DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK ONE: 24-31 January 2011

Items of Interest:

• Free online ocean exploration course offered --
Officials with NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research recently announced that a free online ocean exploration workshop would become available later this month. This course, entitled "How Do We Explore?" is intended for formal and informal educators, ocean explorers, scientists and other interested members of the public. It is based on the voyages of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. [NOAA News]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics ---
During the last week, several tropical cyclones (low-pressure systems that form over a tropical ocean basin) were detected over the tropical South Pacific Ocean. Tropical Cyclone Zelia traveled southeastward from the waters of the Coral Sea northeast of Australia past New Caledonia, before dissipating near the northern sections of New Zealand at the start of last week. Earlier, Tropical Cyclone Zelia had become a category-2 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale. Satellite images and additional information on this tropical cyclone can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
A tropical cyclone, identified as Tropical Storm 8 formed over the waters of the South Pacific near Fiji over the weekend.
• Right whale disentangled --
One week ago, scientists from NOAA's Fisheries Service together with staff from partner state and nonprofit organizations successfully freed a young North Atlantic right whale that had become entangled in 50 feet of rope off the Coast of Florida's Cape Canaveral. A sedative was used to help in the rescue effort of the whale, a member of a species considered endangered. [NOAA News]
• Satellites help rescue nearly 300 people last year --
During last year (2010), 295 people were rescued from life-threatening situations throughout the US and on its surrounding waters in part because of the role that NOAA’s fleet of satellites played. Detecting distress signals from emergency beacons, these satellites helped in pinpointing the location of these people and relaying this information to first responders who perform the actual rescue. NOAA's geosynchronous and polar-orbiting satellites, together with Russia’s Cospas spacecraft, are part of the international COSPAS-SARSAT (COSPAS a Russian abbreviation for "Space System for the Search of Vessels in Distress" and SARSAT "Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking") system. [NOAA News]
• NOAA Administrator addresses national conference creating healthy oceans --
This past week, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, addressed a meeting of the National Council for Science and the Environment on the need to focus on the oceans. The title of her keynote address was "From Hope to Action: Making Healthy Oceans Everyone's Business." [NOAA News]
• A 102-month animation of sea surface temperatures produced --
The Earth Observatory mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center recently assembled a sequence of global maps of sea surface temperature beginning in June 2002 and running through November 2010 that were obtained from data collected by the by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) onboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The temperature data are displayed in terms of temperature anomalies (arithmetic differences between observed and long-term average temperatures). Long term anomalies in the sea surface temperatures such as El Niño and La Niña events can be discerned. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Group of algae discovered that live in seawater and freshwater --
Researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Canada's Dalhousie University and the United Kingdom's Natural History Museum, London, discovered a group of algae, which they dubbed "rappemonads," that appear capable of living in both freshwater and ocean water. They claim that this algae group may be a large and novel group of microorganisms having worldwide distribution. [Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute]
• Oysters may help cleanse Chesapeake Bay --
In work conducted at Virginia Commonwealth University, biologists have found that farmed oysters appear to remove more than twice the nutrient pollution from waters than regular oysters. These results appear to indicate that oysters could be employed to aid in filtering the nutrient pollutants from agricultural and urban runoff into the waters of Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary. [American Society of Agronomy]
• Possible link found between arctic mercury cycling and ice cover --
Scientists from Alaska, Canada and France working with National Institute of Standards and Technology colleagues have suggested that mercury cycling in the flora and fauna of the Arctic may be linked to the amount of ice cover present. These researchers used sophisticated analysis of mercury isotopes in seabird eggs to track trends in pollutants in northern marine environments. [National Institute of Standards and Technology]
• Report from the field --
Thanks go to Terri Kirby Hathaway, a DataStreme Oceans LIT leader and Marine Education Specialist for the North Carolina Sea Grant Program in Manteo, NC, for sending the following news items:
• Rising sea levels would reshape North Carolina coast -- A geologist at Western Carolina University, along with numerous state and local officials in North Carolina are voicing concern that the recent rapid rises in sea level are changing the North Carolina coast, including the barrier islands that comprise the famed Outer Banks. Rises in sea level will have a major impact on the state's economy, as property values for at risk areas in four coastal counties are estimated at approximately $6.9 billion. [News Observer]
• Fish kill reveals tension over fishing rules -- Thousands of dead stripped bass and red drum fish that were recently found floating offshore of the beaches in North Carolina's Dare County reveal the ongoing conflict between recreational and commercial fishing. Some question the role that federal and state regulations have in determining fishing limits. [Outer Banks Voice]
• 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]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes --
A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek --
Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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

1. The latest global sea surface temperature map indicates that SSTs are generally higher over the [(western)(eastern)] tropical Pacific Ocean.
2. 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

• 26 January 1700...The Cascadia Earthquake (magnitude 9) took place off the coast of British Columbia, as evidenced by Japanese records. Landslides and a tsunami destroyed many Native American villages along the coasts of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, including Vancouver Island. Japanese written history tells of a massive tsunami striking fishing villages the next day along the coast of Honshu, killing hundreds. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 26 January 1983...The California coast was battered by a storm, which produced record high tides, thirty-two foot waves, and mudslides, causing millions of dollars in damage. The storm then moved east and dumped four feet of snow on Lake Tahoe. (22^nd-29^th) (The Weather Channel)
• 28 January 1946...Canada's greatest sailing ship, Bluenose, foundered on a Haitian reef; all hands were saved. Her likeness remains on the Canadian ten-cent coin. (Wikipedia)
• 28 January 1969...A series of storms that battered Southern California from the 18^th to the 28^th led to $125 million damage in the Los Angeles Basin, along with approximately 9 storm and traffic-related deaths in California. Twenty feet of water covered Sherman Island, a region that contains more than 10,000 dike-protected agricultural acres, when a dike failed. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 28 January 1971...A waterspout swept into Hawaii's Kailua Bay, then into the business and hotel district of Kailua-Kona, destroying or severely damaging a number of buildings including 40 apartment units and collapsing a 6-story hotel under construction. Amazingly, only four people were injured. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 29-30 January 1966...A hurricane that struck Samoa was responsible for 50 deaths, destroyed more than one-third of the homes and damaged the remainder. As many as 50,000 people were left homeless. Swains Island was leveled by the hurricane. Winds gusted to 100 mph at Pago Pago. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 29 January 1983...A series of Pacific coast storms finally came to an end. The storms, attributed in part to the anomalous ocean-atmosphere phenomenon, "El Niño," produced ocean swells 15 to 20 feet high that ravaged the beaches of southern California. Much of the damage was to homes of movie stars in the exclusive Malibu Colony. (The Weather Channel)
• 30 January 1790...The Original, the first boat specialized as a lifeboat to rescue people from stormy seas was tested on the River Tyne. This 30-foot long self-righting craft went out to shipwrecks for 40 years, saving hundreds of lives. William Wouldhave and Lionel Lukin both claimed to be the inventor of the first lifeboat. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 30 January 1997...Surf up to 12 feet, with sets to 15 feet, pounded the north and west shores of Hawaii. A wave swept eight people into the ocean at Keane Point on Maui. Four tourists who were taking pictures of the waves drowned. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

Return to DataStreme Ocean Website

Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.,
email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.