Weekly Ocean News

WEEK ONE: 1-5 September 2014

Items of Interest:

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.
September is National Preparedness Month -- The month of September has been declared National Preparedness Month (NPM), which is aims to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to all types of emergencies, including natural disasters. The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which has provided a toolkit of marketing materials to help promote the month, is the lead on this campaign that was originally launched in 2004. NOAA's National Weather Service is working with FEMA to communicate the importance of emergency preparedness as a key component of its Weather-Ready Nation campaign. [NOAA Weather Ready Nation]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Most of the active tropical weather during the last week was confined to the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean basins where a few named tropical cyclones (low pressure systems that form over tropical ocean waters, with near surface maximum sustained winds that intensify to tropical storm or hurricane force status) were detected:

In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Cristobal formed at the start of last week from a tropical depression that was moving toward the north across the waters to the east of the Bahamas. During the early part of last week, Cristobal intensified to become the third hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season. This category 1 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) continued to travel to the north and then to the northeast during the remainder of last week, passing between the Middle Atlantic Coast of the US and Bermuda, producing ocean swell that resulted in high surf and rip current conditions along the East Coast and the coast of Bermuda. Eventually, Hurricane Cristobal lost its tropical characteristics and became a strong midlatitude storm as it raced to the northeast toward Iceland at the start of this past weekend. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Cristobal.
In the eastern North Pacific, former Hurricane Karina weakened to a tropical depression and then a remnant low before dissipating early last week as it made a return trip toward the east. When it dissipated, the remnant low was approximately 1200 miles to the west of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Satellite images and additional information on former Hurricane Karina can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Hurricane Marie became a powerful category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) at the start of last week as it traveled toward the west-northwest. At that time, Marie was approximately 500 miles to the south-southwest of Baja California. With maximum sustained surface winds reaching 160 mph, this hurricane was the sixth eastern Pacific hurricane of 2014 to reach major status (category 3 or higher). During the past week, Marie weakened slowly to become a tropical storm during the second half of last week. Marie finally became a remnant low at the end of last week well off the coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Although this once powerful hurricane remained well offshore, large ocean swell generated by the strong winds surrounding Marie's center generated high surf along the coasts of Baja California and Southern California coast. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for more information and satellite images on Hurricane Marie.

NASA's Global Hawk hurricane missions begin with Cristobal -- During the last week, the two NASA's unmanned Global Hawk aircraft flew reconnaissance flights to Hurricane Cristobal from Wallops Island, VA to start the agency's month-long airborne Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel ( HS3) designed to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin. HS3 is a collaborative effort involving several NASA centers along with other federal and university partners. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
Twenty coral species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act --Early last week NOAA announced that it has listed 20 coral species as being threatened and will receive protection under the Endangered Species Act. Fifteen of these newly listed species are found in waters of the Indo-Pacific and five in the Caribbean. [NOAA News]
National issue of derelict fishing traps addressed by NOAA's Marine Debris Program -- A report was recently released by NOAA's Marine Debris Program that examines the derelict fish trap problem, also so-called "ghost fishing," that is occurring nationally. The report also identified new research efforts and suggested a management strategy. [NOAA News]
Monitoring sea ice around Greenland from space -- A sea ice specialist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center monitoring the extent of sea ice in the Greenland Sea using satellite imagery recently noted that sea ice was approaching extent dimensions more typical of the September minimum. A natural color image made nearly two weeks ago from data collected by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite shows ice in the Greenland Sea off of the coast of Greenland. [NOAA News]
Polar orbiting environmental satellite helps provide sea ice exceptional weather products -- Data collected by sensors onboard the nation's new NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite are providing sea ice forecasters at NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices in Alaska with valuable information that can be used to produce graphic analyses of sea surface temperatures, sea ice and five-day sea ice forecasts throughout the year. Ice forecasts are vital for the safety of vessels traversing the waters around Alaska. [NOAA NESDIS News Archive]
Alaskan fishers to receive fisheries disaster relief -- NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region recently announced the approval of first grant applications to those state fishers adversely affected by the 2012 commercial fisheries disaster due to the Yukon Chinook fishery, Kuskokwim Chinook fishery, and the Cook Inlet salmon fishery. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Federal agencies collaborate to harness energy from oceans -- NASA is assisting the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Sandia National Labs in developing a modeling tool called WEC-Sim (Wave Energy Converter Simulator) that would be available to users to determine the potential power source from oceans under a variety of conditions. [NASA Global Climate Change News]
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, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]

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 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

1 September 1858...The first transatlantic cable failed after less than one month of service. (Today in Science History)
1-2 September 1935...Perhaps the most intense hurricane ever to hit the U.S. struck the Florida Keys with sustained winds of over 155 mph with gusts exceeding 200 mph. On the 1^st, the "Labor Day Hurricane" formed rapidly over the Bahama Islands and intensified into a Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir Simpson Scale) with sustained winds of over 155 mph and gusts exceeding 200 mph. On the next day, this hurricane generated a 15-foot tide and waves 30-ft high, as it became the first known Category 5 hurricane to hit the U.S. Mainland. More than 400 persons perished in the storm on that Labor Day, including many World War I veterans building a bridge from the Keys to the mainland. The barometric pressure at Matecumbe Bay, FL hit a record low for the U.S. at 26.35 inches of mercury (or 892 millibars). (David Ludlum) (The Weather Doctor)
1 September 1974...Navy Lieutenant Judy Neuffer became the first woman to pilot a plane through the eye of a hurricane. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
1 September 1985...A joint French-American expedition headed by the American explorer, Robert D. Ballard, located the wreck of the sunken liner RMS Titanic on the floor of the North Atlantic using an experimental and unmanned submersible craft Argo. The wreckage of the Titanic, which sank in April 1912 on its maiden voyage after colliding with an iceberg, was found at a depth of about 13,000 feet and approximately 400 miles west of Newfoundland. (The History Channel)
2 September 1752...The British Empire adopted the Gregorian Calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of western Europe (primarily 1582). To correct the imprecise leap year correction in the Julian Calendar, 11 days were dropped making the following day 14 September. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
3 September 1821...A hurricane made landfall at Long Island, near the current J.F. Kennedy Airport and then moved through western Connecticut. The hurricane produced a record high tide at New York City. (David Ludlum)
4 September 1954...Icebreakers, USS Burton Island (AGB-1) and USCG Northwind, completed first transit of the Northwest Passage through McClure Strait. (Naval Historical Center)
4-6 September 1970...Moisture from Pacific Tropical Storm Norma led to heavy rain and severe flooding over a three-day span. Unprecedented rains caused rivers in central Arizona to rise five to ten feet per hour, sweeping cars and buildings as far as 30 to 40 mi downstream, leading to the greatest natural disaster of record for Arizona. Flooding claimed the lives of 23 persons, mainly campers, and caused millions of dollars in property damage. Water crested 36 feet above normal near Sunflower. Workman's Creek was deluged with 11.40 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State. An estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
5 September 1987...A tropical storm, which formed off the South Atlantic coast, was responsible for torrential rains over coastal regions of South Carolina. Between 30 August and 8 September, Charleston, SC received 18.44 in. of rain. The heavy rains caused extensive flooding around the city of Charleston, seriously damaged cotton crops in the eastern part of the state, and resulted in an unusually high number of mosquitoes. (Storm Data)
5 September 1946...The U.S. Air-Rescue Agency, an inter-departmental group headed by the Commandant of the Coast Guard and engaged on the study of improved and standardized rescue and search methods, was renamed the Search and Rescue Agency. "Search and Rescue Units" of the Coast Guard were at the same time integrated into the peace time organization and the whole developed into a system of constantly alerted communications, coastal lookout, and patrols of institute instant and systematic search and rescue procedure in case of disasters." (USCG Historian's Office)
5 September 1950...Hurricane Easy produced the greatest 24-hour rainfall in U.S. weather records up to that time. The hurricane deluged Yankeetown, on the upper west coast of Florida, with 38.70 in. of rain. This record has since been replaced by 43 in. of rain at Alvin, TX on 25-26 July 1979. (David Ludlum)
6 September 1522...The Magellan expedition completed its historical circumnavigation of the globe as one of Ferdinand Magellan's five ships, the Vittoria, arrived at Sanlýcar de Barrameda in Spain with 17 other crew members and four Indians. Magellan, who lost his life in April 1521 in the Philippines, set sail from Spain with 270 seamen on 20 September 1519 in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. (The History Channel)
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)