WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

20-24 July 2009

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2009 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 31 August 2009. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

• Check Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Hawaii's Big Island will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this week (22-23 Jul). This occurrence of a zenithal sun is one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents of Hilo and elsewhere on the Big Island. approximately one more week.. The other time when the Big Island experienced a zenithal sun was in mid May. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
• A new moon and solar eclipse -- A new moon will occur this evening (officially 0235Z on 22 July 2009 or 10:35 PM EDT and 9:35 PM CDT, etc. on Monday).
  Since lunar perigee (closest approach of the Moon to the Earth) of the year occurs only six hours before new moon, extremely high astronomical tides are predicted for large water bodies.
  This new moon will also be responsible for a total solar eclipse for those located in parts of China and across the western Pacific Ocean, as the moon passes in front of the solar disk. The NASA Eclipse Web Site has more particulars and maps of this solar eclipse.
• Marking the 40th anniversary of the "Giant Leap" -- This coming week marks the 40th Anniversary when Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface after the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. NASA is celebrating this anniversary with a variety of features on their home page. [NASA] A recent image from NASA's Earth-Observing satellite shows Launch Pad 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center where the Apollo 11 mission was launched. [NASA Earth Observatory]
  A group of 29 noted scientists at universities across the nation and representing various disciplines were asked by The Science Coalition to proved their perspectives of how this historic lunar landing affected their disciplines and on what efforts are needed to meet the challenges of the next frontier of science. [EurekAlert!]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics --- Some tropical cyclone activity was found across the tropical Pacific during the past week:
  • In eastern North Pacific, the fourth tropical storm of the 2009 hurricane season, Tropical Storm Dolores, formed at midweek well off the Mexican coast and moved to the northwest. By the end of the week, this system dissipated. For more information on Dolores including satellite images, consult the NASA Hurricane page.
    Tropical Storm Carlos, which had formed during the previous week, became the second hurricane of the 2009 eastern North Pacific hurricane season early last week. This system, which briefly became a category 2 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), dissipated after moving westward to near 140 degrees West longitude, the western boundary of the eastern North Pacific basin. Satellite images, together with additional information on Carlos can be found on the NASA Hurricane page.
  • In western North Pacific basin, the tropical cyclone known as Isang when it was near the Philippines was renamed Typhoon Molave as it traveled to the west northwest across the South China Sea. This system became a category 1 typhoon before making landfall along the coast of southeastern China over this past weekend. Additional information along with satellite images are featured in the NASA Hurricane page.
• Flooding and damage from deadly tropical cyclone assessed -- A survey team recently reported their findings on the flooding and damage caused by a category 4 tropical cyclone (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) that made landfall in May 2008 on the coast of the southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, resulting in the deaths of at least 138,000 people. [EurekAlert!]
• New seasonal hurricane forecast model unveiled -- Scientists at Florida State University's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies have developed a new "dynamical" computer model designed to predict the frequency of hurricane occurrence during a given season with unprecedented accuracy. Using this model, they forecast a below-average season in the Atlantic Ocean due in part on emerging El Niño conditions. [EurekAlert!]
• Record warm global ocean waters reported in June 2009 -- Analysis of preliminary average global land and ocean surface temperature data for the recently concluded month of June 2009 has led researchers at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center to conclude that the world's ocean surface temperature was the highest for June since the start of worldwide records in 1880. They also noted that the global land surface temperature was the sixth highest in the last 130 years, making the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2009 was the second highest on record. [NOAA News]
  Increasing sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean has lead NOAA scientists at NCDC and the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) to conclude that El Niño conditions have returned. Therefore, CPC has declared an El Niño Advisory, indicating that El Niño conditions are now being observed and are expected to persist. These forecasters anticipate that El Niño conditions should persist through the upcoming Northern Hemisphere winter of 2009-10. [NOAA/NCEP Climate Prediction Center]
  NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are also monitoring sea surface altimetry data obtained the Jason-2 satellite, looking for the spread of warm water across the equatorial Pacific. NASA JPL
• Tsunami research forecast system put to the test -- Tsunami scientists attending an international meeting in Russia last week were able to see the web-based NOAA tsunami forecast system in action as real-time tsunami data from the DART® (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) tsunami monitoring system were accessed when a tsunami was generated by a large earthquake off the southwest coast of New Zealand. [NOAA News]
• Detecting tsunamis from space -- Scientists from NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences recently reported tracking a tsunami propagating across the open ocean using satellite-borne radar units to detect changes in sea surface texture along the leading edge of the wave. These scientists feel that this information obtained by orbiting satellites could be used to aid in improved tsunami detection and warning. [NOAA News]
• Important extreme weather information available to Florida East Coast residents -- An easily read waterproof tip-sheet containing emergency telephone numbers and website information needed during potentially life-threatening weather emergencies by residents of Florida’s Atlantic coast is now available. This sheet is part of the popular NOAA Extreme Weather Information Sheet series (NEWIS) prepared by NOAA’s National Coastal Data Development Center. [NOAA News]
• Coastal wetlands restored in the Lone Star State -- A cooperative agreement between NOAA, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas General Land Office and the Chevron Corporation has resulted in the restoration of more than 2500 acres of coastal wetland habitats in the Lower Neches Water Management Area in Port Arthur, TX that were injured by refinery releases. [NOAA News]
• First underwater detection of harmful algae made -- Scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) recently reported that they have used the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP), a MBARI-designed robotic instrument to remotely detect harmful algal species and its toxin below the ocean’s surface for the first time. [NOAA News] [MBARI]
• Commercial harvesting of krill off West Coast is banned -- A rule developed by NOAA was recently published in the Federal Register that would prohibit the harvesting in the Exclusive Economic Zone off the California, Oregon and Washington coasts, effective in August 2009. This measure is meant to protect a vital food source for many marine species along the nation's Pacific Coast. [EurekAlert!]
• Arctic sea ice campaign is underway-- A new NASA-sponsored scientific field campaign called CASIE-09 (Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment 2009) is currently being conducted under the auspices of the International Polar Year (IPY) to study sea ice roughness and break-up in the Arctic and high northern latitudes. A variety of remote sensing methods will be utilized, including satellites and uninhabited aerial vehicles. [NASA ESPO] [EurekAlert!]
• Declassification of arctic images should proceed to help in climate change examination -- A new report, entitled "Scientific Value of Arctic Sea Ice Imagery Derived Products," from the National Research Council requests that arctic images obtained from classified data sources should be declassified and made available to scientists and others for studies that involve detailed melting and freezing processes in the Arctic basin, which would be extremely useful studying the effects of climate change on sea ice and habitat. [National Academies]
• A "motion picture" of a past warming event may give clue to future -- Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center from Climatic Research have run a computer simulation of the atmospheric and oceanic conditions over the last 21,000 years, focusing Bølling-Allerød warming event (approximately 14,500 years ago), which may provide some understanding to what abrupt climate shifts that could occur in the future with additional warming of the planet. [EurekAlert!]
• Gradual changes in North Atlantic currents are indicated -- A geosciences professor at Oregon State University claims that one of the longest experiment of its type ever run on a general circulation model to simulate the Earth's climate for the last 21,000 years indicates that major changes occur in the important ocean current systems since the height of the last Ice Age, but these changes in the North Atlantic Ocean may take place more slowly and gradually than had been suggested. [EurekAlert!]
• An earlier formation of Arctic sea ice suspected -- An international team of researchers from the United Kingdom and Norway who have been analyzing oceanic sediment cores collected by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition from the floor of the central Arctic Ocean basin have concluded that ice may have initially formed in the Arctic between 47.5 and 46 million years ago, earlier than previously thought. [EurekAlert!]
• Looking back at ancient life -- Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory conclude that some of the most ancient stromatolites were built with the assistance of mat-like microorganism communities approximately 3.4 billion years ago. [EurekAlert!]
• Demise of salt marshes may be linked to climate change -- Research conducted at Brown University indicates that increased atmospheric temperatures could place major stresses on several types of plants that inhabit pannes, or waterlogged, low-oxygen zones of salt marshes, in New England. [EurekAlert!]
• 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.

Historical Events:

• 20 July 1964...Four Navy divers entered Project SEALAB I capsule moored 192 feet on the ocean floor off Bermuda for a 11-day experiment. On the 22^nd they submerged and then surfaced on 31 July 1964. (Naval Historical Center)
• 20 July 1985...Treasure hunters found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank approximately 40 miles off the coast of Key West, FL, in 1622 during a hurricane. The ship contained over $400 million in coins and silver ingots. (InfoPlease.com)
• 22 July 1986...Hurricane Estelle passed 120 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands creating a ten to twenty-foot surf. The large swells resulted from a combination of high tides, a full moon, and 50-mph winds. The hurricane also deluged Oahu Island with as much as 6.86 inches of rain on the 24th and 25th of the month. (Storm Data)
• 22-23 July 1996...A strong storm system centered south of Tahiti in the South Pacific was responsible for eight-foot surf along the south shores of Hawaii's Oahu Island. Water safety personnel rescued 95 people from the high surf. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 23 July 1715...Boston Light, the first lighthouse in America was authorized by the Boston Light Bill for construction at Little Brewster Island, MA. This light, located on Little Brewster Island to mark the entrance to Boston harbor, has guided ships since its lantern was first lighted just before sunset, on 14 Sep 1716. In the 1600s, treacherous rocks caused countless loss of lives. False signal fires lit in the wrong places by "wreckers" lured ships aground to plunder. Boston Light was blown up by the British in 1776, but rebuilt in 1783 by Governor John Hancock. The lighthouse was also the last remaining staffed station in the U.S. (Today in Science History)
• 23 July 1788...A weather diary kept by George Washington recorded that the center of a hurricane passed directly over his Mount Vernon home. The hurricane crossed eastern North Carolina and Virginia before moving into the Central Appalachians. Norfolk, VA reported houses destroyed, trees uprooted, and crops leveled to the ground. (David Ludlum)
• 23 July 1958...USS Nautilus (SSN-571) departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the first submerged transit of the North Pole. (Naval Historical Center)
• 23 July 1982...The International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. (Wikipedia)
• 24 July 1609...A fleet of ships carrying colonists to the New World met with a hurricane near Bermuda, resulting in much loss of property but little loss of life. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
• 24-25 July 1979...Claudette, a weak tropical storm, deluged southeastern Texas with torrential rains. The Houston suburb of Alvin received 43.00 inches, a 24-hour precipitation record for not only the Lone Star State, but for the U.S. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. On the 27^th, a van loaded with people on their way to a church camp stopped on Texas Highway 7 due to a flooded bridge just west of Centerville. A truck rammed the van, pushing it into the flooded creek, resulting in five people drowning. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24-26 July 1996...Although thousands of miles from southern California, an intense South Pacific storm south of Tahiti produced seven to ten foot surf with some sets up to 12 feet along the southern California coast. Lifeguards participated in more than 500 rescues along the beaches. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 25 July 1956...The Italian ship Andrea Doria sank in dense fog near Nantucket Lightship, MA. Ten hours earlier, the ship was rammed by the Swedish-American liner, Stockholm, forty-five miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Fifty-two persons drowned, or were killed by the impact. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 25 July 1994...Hurricane Gilma, like Emilia a week earlier, reached Category 5 strength in the Central Pacific. (Intellicast)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2009, The American Meteorological Society.