Weekly Ocean News

WEEK FIVE: 26-30 September 2016

Items of Interest

Satellite view of Earth on the autumnal equinox and the solstices -- With the passage of the autumnal equinox last Thursday (22 September), a sequence of three true color images was produced from the data collected by the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite showing a portion of the Eastern Hemisphere not only for last Thursday, but also for the 2016 summer solstice and the 2015 winter solstice. These three images are meant to show the seasonal cycle in solar illumination. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Mosaic of New England surface temperatures seen from satellites -- An image generated from data collected from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite nearly two weeks ago shows a complex mosaic of "skin temperatures" across New England and neighboring sections of New York State, New Jersey, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The skin temperature, or radiometric surface temperature, represents the temperature immediately at the Earth's surface that is detected by a radiometer on the satellite. The image is color coded in terms of temperature and the resulting mosaic is due to the numerous surfaces ranging from cold high elevation mountains to warm heat islands and the various water bodies that include lakes, rivers and the North Atlantic Ocean with its Gulf Stream. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
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. NPM is sponsored by 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. The theme for 2016 NPM is "Don't Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today," with an emphasis on preparedness for youth, older adults, and people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.
During Week 5 (25-30 September), the weekly hazard-focused theme is "Lead Up to National Day of Action." [FEMA's Ready.gov]
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]
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2016 Campaign is underway -- The tenth in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2016 will continue through Saturday, 1 October. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Cygnus in the Northern Hemisphere and Grus in the Southern Hemisphere) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The next series in the 2016 campaign is scheduled for 21-31 October 2016. [GLOBE at Night]
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 -- Tropical cyclone activity continued in the Atlantic and Pacific basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the last week:

In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Depression Julia became a remnant low approximately 110 miles to the south-southeast of Myrtle Beach, SC at the start of last week as it interacted with a midlatitude cold front. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Julia.
Tropical Storm Karl was traveling to the west and west-northwest toward the Leeward Islands at the beginning of last week. By midweek, Karl began a gradual curve toward the northwest then north, passing approximately 60 miles to the east of Bermuda Saturday morning. As of midday on Sunday, Tropical Storm Karl became a post-tropical low as it traveled quickly to the northeast across the North Atlantic approximately 535 miles to the south-southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite imagery and information on Tropical Storm Karl.
A tropical depression formed at the start of last week to the west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, which eventually became Tropical Storm Lisa, the twelfth named Atlantic tropical cyclone of 2016. During the week, this minimal tropical cyclone traveled toward the northwest across the central North Atlantic. By late Friday (local time), Lisa had weakened to become a tropical depression. As of early Sunday morning Tropical Depression Lisa had begun dissipating approximately 1165 miles to the southwest of the Azores. Additional information and satellite imagery are available from the NASA Hurricane Page on Tropical Storm Lisa.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Paine became the ninth hurricane of 2016 in the basin early Monday morning of last week as it was located approximately 340 miles to the west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Traveling toward the north-northwest and then north, Paine remained a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale for a little less than 24 hours before weakening to a tropical storm and then to a tropical depression by Tuesday afternoon. As of Tuesday evening Tropical Depression Paine had become a remnant low and dissipated approximately 85 miles to the west of Punta Eugenia, Mexico. Satellite images and additional information on Hurricane Paine can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Tropical Depression 18E formed approximately 815 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Sunday morning. As of mid afternoon this system was traveling toward the north. Forecasts indicate that TD 18E could develop into Tropical Storm Roslyn on Monday as it would curve toward the north-northeast.
In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Malakas, a category 4 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, traveled toward the northeast making initial landfall on the Japanese island of Kyushu on Monday (local time). Accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, Weakening rapidly, Malakas continued along the southeastern coast of Japan's largest island of Honshu. Additional information and satellite images are available on the NASA Hurricane Page for Typhoon Malakas.
A tropical depression strengthened to become Tropical Storm Megi approximately 1100 miles to the east-southeast of Taiwan at the end of last week as it turned to take a track toward the west-northwest. Over the weekend Megi became a typhoon. By Monday afternoon (local time), Typhoon Megi had become a category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. At that time Megi was located approximately 400 miles to the south of Okinawa. The NASA Hurricane Page has a satellite image and some information on Tropical Storm Megi.

Swirls in waters of Gulf of St. Lawrence seen from space -- A digital photograph made in early September by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station shows a pattern of swirls and eddies in the surface waters of Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence that were highlighted by the glint from the Sun. The swirls and eddies were produced by complicated flows in the Gulf waters, which include the Gaspé Current. Astronauts often use sunglint photography to highlight various atmospheric and surface phenomena that would be hard to distinguish otherwise. [NASA Earth Observatory]
An in-depth feature on sea ice -- NASA Earth Observatory has a feature article that provides a detailed description of how sea ice is formed, how sea ice plays a fundamental role in polar ecosystems, the sea ice life cycle and the monitoring of sea ice over decades in both the Arctic and Antarctic. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Review of August 2016 (and seasonal) weather and climate for the globe -- Preliminary data analyzed by scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) indicated:

The global combined land and ocean average surface temperature for August 2016 was 1.66 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average (1901-2000) for the month, which makes last month the warmest August since a sufficiently dense network of global temperature records began in 1880. When considered separately, the land surface surface temperature for this recently concluded month also was the highest August temperature in the 137-year record, with a monthly temperature that was approximately 1.29 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average; the August 2016 land surface temperature was 0.34 Fahrenheit degrees above the previous August record set last year. The monthly temperature departure of the ocean surface was 1.39 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average, which was the second highest August temperature on record, slightly (0.04 Fahrenheit degrees) behind the record August temperature that was set one year ago. ENSO neutral conditions prevailed during August 2016 even though sea surface temperatures were below-average across the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for August 2016 is available from NCEI.
During the last three months, which constitutes meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere and meteorological winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the combined global land and ocean average temperature for 2016 was 1.60 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average, which also was the highest for this three-month period since 1880, being 0.07 Fahrenheit degrees above the previous record set one year ago. The June-August 2016 temperatures for both the ocean and land, when considered separately, were highest for any boreal summer in the last 137 years.
According to data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) , the average August Arctic sea ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere was approximately 23.1 percent below the 1981–2010 average, making it the fourth smallest August Arctic sea ice extent since satellite records began in 1979. In the Southern Hemisphere, the August 2016 Antarctic sea ice extent was the 19th largest August extent in the 38-year record.
[NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]

Animations made of ENSO forecasts -- A blog was written in the ClimateWatch Magazine by a staff member of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center that included animations of the North American Multi-Model Ensemble forecasts of ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) since early 2015. She noted that the El Niño event of 2015-16 grew rapidly as forecast, but that the La Niña event that had been forecast during this past spring and summer has not developed and its forecast appears to be shrinking. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
A cleared Northwest Passage detected from space -- Images made from sensors onboard the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite in early August 2016 revealed ice-free channels representing both the southern and northern routes of the famous Northwest Passage between islands of the Canadian Archipelago. The Northwest Passage, which has been sought by explorers for centuries, is a sea route connecting the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through sections of the Arctic Ocean. Until the last few decades, ice covered the waters of the Northwest Passage, making it impassable. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Rare whale visitor washed up along North Carolina coast -- A rare Cuviers beaked whale washed up along a beach on North Carolina's Outer Banks one week ago. According to a spokeswoman with the North Carolina Center for Wildlife Education, this beaked whale was the first of that species had reached the coast of northern North Carolina. These Cuviers beaked whales usually prefer the coast of California and can dive to depths of nearly two miles. [The Outer Banks Voice] [Editor's note Special thanks go to Terri Kirby Hathaway, Marine Education Specialist for the North Carolina Sea Grant Program and an AMS DataStreme LIT Leader from Manteo, NC for forwarding this article. EJH]
Exploring how growing urban areas affect nation's largest estuary -- A feature NASA Earth Observatory story, which is part of a multi-part series entitled Chesapeake Bay Watershed, describes how the urban and suburban areas surrounding Chesapeake Bay such as Baltimore, MD also contribute large amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediments that represent the main pollutants clouding the Bay waters and cause algal blooms and dead zones. Images made from data collected by the sensors onboard NASA's Landsat satellite show the expansion of impervious surfaces in Baltimore and surrounding suburbs in 1984 and 2010.[NASA Earth Observatory]
Perception of changing climate varies among generations in subarctic Alaska -- Researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and their partners recently reported on the results compiled from their interviews conducted in four rural indigenous communities across subarctic Alaska. Their results illustrate that while the residents in these communities agreed that the climate was changing across the region, the magnitude of these changes were perceived differently among different generations of respondents in these communities. The older participants, who had observed more overall change, viewed the observed changes in winter temperatures and snowfall as being outside of normal weather variability, while the younger respondents felt that weather is always variable. [USGS News]
Impacts of hurricane-generated storm surge identified -- The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) has produced an informational webpage entitled "The Empowered Storm Surge" that investigates the vulnerability of the nation's coastal areas to storm surges that are generated by tropical cyclones. A map is provided that shows the locations of the 13 airports across the nation that are vulnerable to storm surge because of their low elevations. [National Environmental Education Foundation]
Two new world lightning extremes announced -- During the last week, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced two new lightning extreme events determined by a WMO committee of experts: the longest reported distance of a lightning stroke of approximately 200 miles across the Oklahoma skies in 2007 and the longest reported duration for a single continuous lightning flash of 7.74 sections in southern France in 2012. [WMO's World Weather & Climate Extremes Archive – Arizona State University]
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]

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

26 September 1580...English seaman Francis Drake returned to Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to circumnavigate the globe. He had commenced his voyage around the world on 13 December 1577 with five ships, but returned with only one ship. During his voyage in the Pacific Ocean, he paused near San Francisco Bay and then traveled as far north as present-day Washington State. He brought back valuable information about the world's ocean to Queen Elizabeth I. (The History Channel)
26-27 September 1959...Typhoon Vera ravaged Honshu, Japan, the nation's largest island, leaving over 5000 dead, more than 40,000 injured, 1.5 million homeless and 40,000 homes destroyed. It was Japan's greatest storm disaster to that date. (The Weather Doctor)
27 September 1854...After colliding with the French ship SS Vesta in dense fog, the American Collins Line steamship Arctic sank with more than 300 people on board near Cape Race, Newfoundland, marking the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean. (Wikipedia)
27 September 1922...Report on observations of experiments with short wave radio at the Naval Aircraft Radio Laboratory in Anacostia, DC started US Navy development of radar. (Navy Historical Center)
27 September 1958...A typhoon caused the death of nearly 5000 people on Honshu, the main Japanese island. (Wikipedia)
28 September 1542...Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed into present-day San Diego (CA) Bay during the course of his explorations of the northwest shores of Mexico on behalf of Spain. His landing at Point Loma Head apparently was the first known European encounter with California. Before dying on the Channel Islands off the Santa Barbara coast in January 1543, he had explored much of the California coast. (The History Channel)
28 September 1850...An Act of Congress (9 Stat. L., 500, 504) provided for the systematic coloring and numbering of all buoys for, prior to this time, they had been painted red, white, or black, without any special system. The act "prescribed that buoys should be colored and numbered so that in entering from seaward red buoys with even numbers should be on the starboard or right hand side; black buoys with odd numbers on the port or left hand side; buoys with red and black horizontal stripes should indicate shoals with channel on either side; and buoys in channel ways should be colored with black and white perpendicular stripes." (US Coast Guard Historians Office)
28 September 1994...The auto ferry Estonia capsized and sank quickly in rough waters in the Baltic Sea. It was reported that there were at least 6-foot waves in the area. About 900 people lost their lives, while there were 141 survivors.
29 September 1959...Hurricane Gracie made landfall near Beaufort, SC with sustained winds of 97 mph and a peak gust of 138 mph. Ten people were killed in South Carolina and Georgia. As the weakening storm moved through Virginia on the 30th, the storm spawned an F3 tornado at Ivy, VA, which killed 11 people. On the same day, a storm produced 28 inches of snow in Colorado Springs, CO. (David Ludlum)
30 September 1932...Tropical cyclone rainfall of 4.38 inches at Tehachapi in southern California over 7 hours caused flash floods on Agua Caliente and Tehachapi Creeks resulting in 15 deaths. (The Weather Doctor)
30 September 1954...The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, is commissioned by the U.S. Navy. In addition to breaking numerous submarine travel records to that time, the Nautilus made the first voyage under the Arctic sea ice at the geographic North Pole in August 1958, passing from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean basins. The Nautilus was decommissioned on 3 March 1980 and is currently on display at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, CT. (The History Channel)
30 September 1997...Omega Navigation Station Hawaii ceased operation, coinciding with the end of worldwide Omega transmissions. (USCG Historian's Office)
1 October 1844...U.S. Naval Observatory headed by LT Matthew Fontaine Maury occupied its first permanent quarters. (Naval Historical Center)
1 October 1846...The British naturalist Charles Darwin, ten years after his voyage on the Beagle, began his study of barnacles, which was to appear in four volumes on living and fossil Cirripedes (barnacles). For his observations, he had a single lens microscope made to his own design. (Today in Science History)
1 October 1976...Hurricane Liza brought heavy rains and winds to Brazos Santiago, Mexico, causing a dam to break on the Cajoncito River, which killed 630 people as a wall of water crashed into the town of La Paz. (The Weather Doctor)
1 October 1893...The second great hurricane of the 1893 season hit the Mississippi Delta Region drowning more than 1000 people. (David Ludlum)
2 October 1836...The British naturalist Charles Darwin returned to Falmouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle, ending a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, that included visits to Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand. The information and experience obtained from this voyage led Darwin to develop his historic work on the theory of evolution and the 1859 publication entitled, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. (The History Channel)
2 October 1858...The only hurricane to impact California struck San Diego on this day. Two NOAA researchers, Michael Chenoweth and Christopher Landsea, reconstructed the path of the hurricane using accounts from newspapers of the strong winds. They estimated that if a similar storm were to have hit in 2004, it would have caused around US$500 million in damage. (National Weather Service files)
2 October 1867...A hurricane struck Galveston, TX with a storm tide that caused $1 million damage. (Intellicast)
2 October 1882...A major hurricane struck the Louisiana Delta with 100-mph winds and 12-ft storm tide which inundated the bayous resulting in 1500 deaths. (Intellicast)
2 October 1898...A hurricane struck the Weather Bureau (now National Weather Service) hurricane observation post at Carolina Beach, North Carolina and swept away the office's outhouse. The storm became known as the "Privy Hurricane" and was estimated to be a category 3 or 4 hurricane with winds around 130 mph. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
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