, first introducing the term. (Naval History Center)
10 September 1919...A hurricane struck the Florida Keys drowning more than 500 persons. (David Ludlum)
10 September 1965...Hurricane Betsy slammed Louisiana with wind gusting to 130 mph at Houma, resulting in 58 deaths and over 17,500 injured. The storm surge and flooding from torrential rains made Betsy the first billion-dollar hurricane with losses exceeding $1.4 billion.
11 September 1961...Very large and slow moving Hurricane Carla made landfall near Port Lavaca, TX. Carla battered the central Texas coast with wind gusts to 175 mph, and up to 16 inches of rain, and spawned a vicious tornado (F4 on the Fujita tornado intensity scale) which swept across Galveston Island killing eight persons and destroying 200 buildings. A storm surge of up to 18.5 feet inundated coastal areas and Bay City was deluged with 17.1 inches of rain. The hurricane claimed 45 lives, and caused $300 million in damage. The remnants of Carla produced heavy rain in the Lower Missouri Valley and southern sections of the Upper Great Lakes Region. (David Ludlum) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
11 September 1992...Hurricane Iniki, the third most damaging hurricane in US history, hit the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai and Oahu. Six people died as a result of the hurricane.
12 September 1775...The Independence Hurricane caught many fishing boats on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland killing 4000 seamen, most from Britain and Ireland. (The Weather Doctor)
12 September 1857...The S.S. Central America sank while in the midst of a hurricane off the North Carolina coast after beginning to take on water the previous day (11^th). Approximately 400 people onboard were lost, the greatest single loss from a commercial ship due to a hurricane. (Accord Weather Calendar)
12 September 1960...Hurricane Donna made landfall on central Long Island and then tracked across New England. Wind gusts reached 140 mph at the Blue Hills Observatory in Milton, MA and 130 mph at Block Island, RI. MacDowell Dam in New Hampshire recorded 7.25 inches of rain. Although a record tide of 6.1 feet occurred at the Battery in New York City, elsewhere fortunately the storm did not make landfall at the high tides so its effects were minimized. This was the first hurricane to affect every point along the East Coast from Key West, FL to Caribou, ME. (Intellicast)
12 September 1979...Hurricane Frederick smashed into the Mobile Bay area of Alabama packing 132-mph winds. Wind gusts to 145 mph were reported as the eye of the hurricane moved over Dauphin Island, AL, just west of Mobile. Frederick produced a fifteen-foot storm surge near the mouth of Mobile Bay. Winds gusted to hurricane force at Meridian, MS although the city is 140 miles inland. The hurricane was responsible for five fatalities and was the costliest in U.S. history to date causing $2.3 billion in damage. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
13-16 September 2004...Hurricane Ivan affected coastal Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle, with landfall near Gulf Shores, AL early on the 16th. Before breaking loose of its mooring, a buoy just south of the Alabama coastal waters reported a peak wave height of 52 feet on the 15th. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)