Weekly Ocean News

BREAK WEEK: 5-9 October 2015

This is Break Week for the Fall 2015 offering of the DataStreme Ocean course. This Weekly Ocean News contains new information items and historical data, but the Concept of the Week is repeated from Week 5.

Items of Interest

Celebrate National Seafood Month -- The US Department of Commerce, along with one of its agencies, NOAA Fisheries, is celebrating this month of October 2015 as National Seafood Month.
Ms. Eileen Sobeck, Head of NOAA Fisheries, issued a message last week celebrating seafood, sustainability and stewardship of the nation's fisheries. [NOAA Fisheries]
Sputnik and the start of the "satellite revolution" remembered -- This past Sunday (4 October 2015) marked the 58th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, by the former Soviet Union (USSR). This launch can be considered to represent a scientific revolution because it changed the way in which humans view the planet, as subsequent satellites have been used to monitor the Earth's weather, oceanic environment and climate. [NOAA NESDIS News Archives]
So how big is an artificial satellite? -- The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) recently prepared a description of the sizes of current and future NOAA satellites that are being placed into orbit to monitor the Earth's environment, comparing their sizes and weights with more familiar objects. [NOAA NESDIS News Archives]
Light in the oceans -- If you would like information on the distribution of sunlight in the upper levels of the ocean has an impact upon the distribution of marine life and various processes such as photosynthesis in these layers, please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week tropical cyclone activity continued in the Atlantic and Pacific basins of the Northern Hemisphere:

In the North Atlantic basin, a tropical depression formed that the start of last week to the southwest of Bermuda that eventually became Tropical Storm Joaquin, the tenth named tropical cyclone of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season. During the week, this tropical storm traveled to the west toward the Bahamas, eventually strengthening to become the third Atlantic hurricane of 2015 by midweek. Reaching the Bahamas by late in the week, Joaquin had intensified to become a major category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, followed by a turn toward the north. Over the weekend, Hurricane Joaquin curved toward the northeast, taking it on a track toward Bermuda. .By Sunday night, Joaquin was passing approximately 65 miles to the west of Bermuda as a category 3 hurricane. Forecasts indicate that Joaquin would gradually weaken as it would curve toward the east-northeast during the early part of the week. Satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Ida are available on the NASA Hurricane Page. A three-dimensional flyby video is flyby of Hurricane Joaquin is available.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Marty approached the coast of south-central Mexico at the start of last week. During the early part of the week, it strengthened to become a a weak category 1 hurricane for less than one day as it was slightly more than 100 miles off the coast. Marty than weakened to a tropical depression as it traveled westward off the coast. See NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite images on Hurricane Marty.
In the central North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Niala traveled toward the west-southwest, passing approximately 270 miles to the south of Hawaii's Big Island at the start of last week. By Monday night Niala weakened to become a remnant low. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Niala.
A tropical depression formed approximately 400 miles to the south of Hawaii's Big Island late Friday night, which became Tropical Storm Oho early Saturday morning. Over the remainder of the weekend, Oho strengthened slightly as it traveled slowly toward the north. Forecasts indicate that Oho should travel to the northeast, passing to the east of the Hawaiian Islands early this week.
A tropical depression formed on Saturday morning approximately 350 miles to the south-southwest of Johnston Island. Identified as Tropical Depression 8C, it drifted across the waters of the central North Pacific, becoming a remnant low early Sunday morning.
In the western North Pacific basin, Super typhoon Dujuan passed across Taiwan at the start of last week and made landfall on the coast of mainland China. Dujuan brought torrential rain and strong winds to Taiwan. Additional information and satellite images for Typhoon Dujuan are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Tropical Storm Mujigae formed late last week over the Philippine Sea to the east of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. After travelling across Luzon, Mujigae continued to the west-northwest, strengthening to a typhoon as it crossing the South China Sea. Before reaching the southern China coast, it became a category 4 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as maximum sustained surface winds increased to nearly 135 mph. See NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Typhoon Mujigae.
Tropical Storm Choi-wan developed near the end of the week to the south-southeast of Wake Island. Over the weekend Choi-wan traveled to the west-northwest. Current forecasts indicate that Choi-wan should curve toward the north and strengthen to become a typhoon early this week. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite information on Tropical Storm Choi-wan.

Grants awarded for Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program -- NOAA Fisheries recently announced that as part of its Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program, 16 grants amounting to more than $2.5 million have been awarded to regional projects that would help reduce or prevent the bycatch of various marine animals that include fish, marine mammals and turtles. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Astronauts get a view of aquaculture in northeastern China -- A digital photograph made by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station early in September shows the gridded pattern of fish farms that are located along the coast of China's northeast province of Liaoning. These large fish farms or aquaculture basins extend out nearly for miles into the Yellow Sea. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Aerial monitoring of sea ice in the Southern Ocean -- NASA's Operation IceBridge has been using a variety of instruments mounted onboard aircraft to monitor the seasonal variations of sea ice over the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. One example is an image made of first-year sea ice along with an iceberg in the Bellingshausen Sea from the Digital Mapping System, a digital camera mounted under NASA's DC-8 research aircraft flying at an altitude of approximately 1100 feet. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Determining what constitutes a normal West Coast algal bloom -- NOAA scientists studying the record-setting algal blooms in the eastern North Pacific off the West Coast of North America during this past summer. They desire to determine the extent and magnitude of earlier events. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Changing climate could make many atolls uninhabitable within several decades -- Scientists with the US Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Hawaii and the Deltares Institute in the Netherlands, report that their numerical modeling simulations indicate that the combined effect of storm-induced wave-driven flooding and sea level rise on island atolls may be more severe and happen sooner than previous estimates of inundation predicted by passive "bathtub" modeling for low-lying atoll islands. They warn that although their modeling efforts involved the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the results from their study could apply to many of the other atolls across the Pacific and Indian Oceans where more than half a million people live. [USGS Newsroom]
Signs of an ancient mega-tsunami found -- Geologists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have found geological evidence on the Cape Verde Islands that a sudden collapse of the Fogo volcano along the flank of these islands approximately 73,000 years ago generated an ocean tsunami with an 800-foot wave that engulfed an island more than 30 miles away. The researchers warn that giant collapses of volcanoes on islands could represent a realistic hazard today for residents on volcanic islands and along more distant continental coasts. [Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory News]
An All-Hazards Monitor-- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

This Concept of the Week is repeated from Week 5.

Concept of the Week: The Ocean and the Global Radiation Budget

The ocean is an important player in the radiational heating and cooling of Planet Earth. For one, covering about 71% of Earth's surface, the ocean is a primary control of how much solar radiation is absorbed (converted to heat) at the Earth's surface. Also, the ocean is the main source of the most important greenhouse gas (water vapor) and is a major regulator of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), another greenhouse gas.

On an annual average, the ocean absorbs about 92% of the solar radiation striking its surface; the balance is reflected to space. Most of this absorption takes place within about 200 m (650 ft) of the surface with the depth of penetration of sunlight limited by the amount of suspended particles and discoloration caused by dissolved substances. On the other hand, at high latitudes multi-year pack ice greatly reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the ocean. The snow-covered surface of sea ice absorbs only about 15% of incident solar radiation and reflects away the rest. At present, multi-year pack ice covers about 7% of the ocean surface with greater coverage in the Arctic Ocean than the Southern Ocean (mostly in Antarctica's Weddell Sea).

The atmosphere is nearly transparent to incoming solar radiation but much less transparent to outgoing infrared (heat) radiation. This differential transparency with wavelength is the basis of the greenhouse effect. Certain trace gases in the atmosphere absorb outgoing infrared and radiate some of this energy to Earth's surface, thereby significantly elevating the planet's surface temperature. Most water vapor, the principal greenhouse gas, enters the atmosphere via evaporation of seawater. Carbon dioxide, a lesser greenhouse gas, cycles into and out of the ocean depending on the sea surface temperature and photosynthesis/respiration by marine organisms in surface waters. Cold water can dissolve more carbon dioxide than warm water so that carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere where surface waters are chilled (at high latitudes and upwelling zones) and released to the atmosphere where surface waters are heated (at low latitudes). Photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and all organisms release carbon dioxide via cellular respiration.

Concept of the Week: Questions

If the ocean's pack ice cover were to shrink, the ocean would absorb [(more)(less)] solar radiation.
All other factors being equal, if sea surface temperatures were to rise, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolved in surface ocean waters would likely [(increase) (decrease)].

Historical Events

5 October 1972...Heavy rains, mostly the remnants of Tropical Storm Joanne, fell across much of Arizona. It was believed to be the first time in Arizona weather history that a tropical storm entered the state with its circulation still intact. The center was over Flagstaff early on the 7th. (3rd-7th) (The Weather Channel)
5-7 October 1999...A storm southeast of New Zealand caused surf to reach heights of 12 ft along the south shores of all the Hawaiian Islands, flooding some roads and parking lots. The lobby of the Kihei Beach Resort on Maui and three ground floor units were flooded. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
7 October 1737...A furious cyclone in the Bay of Bengal caused a major disaster at the mouth of the Hoogby River near Calcutta, India. As many as 300,000 people were killed, mainly as the result of the storm's forty foot high surge. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
9 October 1873...LT Charles Belknap called a meeting at the Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the U.S. Navy. (Navy Historical Center)
9 October 1967...A cyclone of relatively small dimension with a surface width of only 31 miles, hit India's coast at Orissa and moved to the northeast along the coast for 75 miles. As many as 1000 people and 50,000 head of cattle died. A surge in the storm's wake penetrated 16 miles inland. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
10 October 1845...Naval School, renamed the U.S. Naval Academy, opened in Annapolis, MD with 50 midshipmen students and seven faculty. (Navy Historical Center)
10 October 1861...Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, oceanographer, statesman, and humanitarian was born. Nansen led a number of expeditions to the Arctic (1888, 1893, 1895-96) and oceanographic expeditions in the North Atlantic (1900, 1910-14). He wrote The Oceanography of the North Polar Basin (1902). For his relief work after World War I, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1922. (Today in Science History)
10 October 1913...President Woodrow Wilson with the aid of a telegraph signal sent from Washington, DC triggered the demolition of the Gamboa Dike, allowing water to fill the Culebra Cut and create Lake Gatun, at 85 ft above sea level, the largest man-made lake at that time. This act signaled the completion of construction of the Panama Canal, which would eventually open to ship traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on 14 August 1914. (Wikipedia, Today in Science History)
11 October 1737...A deadly cyclone and storm surge of 42 ft raced up the Hooghly River in India and through the city of Calcutta destroying an estimated 40,000 boats and drowning as many as 300,000 people. (The Weather Doctor)
11 October 1846...A very intense hurricane caused great destruction in the Florida Keys. Key West was virtually destroyed with 5 feet of water reported in the city. Fort Taylor was reduced to ruins. (Intellicast)
11 October 1897...Property saved at Cape Hatteras, NC. During a severe storm, the surf threatened to wash away a fish house, with valuable nets and other gear. Surfmen saved the property and took it to a place of safety. They also assisted a lighthouse keeper by removing lenses from the beacon to a secure place. The lighthouse was in danger of being washed away by the sea. (US Coast Guard Historian's Office)

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Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2015, The American Meteorological Society.