IMOS National Reference Stations: a continental-wide physical, chemical and biological coastal observing system.

PubMed

Lynch, Tim P; Morello, Elisabetta B; Evans, Karen; Richardson, Anthony J; Rochester, Wayne; Steinberg, Craig R; Roughan, Moninya; Thompson, Peter; Middleton, John F; Feng, Ming; Sherrington, Robert; Brando, Vittorio; Tilbrook, Bronte; Ridgway, Ken; Allen, Simon; Doherty, Peter; Hill, Katherine; Moltmann, Tim C

2014-01-01

Sustained observations allow for the tracking of change in oceanography and ecosystems, however, these are rare, particularly for the Southern Hemisphere. To address this in part, the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) implemented a network of nine National Reference Stations (NRS). The network builds on one long-term location, where monthly water sampling has been sustained since the 1940s and two others that commenced in the 1950s. In-situ continuously moored sensors and an enhanced monthly water sampling regime now collect more than 50 data streams. Building on sampling for temperature, salinity and nutrients, the network now observes dissolved oxygen, carbon, turbidity, currents, chlorophyll a and both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Additional parameters for studies of ocean acidification and bio-optics are collected at a sub-set of sites and all data is made freely and publically available. Our preliminary results demonstrate increased utility to observe extreme events, such as marine heat waves and coastal flooding; rare events, such as plankton blooms; and have, for the first time, allowed for consistent continental scale sampling and analysis of coastal zooplankton and phytoplankton communities. Independent water sampling allows for cross validation of the deployed sensors for quality control of data that now continuously tracks daily, seasonal and annual variation. The NRS will provide multi-decadal time series, against which more spatially replicated short-term studies can be referenced, models and remote sensing products validated, and improvements made to our understanding of how large-scale, long-term change and variability in the global ocean are affecting Australia's coastal seas and ecosystems. The NRS network provides an example of how a continental scaled observing systems can be developed to collect observations that integrate across physics, chemistry and biology.

IMOS National Reference Stations: A Continental-Wide Physical, Chemical and Biological Coastal Observing System

PubMed Central

Lynch, Tim P.; Morello, Elisabetta B.; Evans, Karen; Richardson, Anthony J.; Rochester, Wayne; Steinberg, Craig R.; Roughan, Moninya; Thompson, Peter; Middleton, John F.; Feng, Ming; Sherrington, Robert; Brando, Vittorio; Tilbrook, Bronte; Ridgway, Ken; Allen, Simon; Doherty, Peter; Hill, Katherine; Moltmann, Tim C.

2014-01-01

Sustained observations allow for the tracking of change in oceanography and ecosystems, however, these are rare, particularly for the Southern Hemisphere. To address this in part, the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) implemented a network of nine National Reference Stations (NRS). The network builds on one long-term location, where monthly water sampling has been sustained since the 1940s and two others that commenced in the 1950s. In-situ continuously moored sensors and an enhanced monthly water sampling regime now collect more than 50 data streams. Building on sampling for temperature, salinity and nutrients, the network now observes dissolved oxygen, carbon, turbidity, currents, chlorophyll a and both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Additional parameters for studies of ocean acidification and bio-optics are collected at a sub-set of sites and all data is made freely and publically available. Our preliminary results demonstrate increased utility to observe extreme events, such as marine heat waves and coastal flooding; rare events, such as plankton blooms; and have, for the first time, allowed for consistent continental scale sampling and analysis of coastal zooplankton and phytoplankton communities. Independent water sampling allows for cross validation of the deployed sensors for quality control of data that now continuously tracks daily, seasonal and annual variation. The NRS will provide multi-decadal time series, against which more spatially replicated short-term studies can be referenced, models and remote sensing products validated, and improvements made to our understanding of how large-scale, long-term change and variability in the global ocean are affecting Australia's coastal seas and ecosystems. The NRS network provides an example of how a continental scaled observing systems can be developed to collect observations that integrate across physics, chemistry and biology. PMID:25517905

Coevolutionary diversification creates nested-modular structure in phage–bacteria interaction networks

PubMed Central

Beckett, Stephen J.; Williams, Hywel T. P.

2013-01-01

Phage and their bacterial hosts are the most diverse and abundant biological entities in the oceans, where their interactions have a major impact on marine ecology and ecosystem function. The structure of interaction networks for natural phage–bacteria communities offers insight into their coevolutionary origin. At small phylogenetic scales, observed communities typically show a nested structure, in which both hosts and phages can be ranked by their range of resistance and infectivity, respectively. A qualitatively different multi-scale structure is seen at larger phylogenetic scales; a natural assemblage sampled from the Atlantic Ocean displays large-scale modularity and local nestedness within each module. Here, we show that such ‘nested-modular’ interaction networks can be produced by a simple model of host–phage coevolution in which infection depends on genetic matching. Negative frequency-dependent selection causes diversification of hosts (to escape phages) and phages (to track their evolving hosts). This creates a diverse community of bacteria and phage, maintained by kill-the-winner ecological dynamics. When the resulting communities are visualized as bipartite networks of who infects whom, they show the nested-modular structure characteristic of the Atlantic sample. The statistical significance and strength of this observation varies depending on whether the interaction networks take into account the density of the interacting strains, with implications for interpretation of interaction networks constructed by different methods. Our results suggest that the apparently complex community structures associated with marine bacteria and phage may arise from relatively simple coevolutionary origins. PMID:24516719

Ocean acoustic reverberation tomography.

PubMed

Dunn, Robert A

2015-12-01

Seismic wide-angle imaging using ship-towed acoustic sources and networks of ocean bottom seismographs is a common technique for exploring earth structure beneath the oceans. In these studies, the recorded data are dominated by acoustic waves propagating as reverberations in the water column. For surveys with a small receiver spacing (e.g., <10 km), the acoustic wave field densely samples properties of the water column over the width of the receiver array. A method, referred to as ocean acoustic reverberation tomography, is developed that uses the travel times of direct and reflected waves to image ocean acoustic structure. Reverberation tomography offers an alternative approach for determining the structure of the oceans and advancing the understanding of ocean heat content and mixing processes. The technique has the potential for revealing small-scale ocean thermal structure over the entire vertical height of the water column and along long survey profiles or across three-dimensional volumes of the ocean. For realistic experimental geometries and data noise levels, the method can produce images of ocean sound speed on a smaller scale than traditional acoustic tomography.

An Autonomous Glider Network for the Monterey Bay Predictive Skill Experiment / AOSN-II

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-13

distributed measurements (Figure 1) of temperature and salinity, vertically-averaged velocity, chlorophyll fluorescence , optical backscatter, and PAR. We... Clarence Rowley, and Jerrold Marsden N000140210826 Underwater Glider Dynamics and Control Leonard (PI) N00014-02-1-0861 Autonomous Ocean Sampling

Evaluation of radiative fluxes over the north Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramesh Kumar, M. R.; Pinker, Rachel T.; Mathew, Simi; Venkatesan, R.; Chen, W.

2018-05-01

Radiative fluxes are a key component of the surface heat budget of the oceans. Yet, observations over oceanic region are sparse due to the complexity of radiation measurements; moreover, certain oceanic regions are substantially under-sampled, such as the north Indian Ocean. The National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, India, under its Ocean Observation Program has deployed an Ocean Moored Network for the Northern Indian Ocean (OMNI) both in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. These buoys are equipped with sensors to measure radiation and rainfall, in addition to other basic meteorological parameters. They are also equipped with sensors to measure sub-surface currents, temperature, and conductivity from the surface up to a depth of 500 m. Observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) AQUA and TERRA satellites have been used to infer surface radiation over the north Indian Ocean. In this study, we focus only on the shortwave (SW↓) fluxes. The evaluations of the MODIS-based SW↓ fluxes against the RAMA observing network have shown a very good agreement between them, and therefore, we use the MODIS-derived fluxes as a reference for the evaluation of the OMNI observations. In an early deployment of the OMNI buoys, the radiation sensors were placed at 2 m above the sea surface; subsequently, the height of the sensors was raised to 3 m. In this study, we show that there was a substantial improvement in the agreement between the buoy observations and the satellite estimates, once the sensors were raised to higher levels. The correlation coefficient increased from 0.87 to 0.93, and both the bias and standard deviations decreased substantially.

Ecogenomics and potential biogeochemical impacts of globally abundant ocean viruses.

PubMed

Roux, Simon; Brum, Jennifer R; Dutilh, Bas E; Sunagawa, Shinichi; Duhaime, Melissa B; Loy, Alexander; Poulos, Bonnie T; Solonenko, Natalie; Lara, Elena; Poulain, Julie; Pesant, Stéphane; Kandels-Lewis, Stefanie; Dimier, Céline; Picheral, Marc; Searson, Sarah; Cruaud, Corinne; Alberti, Adriana; Duarte, Carlos M; Gasol, Josep M; Vaqué, Dolors; Bork, Peer; Acinas, Silvia G; Wincker, Patrick; Sullivan, Matthew B

2016-09-29

Ocean microbes drive biogeochemical cycling on a global scale. However, this cycling is constrained by viruses that affect community composition, metabolic activity, and evolutionary trajectories. Owing to challenges with the sampling and cultivation of viruses, genome-level viral diversity remains poorly described and grossly understudied, with less than 1% of observed surface-ocean viruses known. Here we assemble complete genomes and large genomic fragments from both surface- and deep-ocean viruses sampled during the Tara Oceans and Malaspina research expeditions, and analyse the resulting 'global ocean virome' dataset to present a global map of abundant, double-stranded DNA viruses complete with genomic and ecological contexts. A total of 15,222 epipelagic and mesopelagic viral populations were identified, comprising 867 viral clusters (defined as approximately genus-level groups). This roughly triples the number of known ocean viral populations and doubles the number of candidate bacterial and archaeal virus genera, providing a near-complete sampling of epipelagic communities at both the population and viral-cluster level. We found that 38 of the 867 viral clusters were locally or globally abundant, together accounting for nearly half of the viral populations in any global ocean virome sample. While two-thirds of these clusters represent newly described viruses lacking any cultivated representative, most could be computationally linked to dominant, ecologically relevant microbial hosts. Moreover, we identified 243 viral-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes, of which only 95 were previously known. Deeper analyses of four of these auxiliary metabolic genes (dsrC, soxYZ, P-II (also known as glnB) and amoC) revealed that abundant viruses may directly manipulate sulfur and nitrogen cycling throughout the epipelagic ocean. This viral catalog and functional analyses provide a necessary foundation for the meaningful integration of viruses into ecosystem models where they act as key players in nutrient cycling and trophic networks.

Antarctic Marine Biodiversity – What Do We Know About the Distribution of Life in the Southern Ocean?

PubMed Central

Griffiths, Huw J.

2010-01-01

The remote and hostile Southern Ocean is home to a diverse and rich community of life that thrives in an environment dominated by glaciations and strong currents. Marine biological studies in the region date back to the nineteenth century, but despite this long history of research, relatively little is known about the complex interactions between the highly seasonal physical environment and the species that inhabit the Southern Ocean. Oceanographically, the Southern Ocean is a major driver of global ocean circulation and plays a vital role in interacting with the deep water circulation in each of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. The Census of Antarctic Marine Life and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Marine Biodiversity Information Network (SCAR-MarBIN) have strived to coordinate and unify the available scientific expertise and biodiversity data to improve our understanding of Southern Ocean biodiversity. Taxonomic lists for all marine species have been compiled to form the Register of Antarctic Marine Species, which currently includes over 8,200 species. SCAR-MarBIN has brought together over 1 million distribution records for Southern Ocean species, forming a baseline against which future change can be judged. The sample locations and numbers of known species from different regions were mapped and the depth distributions of benthic samples plotted. Our knowledge of the biodiversity of the Southern Ocean is largely determined by the relative inaccessibility of the region. Benthic sampling is largely restricted to the shelf; little is known about the fauna of the deep sea. The location of scientific bases heavily influences the distribution pattern of sample and observation data, and the logistical supply routes are the focus of much of the at-sea and pelagic work. Taxa such as mollusks and echinoderms are well represented within existing datasets with high numbers of georeferenced records. Other taxa, including the species-rich nematodes, are represented by just a handful of digital records. PMID:20689841

Ecogenomics and potential biogeochemical impacts of globally abundant ocean viruses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2016-09-01

Ocean microbes drive biogeochemical cycling on a global scale. However, this cycling is constrained by viruses that affect community composition, metabolic activity, and evolutionary trajectories. Owing to challenges with the sampling and cultivation of viruses, genome-level viral diversity remains poorly described and grossly understudied, with less than 1% of observed surface-ocean viruses known. Here we assemble complete genomes and large genomic fragments from both surface- and deep-ocean viruses sampled during the Tara Oceans and Malaspina research expeditions, and analyse the resulting ‘global ocean virome’ dataset to present a global map of abundant, double-stranded DNA viruses complete with genomic and ecological contexts. A total of 15,222 epipelagic and mesopelagic viral populations were identified, comprising 867 viral clusters (defined as approximately genus-level groups). This roughly triples the number of known ocean viral populations and doubles the number of candidate bacterial and archaeal virus genera, providing a near-complete sampling of epipelagic communities at both the population and viral-cluster level. We found that 38 of the 867 viral clusters were locally or globally abundant, together accounting for nearly half of the viral populations in any global ocean virome sample. While two-thirds of these clusters represent newly described viruses lacking any cultivated representative, most could be computationally linked to dominant, ecologically relevant microbial hosts. Moreover, we identified 243 viral-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes, of which only 95 were previously known. Deeper analyses of four of these auxiliary metabolic genes (dsrC, soxYZ, P-II (also known as glnB) and amoC) revealed that abundant viruses may directly manipulate sulfur and nitrogen cycling throughout the epipelagic ocean. This viral catalog and functional analyses provide a necessary foundation for the meaningful integration of viruses into ecosystem models where they act as key players in nutrient cycling and trophic networks.

Data Stewardship in the Ocean Sciences Needs to Include Physical Samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, M.; Lehnert, K.

2016-02-01

Across the Ocean Sciences, research involves the collection and study of samples collected above, at, and below the seafloor, including but not limited to rocks, sediments, fluids, gases, and living organisms. Many domains in the Earth Sciences have recently expressed the need for better discovery, access, and sharing of scientific samples and collections (EarthCube End-User Domain workshops, 2012 and 2013, http://earthcube.org/info/about/end-user-workshops), as has the US government (OSTP Memo, March 2014). iSamples (Internet of Samples in the Earth Sciences) is a Research Coordination Network within the EarthCube program that aims to advance the use of innovative cyberinfrastructure to support and advance the utility of physical samples and sample collections for science and ensure reproducibility of sample-based data and research results. iSamples strives to build, grow, and foster a new community of practice, in which domain scientists, curators of sample repositories and collections, computer and information scientists, software developers and technology innovators engage in and collaborate on defining, articulating, and addressing the needs and challenges of physical samples as a critical component of digital data infrastructure. A primary goal of iSamples is to deliver a community-endorsed set of best practices and standards for the registration, description, identification, and citation of physical specimens and define an actionable plan for implementation. iSamples conducted a broad community survey about sample sharing and has created 5 different working groups to address the different challenges of developing the internet of samples - from metadata schemas and unique identifiers to an architecture for a shared cyberinfrastructure to manage collections, to digitization of existing collections, to education, and ultimately to establishing the physical infrastructure that will ensure preservation and access of the physical samples. Repositories that curate marine sediment cores and dredge samples from the oceanic crust are participating in iSamples, but many other samples collected in the Ocean sciences are not yet represented. This presentation aims to engage a wider spectrum of Ocean scientists and sample curators in iSamples.

Top-down controls on bacterial community structure: microbial network analysis of bacteria, T4-like viruses and protists

PubMed Central

Chow, Cheryl-Emiliane T; Kim, Diane Y; Sachdeva, Rohan; Caron, David A; Fuhrman, Jed A

2014-01-01

Characterizing ecological relationships between viruses, bacteria and protists in the ocean are critical to understanding ecosystem function, yet these relationships are infrequently investigated together. We evaluated these relationships through microbial association network analysis of samples collected approximately monthly from March 2008 to January 2011 in the surface ocean (0–5 m) at the San Pedro Ocean Time series station. Bacterial, T4-like myoviral and protistan communities were described by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of the gene encoding the major capsid protein (g23) and 18S ribosomal DNA, respectively. Concurrent shifts in community structure suggested similar timing of responses to environmental and biological parameters. We linked T4-like myoviral, bacterial and protistan operational taxonomic units by local similarity correlations, which were then visualized as association networks. Network links (correlations) potentially represent synergistic and antagonistic relationships such as viral lysis, grazing, competition or other interactions. We found that virus–bacteria relationships were more cross-linked than protist–bacteria relationships, suggestive of increased taxonomic specificity in virus–bacteria relationships. We also found that 80% of bacterial–protist and 74% of bacterial–viral correlations were positive, with the latter suggesting that at monthly and seasonal timescales, viruses may be following their hosts more often than controlling host abundance. PMID:24196323

Extracting Hydrologic Understanding from the Unique Space-time Sampling of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nickles, C.; Zhao, Y.; Beighley, E.; Durand, M. T.; David, C. H.; Lee, H.

2017-12-01

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission is jointly developed by NASA, the French space agency (CNES), with participation from the Canadian and UK space agencies to serve both the hydrology and oceanography communities. The SWOT mission will sample global surface water extents and elevations (lakes/reservoirs, rivers, estuaries, oceans, sea and land ice) at a finer spatial resolution than is currently possible enabling hydrologic discovery, model advancements and new applications that are not currently possible or likely even conceivable. Although the mission will provide global cover, analysis and interpolation of the data generated from the irregular space/time sampling represents a significant challenge. In this study, we explore the applicability of the unique space/time sampling for understanding river discharge dynamics throughout the Ohio River Basin. River network topology, SWOT sampling (i.e., orbit and identified SWOT river reaches) and spatial interpolation concepts are used to quantify the fraction of effective sampling of river reaches each day of the three-year mission. Streamflow statistics for SWOT generated river discharge time series are compared to continuous daily river discharge series. Relationships are presented to transform SWOT generated streamflow statistics to equivalent continuous daily discharge time series statistics intended to support hydrologic applications using low-flow and annual flow duration statistics.

Bacterial Biogeography across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Doherty, Mary; Yager, Patricia L.; Moran, Mary Ann

Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial biodiversity across the Amazon river-ocean continuum were investigated along ~675 km of the lower Amazon River mainstem, in the Tapajos River tributary, and in the plume and coastal ocean during low and high river discharge using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes in whole water and size-fractionated samples (0.2-2.0 μm and >2.0 μm). River communities varied among tributaries, but mainstem communities were spatially homogeneous and tracked seasonal changes in river discharge and co-varying factors. Co-occurrence network analysis identified strongly interconnected river assemblages during high (May) and low (December) discharge periods, and weakly interconnected transitionalmore » assemblages in September, suggesting that this system supports two seasonal microbial communities linked to river discharge. In contrast, plume communities showed little seasonal differences and instead varied spatially tracking salinity. However, salinity explained only a small fraction of community variability, and plume communities in blooms of diatom-diazotroph assemblages were strikingly different than those in other high salinity plume samples. This suggests that while salinity physically structures plumes through buoyancy and mixing, the composition of plume-specific communities is controlled by other factors including nutrients, phytoplankton community composition, and dissolved organic matter chemistry. Co-occurrence networks identified interconnected assemblages associated with the highly productive low salinity nearshore region, diatom-diazotroph blooms, and the plume edge region, and weakly interconnected assemblages in high salinity regions. This suggests that the plume supports a transitional community influenced by immigration of ocean bacteria from the plume edge, and by species sorting as these communities adapt to local environmental conditions. Few studies have explored patterns of microbial diversity in tropical rivers and coastal oceans. Comparison of Amazon continuum microbial communities to those from temperate and arctic systems suggest that river discharge and salinity are master variables structuring a range of environmental conditions that control bacterial communities across the river-ocean continuum.« less

Bacterial Biogeography across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum.

PubMed

Doherty, Mary; Yager, Patricia L; Moran, Mary Ann; Coles, Victoria J; Fortunato, Caroline S; Krusche, Alex V; Medeiros, Patricia M; Payet, Jérôme P; Richey, Jeffrey E; Satinsky, Brandon M; Sawakuchi, Henrique O; Ward, Nicholas D; Crump, Byron C

2017-01-01

Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial biodiversity across the Amazon river-ocean continuum were investigated along ∼675 km of the lower Amazon River mainstem, in the Tapajós River tributary, and in the plume and coastal ocean during low and high river discharge using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes in whole water and size-fractionated samples (0.2-2.0 μm and >2.0 μm). River communities varied among tributaries, but mainstem communities were spatially homogeneous and tracked seasonal changes in river discharge and co-varying factors. Co-occurrence network analysis identified strongly interconnected river assemblages during high (May) and low (December) discharge periods, and weakly interconnected transitional assemblages in September, suggesting that this system supports two seasonal microbial communities linked to river discharge. In contrast, plume communities showed little seasonal differences and instead varied spatially tracking salinity. However, salinity explained only a small fraction of community variability, and plume communities in blooms of diatom-diazotroph assemblages were strikingly different than those in other high salinity plume samples. This suggests that while salinity physically structures plumes through buoyancy and mixing, the composition of plume-specific communities is controlled by other factors including nutrients, phytoplankton community composition, and dissolved organic matter chemistry. Co-occurrence networks identified interconnected assemblages associated with the highly productive low salinity near-shore region, diatom-diazotroph blooms, and the plume edge region, and weakly interconnected assemblages in high salinity regions. This suggests that the plume supports a transitional community influenced by immigration of ocean bacteria from the plume edge, and by species sorting as these communities adapt to local environmental conditions. Few studies have explored patterns of microbial diversity in tropical rivers and coastal oceans. Comparison of Amazon continuum microbial communities to those from temperate and arctic systems suggest that river discharge and salinity are master variables structuring a range of environmental conditions that control bacterial communities across the river-ocean continuum.

Bacterial Biogeography across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum

DOE PAGES

Doherty, Mary; Yager, Patricia L.; Moran, Mary Ann; ...

2017-05-23

Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial biodiversity across the Amazon river-ocean continuum were investigated along ~675 km of the lower Amazon River mainstem, in the Tapajos River tributary, and in the plume and coastal ocean during low and high river discharge using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes in whole water and size-fractionated samples (0.2-2.0 μm and >2.0 μm). River communities varied among tributaries, but mainstem communities were spatially homogeneous and tracked seasonal changes in river discharge and co-varying factors. Co-occurrence network analysis identified strongly interconnected river assemblages during high (May) and low (December) discharge periods, and weakly interconnected transitionalmore » assemblages in September, suggesting that this system supports two seasonal microbial communities linked to river discharge. In contrast, plume communities showed little seasonal differences and instead varied spatially tracking salinity. However, salinity explained only a small fraction of community variability, and plume communities in blooms of diatom-diazotroph assemblages were strikingly different than those in other high salinity plume samples. This suggests that while salinity physically structures plumes through buoyancy and mixing, the composition of plume-specific communities is controlled by other factors including nutrients, phytoplankton community composition, and dissolved organic matter chemistry. Co-occurrence networks identified interconnected assemblages associated with the highly productive low salinity nearshore region, diatom-diazotroph blooms, and the plume edge region, and weakly interconnected assemblages in high salinity regions. This suggests that the plume supports a transitional community influenced by immigration of ocean bacteria from the plume edge, and by species sorting as these communities adapt to local environmental conditions. Few studies have explored patterns of microbial diversity in tropical rivers and coastal oceans. Comparison of Amazon continuum microbial communities to those from temperate and arctic systems suggest that river discharge and salinity are master variables structuring a range of environmental conditions that control bacterial communities across the river-ocean continuum.« less

Bacterial Biogeography across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum

PubMed Central

Doherty, Mary; Yager, Patricia L.; Moran, Mary Ann; Coles, Victoria J.; Fortunato, Caroline S.; Krusche, Alex V.; Medeiros, Patricia M.; Payet, Jérôme P.; Richey, Jeffrey E.; Satinsky, Brandon M.; Sawakuchi, Henrique O.; Ward, Nicholas D.; Crump, Byron C.

2017-01-01

Spatial and temporal patterns in microbial biodiversity across the Amazon river-ocean continuum were investigated along ∼675 km of the lower Amazon River mainstem, in the Tapajós River tributary, and in the plume and coastal ocean during low and high river discharge using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes in whole water and size-fractionated samples (0.2–2.0 μm and >2.0 μm). River communities varied among tributaries, but mainstem communities were spatially homogeneous and tracked seasonal changes in river discharge and co-varying factors. Co-occurrence network analysis identified strongly interconnected river assemblages during high (May) and low (December) discharge periods, and weakly interconnected transitional assemblages in September, suggesting that this system supports two seasonal microbial communities linked to river discharge. In contrast, plume communities showed little seasonal differences and instead varied spatially tracking salinity. However, salinity explained only a small fraction of community variability, and plume communities in blooms of diatom-diazotroph assemblages were strikingly different than those in other high salinity plume samples. This suggests that while salinity physically structures plumes through buoyancy and mixing, the composition of plume-specific communities is controlled by other factors including nutrients, phytoplankton community composition, and dissolved organic matter chemistry. Co-occurrence networks identified interconnected assemblages associated with the highly productive low salinity near-shore region, diatom-diazotroph blooms, and the plume edge region, and weakly interconnected assemblages in high salinity regions. This suggests that the plume supports a transitional community influenced by immigration of ocean bacteria from the plume edge, and by species sorting as these communities adapt to local environmental conditions. Few studies have explored patterns of microbial diversity in tropical rivers and coastal oceans. Comparison of Amazon continuum microbial communities to those from temperate and arctic systems suggest that river discharge and salinity are master variables structuring a range of environmental conditions that control bacterial communities across the river-ocean continuum. PMID:28588561

A review on existing OSSEs and their implications on European marine observation requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

She, Jun

2017-04-01

Marine observations are essential for understanding marine processes and improving the forecast quality, they are also expensive. It has always been an important issue to optimize sampling schemes of marine observational networks so that the value of marine observations can be maximized and the cost can be lowered. Ocean System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) is an efficient tool in assessing impacts of proposed future sampling schemes on reconstructing and forecasting the ocean and ecosystem conditions. In this study existing OSSE research results from EU projects (such as JERICO, OPEC, SANGOMA, E-AIMS and AtlantOS), institutional studies and review papers are collected and analyzed, according to regions (Arctic, Baltic, N. Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea) and instruments/variables. The preliminary results show that significant gaps for OSSEs in regions and instruments. Among the existing OSSEs, Argo (Bio-Argo and Deep See Argo), gliders and ferrybox are the most often investigated instruments. Although many of the OSSEs are dedicated for very specific monitoring strategies and not sufficiently comprehensive for making solid recommendations for optimizing the existing networks, the detailed findings for future marine observation requirements from the OSSEs will be summarized in the presentation. Recommendations for systematic OSSEs for optimizing European marine observation networks are also given.

IOOC Organizational Network (ION) Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dean, H.

2013-12-01

In order to meet the growing need for ocean information, research communities at the national and international levels have responded most recently by developing organizational frameworks that can help to integrate information across systems of existing networks and standardize methods of data gathering, management, and processing that facilitate integration. To address recommendations and identified challenges related to the need for a better understanding of ocean observing networks, members of the U.S. Interagency Ocean Observation Committee (IOOC) supported pursuing a project that came to be titled the IOOC Organizational Network (ION). The ION tool employs network mapping approaches which mirror approaches developed in academic literature aimed at understanding political networks. Researchers gathered data on the list of global ocean observing organizations included in the Framework for Ocean Observing (FOO), developed in 2012 by the international Task Team for an Integrated Framework for Sustained Ocean Observing. At the international scale, researchers reviewed organizational research plans and documents, websites, and formal international agreement documents. At the U.S. national scale, researchers analyzed legislation, formal inter-agency agreements, work plans, charters, and policy documents. Researchers based analysis of relationships among global organizations and national federal organizations on four broad relationship categories: Communications, Data, Infrastructure, and Human Resources. In addition to the four broad relationship categories, researchers also gathered data on relationship instrument types, strength of relationships, and (at the global level) ocean observing variables. Using network visualization software, researchers then developed a series of dynamic webpages. Researchers used the tool to address questions identified by the ocean observing community, including identifying gaps in global relationships and the types of tools used to develop networks at the U.S. national level. As the ION project goes through beta testing and is utilized to address specific questions posed by the ocean observing community, it will become more refined and more closely linked to user needs and interests.

Flow networks for Ocean currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tupikina, Liubov; Molkenthin, Nora; Marwan, Norbert; Kurths, Jürgen

2014-05-01

Complex networks have been successfully applied to various systems such as society, technology, and recently climate. Links in a climate network are defined between two geographical locations if the correlation between the time series of some climate variable is higher than a threshold. Therefore, network links are considered to imply heat exchange. However, the relationship between the oceanic and atmospheric flows and the climate network's structure is still unclear. Recently, a theoretical approach verifying the correlation between ocean currents and surface air temperature networks has been introduced, where the Pearson correlation networks were constructed from advection-diffusion dynamics on an underlying flow. Since the continuous approach has its limitations, i.e., by its high computational complexity, we here introduce a new, discrete construction of flow-networks, which is then applied to static and dynamic velocity fields. Analyzing the flow-networks of prototypical flows we find that our approach can highlight the zones of high velocity by degree and transition zones by betweenness, while the combination of these network measures can uncover how the flow propagates within time. We also apply the method to time series data of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Current and the Gulf Stream ocean current for the changing velocity fields, which could not been done before, and analyse the properties of the dynamical system. Flow-networks can be powerful tools to theoretically understand the step from system's dynamics to network's topology that can be analyzed using network measures and is used for shading light on different climatic phenomena.

Optimizing Observation Networks Combining Ships of Opportunity, Gliders, Moored Buoys and FerryBox in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charria, G.; Lamouroux, J.; De Mey, P. J.; Raynaud, S.; Heyraud, C.; Craneguy, P.; Dumas, F.; Le Henaff, M.

2016-02-01

Designing optimal observation networks in coastal oceans remains one of the major challenges towards the implementation of future Integrated Ocean Observing Systems to monitor the coastal environment. In the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel, the diversity of involved processes requires to adapt observing systems to the specific targeted environments. Also important is the requirement for those systems to sustain coastal applications. An efficient way to measure the hydrological content of the water column over the continental shelf is to consider ships of opportunity. In the French observation strategy, the RECOPESCA program, as a component of the High frequency Observation network for the environment in coastal SEAs (HOSEA), aims to collect environmental observations from sensors attached to fishing nets. In the present study, we assess that network performances using the ArM method (Le Hénaff et al., 2009). A reference network, based on fishing vessels observations in 2008, is assessed using that method. Moreover, three scenarios, based on the reference network, a denser network in 2010 and a fictive network aggregated from a pluri-annual collection of profiles, are also analyzed. Two other observational network design experiments have been implemented for the spring season in two regions: 1) the Loire River plume (northern part of the Bay of Biscay) to explore different possible glider endurance lines combined with a fixed mooring to monitor temperature and salinity and 2) the Western English Channel using a glider below FerryBox measurements. These experiments combining existing and future observing systems, as well as numerical ensemble simulations, highlight the key issue of monitoring the whole water column in and close to river plumes (e.g. using gliders), the efficiency of the surface high frequency sampling from FerryBoxes in macrotidal regions and the importance of sampling key regions instead of increasing the number of Voluntary Observing Ships.

Ocean Networks Canada: Live Sensing of a Dynamic Ocean System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heesemann, Martin; Juniper, Kim; Hoeberechts, Maia; Matabos, Marjolaine; Mihaly, Steven; Scherwath, Martin; Dewey, Richard

2013-04-01

Ocean Networks Canada operates two advanced cabled networks on the west coast of British Columbia. VENUS, the coastal network consisting of two cabled arrays with four Nodes reaching an isolated fjord (Saanich Inlet) and a busy shipping corridor near Vancouver (the Strait of Georgia) went into operation in February 2006. NEPTUNE Canada is the first operational deep-sea regional cabled ocean observatory worldwide. Since the first data began streaming to the public in 2009, instruments on the five active nodes along the 800 km cable loop have gathered a time-series documenting three years in the northeastern Pacific. Observations cover the northern Juan de Fuca tectonic plate from ridge to trench and the continental shelf and slope off Vancouver Island. The cabled systems provide power and high bandwidth communications to a wide range of oceanographic instrument systems which measure the physical, chemical, geological, and biological conditions of the dynamic earth-ocean system. Over the years significant challenges have been overcome and currently we have more than 100 instruments with hundreds of sensors reporting data in real-time. Salient successes are the first open-ocean seafloor to sea-surface vertical profiling system, three years of operation of Wally—a seafloor crawler that explores a hydrate mound, and a proven resilient cable design that can recover from trawler hits and major equipment meltdown with minimal loss of data. A network wide array of bottom mounted pressure recorders and seismometers recorded the passage of three major tsunamis, numerous earthquakes and frequent whale calls. At the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca ridge high temperature and diffuse vent fluids were monitored and sampled using novel equipment, including high resolution active acoustics instrumentation to study plume dynamics at a massive sulfide hydrothermal vent. Also, four deep sea cabled moorings (300 m high) were placed in the precipitous bathymetry of the 2200 m deep axial valley. Close to shore, a three-dimensional imaging system monitors the growth of a sponge complex on the 20 m deep Folger pinnacle in the wave zone offshore Vancouver Island. Instruments monitoring the delta and estuarine dynamics of the Fraser River that empties into the eastern edge of the Strait of Georgia complete the picture of this northeast Pacific dynamic ocean system from an active spreading ridge, down to the abyss, along the hydrate-rich slope, and up to the coast. While the installation of the first phase of experiments is nearing completion, the cabled networks still provide ample opportunity for expansion and scientists from all over the world are invited to join our community and advance science by using the data that is publicly available at http://www.oceannetworks.ca/.

Does biological intimacy shape ecological network structure? A test using a brood pollination mutualism on continental and oceanic islands.

PubMed

Hembry, David H; Raimundo, Rafael L G; Newman, Erica A; Atkinson, Lesje; Guo, Chang; Guimarães, Paulo R; Gillespie, Rosemary G

2018-04-25

Biological intimacy-the degree of physical proximity or integration of partner taxa during their life cycles-is thought to promote the evolution of reciprocal specialization and modularity in the networks formed by co-occurring mutualistic species, but this hypothesis has rarely been tested. Here, we test this "biological intimacy hypothesis" by comparing the network architecture of brood pollination mutualisms, in which specialized insects are simultaneously parasites (as larvae) and pollinators (as adults) of their host plants to that of other mutualisms which vary in their biological intimacy (including ant-myrmecophyte, ant-extrafloral nectary, plant-pollinator and plant-seed disperser assemblages). We use a novel dataset sampled from leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Phyllanthus s. l. [Glochidion]) and their pollinating leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) on three oceanic islands (French Polynesia) and compare it to equivalent published data from congeners on continental islands (Japan). We infer taxonomic diversity of leafflower moths using multilocus molecular phylogenetic analysis and examine several network structural properties: modularity (compartmentalization), reciprocality (symmetry) of specialization and algebraic connectivity. We find that most leafflower-moth networks are reciprocally specialized and modular, as hypothesized. However, we also find that two oceanic island networks differ in their modularity and reciprocal specialization from the others, as a result of a supergeneralist moth taxon which interacts with nine of 10 available hosts. Our results generally support the biological intimacy hypothesis, finding that leafflower-moth networks (usually) share a reciprocally specialized and modular structure with other intimate mutualisms such as ant-myrmecophyte symbioses, but unlike nonintimate mutualisms such as seed dispersal and nonintimate pollination. Additionally, we show that generalists-common in nonintimate mutualisms-can also evolve in intimate mutualisms, and that their effect is similar in both types of assemblages: once generalists emerge they reshape the network organization by connecting otherwise isolated modules. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society.

Ocean Networks Canada's "Big Data" Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewey, R. K.; Hoeberechts, M.; Moran, K.; Pirenne, B.; Owens, D.

2013-12-01

Ocean Networks Canada operates two large undersea observatories that collect, archive, and deliver data in real time over the Internet. These data contribute to our understanding of the complex changes taking place on our ocean planet. Ocean Networks Canada's VENUS was the world's first cabled seafloor observatory to enable researchers anywhere to connect in real time to undersea experiments and observations. Its NEPTUNE observatory is the largest cabled ocean observatory, spanning a wide range of ocean environments. Most recently, we installed a new small observatory in the Arctic. Together, these observatories deliver "Big Data" across many disciplines in a cohesive manner using the Oceans 2.0 data management and archiving system that provides national and international users with open access to real-time and archived data while also supporting a collaborative work environment. Ocean Networks Canada operates these observatories to support science, innovation, and learning in four priority areas: study of the impact of climate change on the ocean; the exploration and understanding the unique life forms in the extreme environments of the deep ocean and below the seafloor; the exchange of heat, fluids, and gases that move throughout the ocean and atmosphere; and the dynamics of earthquakes, tsunamis, and undersea landslides. To date, the Ocean Networks Canada archive contains over 130 TB (collected over 7 years) and the current rate of data acquisition is ~50 TB per year. This data set is complex and diverse. Making these "Big Data" accessible and attractive to users is our priority. In this presentation, we share our experience as a "Big Data" institution where we deliver simple and multi-dimensional calibrated data cubes to a diverse pool of users. Ocean Networks Canada also conducts extensive user testing. Test results guide future tool design and development of "Big Data" products. We strive to bridge the gap between the raw, archived data and the needs and experience of a diverse user community, each requiring tailored data visualization and integrated products. By doing this we aim to design tools that maximize exploitation of the data.

Method for collecting thermocouple data via secured shell over a wireless local area network in real time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, F.; DeMallie, I.; Florence, L.; Kashinski, D. O.

2015-03-01

This manuscript addresses the design, hardware details, construction, and programming of an apparatus allowing an experimenter to monitor and record high-temperature thermocouple measurements of dynamic systems in real time. The apparatus uses wireless network technology to bridge the gap between a dynamic (moving) sample frame and the static laboratory frame. Our design is a custom solution applied to samples that rotate through large angular displacements where hard-wired and typical slip-ring solutions are not practical because of noise considerations. The apparatus consists of a Raspberry PI mini-Linux computer, an Arduino micro-controller, an Ocean Controls thermocouple multiplexer shield, and k-type thermocouples.

Method for collecting thermocouple data via secured shell over a wireless local area network in real time.

PubMed

Arnold, F; DeMallie, I; Florence, L; Kashinski, D O

2015-03-01

This manuscript addresses the design, hardware details, construction, and programming of an apparatus allowing an experimenter to monitor and record high-temperature thermocouple measurements of dynamic systems in real time. The apparatus uses wireless network technology to bridge the gap between a dynamic (moving) sample frame and the static laboratory frame. Our design is a custom solution applied to samples that rotate through large angular displacements where hard-wired and typical slip-ring solutions are not practical because of noise considerations. The apparatus consists of a Raspberry PI mini-Linux computer, an Arduino micro-controller, an Ocean Controls thermocouple multiplexer shield, and k-type thermocouples.

ARM Carbon Cycle Gases Flasks at SGP Site

DOE Data Explorer

Biraud, Sebastien

2013-03-26

Data from flasks are sampled at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program ARM, Southern Great Plains Site and analyzed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory ESRL. The SGP site is included in the NOAA Cooperative Global Air Sampling Network. The surface samples are collected from a 60 m tower at the ARM SGP Central Facility, usually once per week in the afternoon. The aircraft samples are collected approximately weekly from a chartered aircraft, and the collection flight path is centered over the tower where the surface samples are collected. The samples are collected by the ARM and LBNL Carbon Project.

Physical oceanography from satellites: Currents and the slope of the sea surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sturges, W.

1974-01-01

A global scheme using satellite altimetry in conjunction with thermometry techniques provides for more accurate determinations of first order leveling networks by overcoming discrepancies between ocean leveling and land leveling methods. The high noise content in altimetry signals requires filtering or correction for tides, etc., as well as carefully planned sampling schemes.

The Story of GANDER

PubMed Central

Allan, Tom

2006-01-01

GANDER – for Global Altimeter Network Designed to Evaluate Risk – was an idea that was probably ahead of its time. Conceived at a time when ocean observing satellites were sometimes 10 years in the planning stage, the concept of affordable faster sampling through the use of altimeter-carrying microsats was primarily advanced as a way of detecting and tracking storms at sea on a daily basis. But, of course, a radar altimeter monitors changes in sea-level as well as surface wave height and wind speed. Here then is a system which, flown with more precise missions such as JASON 2, could meet the needs of ocean modellers by providing the greater detail required for tracking mesoscale eddies, whilst servicing forecasting centres and units at sea with near real-time sea state information. A tsunami mode, instantly activated when an undersea earthquake is detected by the global network of seismic stations, could also be incorporated.

Inscapes: A movie paradigm to improve compliance in functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Vanderwal, Tamara; Kelly, Clare; Eilbott, Jeffrey; Mayes, Linda C; Castellanos, F Xavier

2015-11-15

The examination of functional connectivity in fMRI data collected during task-free "rest" has provided a powerful tool for studying functional brain organization. Limitations of this approach include susceptibility to head motion artifacts and participant drowsiness or sleep. These issues are especially relevant when studying young children or clinical populations. Here we introduce a movie paradigm, Inscapes, that features abstract shapes without a narrative or scene-cuts. The movie was designed to provide enough stimulation to improve compliance related to motion and wakefulness while minimizing cognitive load during the collection of functional imaging data. We compare Inscapes to eyes-open rest and to age-appropriate movie clips in healthy adults (Ocean's Eleven, n=22) and a pilot sample of typically developing children ages 3-7 (Fantasia, n=13). Head motion was significantly lower during both movies relative to rest for both groups. In adults, movies decreased the number of participants who self-reported sleep. Intersubject correlations, used to quantify synchronized, task-evoked activity across movie and rest conditions in adults, involved less cortex during Inscapes than Ocean's Eleven. To evaluate the effect of movie-watching on intrinsic functional connectivity networks, we examined mean functional connectivity using both whole-brain functional parcellation and network-based approaches. Both inter- and intra-network metrics were more similar between Inscapes and Rest than between Ocean's Eleven and Rest, particularly in comparisons involving the default network. When comparing movies to Rest, the mean functional connectivity of somatomotor, visual and ventral attention networks differed significantly across various analyses. We conclude that low-demand movies like Inscapes may represent a useful intermediate condition between task-free rest and typical narrative movies while still improving participant compliance. Inscapes is publicly available for download at headspacestudios.org/inscapes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mapping sub-surface geostrophic currents from altimetry and a fleet of gliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez, A.; Chiggiato, J.; Schroeder, K.

2013-04-01

Integrating the observations gathered by different platforms into a unique physical picture of the environment is a fundamental aspect of networked ocean observing systems. These are constituted by a spatially distributed set of sensors and platforms that simultaneously monitor a given ocean region. Remote sensing from satellites is an integral part of present ocean observing systems. Due to their autonomy, mobility and controllability, underwater gliders are envisioned to play a significant role in the development of networked ocean observatories. Exploiting synergism between remote sensing and underwater gliders is expected to result on a better characterization of the marine environment than using these observational sources individually. This study investigates a methodology to estimate the three dimensional distribution of geostrophic currents resulting from merging satellite altimetry and in situ samples gathered by a fleet of Slocum gliders. Specifically, the approach computes the volumetric or three dimensional distribution of absolute dynamic height (ADH) that minimizes the total energy of the system while being close to in situ observations and matching the absolute dynamic topography (ADT) observed from satellite at the sea surface. A three dimensional finite element technique is employed to solve the minimization problem. The methodology is validated making use of the dataset collected during the field experiment called Rapid Environmental Picture-2010 (REP-10) carried out by the NATO Undersea Research Center-NURC during August 2010. A marine region off-shore La Spezia (northwest coast of Italy) was sampled by a fleet of three coastal Slocum gliders. Results indicate that the geostrophic current field estimated from gliders and altimetry significantly improves the estimates obtained using only the data gathered by the glider fleet.

Forecasting and Reanalysis in the Monterey Bay/California Current Region for the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network-II Experiment

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-26

only after shifting the GDEM 2 climatology (Davis et al., 1986) to the observed AOSN-II mean that the larger-scale Off Shore Domain was of some use...T.M., K.A. Countryman and M.J. Carron (1986) Tailored acoustic products utilizing the NAVOCEANO GDEM (a generalized digital envi- ronmental model). in

Modeling ecological drivers in marine viral communities using comparative metagenomics and network analyses.

PubMed

Hurwitz, Bonnie L; Westveld, Anton H; Brum, Jennifer R; Sullivan, Matthew B

2014-07-22

Long-standing questions in marine viral ecology are centered on understanding how viral assemblages change along gradients in space and time. However, investigating these fundamental ecological questions has been challenging due to incomplete representation of naturally occurring viral diversity in single gene- or morphology-based studies and an inability to identify up to 90% of reads in viral metagenomes (viromes). Although protein clustering techniques provide a significant advance by helping organize this unknown metagenomic sequence space, they typically use only ∼75% of the data and rely on assembly methods not yet tuned for naturally occurring sequence variation. Here, we introduce an annotation- and assembly-free strategy for comparative metagenomics that combines shared k-mer and social network analyses (regression modeling). This robust statistical framework enables visualization of complex sample networks and determination of ecological factors driving community structure. Application to 32 viromes from the Pacific Ocean Virome dataset identified clusters of samples broadly delineated by photic zone and revealed that geographic region, depth, and proximity to shore were significant predictors of community structure. Within subsets of this dataset, depth, season, and oxygen concentration were significant drivers of viral community structure at a single open ocean station, whereas variability along onshore-offshore transects was driven by oxygen concentration in an area with an oxygen minimum zone and not depth or proximity to shore, as might be expected. Together these results demonstrate that this highly scalable approach using complete metagenomic network-based comparisons can both test and generate hypotheses for ecological investigation of viral and microbial communities in nature.

Modeling ecological drivers in marine viral communities using comparative metagenomics and network analyses

PubMed Central

Hurwitz, Bonnie L.; Westveld, Anton H.; Brum, Jennifer R.; Sullivan, Matthew B.

2014-01-01

Long-standing questions in marine viral ecology are centered on understanding how viral assemblages change along gradients in space and time. However, investigating these fundamental ecological questions has been challenging due to incomplete representation of naturally occurring viral diversity in single gene- or morphology-based studies and an inability to identify up to 90% of reads in viral metagenomes (viromes). Although protein clustering techniques provide a significant advance by helping organize this unknown metagenomic sequence space, they typically use only ∼75% of the data and rely on assembly methods not yet tuned for naturally occurring sequence variation. Here, we introduce an annotation- and assembly-free strategy for comparative metagenomics that combines shared k-mer and social network analyses (regression modeling). This robust statistical framework enables visualization of complex sample networks and determination of ecological factors driving community structure. Application to 32 viromes from the Pacific Ocean Virome dataset identified clusters of samples broadly delineated by photic zone and revealed that geographic region, depth, and proximity to shore were significant predictors of community structure. Within subsets of this dataset, depth, season, and oxygen concentration were significant drivers of viral community structure at a single open ocean station, whereas variability along onshore–offshore transects was driven by oxygen concentration in an area with an oxygen minimum zone and not depth or proximity to shore, as might be expected. Together these results demonstrate that this highly scalable approach using complete metagenomic network-based comparisons can both test and generate hypotheses for ecological investigation of viral and microbial communities in nature. PMID:25002514

EGO: Towards a global glider infrastructure for the benefit of marine research and operational oceanography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Testor, Pierre

2013-04-01

In the 1990 s, while gliders were being developed and successfully passing first tests, their potential use for ocean research started to be discussed in international conferences because they could help us improve the cost-effectiveness, sampling, and distribution of the ocean observations (see OceanObs'99 Conference Statement - UNESCO). After the prototype phase, in the 2000 s, one could only witness the growing glider activity throughout the world. The first glider experiments in Europe brought together several teams that were interested in the technology and a consortium formed naturally from these informal collaborations. Since 2006, Everyone's Gliding Observatories (EGO - http://www.ego-network.org) Workshops and Glider Schools have been organized, whilst becoming the international forum for glider activities. Some key challenges have emerged from the expansion of the glider system and require now setting up a sustainable European as well as a global system to operate glider and to ensure a smooth and sustained link to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Glider technology faces many scientific, technological and logistical issues. In particular, it approaches the challenge of controlling many steerable probes in a variable environment for better sampling. It also needs the development of new formats and procedures in order to build glider observatories at a global level. Several geographically distributed teams of oceanographers now operate gliders, and there is a risk of fragmentation. We will here present results from our consortium who intends to solve most of these issues through scientific and technological coordination and networking. This approach is supported by the ESF through Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST). The COST Action ES0904 "EGO" started in July 2010 aiming to build international cooperation and capacities at the scientific, technological, and organizational levels, for sustained observations of the oceans with gliders. A major impact of this Action was the elaboration of the EU Collaborative Project GROOM, Gliders for Research, Ocean Observation and Management for the FP7 call "Capacities - Research Infrastructures", which addresses the topic "design studies for research infrastructures in all S&T fields" (see http://www.groom-fp.eu).

Ship-borne Radio and GLD360 Measurements of Intense Oceanic Lightning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoghzoghy, F. G.; Cohen, M.; Said, R.; Lehtinen, N. G.; Inan, U.

2013-12-01

Recent studies with the GLD360 lightning geo-location network have shown that the peak current intensity of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is more powerful over the ocean than over land. This remains a poorly understood phenomenon. The Stanford VLF group has recently deployed a Very Low Frequency (1 MHz sampling rate) radio receiver system aboard the NOAA Ronald W. Brown research vessel. The goal of this transatlantic experiment is to improve our understanding of oceanic lightning and to investigate the physical difference between oceanic and land lightning. When positioned reasonably close to deep oceanic thunderstorms, the LF-VLF receiver aboard the Ronald W. Brown detects the impulsive radio emissions from the return stroke, up to 1 MHz, which enables us to estimate the return-stroke waveform shapes generated by the lightning channel. In this presentation, we present our experimental setup and a summary of the data collected during the transatlantic voyages of the NOAA ship. We process lightning-generated waveforms, compare them to LF-VLF data from land lightning over Oklahoma, extract statistical patterns, and compare the data to numerical and analytical models.

Analysis and Modeling of Intense Oceanic Lightning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoghzoghy, F. G.; Cohen, M.; Said, R.; Lehtinen, N. G.; Inan, U.

2014-12-01

Recent studies using lightning data from geo-location networks such as GLD360 suggest that lightning strokes are more intense over the ocean than over land, even though they are less common [Said et al. 2013]. We present an investigation of the physical differences between oceanic and land lightning. We have deployed a sensitive Low Frequency (1 MHz sampling rate) radio receiver system aboard the NOAA Ronald W. Brown research vessel and have collected thousands of lightning waveforms close to deep oceanic lightning. We analyze the captured waveforms, describe our modeling efforts, and summarize our findings. We model the ground wave (gw) portion of the lightning sferics using a numerical method built on top of the Stanford Full Wave Method (FWM) [Lehtinen and Inan 2008]. The gwFWM technique accounts for propagation over a curved Earth with finite conductivity, and is used to simulate an arbitrary current profile along the lightning channel. We conduct a sensitivity analysis and study the current profiles for land and for oceanic lightning. We find that the effect of ground conductivity is minimal, and that stronger oceanic radio intensity does not result from shorter current rise-time or from faster return stroke propagation speed.

Adaptive Sampling in Autonomous Marine Sensor Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-06-01

Analog Processing Section A high-performance preamplifier with low noise characteristics is vital to obtaining quality sonar data. The preamplifier ...research assistantships through the Generic Ocean Array Technology Sonar (GOATS) project, contract N00014-97-1-0202 and contract N00014-05-G-0106 Delivery...Formation Behavior ..................................... 60 5 An AUV Intelligent Sensor for Real-Time Adaptive Sensing 63 5.1 A Logical Sonar Sensor

Towards a quantification of ocean wave heights off the west coast of Ireland using land based seismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donne, S.; Bean, C. J.; Lokmer, I.; Lambkin, K.; Creamer, C.

2012-12-01

Ocean gravity waves are driven by atmospheric pressure systems. Their interactions with one another and reflection off coastlines generate pressure changes at the sea floor. These pressure fluctuations are the cause of continuous background seismic noise known as microseisms. The levels of microseism activity vary as a function of the sea state and increase during periods of intensive ocean wave activity. In 2011 a seismic network was deployed along the west coast of Ireland to continuously record microseisms generated in the Atlantic Ocean, as part of the Wave Observation (WaveObs) project based in University College Dublin. This project aims to determine the characteristics of the causative ocean gravity waves through calibration of the microseism data with ocean buoy data. In initial tests we are using a Backpropagation Feed-forward Artificial Neural Network (BP ANN) to establish the underlying relationships between microseisms and ocean waves. ANNs were originally inspired by studies of the mammalian brain and nervous system and are designed to learn by example. If successful these tools could then be used to estimate ocean wave heights and wave periods using a land-based seismic network and complement current wave observations being made offshore by marine buoys. Preliminary ANN results are promising with the network successfully able to reconstruct trends in ocean wave heights and periods. Microseisms can provide significant information about oceanic processes. With a deeper understanding of how these processes work there is potential for 1) locating and tracking the evolution of the largest waves in the Atlantic and 2) reconstructing the wave climate off the west coast of Ireland using legacy seismic data on a longer time scale than is currently available using marine based observations.

Ocean plankton. Determinants of community structure in the global plankton interactome.

PubMed

Lima-Mendez, Gipsi; Faust, Karoline; Henry, Nicolas; Decelle, Johan; Colin, Sébastien; Carcillo, Fabrizio; Chaffron, Samuel; Ignacio-Espinosa, J Cesar; Roux, Simon; Vincent, Flora; Bittner, Lucie; Darzi, Youssef; Wang, Jun; Audic, Stéphane; Berline, Léo; Bontempi, Gianluca; Cabello, Ana M; Coppola, Laurent; Cornejo-Castillo, Francisco M; d'Ovidio, Francesco; De Meester, Luc; Ferrera, Isabel; Garet-Delmas, Marie-José; Guidi, Lionel; Lara, Elena; Pesant, Stéphane; Royo-Llonch, Marta; Salazar, Guillem; Sánchez, Pablo; Sebastian, Marta; Souffreau, Caroline; Dimier, Céline; Picheral, Marc; Searson, Sarah; Kandels-Lewis, Stefanie; Gorsky, Gabriel; Not, Fabrice; Ogata, Hiroyuki; Speich, Sabrina; Stemmann, Lars; Weissenbach, Jean; Wincker, Patrick; Acinas, Silvia G; Sunagawa, Shinichi; Bork, Peer; Sullivan, Matthew B; Karsenti, Eric; Bowler, Chris; de Vargas, Colomban; Raes, Jeroen

2015-05-22

Species interaction networks are shaped by abiotic and biotic factors. Here, as part of the Tara Oceans project, we studied the photic zone interactome using environmental factors and organismal abundance profiles and found that environmental factors are incomplete predictors of community structure. We found associations across plankton functional types and phylogenetic groups to be nonrandomly distributed on the network and driven by both local and global patterns. We identified interactions among grazers, primary producers, viruses, and (mainly parasitic) symbionts and validated network-generated hypotheses using microscopy to confirm symbiotic relationships. We have thus provided a resource to support further research on ocean food webs and integrating biological components into ocean models. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Maritime Aerosol Network as a Component of AERONET - First Results and Comparison with Global Aerosol Models and Satellite Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smirnov, A.; Holben, B. N.; Giles, D. M.; Slutsker, I.; O'Neill, N. T.; Eck, T. F.; Macke, A.; Croot, P.; Courcoux, Y.; Sakerin, S. M.;

Maritime Aerosol Network as a component of AERONET - first results and comparison with global aerosol models and satellite retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, A.; Holben, B. N.; Giles, D. M.; Slutsker, I.; O'Neill, N. T.; Eck, T. F.; Macke, A.; Croot, P.; Courcoux, Y.; Sakerin, S. M.; Smyth, T. J.; Zielinski, T.; Zibordi, G.; Goes, J. I.; Harvey, M. J.; Quinn, P. K.; Nelson, N. B.; Radionov, V. F.; Duarte, C. M.; Losno, R.; Sciare, J.; Voss, K. J.; Kinne, S.; Nalli, N. R.; Joseph, E.; Krishna Moorthy, K.; Covert, D. S.; Gulev, S. K.; Milinevsky, G.; Larouche, P.; Belanger, S.; Horne, E.; Chin, M.; Remer, L. A.; Kahn, R. A.; Reid, J. S.; Schulz, M.; Heald, C. L.; Zhang, J.; Lapina, K.; Kleidman, R. G.; Griesfeller, J.; Gaitley, B. J.; Tan, Q.; Diehl, T. L.

2011-01-01

The Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) has been collecting data over the oceans since November 2006. Over 80 cruises were completed through early 2010 with deployments continuing. Measurements areas included various parts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Northern and Southern Pacific Ocean, the South Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and inland seas. MAN deploys Microtops hand-held sunphotometers and utilizes a calibration procedure and data processing traceable to AERONET. Data collection included areas that previously had no aerosol optical depth (AOD) coverage at all, particularly vast areas of the Southern Ocean. The MAN data archive provides a valuable resource for aerosol studies in maritime environments. In the current paper we present results of AOD measurements over the oceans, and make a comparison with satellite AOD retrievals and model simulations.

Maritime aerosol network as a component of AERONET - first results and comparison with global aerosol models and satellite retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, A.; Holben, B. N.; Giles, D. M.; Slutsker, I.; O'Neill, N. T.; Eck, T. F.; Macke, A.; Croot, P.; Courcoux, Y.; Sakerin, S. M.; Smyth, T. J.; Zielinski, T.; Zibordi, G.; Goes, J. I.; Harvey, M. J.; Quinn, P. K.; Nelson, N. B.; Radionov, V. F.; Duarte, C. M.; Losno, R.; Sciare, J.; Voss, K. J.; Kinne, S.; Nalli, N. R.; Joseph, E.; Krishna Moorthy, K.; Covert, D. S.; Gulev, S. K.; Milinevsky, G.; Larouche, P.; Belanger, S.; Horne, E.; Chin, M.; Remer, L. A.; Kahn, R. A.; Reid, J. S.; Schulz, M.; Heald, C. L.; Zhang, J.; Lapina, K.; Kleidman, R. G.; Griesfeller, J.; Gaitley, B. J.; Tan, Q.; Diehl, T. L.

2011-03-01

The Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) has been collecting data over the oceans since November 2006. Over 80 cruises were completed through early 2010 with deployments continuing. Measurement areas included various parts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Northern and Southern Pacific Ocean, the South Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and inland seas. MAN deploys Microtops hand-held sunphotometers and utilizes a calibration procedure and data processing traceable to AERONET. Data collection included areas that previously had no aerosol optical depth (AOD) coverage at all, particularly vast areas of the Southern Ocean. The MAN data archive provides a valuable resource for aerosol studies in maritime environments. In the current paper we present results of AOD measurements over the oceans, and make a comparison with satellite AOD retrievals and model simulations.

SSL: Signal Similarity-Based Localization for Ocean Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Chen, Pengpeng; Ma, Honglu; Gao, Shouwan; Huang, Yan

2015-11-24

Nowadays, wireless sensor networks are often deployed on the sea surface for ocean scientific monitoring. One of the important challenges is to localize the nodes' positions. Existing localization schemes can be roughly divided into two types: range-based and range-free. The range-based localization approaches heavily depend on extra hardware capabilities, while range-free ones often suffer from poor accuracy and low scalability, far from the practical ocean monitoring applications. In response to the above limitations, this paper proposes a novel signal similarity-based localization (SSL) technology, which localizes the nodes' positions by fully utilizing the similarity of received signal strength and the open-air characteristics of the sea surface. In the localization process, we first estimate the relative distance between neighboring nodes through comparing the similarity of received signal strength and then calculate the relative distance for non-neighboring nodes with the shortest path algorithm. After that, the nodes' relative relation map of the whole network can be obtained. Given at least three anchors, the physical locations of nodes can be finally determined based on the multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) technology. The design is evaluated by two types of ocean experiments: a zonal network and a non-regular network using 28 nodes. Results show that the proposed design improves the localization accuracy compared to typical connectivity-based approaches and also confirm its effectiveness for large-scale ocean sensor networks.

Ocean Environmental Assessment and Adaptive Resource Management within the Framework of IOOS and CLEANER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonner, J.; Brezonik, P.; Clesceri, N.; Gouldman, C.; Jamail, R.; Zilkoski, D.

2006-12-01

The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), established through the efforts of the National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations (Oceans.US) provides quality controlled data and information on a routine and continuous basis regarding current and future states of the oceans and Great Lakes at scales from global ocean basins to coastal ecosystems. The seven societal goals of IOOS are outlined in this paper. The Engineering and Geosciences Directorates at the National Science Foundation (NSF) are collaborating in planning the WATERS (WATer Environmental Research System) Network, an outgrowth of earlier, separate initiatives of the two directorates: CLEANER (Collaborative Large-scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research) and Hydrologic Observatories. WATERS Network is being developed by engineers and scientists in the academic community who recognize the need for an observation and research network to enable better understanding of human-dominated water-environments, their stressors, and the links between them. The WATERS Network model is based on a research framework anchored in a distributed, cyber-based network supporting: 1) data collection; 2) data aggregation; 3) analytical and exploratory tools; and 4) a computational environment supporting predictive modeling and policy analysis on water resource systems. Within IOOS, the U.S. coastal margin is divided into Regional Associations (RAs), organizational units that are conceptually linked through planned data collection and analysis activities for resolving fundamental coastal margin ecosystem questions and addressing RA concerns. Under the WATERS Network scheme, a Coastal Margin Regional Environmental System (RES) for coastal areas would be defined conceptually based on geomorphologic considerations of four major water bodies; Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, and Laurentian Great Lakes. Within this framework, each coastal margin would operate one or more local environmental field facilities (or observatories). Mutual coordination and collaboration would exist among these coasts through RES interactions based on a cyberinfrastructure supporting all aspects of quantitative analysis. Because the U.S. Ocean Action Plan refers to the creation of a National Water Quality Monitoring Network, a close liaison between IOOS and WATERS Network could be mutually advantageous considering the shared visions, goals and objectives. A focus on activities and initiatives involving sensor and sensor networks for coastal margin observation and assessment would be a specific instance of this liaison, leveraging the infrastructural base of both organizations to maximize resource allocation. This coordinated venture with intelligent environmental systems would include new specialized coastal monitoring networks, and management of near-real-time data, including data assimilation models. An ongoing NSF planning grant aimed at environmental observatory design for coastal margins is a component of the broader WATERS Network planning for collaborative research to support adaptive and sustainable environmental management. We propose a collaborative framework between IOOS and WATERS Network wherein collaborative research will be enabled by cybernetworks to support adaptive and sustainable management of the coastal regions.

Building Ocean Learning Communities: A COSEE Science and Education Partnership

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robigou, V.; Bullerdick, S.; Anderson, A.

2007-12-01

The core mission of the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) is to promote partnerships between research scientists and educators through a national network of regional and thematic centers. In addition, the COSEEs also disseminate best practices in ocean sciences education, and promote ocean sciences as a charismatic interdisciplinary vehicle for creating a more scientifically literate workforce and citizenry. Although each center is mainly funded through a peer-reviewed grant process by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the centers form a national network that fosters collaborative efforts among the centers to design and implement initiatives for the benefit of the entire network and beyond. Among these initiatives the COSEE network has contributed to the definition, promotion, and dissemination of Ocean Literacy in formal and informal learning settings. Relevant to all research scientists, an Education and Public Outreach guide for scientists is now available at www.tos.org. This guide highlights strategies for engaging scientists in Ocean Sciences Education that are often applicable in other sciences. To address the challenging issue of ocean sciences education informed by scientific research, the COSEE approach supports centers that are partnerships between research institutions, formal and informal education venues, advocacy groups, industry, and others. The COSEE Ocean Learning Communities, is a partnership between the University of Washington College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and College of Education, the Seattle Aquarium, and a not-for-profit educational organization. The main focus of the center is to foster and create Learning Communities that cultivate contributing, and ocean sciences-literate citizens aware of the ocean's impact on daily life. The center is currently working with volunteer groups around the Northwest region that are actively involved in projects in the marine environment and to empower these diverse groups including research scientists, formal and informal educators, business representatives, and non-profit groups to identify ocean-related problems, and develop solutions to share with their own communities. COSEE OLC practices and studies the skills of developing these collaborations.

Designing connected marine reserves in the face of global warming.

PubMed

Álvarez-Romero, Jorge G; Munguía-Vega, Adrián; Beger, Maria; Del Mar Mancha-Cisneros, Maria; Suárez-Castillo, Alvin N; Gurney, Georgina G; Pressey, Robert L; Gerber, Leah R; Morzaria-Luna, Hem Nalini; Reyes-Bonilla, Héctor; Adams, Vanessa M; Kolb, Melanie; Graham, Erin M; VanDerWal, Jeremy; Castillo-López, Alejandro; Hinojosa-Arango, Gustavo; Petatán-Ramírez, David; Moreno-Baez, Marcia; Godínez-Reyes, Carlos R; Torre, Jorge

2018-02-01

Marine reserves are widely used to protect species important for conservation and fisheries and to help maintain ecological processes that sustain their populations, including recruitment and dispersal. Achieving these goals requires well-connected networks of marine reserves that maximize larval connectivity, thus allowing exchanges between populations and recolonization after local disturbances. However, global warming can disrupt connectivity by shortening potential dispersal pathways through changes in larval physiology. These changes can compromise the performance of marine reserve networks, thus requiring adjusting their design to account for ocean warming. To date, empirical approaches to marine prioritization have not considered larval connectivity as affected by global warming. Here, we develop a framework for designing marine reserve networks that integrates graph theory and changes in larval connectivity due to potential reductions in planktonic larval duration (PLD) associated with ocean warming, given current socioeconomic constraints. Using the Gulf of California as case study, we assess the benefits and costs of adjusting networks to account for connectivity, with and without ocean warming. We compare reserve networks designed to achieve representation of species and ecosystems with networks designed to also maximize connectivity under current and future ocean-warming scenarios. Our results indicate that current larval connectivity could be reduced significantly under ocean warming because of shortened PLDs. Given the potential changes in connectivity, we show that our graph-theoretical approach based on centrality (eigenvector and distance-weighted fragmentation) of habitat patches can help design better-connected marine reserve networks for the future with equivalent costs. We found that maintaining dispersal connectivity incidentally through representation-only reserve design is unlikely, particularly in regions with strong asymmetric patterns of dispersal connectivity. Our results support previous studies suggesting that, given potential reductions in PLD due to ocean warming, future marine reserve networks would require more and/or larger reserves in closer proximity to maintain larval connectivity. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Tools for Tomorrow's Science and Technology Workforce: MATE's 2006 ROV Competition Sets Students' Sights on Ocean Observing Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zande, Jill; Meeson, Blanche; Cook, Susan; Matsumoto, George

2006-01-01

Teams participating in the 2006 ROV competition organized by the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center and the Marine Technology Society's (MTS) ROV Committee experienced first-hand the scientific and technical challenges that many ocean scientists, technicians, and engineers face every day. The competition tasked more than 1,000 middle and high school, college, and university students from Newfoundland to Hong Kong with designing and building ROVs to support the next generation of ocean observing systems. Teaming up with the National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations, Ocean. US, and the Ocean Research Interactive Observatory Networks (ORION) Program, the competition highlighted ocean observing systems and the careers, organizations, and technologies associated with ocean observatories. The student teams were challenged to develop vehicles that can deploy, install, and maintain networks of instruments as well as to explore the practical applications and the research questions made possible by observing systems.

Neural networks in data analysis and modeling for detecting littoral oil-spills by airborne laser fluorosensor remote sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Bin; An, Jubai; Brown, Carl E.; Chen, Weiwei

2003-05-01

In this paper an artificial neural network (ANN) approach, which is based on flexible nonlinear models for a very broad class of transfer functions, is applied for multi-spectral data analysis and modeling of airborne laser fluorosensor in order to differentiate between classes of oil on water surface. We use three types of algorithm: Perceptron Network, Back-Propagation (B-P) Network and Self-Organizing feature Maps (SOM) Network. Using the data in form of 64-channel spectra as inputs, the ANN presents the analysis and estimation results of the oil type on the basis of the type of background materials as outputs. The ANN is trained and tested using sample data set to the network. The results of the above 3 types of network are compared in this paper. It is proved that the training has developed a network that not only fits the training data, but also fits real-world data that the network will process operationally. The ANN model would play a significant role in the ocean oil-spill identification in the future.

A Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON): Understanding Marine Life and its Role in Maintaining Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muller-Karger, F. E.; Iken, K.; Miller, R. J.; Duffy, J. E.; Chavez, F.; Montes, E.

2016-02-01

The U.S. Federal government (NOAA, NASA, BOEM, and the Smithsonian Institution), academic researchers, and private partners are laying the foundation for a Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON). The goals of the network are to: 1) Observe and understand life, from microbes to whales, in different coastal and continental shelf habitats; 2) Define an efficient set of observations required for implementing a useful MBON; 3) Develop technology for biodiversity assessments including emerging environmental DNA (eDNA), remote sensing, and image analysis methods to coordinate with classical sampling; 4) Integrate and synthesize information in coordination with the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), the international Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network(GEO BON), and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) sponsored by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); and 5) Understand the linkages between marine biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and the social-economic context of a region. Pilot projects have been implemented within three NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries (Florida Keys, Monterey Bay, and Channel Islands), the wider Santa Barbara Channel, in the Chukchi Sea, and through the Smithsonian's Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network (TMON) at several sites in the U.S. and collaborating countries. Together, these MBON sites encompass a wide range of marine environments, including deep sea, continental shelves, and coastal habitats including estuaries, wetlands, and coral reefs. The present MBON partners are open to growth of the MBON through additional collaborations. Given these initiatives, GEO BON is proposing an MBON effort that spans from pole to pole, with a pathfinder effort among countries in the Americas. By specializing in coastal ecosystems—where marine biodiversity and people are concentrated and interact most—the MBON and TMON initiatives aim to provide policymakers with the science to support innovative solutions and advance management and protection of our oceans. The initiative contributes to addressing U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use marine resources. The MBON will facilitate and enable regional biodiversity assessments.

Sampling, storage, and analysis of C2-C7 non-methane hydrocarbons from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Cooperative Air Sampling Network glass flasks.

PubMed

Pollmann, Jan; Helmig, Detlev; Hueber, Jacques; Plass-Dülmer, Christian; Tans, Pieter

2008-04-25

An analytical technique was developed to analyze light non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), including ethane, propane, iso-butane, n-butane, iso-pentane, n-pentane, n-hexane, isoprene, benzene and toluene from whole air samples collected in 2.5l-glass flasks used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory, Global Monitoring Division (NOAA ESRL GMD, Boulder, CO, USA) Cooperative Air Sampling Network. This method relies on utilizing the remaining air in these flasks (which is at below-ambient pressure at this stage) after the completion of all routine greenhouse gas measurements from these samples. NMHC in sample aliquots extracted from the flasks were preconcentrated with a custom-made, cryogen-free inlet system and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization detection (FID). C2-C7 NMHC, depending on their ambient air mixing ratios, could be measured with accuracy and repeatability errors of generally < or =10-20%. Larger deviations were found for ethene and propene. Hexane was systematically overestimated due to a chromatographic co-elution problem. Saturated NMHC showed less than 5% changes in their mixing ratios in glass flask samples that were stored for up to 1 year. In the same experiment ethene and propene increased at approximately 30% yr(-1). A series of blank experiments showed negligible contamination from the sampling process and from storage (<10 pptv yr(-1)) of samples in these glass flasks. Results from flask NMHC analyses were compared to in-situ NMHC measurements at the Global Atmospheric Watch station in Hohenpeissenberg, Germany. This 9-months side-by-side comparison showed good agreement between both methods. More than 94% of all data comparisons for C2-C5 alkanes, isoprene, benzene and toluene fell within the combined accuracy and precision objectives of the World Meteorological Organization Global Atmosphere Watch (WMO-GAW) for NMHC measurements.

Advances in Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Communications and Remote Sensing in Maritime Environments including the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGillivary, P. A.; Borges de Sousa, J.; Wackowski, S.; Walker, G.

2011-12-01

Small remotely piloted aircraft have recently been used for maritime remote sensing, including launch and retrieval operations from land, ships and sea ice. Such aircraft can also function to collect and communicate data from other ocean observing system platforms including moorings, tagged animals, drifters, autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), and autonomous underwater vessels (AUVs). The use of small remotely piloted aircraft (or UASs, unmanned aerial systems) with a combination of these capabilities will be required to monitor the vast areas of the open ocean, as well as in harsh high-latitude ecosystems. Indeed, these aircraft are a key component of planned high latitude maritime domain awareness environmental data collection capabilities, including use of visible, IR and hyperspectral sensors, as well as lidar, meteorological sensors, and interferometric synthetic aperture radars (ISARs). We here first describe at-sea demonstrations of improved reliability and bandwidth of communications from ocean sensors on autonomous underwater vehicles to autonomous surface vessels, and then via remotely piloted aircraft to shore, ships and manned aircraft using Delay and Disruption Tolerant (DTN) communication protocols. DTN enables data exchange in communications-challenged environments, such as remote regions of the ocean including high latitudes where low satellite angles and auroral disturbances can be problematic. DTN provides a network architecture and application interface structured around optionally-reliable asynchronous message forwarding, with limited expectations of end-to-end connectivity and node resources. This communications method enables aircraft and surface vessels to function as data mules to move data between physically disparate nodes. We provide examples of the uses of this communication protocol for environmental data collection and data distribution with a variety of different remotely piloted aircraft in a coastal ocean environment. Next, we highlight use in the arctic of two different small remotely piloted aircraft (ScanEagle and RAVEN) for remote sensing of ice and ocean conditions as well as surveys of marine mammals. Finally, we explain how these can be used in future networked environments with DTN support not only for the collection of ocean and ice data for maritime domain awareness, but also for monitoring oil spill dynamics in high latitude environments, including spills in and under sea ice. The networked operation of heterogeneous air and ocean vehicle systems using DTN communications methods can provide unprecedented levels of spatial-temporal sampling resolution important to improving arctic remote sensing and maritime domain awareness capabilities.

Coordination and Integration of Global Ocean Observing through JCOMM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legler, D. M.; Meldrum, D. T.; Hill, K. L.; Charpentier, E.

2016-02-01

The primary objective of the JCOMM Observations Coordination Group (OCG) is to provide technical coordination to implement fully integrated ocean observing system across the entire marine meteorology and oceanographic community. JCOMM OCG works in partnership with the Global Ocean Observing System, , which focusses on setting observing system requirements and conducting evalutions. JCOMM OCG initially focused on major global observing networks (e.g. Argo profiling floats, moored buoys, ship based observations, sea level stations, reference sites, etc), and is now expanding its horizon in recognition of new observing needs and new technologies/networks (e.g. ocean gliders). Over the next five years the JCOMM OCG is focusing its attention on integration and coordination in four major areas: observing network implementation particularly in response to integrated ocean observing requirements; observing system monitoring and metrics; standards and best practices; and improving integrated data management and access. This presentation will describe the scope and mission of JCOMM OCG; summarize the state of the global ocean observing system; highlight recent successes and resources for the research, prediction, and assessment communities; summarize our plans for the next several years; and suggest engagement opportunities.

Distribution Patterns of Microbial Community Structure Along a 7000-Mile Latitudinal Transect from the Mediterranean Sea Across the Atlantic Ocean to the Brazilian Coastal Sea.

PubMed

Zhou, Jin; Song, Xiao; Zhang, Chun-Yun; Chen, Guo-Fu; Lao, Yong-Min; Jin, Hui; Cai, Zhong-Hua

2018-02-14

A central goal in marine microecology is to understand the ecological factors shaping spatiotemporal microbial patterns and the underlying processes. We hypothesized that abiotic and/or biotic interactions are probably more important for explaining the distribution patterns of marine bacterioplankton than environmental filtering. In this study, surface seawater samples were collected about 7000 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, transecting the North Atlantic Ocean, to the Brazilian marginal sea. In bacterial biosphere, SAR11, SAR86, Rhodobacteraceae, and Rhodospiriaceae were predominant in the Mediterranean Sea; Prochlorococcus was more frequent in Atlantic Ocean; whereas in the Brazilian coastal sea, the main bacterial members were Synechococcus and SAR11. With respect to archaea, Euryarchaeota were predominant in the Atlantic Ocean and Thaumarchaeota in the Mediterranean Sea. With respect to the eukaryotes, Syndiniales, Spumellaria, Cryomonadida, and Chlorodendrales were predominant in the open ocean, while diatoms and microzooplankton were dominant in the coastal sea. Distinct clusters of prokaryotes and eukaryotes displayed clear spatial heterogeneity. Among the environmental parameters measured, temperature and salinity were key factors controlling bacterial and archaeal community structure, respectively, whereas N/P/Si contributed to eukaryotic variation. The relative contribution of environmental parameters to the microbial distribution pattern was 45.2%. Interaction analysis showed that Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Flavobacteriia were the keystone taxa within the positive-correlation network, while Thermoplasmata was the main contributor in the negative-correlation network. Our study demonstrated that microbial communities are co-governed by environmental filtering and biotic interactions, which are the main deterministic driving factors modulating the spatiotemporal patterns of marine plankton synergistically at the regional or global levels.

US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS°): Delivering Benefits to Science and Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willis, Z. S.

2011-12-01

The United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS°) is a user-driven, coordinated network of people, organizations, and technology that generate and disseminate continuous data about our coastal waters, Great Lakes, and oceans supported by strong research and development activities. IOOS° is our Eyes on our Oceans, Coasts and Great Lakes that enable the United States to track, predict, manage, and adapt to changes in our marine environment and deliver critical information to decision makers to improve safety, enhance our economy and protect our environment. IOOS provides a major shift in the approach to ocean observing by drawing together the vast network of disparate federal and non-federal observing systems to produce a cohesive suite of data, information, and products on a sufficient geographic and temporal scale to support decision-making. Two interdependent components constitute the U.S. IOOS: (1) the global ocean component, and (2) the coastal component. The strength of IOOS is in its partnerships, starting with the federal agencies, the partnerships extend internationally for the global component and to the local level for the coastal component. The coastal component includes the national set of observations for the U.S. Ocean, Coasts and Great Lakes, a network of Regional Associations that are establishing Regional Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (RCOOS) and the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT). The U.S. IOOS is our nation's contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) - the ocean component of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

Dynamical analysis of the Indian Ocean climate network and its correlation with Australian Millennium Drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpi, Laura; Masoller, Cristina; Díaz-Guilera, Albert; Ravetti, Martín G.

2015-04-01

During the period between the mid-1990s and late 2000s Australia had suffered one of the worst droughts on record. Severe rainfall deficits affected great part of southeast Australia, causing widespread drought conditions and catastrophic bushfires. The "Millennium Drought", as it was called, was unusual in terms of its severity, duration and extent, leaving important environmental and financial damages. One of the most important drivers of Australia climate variability is the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD), that is a coupled ocean and atmosphere phenomenon in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The IOD is measured by an index (DMI) that is the difference between sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the western and eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. Its positive phase is characterized by lower than normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern coast, and higher than normal in the tropical western Indian Ocean. Extreme positive IOD (pIOD) events are associated to severe droughts in countries located over the eastern Indian Ocean, and to severe floods in the western tropical ones. Recent research works projected that the frequency of extreme pIOD events will increase significantly over the twenty-first century and consequently, the frequency of extreme climate conditions in the zones affected by it. In this work we study the dynamics of the Indian Ocean for the period of 1979-2014, by using climate networks of skin temperature and humidity (reanalysis data). Annual networks are constructed by creating links when the Pearson correlation coefficient between two nodes is greater than a specific value. The distance distribution Pd(k), that indicates the fraction of pairs of nodes at distance k, is computed to characterize the dynamics of the network by using Information Theory quantifiers. We found a clear change in the Indian Ocean dynamics and an increment in the network's similarities quantified by the Jensen-Shannon divergence in the late 1990s. We speculate that these findings are capturing mean state changes within the Indian Ocean that result in the increase of extreme positive IOD frequency, among other unknown consequences. We show that the unusual characteristics of the Australian Millennium Drought is strongly associated with this new Indian Ocean dynamics showing its relevance in the Australia climate variability.

International Search for Life in Ocean Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sherwood, B.

2015-12-01

We now know that our solar system contains diverse "ocean worlds." One has abundant surface water and life; another had significant surface water in the distant past and has drawn significant exploration attention; several contain large amounts of water beneath ice shells; and several others evince unexpected, diverse transient or dynamic water-related processes. In this century, humanity will explore these worlds, searching for life beyond Earth and seeking thereby to understand the limits of habitability. Of our ocean worlds, Enceladus presents a unique combination of attributes: large reservoir of subsurface water already known to contain salts, organics, and silica nanoparticles originating from hydrothermal activity; and able to be sampled via a plume predictably expressed into space. These special circumstances immediately tag Enceladus as a key destination for potential missions to search for evidence of non-Earth life, and lead to a range of potential mission concepts: for orbital reconnaissance; in situ and returned-sample analysis of plume and surface-fallback material; and direct sulcus, vent, cavern, and ocean exploration. Each mission type can address a unique set of science questions, and would require a unique set of capabilities, most of which are not yet developed. Both the questions and the capability developments can be sequenced into a programmatic precedence network, the realization of which requires international cooperation. Three factors make this true: exploring remote oceans autonomously will cost a lot; the Outer Space Treaty governs planetary protection; and discovery of non-Earth life is an epochal human imperative. Results of current planning will be presented in AGU session 8599: how ocean-world science questions and capability requirements can be parsed into programmatically acceptable mission increments; how one mission proposed into the Discovery program in 2015 would take the next step on this path; the Decadal calendar of decision points and program options that will constrain ocean-world exploration through mid-century; and findings of the COSPAR Planetary Protection Panel colloquium for ocean-world exploration held in September 2015.

Partitioning of ocean and land uptake of CO2 as inferred by delta C-13 measurements from the NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory Global Air Sampling Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ciais, Philippe; Tans, Pieter P.; White, James W. C.; Trolier, Michael; Francey, Roger J.; Berry, Joe A.; Randall, David R.; Sellers, Piers J.; Collatz, James G.; Schimel, David S.

1995-01-01

Using delta C-13 measurements in atmospheric CO2 from a cooperative global air sampling network, we determined the partitioning of the net uptake of CO2 between ocean and land as a function of latitude and time. The majority of delta C-13 measurements were made at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) of the University of Colorado. We perform an inverse deconvolution of both CO2 and delta C-13 observations, using a two-dimensional model of atmospheric transport. Also, the discrimination against C-13 by plant photosynthesis, as a function of latitude and time, is calculated from global runs of the simple biosphere (SiB) model. Uncertainty due to the longitudinal structure of the data, which is not represented by the model, is studied through a bootstrap analysis by adding and omitting measurement sites. The resulting error estimates for our inferred sources and sinks are of the order of 1 GTC (1 GTC = 10(exp 15) gC). Such error bars do not reflect potential systematic errors arising from our estimates of the isotopic disequilibria between the atmosphere and the oceans and biosphere, which are estimated in a separate sensitivity analysis. With respect to global totals for 1992 we found that 3.2 GTC of carbon dissolved into the ocean and that 1.5 GTC were sequestered by land ecosystems. Northern hemisphere ocean gyres north of 15 deg N absorbed 2.7 GTC. The equatorial oceans between 10 deg S and 10 deg N were a net source to the atmosphere of 0.9 GTC. We obtained a sink of 1.6 GTC in southern ocean gyres south of 20 deg S, although the deconvolution is poorly constrained by sparse data coverage at high southern latitudes. The seasonal uptake of CO2 in the northern gyres appears to be correlated with a bloom of phytoplankton in surface waters. On land, northern temperate and boreal ecosystems between 35 deg N and 65 deg N were found to be a major sink of CO2 in 1992, as large as 3.5 GTC. Northern tropical ecosystems (equator-30 deg N) appear to be a net source to the source to the atmosphere of 2 GTC which could reflect biomass burning. A small sink, 0.3 GTC, was inferred for southern tropical ecosystems (30 deg S-equator).

A network model for characterizing brine channels in sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lieblappen, Ross M.; Kumar, Deip D.; Pauls, Scott D.; Obbard, Rachel W.

2018-03-01

The brine pore space in sea ice can form complex connected structures whose geometry is critical in the governance of important physical transport processes between the ocean, sea ice, and surface. Recent advances in three-dimensional imaging using X-ray micro-computed tomography have enabled the visualization and quantification of the brine network morphology and variability. Using imaging of first-year sea ice samples at in situ temperatures, we create a new mathematical network model to characterize the topology and connectivity of the brine channels. This model provides a statistical framework where we can characterize the pore networks via two parameters, depth and temperature, for use in dynamical sea ice models. Our approach advances the quantification of brine connectivity in sea ice, which can help investigations of bulk physical properties, such as fluid permeability, that are key in both global and regional sea ice models.

Sustaining observations in the polar oceans

PubMed Central

Abrahamsen, E. P.

2014-01-01

Polar oceans present a unique set of challenges to sustained observations. Sea ice cover restricts navigation for ships and autonomous measurement platforms alike, and icebergs present a hazard to instruments deployed in the upper ocean and in shelf seas. However, the important role of the poles in the global ocean circulation provides ample justification for sustained observations in these regions, both to monitor the rapid changes taking place, and to better understand climate processes in these traditionally poorly sampled areas. In the past, the vast majority of polar measurements took place in the summer. In recent years, novel techniques such as miniature CTD (conductivity–temperature–depth) tags carried by seals have provided an explosion in year-round measurements in areas largely inaccessible to ships, and, as ice avoidance is added to autonomous profiling floats and gliders, these promise to provide further enhancements to observing systems. In addition, remote sensing provides vital information about changes taking place in sea ice cover at both poles. To make these observations sustainable into the future, improved international coordination and collaboration is necessary to gain optimum utilization of observing networks. PMID:25157189

Automated sensor networks to advance ocean science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schofield, O.; Orcutt, J. A.; Arrott, M.; Vernon, F. L.; Peach, C. L.; Meisinger, M.; Krueger, I.; Kleinert, J.; Chao, Y.; Chien, S.; Thompson, D. R.; Chave, A. D.; Balasuriya, A.

2010-12-01

The National Science Foundation has funded the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), which over the next five years will deploy infrastructure to expand scientist’s ability to remotely study the ocean. The deployed infrastructure will be linked by a robust cyberinfrastructure (CI) that will integrate marine observatories into a coherent system-of-systems. OOI is committed to engaging the ocean sciences community during the construction pahse. For the CI, this is being enabled by using a “spiral design strategy” allowing for input throughout the construction phase. In Fall 2009, the OOI CI development team used an existing ocean observing network in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) to test OOI CI software. The objective of this CI test was to aggregate data from ships, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), shore-based radars, and satellites and make it available to five different data-assimilating ocean forecast models. Scientists used these multi-model forecasts to automate future glider missions in order to demonstrate the feasibility of two-way interactivity between the sensor web and predictive models. The CI software coordinated and prioritized the shared resources that allowed for the semi-automated reconfiguration of assett-tasking, and thus enabled an autonomous execution of observation plans for the fixed and mobile observation platforms. Efforts were coordinated through a web portal that provided an access point for the observational data and model forecasts. Researchers could use the CI software in tandem with the web data portal to assess the performance of individual numerical model results, or multi-model ensembles, through real-time comparisons with satellite, shore-based radar, and in situ robotic measurements. The resulting sensor net will enable a new means to explore and study the world’s oceans by providing scientists a responsive network in the world’s oceans that can be accessed via any wireless network.

Source localization in an ocean waveguide using supervised machine learning.

PubMed

Niu, Haiqiang; Reeves, Emma; Gerstoft, Peter

2017-09-01

Source localization in ocean acoustics is posed as a machine learning problem in which data-driven methods learn source ranges directly from observed acoustic data. The pressure received by a vertical linear array is preprocessed by constructing a normalized sample covariance matrix and used as the input for three machine learning methods: feed-forward neural networks (FNN), support vector machines (SVM), and random forests (RF). The range estimation problem is solved both as a classification problem and as a regression problem by these three machine learning algorithms. The results of range estimation for the Noise09 experiment are compared for FNN, SVM, RF, and conventional matched-field processing and demonstrate the potential of machine learning for underwater source localization.

Integrating Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vessels, Surface Vessels and Aircraft into Oceanographic Research Vessel Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGillivary, P. A.; Borges de Sousa, J.; Martins, R.; Rajan, K.

2012-12-01

Autonomous platforms are increasingly used as components of Integrated Ocean Observing Systems and oceanographic research cruises. Systems deployed can include gliders or propeller-driven autonomous underwater vessels (AUVs), autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Prior field campaigns have demonstrated successful communication, sensor data fusion and visualization for studies using gliders and AUVs. However, additional requirements exist for incorporating ASVs and UASs into ship operations. For these systems to be optimally integrated into research vessel data management and operational planning systems involves addressing three key issues: real-time field data availability, platform coordination, and data archiving for later analysis. A fleet of AUVs, ASVs and UAS deployed from a research vessel is best operated as a system integrated with the ship, provided communications among them can be sustained. For this purpose, Disruptive Tolerant Networking (DTN) software protocols for operation in communication-challenged environments help ensure reliable high-bandwidth communications. Additionally, system components need to have considerable onboard autonomy, namely adaptive sampling capabilities using their own onboard sensor data stream analysis. We discuss Oceanographic Decision Support System (ODSS) software currently used for situational awareness and planning onshore, and in the near future event detection and response will be coordinated among multiple vehicles. Results from recent field studies from oceanographic research vessels using AUVs, ASVs and UAS, including the Rapid Environmental Picture (REP-12) cruise, are presented describing methods and results for use of multi-vehicle communication and deliberative control networks, adaptive sampling with single and multiple platforms, issues relating to data management and archiving, and finally challenges that remain in addressing these technological issues. Significantly, the use of UAS on oceanographic research vessels is just beginning. We report on several initial field efforts which demonstrated that UAS improve spatial and temporal mapping of ocean features, as well as monitoring marine mammal populations, ocean color, sea ice and wave fields and air-sea gas exchange. These studies however also confirm the challenges for shipboard computer systems ingesting and archiving UAS high resolution video, SAR and lidar data. We describe the successful inclusion of DTN communications for: 1) passing video data between two UAS or a UAS and ship; 2) for inclusion of ASVs as communication nodes for AUVs; as well as, 3) enabling extension of adaptive sampling software from AUVs and ASVs to include UAS. In conclusion, we describe how autonomous sampling systems may be best integrated into shipboard oceanographic vessel research to provide new and more comprehensive time-space ocean and atmospheric data collection that is important not only for scientific study, but also for sustainable ocean management, including emergency response capabilities. The recent examples of such integrated studies highlighted confirm ocean and atmospheric studies can more cost-effectively pursued, and in some cases only accomplished, by combining underwater, surface and aircraft autonomous systems with research vessel operations.

The Ocean Observatories Initiative: A new initiative for sea floor observatory research in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, H. L.; Isern, A. R.

2003-04-01

The Division of Ocean Sciences of the American National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to initiate construction of an integrated observatory network that will provide the oceanographic research and education communities with a new mode of access to the ocean. This observatory system will have three elements: 1) a regional cabled network consisting of interconnected sites on the seafloor spanning several geological and oceanographic features and processes, 2) several relocatable deep-sea buoys that could also be deployed in harsh environments such as the Southern Ocean, and 3) new construction or enhancements to existing facilities leading to an expanded network of coastal observatories. The primary infrastructure for all components of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) consists of an array of seafloor junction boxes connected to cables running along the seafloor to individual instruments or instrument clusters. These junction boxes include undersea connectors that provide not only the power and two-way communication needed to support seafloor instrumentation, but also the capability to exchange instrumentation in situ when necessary for conducting new experiments or for repairing existing instruments. Depending upon proximity to the coast and other engineering requirements, the junction box will be either terminated by a long dedicated fiber-optic cable to shore, or by a shorter cable to a surface buoy that is capable of two-way communications with a shore station. The scientific problems driving the need for an ocean observing system are broad in scope and encompass nearly every area of ocean science including: ecological characterizations; role of the ocean in climate; fluids, chemistry, and life in the oceanic crust; dynamics of the oceanic lithosphere and imaging of the earth’s interior; seafloor spreading and subduction; organic carbon fluxes; turbulent mixing and biophysical interaction; and coastal ocean processes. Thirty years ago, NSF leadership helped establish the system of support for the U.S academic research fleet accessible to all investigators that enabled the spatial exploration of our oceans. In the same manner, this initiative will start building a network of ocean observatories that will facilitate the collection of long time-series data streams needed to understand the dynamics of biological, chemical, geological and physical processes and facilitate the 'temporal' exploration of the oceans.

A neural network to retrieve the mesoscale instantaneous latent heat flux over oceans from SSM/I observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bourras, D.; Eymard, L.; Liu, W. T.

2000-01-01

The turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes are necessary to study heat budget of the upper ocean or initialize ocean general circulation models. In order to retrieve the latent heat flux from satellite observations authors mostly use a bulk approximation of the flux whose parameters are derived from different instrument. In this paper, an approach based on artificial neural networks is proposed and compared to the bulk method on a global data set and 3 local data sets.

Advancing Ocean Science Through Coordination, Community Building, and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benway, H. M.

2016-02-01

The US Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program (www.us-ocb.org) is a dynamic network of scientists working across disciplines to understand the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle and how marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles are responding to environmental change. The OCB Project Office, which is based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), serves as a central information hub for this network, bringing different scientific disciplines together and cultivating partnerships with complementary US and international programs to address high-priority research questions. The OCB Project Office plays multiple important support roles, such as hosting and co-sponsoring workshops, short courses, working groups, and synthesis activities on emerging research issues; engaging with relevant national and international science planning initiatives; and developing education and outreach activities and products with the goal of promoting ocean carbon science to broader audiences. Current scientific focus areas of OCB include ocean observations (shipboard, autonomous, satellite, etc.); changing ocean chemistry (acidification, expanding low-oxygen conditions, etc.); ocean carbon uptake and storage; estuarine and coastal carbon cycling; biological pump and associated biological and biogeochemical processes and carbon fluxes; and marine ecosystem response to environmental and evolutionary changes, including physiological and molecular-level responses of individual organisms, as well as shifts in community structure and function. OCB is a bottom-up organization that responds to the continually evolving priorities and needs of its network and engages marine scientists at all career stages. The scientific leadership of OCB includes a scientific steering committee and subcommittees on ocean time-series, ocean acidification, and ocean fertilization. This presentation will highlight recent OCB activities and products of interest to the ocean science community.

Youth Science Ambassadors: Connecting Indigenous communities with Ocean Networks Canada tools to inspire future ocean scientists and marine resource managers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M.; Hoeberechts, M.; Hale, C.; McLean, M. A.

2017-12-01

This presentation describes Ocean Networks Canada's (ONC) Youth Science Ambassador Program. The Youth Science Ambassadors are a growing network of youth in Canadian coastal communities whose role is to connect ocean science, ONC data, and Indigenous knowledge. By directly employing Indigenous youth in communities in which ONC operates monitoring equipment, ONC aims to encourage wider participation and interest in ocean science and exploration. Further, the Youth Science Ambassadors act as role models and mentors to other local youth by highlighting connections between Indigenous and local knowledge and current marine science efforts. Ocean Networks Canada, an initiative of the University of Victoria, develops, operates, and maintains cabled ocean observatory systems. These include technologies developed on the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS observatories as well as community observatories in the Arctic and coastal British Columbia. These observatories, large and small, enable communities, users, scientists, teachers, and students to monitor real-time and historical data from the local marine environment from anywhere on the globe. Youth Science Ambassadors are part of the Learning and Engagement team whose role includes engaging Indigenous communities and schools in ocean science through ONC's K-12 Ocean Sense education program. All of the data collected by ONC are freely available over the Internet for non-profit use, including disaster planning, community-based decision making, and education. The Youth Science Ambassadors support collaboration with Indigenous communities and schools by facilitating educational programming, encouraging participation in ocean data collection and analysis, and fostering interest in ocean science. In addition, the Youth Science Ambassadors support community collaboration in decision-making for instrument deployment locations and identify ways in which ONC can help to address any areas of concern raised by the community. This presentation will share the successes and challenges of the Youth Science Ambassador program in engaging both rural and urban Indigenous communities. We will share activities and experiences, discuss how we have adapted to meet the needs of each community, and outline ideas we have for the future development of the program.

Wind and sunlight shape microbial diversity in surface waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

PubMed Central

Bryant, Jessica A; Aylward, Frank O; Eppley, John M; Karl, David M; Church, Matthew J; DeLong, Edward F

2016-01-01

Few microbial time-series studies have been conducted in open ocean habitats having low seasonal variability such as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), where surface waters experience comparatively mild seasonal variation. To better describe microbial seasonal variability in this habitat, we analyzed rRNA amplicon and shotgun metagenomic data over two years at the Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station ALOHA. We postulated that this relatively stable habitat might reveal different environmental factors that influence planktonic microbial community diversity than those previously observed in more seasonally dynamic habitats. Unexpectedly, the data showed that microbial diversity at 25 m was positively correlated with average wind speed 3 to 10 days prior to sampling. In addition, microbial community composition at 25 m exhibited significant correlations with solar irradiance. Many bacterial groups whose relative abundances varied with solar radiation corresponded to taxa known to exhibit strong seasonality in other oceanic regions. Network co-correlation analysis of 25 m communities showed seasonal transitions in composition, and distinct successional cohorts of co-occurring phylogenetic groups. Similar network analyses of metagenomic data also indicated distinct seasonality in genes originating from cyanophage, and several bacterial clades including SAR116 and SAR324. At 500 m, microbial community diversity and composition did not vary significantly with any measured environmental parameters. The minimal seasonal variability in the NPSG facilitated detection of more subtle environmental influences, such as episodic wind variation, on surface water microbial diversity. Community composition in NPSG surface waters varied in response to solar irradiance, but less dramatically than reported in other ocean provinces. PMID:26645474

Wind and sunlight shape microbial diversity in surface waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

PubMed

Bryant, Jessica A; Aylward, Frank O; Eppley, John M; Karl, David M; Church, Matthew J; DeLong, Edward F

2016-06-01

Few microbial time-series studies have been conducted in open ocean habitats having low seasonal variability such as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), where surface waters experience comparatively mild seasonal variation. To better describe microbial seasonal variability in this habitat, we analyzed rRNA amplicon and shotgun metagenomic data over two years at the Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station ALOHA. We postulated that this relatively stable habitat might reveal different environmental factors that influence planktonic microbial community diversity than those previously observed in more seasonally dynamic habitats. Unexpectedly, the data showed that microbial diversity at 25 m was positively correlated with average wind speed 3 to 10 days prior to sampling. In addition, microbial community composition at 25 m exhibited significant correlations with solar irradiance. Many bacterial groups whose relative abundances varied with solar radiation corresponded to taxa known to exhibit strong seasonality in other oceanic regions. Network co-correlation analysis of 25 m communities showed seasonal transitions in composition, and distinct successional cohorts of co-occurring phylogenetic groups. Similar network analyses of metagenomic data also indicated distinct seasonality in genes originating from cyanophage, and several bacterial clades including SAR116 and SAR324. At 500 m, microbial community diversity and composition did not vary significantly with any measured environmental parameters. The minimal seasonal variability in the NPSG facilitated detection of more subtle environmental influences, such as episodic wind variation, on surface water microbial diversity. Community composition in NPSG surface waters varied in response to solar irradiance, but less dramatically than reported in other ocean provinces.

Regular network model for the sea ice-albedo feedback in the Arctic.

PubMed

Müller-Stoffels, Marc; Wackerbauer, Renate

2011-03-01

The Arctic Ocean and sea ice form a feedback system that plays an important role in the global climate. The complexity of highly parameterized global circulation (climate) models makes it very difficult to assess feedback processes in climate without the concurrent use of simple models where the physics is understood. We introduce a two-dimensional energy-based regular network model to investigate feedback processes in an Arctic ice-ocean layer. The model includes the nonlinear aspect of the ice-water phase transition, a nonlinear diffusive energy transport within a heterogeneous ice-ocean lattice, and spatiotemporal atmospheric and oceanic forcing at the surfaces. First results for a horizontally homogeneous ice-ocean layer show bistability and related hysteresis between perennial ice and perennial open water for varying atmospheric heat influx. Seasonal ice cover exists as a transient phenomenon. We also find that ocean heat fluxes are more efficient than atmospheric heat fluxes to melt Arctic sea ice.

Advances in Integrating Autonomy with Acoustic Communications for Intelligent Networks of Marine Robots

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

Sonar AUV #Environmental Sampling Environmental AUV +name : string = OEX Ocean Explorer +name : string = Hammerhead Iver2 +name : string = Unicorn ...executable» Google Earth Bluefin 21 AUV ( Unicorn ) MOOS Computer GPS «serial» Bluefin 21 AUV (Macrura) MOOS Computer «acoustic» Micro-Modem «wired...Computer Bluefin 21 AUV ( Unicorn ) MOOS Computer NURC AUV (OEX) MOOS Computer Topside MOOS Computer «wifi» 5.0GHz WiLan «acoustic» Edgetech GPS

Optimizing observational networks combining gliders, moored buoys and FerryBox in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charria, Guillaume; Lamouroux, Julien; De Mey, Pierre

2016-10-01

Designing optimal observation networks in coastal oceans remains one of the major challenges towards the implementation of future efficient Integrated Ocean Observing Systems to monitor the coastal environment. In the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel, the diversity of involved processes (e.g. tidally-driven circulation, plume dynamics) requires to adapt observing systems to the specific targeted environments. Also important is the requirement for those systems to sustain coastal applications. Two observational network design experiments have been implemented for the spring season in two regions: the Loire River plume (northern part of the Bay of Biscay) and the Western English Channel. The method used to perform these experiments is based on the ArM (Array Modes) formalism using an ensemble-based approach without data assimilation. The first experiment in the Loire River plume aims to explore different possible glider endurance lines combined with a fixed mooring to monitor temperature and salinity. Main results show an expected improvement when combining glider and mooring observations. The experiment also highlights that the chosen transect (along-shore and North-South, cross-shore) does not significantly impact the efficiency of the network. Nevertheless, the classification from the method results in slightly better performances for along-shore and North-South sections. In the Western English Channel, a tidally-driven circulation system, added value of using a glider below FerryBox temperature and salinity measurements has been assessed. FerryBox systems are characterised by a high frequency sampling rate crossing the region 2 to 3 times a day. This efficient sampling, as well as the specific vertical hydrological structure (which is homogeneous in many sub-regions of the domain), explains the fact that the added value of an associated glider transect is not significant. These experiments combining existing and future observing systems, as well as numerical ensemble simulations, highlight the key issue of monitoring the whole water column in and close to river plumes (using gliders for example) and the efficiency of the surface high frequency sampling from FerryBoxes in macrotidal regions.

Networking Multiple Autonomous Air and Ocean Vehicles for Oceanographic Research and Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGillivary, P. A.; Borges de Sousa, J.; Rajan, K.

2013-12-01

Autonomous underwater and surface vessels (AUVs and ASVs) are coming into wider use as components of oceanographic research, including ocean observing systems. Unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) are now available at modest cost, allowing multiple UAVs to be deployed with multiple AUVs and ASVs. For optimal use good communication and coordination among vehicles is essential. We report on the use of multiple AUVs networked in communication with multiple UAVs. The UAVs are augmented by inferential reasoning software developed at MBARI that allows UAVs to recognize oceanographic fronts and change their navigation and control. This in turn allows UAVs to automatically to map frontal features, as well as to direct AUVs and ASVs to proceed to such features and conduct sampling via onboard sensors to provide validation for airborne mapping. ASVs can also act as data nodes for communication between UAVs and AUVs, as well as collecting data from onboard sensors, while AUVs can sample the water column vertically. This allows more accurate estimation of phytoplankton biomass and productivity, and can be used in conjunction with UAV sampling to determine air-sea flux of gases (e.g. CO2, CH4, DMS) affecting carbon budgets and atmospheric composition. In particular we describe tests in July 2013 conducted off Sesimbra, Portugal in conjunction with the Portuguese Navy by the University of Porto and MBARI with the goal of tracking large fish in the upper water column with coordinated air/surface/underwater measurements. A thermal gradient was observed in the infrared by a low flying UAV, which was used to dispatch an AUV to obtain ground truth to demonstrate the event-response capabilities using such autonomous platforms. Additional field studies in the future will facilitate integration of multiple unmanned systems into research vessel operations. The strength of hardware and software tools described in this study is to permit fundamental oceanographic measurements of both ocean and atmosphere over temporal and spatial scales that have previously been problematic. The methods demonstrated are particularly suited to the study of oceanographic fronts and for tracking and mapping oil spills or plankton blooms. With the networked coordination of multiple autonomous systems, individual components may be changed out while ocean observations continue, allowing coarse to fine spatial studies of hydrographic features over temporal dimensions that would otherwise be difficult, including diurnal and tidal periods. Constraints on these methods currently involve coordination of data archiving systems into shipboard operating systems, familiarization of oceanographers with these methods, and existing nearshore airspace use constraints on UAVs. An important outcome of these efforts is to understand the methodology for using multiple heterogeneous autonomous vehicles for targeted science exploration.

A Three-Dimensional Variational Data Assimilation Scheme for the Regional Ocean Modeling System: Implementation and Basic Experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Zhijin; Chao, Yi; McWilliams, James C.; Ide, Kayo

2008-01-01

A three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme for the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), named ROMS3DVAR, has been described in the work of Li et al. (2008). In this paper, ROMS3DVAR is applied to the central California coastal region, an area characterized by inhomogeneity and anisotropy, as well as by dynamically unbalanced flows. A method for estimating the model error variances from limited observations is presented, and the construction of the inhomogeneous and anisotropic error correlations based on the Kronecker product is demonstrated. A set of single observation experiments illustrates the inhomogeneous and anisotropic error correlations and weak dynamic constraints used. Results are presented from the assimilation of data gathered during the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network (AOSN) experiment during August 2003. The results show that ROMS3DVAR is capable of reproducing complex flows associated with upwelling and relaxation, as well as the rapid transitions between them. Some difficulties encountered during the experiment are also discussed.

Ship Noise in the SW Indian Ocean Recorded by Ocean Bottom Seismic and Hydroacoustic Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barruol, G.; Dreo, R.; Fontaine, F. R.; Scholz, J. R.; Sigloch, K.

2016-12-01

In the frame of the RHUM-RUM project (Réunion Hotspot and Upper Mantle - Réunions Unterer Mantel, www.rhum-rum.net), a network of 57 ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) has been installed on the ocean floor around La Réunion Island, but also on the neighbouring Southwest and Central Indian Ridges. The OBS were equipped by wide- and broad-band three-components seismic and hydroacoustic sensors. They were deployed in Nov. 2012, and depending on the configuration, they recorded for 8 to 13 months. Interestingly, part of the network was located beneath a NE-SW trending lane of very dense ship traffic connecting SE-Asia and the South-Atlantic region. By combining the vessel position - provided by AIS GPS data - and our geophysical data recorded on the ocean floor, we analyze the seismic and hydroacoustic ship signatures. From spectral analyzes, we show clear signals over the whole high-frequency range available from our instruments (between 1 and 50 Hz). The RHUM-RUM network covering latitude between 17 and 34° South, this allows to detect numerous vessels and to compare the noise characteristics (frequency content, polarization) of each vessel. We also investigate the possibility of using the polarization of the noise emitted by ships passing above an ocean-bottom seismometer, to help retrieving the orientation of the OBS horizontal components on the ocean floor in the geographic reference frame.

Are Global In-Situ Ocean Observations Fit-for-purpose? Applying the Framework for Ocean Observing in the Atlantic.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Visbeck, M.; Fischer, A. S.; Le Traon, P. Y.; Mowlem, M. C.; Speich, S.; Larkin, K.

2015-12-01

There are an increasing number of global, regional and local processes that are in need of integrated ocean information. In the sciences ocean information is needed to support physical ocean and climate studies for example within the World Climate Research Programme and its CLIVAR project, biogeochemical issues as articulated by the GCP, IMBER and SOLAS projects of ICSU-SCOR and Future Earth. This knowledge gets assessed in the area of climate by the IPCC and biodiversity by the IPBES processes. The recently released first World Ocean Assessment focuses more on ecosystem services and there is an expectation that the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular Goal 14 on the Ocean and Seas will generate new demands for integrated ocean observing from Climate to Fish and from Ocean Resources to Safe Navigation and on a healthy, productive and enjoyable ocean in more general terms. In recognition of those increasing needs for integrated ocean information we have recently launched the Horizon 2020 AtlantOS project to promote the transition from a loosely-coordinated set of existing ocean observing activities to a more integrated, more efficient, more sustainable and fit-for-purpose Atlantic Ocean Observing System. AtlantOS takes advantage of the Framework for Ocean observing that provided strategic guidance for the design of the project and its outcome. AtlantOS will advance the requirements and systems design, improving the readiness of observing networks and data systems, and engaging stakeholders around the Atlantic. AtlantOS will bring Atlantic nations together to strengthen their complementary contributions to and benefits from the internationally coordinated Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Blue Planet Initiative of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). AtlantOS will fill gaps of the in-situ observing system networks and will ensure that their data are readily accessible and useable. AtlantOS will demonstrate the utility of integrating in-situ and remotely sensed Earth observations to produce information products supporting a wide range of sectors. AtlantOS will support activities to share best practice, integrate data streams and promote the standardization of in-situ observations. AtlantOS will promote network integration, optimization and new technologies.

Cyber-Ed.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruben, Barbara

1994-01-01

Reviews a number of interactive environmental computer education networks and software packages. Computer networks include National Geographic Kids Network, Global Lab, and Global Rivers Environmental Education Network. Computer software involve environmental decision making, simulation games, tropical rainforests, the ocean, the greenhouse…

Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition to the Oceans: Observation- and Model-Based Estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Alex; Altieri, Katye; Okin, Greg; Dentener, Frank; Uematsu, Mitsuo; Kanakidou, Maria; Sarin, Manmohan; Duce, Robert; Galloway, Jim; Keene, Bill; Singh, Arvind; Zamora, Lauren; Lamarque, Jean-Francois; Hsu, Shih-Chieh

2014-05-01

The reactive nitrogen (Nr) burden of the atmosphere has been increased by a factor of 3-4 by anthropogenic activity since the industrial revolution. This has led to large increases in the deposition of nitrate and ammonium to the surface waters of the open ocean, particularly downwind of major human population centres, such as those in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. In oligotrophic waters, this deposition has the potential to significantly impact marine productivity and the global carbon cycle. Global-scale understanding of N deposition to the oceans is reliant on our ability to produce effective models of reactive nitrogen emission, atmospheric chemistry, transport and deposition (including deposition to the land surface). The Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP) recently completed a multi-model analysis of global N deposition, including comparisons to wet deposition observations from three regional networks in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia (Lamarque et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7977-8018, 2013). No similar datasets exist which would allow observation - model comparisons of wet deposition for the open oceans, because long-term wet deposition records are available for only a handful of remote island sites and rain collection over the open ocean itself is very difficult. In this work we attempt instead to use ~2600 observations of aerosol nitrate and ammonium concentrations, acquired chiefly from sampling aboard ships in the period 1995 - 2012, to assess the ACCMIP N deposition fields over the remote ocean. This database is non-uniformly distributed in time and space. We selected four ocean regions (the eastern North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the northern Indian Ocean and northwest Pacific) where we considered the density and distribution of observational data is sufficient to provide effective comparison to the model ensemble. Two of these regions are adjacent to the land networks used in the ACCMIP comparison, while the others are far removed from land regions for which the model output has been rigorously compared to observational data. Here we will present calculated dry deposition fluxes of nitrate and ammonium from average observed concentrations in these regions, using deposition velocities of 0.9 cm/s and 0.1 cm/s respectively, and the results of a comparison of these fluxes to the ACCMIP model ensemble product. Uncertainties in the comparison and potential sources of bias between the observations and model will be discussed.

Sustaining observations in the polar oceans.

PubMed

Abrahamsen, E P

2014-09-28

Polar oceans present a unique set of challenges to sustained observations. Sea ice cover restricts navigation for ships and autonomous measurement platforms alike, and icebergs present a hazard to instruments deployed in the upper ocean and in shelf seas. However, the important role of the poles in the global ocean circulation provides ample justification for sustained observations in these regions, both to monitor the rapid changes taking place, and to better understand climate processes in these traditionally poorly sampled areas. In the past, the vast majority of polar measurements took place in the summer. In recent years, novel techniques such as miniature CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) tags carried by seals have provided an explosion in year-round measurements in areas largely inaccessible to ships, and, as ice avoidance is added to autonomous profiling floats and gliders, these promise to provide further enhancements to observing systems. In addition, remote sensing provides vital information about changes taking place in sea ice cover at both poles. To make these observations sustainable into the future, improved international coordination and collaboration is necessary to gain optimum utilization of observing networks. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Defining Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as a contribution to Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs): A Core Task of the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) to Accelerate Integration of Biological Observations in the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearlman, J.; Muller-Karger, F. E.; Sousa Pinto, I.; Costello, M. J.; Duffy, J. E.; Appeltans, W.; Fischer, A. S.; Canonico, G.; Klein, E.; Obura, D.; Montes, E.; Miloslavich, P.; Howard, M.

2017-12-01

The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) is a networking effort under the umbrella of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). The objective of the MBON is to link existing groups engaged in ocean observation and help define practical indices to deploy in an operational manner to track changes in the number of marine species, the abundance and biomass of marine organisms, the diverse interactions between organisms and the environment, and the variability and change of specific habitats of interest. MBON serves as the biodiversity arm of Blue Planet, the initiative of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) for the benefit of society. The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) was established under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in 1991 to organize international ocean observing efforts. The mission of the GOOS is to support monitoring to improve the management of marine and coastal ecosystems and resources, and to enable scientific research. GOOS is engaged in a continuing, rigorous process of identifying Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs). MBON is working with GOOS and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, also under the IOC) to define Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as those Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) that have explicit taxonomic records associated with them. For practical purposes, EBVs are a subset of the EOVs. The focus is to promote the integration of biological EOVs including EBVs into the existing and planned national and international ocean observing systems. The definition avoids a proliferation of 'essential' variables across multiple organizations. MBON will continue to advance practical and wide use of EBVs and related EOV. This is an effective way to contribute to several UN assessments (e.g., from IPBES, IPCC, and the World Ocean Assessment under the UN Regular Process), UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to address targets and goals defined under the Convention on Biological Diversity. It should provide guidelines for the International (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (IOC XXIX-1, 2017). We invite the community to enter a dialogue with MBON, GOOS, and OBIS to further refine these concepts and build an integrated system to observe life in the sea.

The European Marine Observing Network and the development of an Integrated European Ocean Observing System. An EuroGOOS perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez, Vicente; Gorringe, Patrick; Nolan, Glenn

2016-04-01

The ocean benefits many sectors of society, being the biggest reservoir of heat, water, carbon and oxygen and playing a fundamental role regulating the earth's climate. We rely on the oceans for food, transport, energy and recreation. Therefore, a sustained marine observation network is crucial to further our understanding of the oceanic environment and to supply scientific data to meet society's need. Marine data and observations in Europe, collected primarily by state governmental agencies, is offered via five Regional Operational Oceanographic Systems (ROOS) within the context of EuroGOOS (http://www.eurogos.eu), an International Non-Profit Association of national governmental agencies and research organizations (40 members from 19 member states) committed to European-scale operational oceanography within the context of the Intergovernmental Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Strong cooperation within these regions, enabling the involvement of additional partners and countries, forms the basis of EuroGOOS work. Ocean data collected from different type of sensors (e.g. moored buoys, tide gauges, Ferrybox systems, High Frequency radars, gliders and profiling floats) is accessible to scientist and other end users through data portals and initiatives such as the European Marine Observations and Data Network (EMODnet) (www.emodnet.eu) and the Copernicus Marine Service Copernicus (www.copernicus.eu). Although a relatively mature European ocean observing capability already exists and its well-coordinated at European level, some gaps have been identified, for example the demand for ecosystem products and services, or the case that biogeochemical observations are still relatively sparse particularly in coastal and shelf seas. Assessing gaps based on the capacity of the observing system to answer key societal challenges e.g. site suitability for aquaculture and ocean energy, oil spill response and contextual oceanographic products for fisheries and ecosystems is still required. In this respect, an important effort is being carried out at European level aiming to stablish and consolidate an Integrated and sustained European Ocean Observing System (EOOS). In this paper we present the emerging vision for EOOS with a review of the existing observing networks on which it will be based.

Harmonising and semantically linking key variables from in-situ observing networks of an Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System, AtlantOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darroch, Louise; Buck, Justin

2017-04-01

Atlantic Ocean observation is currently undertaken through loosely-coordinated, in-situ observing networks, satellite observations and data management arrangements at regional, national and international scales. The EU Horizon 2020 AtlantOS project aims to deliver an advanced framework for the development of an Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System that strengthens the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and contributes to the aims of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation. One goal is to ensure that data from different and diverse in-situ observing networks are readily accessible and useable to a wider community, including the international ocean science community and other stakeholders in this field. To help achieve this goal, the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) produced a parameter matrix to harmonise data exchange, data flow and data integration for the key variables acquired by multiple in-situ AtlantOS observing networks such as ARGO, Seafloor Mapping and OceanSITES. Our solution used semantic linking of controlled vocabularies and metadata for parameters that were "mappable" to existing EU and international standard vocabularies. An AtlantOS Essential Variables list of terms (aggregated level) based on Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Essential Climate Variables (ECV), GOOS Essential Ocean Variables (EOV) and other key network variables was defined and published on the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Vocabulary Server (version 2.0) as collection A05 (http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/A05/current/). This new vocabulary was semantically linked to standardised metadata for observed properties and units that had been validated by the AtlantOS community: SeaDataNet parameters (P01), Climate and Forecast (CF) Standard Names (P07) and SeaDataNet units (P06). Observed properties were mapped to biological entities from the internationally assured AphiaID from the WOrld Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=webservice. The AtlantOS parameter matrix offers a way to harmonise the globally important variables (such as ECVs and EOVs) from in-situ observing networks that use different flavours of exchange formats based on SeaDataNet and CF parameter metadata. It also offers a way to standardise data in the wider Integrated Ocean Observing System. It uses sustainable and trusted standardised vocabularies that are governed by internationally renowned and long-standing organisations and is interoperable through the use of persistent resource identifiers, such as URNs and PURLs. It is the first step to integrating and serving data in a variety of international exchange formats using Application programming interfaces (API) improving both data discoverability and utility for users.

Building a Global Ocean Science Education Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scowcroft, G. A.; Tuddenham, P. T.; Pizziconi, R.

2016-02-01

It is imperative for ocean science education to be closely linked to ocean science research. This is especially important for research that addresses global concerns that cross national boundaries, including climate related issues. The results of research on these critical topics must find its way to the public, educators, and students of all ages around the globe. To facilitate this, opportunities are needed for ocean scientists and educators to convene and identify priorities and strategies for ocean science education. On June 26 and 27, 2015 the first Global Ocean Science Education (GOSE) Workshop was convened in the United States at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. The workshop, sponsored by the Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE) and the College of Exploration, had over 75 participants representing 15 nations. The workshop addressed critical global ocean science topics, current ocean science research and education priorities, advanced communication technologies, and leveraging international ocean research technologies. In addition, panels discussed elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and public education across the ocean basins with emphasis on opportunities for international collaboration. Special presentation topics included advancements in tropical cyclone forecasting, collaborations among Pacific Islands, ocean science for coastal resiliency, and trans-Atlantic collaboration. This presentation will focus on workshop outcomes as well as activities for growing a global ocean science education network. A summary of the workshop report will also be provided. The dates and location for the 2016 GOES Workshop will be announced. See http://www.coexploration.net/gose/index.html

Reassessing the Ancient Martian Ocean Hypothesis using Global Distribution of Valley Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Ngai-Ham; Perron, J. Taylor; Mitrovica, Jerry X.

2016-04-01

We re-examine the connection between true polar wander and the Martian ocean hypothesis. Previous studies have investigated the plausibility of an ancient ocean on Mars by examining the ancient putative sea-level markers on the planet's surface. One such study has argued that topographic benches, or contacts, are ancient shorelines, and that these contacts display long-wavelength topographic variations consistent with post-depositional true polar wander (Perron et al., Nature, 2007). In contrast, a second study has argued that the topography of ancient deltaic deposits associated with an ocean on early Mars are not consistent with the true polar wander scenario (Achille & Hynek, Nature Geosci., 2010). We revisit this issue by examining another marker of ancient shorelines --- the fluvial valley networks observed on the surface of Mars. Our results provide further evidence that a true polar wander event drove significant post-depositional deflection of surface features related to an ancient Martian ocean.

Reassessing the Ancient Martian Ocean Hypothesis using Global Distribution of Valley Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, N. H.; Perron, J. T.; Mitrovica, J. X.

2015-12-01

We re-examine the connection between true polar wander and the Martian ocean hypothesis. Previous studies have investigated the plausibility of an ancient ocean on Mars by examining the topography of ancient putative sea-level markers on the planet's surface. A previous study has argued that topographic benches, or contacts, are ancient shorelines, and that these contacts display long-wavelength topographic variations consistent with post-depositional true polar wander (Perron et al., Nature, 2007). In contrast, a second study has argued that the topography of ancient deltaic deposits associated with an ocean on early Mars are not consistent with the true polar wander scenario (Achille & Hynek, Nature Geosci., 2010). We revisit this issue by examining another marker of ancient shorelines --- the fluvial valley networks observed on the surface of Mars. Our results provide further evidence that a true polar wander event drove significant post-depositional deflection of surface features related to an ancient Martian ocean.

Oceans of Data : the Australian Ocean Data Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proctor, R.; Blain, P.; Mancini, S.

2012-04-01

The Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS, www.imos.org.au) is a research infrastructure project to establish an enduring marine observing system for Australian oceanic waters and shelf seas (in total, 4% of the world's oceans). Marine data and information are the main products and data management is therefore a central element to the project's success. A single integrative framework for data and information management has been developed which allows discovery and access of the data by scientists, managers and the public, based on standards and interoperability. All data is freely available. This information infrastructure has been further developed to form the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN, www.aodn.org.au) which is rapidly becoming the 'one-stop-shop' for marine data in Australia. In response to requests from users, new features have recently been added to data discovery, visualization, and data access which move the AODN closer towards providing full integration of multi-disciplinary data.

A Strategy to Learn How to Build Scientific-Education and Outreach Partnerships in the Ocean Sciences: COSEE Ocean Learning Communities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keil, R. G.; Bell, P. L.; Bittner, M. S.; Robigou, V.; Sider, K.

2005-12-01

The College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences and the College of Education at the University of Washington, the Seattle Aquarium, and the California Maritime Academy formed a partnership to establish a Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) labeled "Ocean Learning Communities." The COSEE-OLC will join the national network of NSF-funded centers that provide a catalytic environment in which partnerships between ocean researchers and educators flourish. The COSEE network contributes to the national advancement of ocean science education by sharing high-quality K-12 or informal education programs, best practices and methodologies, and offering exemplary courses through the network and at national professional meetings. Building on the successes and lessons of the existing COSEE centers, the COSEE-OLC will foster collaborations among the oceanography research community, the science of learning community, informal and formal educators, the general public, and the maritime industry in the Northwest region and the West coast. The concept for this partnership is based on reaching out to traditionally underserved populations (from the businesses that use the sea or for which economic success depends on the oceans to the united native tribes), listening to their concerns and needs and how these can be addressed within the context of ocean-based research. The challenges of integrating education and outreach with scientific research programs are addressed by the center's main catalytic activity to create Ocean Learning Communities. These communities will be gatherings of traditionally disparate stakeholders including scientists, educators, representatives of businesses with a connection to the oceans, and citizens who derive economic or recreational sustenance from the oceans. The center's principal goal is to, through time and structured learning activities, support various communities 1) to develop a common language and 2) to make a commitment to creating collaborations that will improve ocean research and public awareness at the regional scale. Researchers in the science of learning will evaluate and study the successes and challenges of these regional approaches to better understand the development and sustainability of productive partnerships and to develop learning models to share and apply at the national level.

Neural Networks Technique for Filling Gaps in Satellite Measurements: Application to Ocean Color Observations.

PubMed

Krasnopolsky, Vladimir; Nadiga, Sudhir; Mehra, Avichal; Bayler, Eric; Behringer, David

2016-01-01

A neural network (NN) technique to fill gaps in satellite data is introduced, linking satellite-derived fields of interest with other satellites and in situ physical observations. Satellite-derived "ocean color" (OC) data are used in this study because OC variability is primarily driven by biological processes related and correlated in complex, nonlinear relationships with the physical processes of the upper ocean. Specifically, ocean color chlorophyll-a fields from NOAA's operational Visible Imaging Infrared Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) are used, as well as NOAA and NASA ocean surface and upper-ocean observations employed--signatures of upper-ocean dynamics. An NN transfer function is trained, using global data for two years (2012 and 2013), and tested on independent data for 2014. To reduce the impact of noise in the data and to calculate a stable NN Jacobian for sensitivity studies, an ensemble of NNs with different weights is constructed and compared with a single NN. The impact of the NN training period on the NN's generalization ability is evaluated. The NN technique provides an accurate and computationally cheap method for filling in gaps in satellite ocean color observation fields and time series.

Neural Networks Technique for Filling Gaps in Satellite Measurements: Application to Ocean Color Observations

PubMed Central

Nadiga, Sudhir; Mehra, Avichal; Bayler, Eric; Behringer, David

2016-01-01

A neural network (NN) technique to fill gaps in satellite data is introduced, linking satellite-derived fields of interest with other satellites and in situ physical observations. Satellite-derived “ocean color” (OC) data are used in this study because OC variability is primarily driven by biological processes related and correlated in complex, nonlinear relationships with the physical processes of the upper ocean. Specifically, ocean color chlorophyll-a fields from NOAA's operational Visible Imaging Infrared Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) are used, as well as NOAA and NASA ocean surface and upper-ocean observations employed—signatures of upper-ocean dynamics. An NN transfer function is trained, using global data for two years (2012 and 2013), and tested on independent data for 2014. To reduce the impact of noise in the data and to calculate a stable NN Jacobian for sensitivity studies, an ensemble of NNs with different weights is constructed and compared with a single NN. The impact of the NN training period on the NN's generalization ability is evaluated. The NN technique provides an accurate and computationally cheap method for filling in gaps in satellite ocean color observation fields and time series. PMID:26819586

Exploring the functional side of the Ocean Sampling Day metagenomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonio, F. G.; Kottmann, R.; Wallom, D.; Glöckner, F. O.

2016-02-01

The Ocean Sampling Day (OSD) is a simultaneous, collaborative, standardized, and global mega-sequencing campaign to analyze marine microbial community composition and functional traits. 150 metagenomes were sequenced from the first OSD in June 2014 including a rich set of environmental and oceanographic measurements. Unlike other ocean mega-surveys such as Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) or the TARA expedition that mostly sampled open ocean waters most of the OSD samples are from coastal sampling sites, an area not previously well studied in this regard. The result is that OSD adds more than three million new genes to the recently published Ocean Microbial-Reference Gene Catalog (Sunawaga et al., 2015). This allows us to significantly increase our knowledge of the ocean microbiome, identify hot-spots of novelty in terms of function and investigate the impact of human activities on oceans coastal areas where there is the largest interaction between dense human populations and the marine world. Additionally, these cumulative samples, related in time, space and environmental parameters, are providing insights into fundamental rules describing microbial diversity and function and contribute to the blue economy through the identification of novel ocean-derived biotechnologies. References: Sunagawa, Coelho, Chaffron, et al. (2015, May). Structure and function of the global ocean microbiome. Science, 348(6237), 126135.

Communicating Ocean Acidification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pope, Aaron; Selna, Elizabeth

2013-01-01

Participation in a study circle through the National Network of Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) project enabled staff at the California Academy of Sciences to effectively engage visitors on climate change and ocean acidification topics. Strategic framing tactics were used as staff revised the scripted Coral Reef Dive program,…

Development of improved space sampling strategies for ocean chemical properties: Total carbon dioxide and dissolved nitrate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goyet, Catherine; Davis, Daniel; Peltzer, Edward T.; Brewer, Peter G.

1995-01-01

Large-scale ocean observing programs such as the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) today, must face the problem of designing an adequate sampling strategy. For ocean chemical variables, the goals and observing technologies are quite different from ocean physical variables (temperature, salinity, pressure). We have recently acquired data on the ocean CO2 properties on WOCE cruises P16c and P17c that are sufficiently dense to test for sampling redundancy. We use linear and quadratic interpolation methods on the sampled field to investigate what is the minimum number of samples required to define the deep ocean total inorganic carbon (TCO2) field within the limits of experimental accuracy (+/- 4 micromol/kg). Within the limits of current measurements, these lines were oversampled in the deep ocean. Should the precision of the measurement be improved, then a denser sampling pattern may be desirable in the future. This approach rationalizes the efficient use of resources for field work and for estimating gridded (TCO2) fields needed to constrain geochemical models.

Permanent Access to the Seafloor Through Ocean Networks Canada - Key Discoveries From Nine Years of Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherwath, Martin; Dewey, Richard; Heesemann, Martin; Thomsen, Laurenz; Purser, Autun; Roemer, Miriam; Xu, Guangyu

2015-04-01

Ocean Networks Canada operates ocean observatories and hosts data from the Canadian Pacific, Arctic and recently the Atlantic Ocean. The two prominent observatories are VENUS (Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea), online since 2006, inshore from Vancouver Island in the Salish Sea, and NEPTUNE (North East Pacific Time-series Underwater Networked Experiments), offshore at the northern Cascadia margin across the Juan de Fuca Plate, online since 2009. Over 250 Terabytes of data have been collected and are openly and freely accessible. Geoscientific research has made use of these high-resolution permanent time series and started to quantify ocean and seafloor dynamics. For example, upward-looking echo-sounders quantify vertical migration of euphausiids (e.g. krill) in the water column, showing additional environment- and growth-related influence to the expected light intensity-related diel migration pattern; or camera observations quantify in-situ the speed of bacterial mat withering, clam movements and local anoxic region distribution changes; or rotating sonars show unprecedented long-term stability observations of a hydrothermal vent system and the sudden changes after a local earthquake, or at a gas hydrate field sonar data detect gas venting that has an amazingly specific tidal pressure correlation which hints at internal sediment processes in relation to gas hydrate dissociation; or a regional array of bottom pressure recorders has detected five major tsunami events which help fine-tune tsunami models for better hazard preparedness.

Norwegian Ocean Observatory Network (NOON)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferré, Bénédicte; Mienert, Jürgen; Winther, Svein; Hageberg, Anne; Rune Godoe, Olav; Partners, Noon

2010-05-01

The Norwegian Ocean Observatory Network (NOON) is led by the University of Tromsø and collaborates with the Universities of Oslo and Bergen, UniResearch, Institute of Marine Research, Christian Michelsen Research and SINTEF. It is supported by the Research Council of Norway and oil and gas (O&G) industries like Statoil to develop science, technology and new educational programs. Main topics relate to ocean climate and environment as well as marine resources offshore Norway from the northern North Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean. NOON's vision is to bring Norway to the international forefront in using cable based ocean observatory technology for marine science and management, by establishing an infrastructure that enables real-time and long term monitoring of processes and interactions between hydrosphere, geosphere and biosphere. This activity is in concert with the EU funded European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap and European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observation (EMSO) project to attract international leading research developments. NOON envisions developing towards a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). Beside, the research community in Norway already possesses a considerable marine infrastructure that can expand towards an international focus for real-time multidisciplinary observations in times of rapid climate change. PIC The presently established cable-based fjord observatory, followed by the establishment of a cable-based ocean observatory network towards the Arctic from an O&G installation, will provide invaluable knowledge and experience necessary to make a successful larger cable-based observatory network at the Norwegian and Arctic margin (figure 1). Access to large quantities of real-time observation from the deep sea, including high definition video, could be used to provide the public and future recruits to science a fascinating insight into an almost unexplored part of the Earth beyond the Arctic Circle. More information about NOON is available at NOON's web site www.oceanobservatory.com. PIC

Cyberinfrastructure for the NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orcutt, J. A.; Vernon, F. L.; Arrott, M.; Chave, A.; Schofield, O.; Peach, C.; Krueger, I.; Meisinger, M.

2008-12-01

The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is an environmental observatory covering a diversity of oceanic environments, ranging from the coastal to the deep ocean. The physical infrastructure comprises a combination of seafloor cables, buoys and autonomous vehicles. It is currently in the final design phase, with construction planned to begin in mid-2010 and deployment phased over five years. The Consortium for Ocean Leadership manages this Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction program with subcontracts to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Washington and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. High-level requirements for the CI include the delivery of near-real-time data with minimal latencies, open data, data analysis and data assimilation into models, and subsequent interactive modification of the network (including autonomous vehicles) by the cyberinfrastructure. Network connections include a heterogeneous combination of fiber optics, acoustic modems, and Iridium satellite telemetry. The cyberinfrastructure design loosely couples services that exist throughout the network and share common software and middleware as necessary. In this sense, the system appears to be identical at all scales, so it is self-similar or fractal by design. The system provides near-real-time access to data and developed knowledge by the OOI's Education and Public Engagement program, to the physical infrastructure by the marine operators and to the larger community including scientists, the public, schools and decision makers. Social networking is employed to facilitate the virtual organization that builds, operates and maintains the OOI as well as providing a variety of interfaces to the data and knowledge generated by the program. We are working closely with NOAA to exchange near-real-time data through interfaces to their Data Interchange Facility (DIF) program within the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Efficiencies have been emphasized through the use of university and commercial computing clouds.

Extraction of crustal deformations and oceanic fluctuations from ocean bottom pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ariyoshi, Keisuke; Nagano, Akira; Hasegawa, Takuya; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Kido, Motoyuki; Igarashi, Toshihiro; Uchida, Naoki; Iinuma, Takeshi; Yamashita, Yusuke

2017-04-01

It has been well known that megathrust earthquakes such as the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake (Mw 9.1) and the 2011 the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake (Mw 9.0) had devastated the coastal areas in the western of Indonesia and in the north-eastern of Japan, respectively. To mitigate the disaster of those forthcoming megathrust earthquakes along Nankai Trough, the Japanese government has established seafloor networks of cable-linked observatories around Japan: DONET (Dense Oceanfloor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis along the Nankai Trough) and S-net (Seafloor Observation Network for Earthquakes and Tsunamis along the Japan Trench). The advantage of the cable-linked network is to monitor the propagation process of tsunami and seismic waves as well as seismic activity in real time. DONET contains pressure gauges as well as seismometers, which are expected to detect crustal deformations driven by peeling off subduction plate coupling process. From our simulation results, leveling changes are different sense among the DONET points even in the same science node. On the other hand, oceanic fluctuations such as melting ice masses through the global warming have so large scale as to cause ocean bottom pressure change coherently for all of DONET points especially in the same node. This difference suggests the possibility of extracting crustal deformations component from ocean bottom pressure data by differential of stacking data. However, this operation cannot be applied to local-scale fluctuations related to ocean mesoscale eddies and current fluctuations, which affect ocean bottom pressure through water density changes in the water column (from the sea surface to the bottom). Therefore, we need integral analysis by combining seismology, ocean physics and tsunami engineering so as to decompose into crustal deformation, oceanic fluctuations and instrumental drift, which will bring about high precision data enough to find geophysical phenomena. In this study, we propose a new interpretation of seismic plate coupling around the Tonankai region along the Nankai Trough, and discuss how to detect it by using the DONET data effectively. In the future, we have to extract the crustal deformation component by separating other components such as instrumental drift and oceanic changes as an integral study collaborated by seismology, geodesy, physical oceanography, and mechanical engineering.

Background Mole Fractions of Hydrocarbons in North America Determined from NOAA Global Reference Network Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mielke-Maday, I.

2015-12-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Monitoring Division (GMD) maintains a global reference network for over 50 trace gas species and analyzes discrete air samples collected by this network throughout the world at the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. In particular, flask samples are analyzed for a number of hydrocarbons with policy and health relevance such as ozone precursors, greenhouse gases, and hazardous air pollutants. Because this global network's sites are remote and therefore minimally influenced by local anthropogenic emissions, these data yield information about background ambient mole fractions and can provide a context for observations collected in intensive field campaigns, such as the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Experiment (FRAPPE), the Southeast Nexus (SENEX) study, and the DISCOVER-AQ deployments. Information about background mole fractions during field campaigns is critical for calculating hydrocarbon enhancements in the region of study and for assessing the extent to which a particular region's local emissions sources contribute to these enhancements. Understanding the geographic variability of the background and its contribution to regional ambient mole fractions is also crucial for the development of realistic regulations. We present background hydrocarbon mole fractions and their ratios in North America using data from air samples collected in the planetary boundary layer at tall towers and aboard aircraft from 2008 to 2014. We discuss the spatial and seasonal variability in these data. We present trends over the time period of measurements and propose possible explanations for these trends.

Operable Data Management for Ocean Observing Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chavez, F. P.; Graybeal, J. B.; Godin, M. A.

2004-12-01

As oceanographic observing systems become more numerous and complex, data management solutions must follow. Most existing oceanographic data management systems fall into one of three categories: they have been developed as dedicated solutions, with limited application to other observing systems; they expect that data will be pre-processed into well-defined formats, such as netCDF; or they are conceived as robust, generic data management solutions, with complexity (high) and maturity and adoption rates (low) to match. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses; no approach yet fully addresses, nor takes advantage of, the sophistication of ocean observing systems as they are now conceived. In this presentation we describe critical data management requirements for advanced ocean observing systems, of the type envisioned by ORION and IOOS. By defining common requirements -- functional, qualitative, and programmatic -- for all such ocean observing systems, the performance and nature of the general data management solution can be characterized. Issues such as scalability, maintaining metadata relationships, data access security, visualization, and operational flexibility suggest baseline architectural characteristics, which may in turn lead to reusable components and approaches. Interoperability with other data management systems, with standards-based solutions in metadata specification and data transport protocols, and with the data management infrastructure envisioned by IOOS and ORION, can also be used to define necessary capabilities. Finally, some requirements for the software infrastructure of ocean observing systems can be inferred. Early operational results and lessons learned, from development and operations of MBARI ocean observing systems, are used to illustrate key requirements, choices, and challenges. Reference systems include the Monterey Ocean Observing System (MOOS), its component software systems (Software Infrastructure and Applications for MOOS, and the Shore Side Data System), and the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network (AOSN).

Mermaid floating seismometer : A versatile Oceanographic profiler dedicated to the Earthscope Ocean Program.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hello, Y.; Nolet, G.; Bonnieux, S.; Yegikyan, M.; Chao, Y.; Chen, J.

2016-12-01

Mermaids have been developed to improve seismic data coverage in the oceanic domain for imaging of the Earth's interior. The first generation of Mermaids was housed in conventional Argo-type floats, while hardware and software was developed to analyze acoustic signals, determine whether an earthquake has been recorded, and whether the Mermaid should to come up to the surface and transmit to the satellite. Since 2012, we have deployed small test networks of Mermaids in the Indian Ocean, and in the Mediterranean sea, and we present at this meeting the result from a main network of 9 Mermaids deployed since mid 2014 in the Galapagos archipelago to image the deep plume structure. Since then, we have moved from typical cylinder container, which equips most of the Argo Floats, to a more suitable spherical design, which allows for a larger power supply and more versatile payload. The life time of the new Mermaids is 6 years if sampling continuously for seismic signals, e.g. for seismic tomography by providing worldwide coverage of P wave arrival times. The passband can be widened to allow for monitoring of whale and dolphin sounds. An interface board allows to connect up to 8 external sensors to serve other goals (bio-Argo, geochemical, meteorological). This year we have started collaboration with Sea-Trec to equip the Mermaids with an optional new green renewable power source to guaranty its 6 years lifetime even with a full payload. The Mermaids monitor continuously during the parking phase when drifting freely at a depth down to 3000m, but also provide Argo profiles during the descent. We are collaborating with Sea-Bird to customize an SBE37 to equip the Mermaid for salinity measurements. The new Mermaid has all the features to answer many scientific goals, and a project to develop a user-friendly, adaptable, software system has begun in collaboration with i3s. The first stage of a global network, EarthScope-Oceans, will be launched in 2017, and is planned to grow to 500 units to image the deep interior of the Earth.

Improving the Forecast Accuracy of an Ocean Observation and Prediction System by Adaptive Control of the Sensor Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talukder, A.; Panangadan, A. V.; Blumberg, A. F.; Herrington, T.; Georgas, N.

2008-12-01

The New York Harbor Observation and Prediction System (NYHOPS) is a real-time, estuarine and coastal ocean observing and modeling system for the New York Harbor and surrounding waters. Real-time measurements from in-situ mobile and stationary sensors in the NYHOPS networks are assimilated into marine forecasts in order to reduce the discrepancy with ground truth. The forecasts are obtained from the ECOMSED hydrodynamic model, a shallow water derivative of the Princeton Ocean Model. Currently, all sensors in the NYHOPS system are operated in a fixed mode with uniform sampling rates. This technology infusion effort demonstrates the use of Model Predictive Control (MPC) to autonomously adapt the operation of both mobile and stationary sensors in response to changing events that are -automatically detected from the ECOMSED forecasts. The controller focuses sensing resources on those regions that are expected to be impacted by the detected events. The MPC approach involves formulating the problem of calculating the optimal sensor parameters as a constrained multi-objective optimization problem. We have developed an objective function that takes into account the spatiotemporal relationship of the in-situ sensor locations and the locations of events detected by the model. Experiments in simulation were carried out using data collected during a freshwater flooding event. The location of the resulting freshwater plume was calculated from the corresponding model forecasts and was used by the MPC controller to derive control parameters for the sensing assets. The operational parameters that are controlled include the sampling rates of stationary sensors, paths of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), and data transfer routes between sensors and the central modeling computer. The simulation experiments show that MPC-based sensor control reduces the RMS error in the forecast by a factor of 380% as compared to uniform sampling. The paths of multiple UUVs were simultaneously calculated such that measurements from on-board sensors would lead to maximal reduction in the forecast error after data assimilation. The MPC controller also reduces the consumption of system resources such as energy expended in sampling and wireless communication. The MPC-based control approach can be generalized to accept data from remote sensing satellites. This will enable in-situ sensors to be regulated using forecasts generated by assimilating local high resolution in-situ measurements with wide-area observations from remote sensing satellites.

OceanRoute: Vessel Mobility Data Processing and Analyzing Model Based on MapReduce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chao; Liu, Yingjian; Guo, Zhongwen; Jing, Wei

2018-06-01

The network coverage is a big problem in ocean communication, and there is no low-cost solution in the short term. Based on the knowledge of Mobile Delay Tolerant Network (MDTN), the mobility of vessels can create the chances of end-to-end communication. The mobility pattern of vessel is one of the key metrics on ocean MDTN network. Because of the high cost, few experiments have focused on research of vessel mobility pattern for the moment. In this paper, we study the traces of more than 4000 fishing and freight vessels. Firstly, to solve the data noise and sparsity problem, we design two algorithms to filter the noise and complement the missing data based on the vessel's turning feature. Secondly, after studying the traces of vessels, we observe that the vessel's traces are confined by invisible boundary. Thirdly, through defining the distance between traces, we design MR-Similarity algorithm to find the mobility pattern of vessels. Finally, we realize our algorithm on cluster and evaluate the performance and accuracy. Our results can provide the guidelines on design of data routing protocols on ocean MDTN.

Toward a national animal telemetry network for aquatic observations in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Block, Barbara A.; Holbrook, Christopher; Simmons, Samantha E; Holland, Kim N; Ault, Jerald S.; Costa, Daniel P.; Mate, Bruce R; Seitz, Andrew C.; Arendt, Michael D.; Payne, John; Mahmoudi, Behzad; Moore, Peter L.; Price, James; J. J. Levenson,; Wilson, Doug; Kochevar, Randall E

2016-01-01

Animal telemetry is the science of elucidating the movements and behavior of animals in relation to their environment or habitat. Here, we focus on telemetry of aquatic species (marine mammals, sharks, fish, sea birds and turtles) and so are concerned with animal movements and behavior as they move through and above the world’s oceans, coastal rivers, estuaries and great lakes. Animal telemetry devices (“tags”) yield detailed data regarding animal responses to the coupled ocean–atmosphere and physical environment through which they are moving. Animal telemetry has matured and we describe a developing US Animal Telemetry Network (ATN) observing system that monitors aquatic life on a range of temporal and spatial scales that will yield both short- and long-term benefits, fill oceanographic observing and knowledge gaps and advance many of the U.S. National Ocean Policy Priority Objectives. ATN has the potential to create a huge impact for the ocean observing activities undertaken by the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and become a model for establishing additional national-level telemetry networks worldwide.

Captivating Broad Audiences with an Internet-connected Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moran, K.; Elliott, L.; Gervais, F.; Juniper, K.; Owens, D.; Pirenne, B.

2012-12-01

NEPTUNE Canada, a network of Ocean Networks Canada and the first deep water cabled ocean observatory, began operations in December 2009. Located offshore Canada's west coast, the network streams data from passive, active, and interactive sensors positioned at five nodes along its 800 km long looped cable to the Internet. This technically advanced system includes a sophisticated data management and archiving system, which enables the collection of real-time physical, chemical, geological, and biological oceanographic data, including video, at resolutions relevant for furthering our understanding of the dynamics of the earth-ocean system. Scientists in Canada and around the world comprise the primary audience for these data, but NEPTUNE Canada is also serving these data to broader audiences including K-16 students and teachers, informal educators, citizen scientists, the press, and the public. Here we present our engagement tools, approaches, and experiences including electronic books, personal phone apps, Internet-served video, social media, mini-observatory systems, print media, live broadcasting from sea, and a citizen scientist portal.NEPTUNE Canada's ibook available on Apple's iBook store.

Genomic admixture tracks pulses of economic activity over 2,000 years in the Indian Ocean trading network.

PubMed

Brucato, Nicolas; Kusuma, Pradiptajati; Beaujard, Philippe; Sudoyo, Herawati; Cox, Murray P; Ricaut, François-Xavier

2017-06-07

The Indian Ocean has long been a hub of interacting human populations. Following land- and sea-based routes, trade drove cultural contacts between far-distant ethnic groups in Asia, India, the Middle East and Africa, creating one of the world's first proto-globalized environments. However, the extent to which population mixing was mediated by trade is poorly understood. Reconstructing admixture times from genomic data in 3,006 individuals from 187 regional populations reveals a close association between bouts of human migration and trade volumes during the last 2,000 years across the Indian Ocean trading system. Temporal oscillations in trading activity match phases of contraction and expansion in migration, with high water marks following the expansion of the Silk Roads in the 5 th century AD, the rise of maritime routes in the 11 th century and a drastic restructuring of the trade network following the arrival of Europeans in the 16 th century. The economic fluxes of the Indian Ocean trade network therefore directly shaped exchanges of genes, in addition to goods and concepts.

The 2014-2015 warming anomaly in the Southern California Current System observed by underwater gliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaba, Katherine D.; Rudnick, Daniel L.

2016-02-01

Large-scale patterns of positive temperature anomalies persisted throughout the surface waters of the North Pacific Ocean during 2014-2015. In the Southern California Current System, measurements by our sustained network of underwater gliders reveal the coastal effects of the recent warming. Regional upper ocean temperature anomalies were greatest since the initiation of the glider network in 2006. Additional observed physical anomalies included a depressed thermocline, high stratification, and freshening; induced biological consequences included changes in the vertical distribution of chlorophyll fluorescence. Contemporaneous surface heat flux and wind strength perturbations suggest that local anomalous atmospheric forcing caused the unusual oceanic conditions.

Getting into the GROOVE: How Building Effective Education Partnerships and Promoting Authentic Student Research through the Girls' Remotely Operated Ocean Vehicle Exploration (GROOVE) Workshop.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M.; Heesemann, M.; Hoeberechts, M.

2017-12-01

This presentation outlines the pilot year of Girls' Remotely Operated Ocean Vehicle Exploration or GROOVE, a hands-on learning program created collaboratively with education partners Ocean Networks Canada and St. Margaret's School (Victoria, BC, Canada). The program features student-led activities, authentic student experiences, clearly outlined learning outcomes, teacher and student self-assessment tools, and curriculum-aligned content. Presented through the lens of STEM, students build a modified Seaperch ROV and explore and research thematic scientific concepts such as buoyancy, electronic circuitry, and deep-sea exploration. Further, students learn engineering skills such as isotropic scaling, soldering, and assembly as they build their ROV. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, develops, operates, and maintains cabled ocean observatory systems. These include technologies developed on the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS observatories and the ever-expanding network of community observatories in the Arctic and coastal British Columbia. These observatories, large and small, enable communities, users, scientists, teachers, and students to monitor real-time and historical data from the local marine environment from anywhere on the globe. GROOVE, Girls' Remotely Operated Ocean Vehicle Exploration, is ONC's newest educational program and is related to their foundational program K-12 Ocean Sense educational program. This presentation will share our experiences developing, refining, and assessing our efforts to implement GROOVE using a train-the-trainer model aimed at formal and informal K-12 educators. We will highlight lessons learned from multiple perspectives (students, participants, developers, and mentors) with the intent of informing future education and outreach initiatives.

Analysis of Oceans' Influence on Spring Time Rainfall Variability Over Southeastern South America during the 20th Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín, Verónica; Barreiro, Marcelo

2015-04-01

Southeastern South America (SESA) rainfall presents large variability from interannual to multidecadal times scales and is influenced by the tropical Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. At the same time, these tropical oceans interact with each other inducing sea surface temperature anomalies in remote basins through atmospheric and oceanic teleconnections. In this study we employ a tool from complex networks to analyze the collective influence of the three tropical oceans on austral spring rainfall variability over SESA during the 20th century. To do so we construct a climate network considering as nodes the observed Niño3.4, Tropical North Atlantic (TNA), and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) indices, together with an observed or simulated precipitation (PCP) index over SESA. The mean network distance is considered as a measure of synchronization among all these phenomena during the 20th century. The approach allowed to uncover large interannual and interdecadal variability in the interaction among nodes. In particular, there are two main synchronization periods characterized by different interactions among the oceanic and precipitation nodes. Whereas in the '30s El Niño and the TNA were the main tropical oceanic phenomena that influenced SESA precipitation variability, during the '70s they were El Niño and the IOD. Simulations with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model reproduced the overall behavior of the collective influence of the tropical oceans on rainfall over SESA, and allowed to study the circulation anomalies that characterized the synchronization periods. In agreement with previous studies, the influence of El Niño on SESA precipitation variability might be understood through an increase of the northerly transport of moisture in lower levels and advection of cyclonic vorticity in upper levels. On the other hand, the interaction between the IOD and PCP can be interpreted in two possible ways. One possibility is that both nodes (IOD and PCP) are forced by El Niño. Another possibility is that the Indian Ocean warming influences rainfall over Southeastern South America through the eastward propagation of Rossby waves as suggested previously. Finally, the influence of TNA on SESA precipitation persists even when El Niño signal is removed, suggesting that SST anomalies in the tropical north Atlantic can directly influence SESA precipitation and further studies are needed to elucidate this connection. KEY WORDS: climate networks, synchronization events, climate variability, tropical ocean teleconnections, tropic-extratropic teleconnections, precipitation over SESA.

Sensitivity of marine protected area network connectivity to atmospheric variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, Alan D.; Henry, Lea-Anne; Corne, David W.; Roberts, J. Murray

2016-11-01

International efforts are underway to establish well-connected systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) covering at least 10% of the ocean by 2020. But the nature and dynamics of ocean ecosystem connectivity are poorly understood, with unresolved effects of climate variability. We used 40-year runs of a particle tracking model to examine the sensitivity of an MPA network for habitat-forming cold-water corals in the northeast Atlantic to changes in larval dispersal driven by atmospheric cycles and larval behaviour. Trajectories of Lophelia pertusa larvae were strongly correlated to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the dominant pattern of interannual atmospheric circulation variability over the northeast Atlantic. Variability in trajectories significantly altered network connectivity and source-sink dynamics, with positive phase NAO conditions producing a well-connected but asymmetrical network connected from west to east. Negative phase NAO produced reduced connectivity, but notably some larvae tracked westward-flowing currents towards coral populations on the mid-Atlantic ridge. Graph theoretical metrics demonstrate critical roles played by seamounts and offshore banks in larval supply and maintaining connectivity across the network. Larval longevity and behaviour mediated dispersal and connectivity, with shorter lived and passive larvae associated with reduced connectivity. We conclude that the existing MPA network is vulnerable to atmospheric-driven changes in ocean circulation.

AGU Hosts Networking Event for Female Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEntee, Chris

2013-01-01

At Fall Meeting this year I had the pleasure of cohosting a new event, a Networking Reception for Early Career Female Scientists and Students, with Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator, and Marcia McNutt, director of the U.S. Geological Survey. AGU recognizes the importance of having a diverse pool of new researchers who can enrich Earth and space sciences with their skills and innovation. That's why one of our four strategic goals is to help build the global talent pool and provide early-career scientists with networking opportunities like this one.

A data delivery system for IMOS, the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proctor, R.; Roberts, K.; Ward, B. J.

2010-09-01

The Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS, www.imos.org.au), an AUD 150 m 7-year project (2007-2013), is a distributed set of equipment and data-information services which, among many applications, collectively contribute to meeting the needs of marine climate research in Australia. The observing system provides data in the open oceans around Australia out to a few thousand kilometres as well as the coastal oceans through 11 facilities which effectively observe and measure the 4-dimensional ocean variability, and the physical and biological response of coastal and shelf seas around Australia. Through a national science rationale IMOS is organized as five regional nodes (Western Australia - WAIMOS, South Australian - SAIMOS, Tasmania - TASIMOS, New SouthWales - NSWIMOS and Queensland - QIMOS) surrounded by an oceanic node (Blue Water and Climate). Operationally IMOS is organized as 11 facilities (Argo Australia, Ships of Opportunity, Southern Ocean Automated Time Series Observations, Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Facility, Australian National Mooring Network, Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network, Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System, Facility for Automated Intelligent Monitoring of Marine Systems, eMarine Information Infrastructure and Satellite Remote Sensing) delivering data. IMOS data is freely available to the public. The data, a combination of near real-time and delayed mode, are made available to researchers through the electronic Marine Information Infrastructure (eMII). eMII utilises the Australian Academic Research Network (AARNET) to support a distributed database on OPeNDAP/THREDDS servers hosted by regional computing centres. IMOS instruments are described through the OGC Specification SensorML and where-ever possible data is in CF compliant netCDF format. Metadata, conforming to standard ISO 19115, is automatically harvested from the netCDF files and the metadata records catalogued in the OGC GeoNetwork Metadata Entry and Search Tool (MEST). Data discovery, access and download occur via web services through the IMOS Ocean Portal (http://imos.aodn.org.au) and tools for the display and integration of near real-time data are in development.

Tracking fin whales in the northeast Pacific Ocean with a seafloor seismic network.

PubMed

Wilcock, William S D

2012-10-01

Ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) networks represent a tool of opportunity to study fin and blue whales. A small OBS network on the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the northeast Pacific Ocean in ~2.3 km of water recorded an extensive data set of 20-Hz fin whale calls. An automated method has been developed to identify arrival times based on instantaneous frequency and amplitude and to locate calls using a grid search even in the presence of a few bad arrival times. When only one whale is calling near the network, tracks can generally be obtained up to distances of ~15 km from the network. When the calls from multiple whales overlap, user supervision is required to identify tracks. The absolute and relative amplitudes of arrivals and their three-component particle motions provide additional constraints on call location but are not useful for extending the distance to which calls can be located. The double-difference method inverts for changes in relative call locations using differences in residuals for pairs of nearby calls recorded on a common station. The method significantly reduces the unsystematic component of the location error, especially when inconsistencies in arrival time observations are minimized by cross-correlation.

The Effects of a Marine Science Curriculum and Training Project on Collegiality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrin, Elise Trumbull; Lash, Andrea A.

This paper reports some of the results of an evaluation of Project OCEAN (Oceanic Classroom Education and Networking), a teacher training and curriculum reform project. The paper focuses on results that suggest that Project OCEAN was able to stimulate important collegial behaviors among teachers in all participating schools, and attempts to…

IOOS: Aiding Aquaculture Industries and Their Harvest with Near Real-Time Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerkering, H.; Shandy Buckley; Jan Newton; Julie Thomas

2011-12-01

West Coast aquaculture accounts for over 3000 jobs and brings in over 117 million in revenue to mostly small coastal communities. Larvae recruitment and growth in these systems are very susceptible to harmful algal blooms (HABs) and acidic waters (low pH). Since 2005, aquaculturists have observed a significant reduction in shellfish larvae production and recruitment. In 2008 and 2009, the Taylor Shellfish Company (Dabob Bay, WA) observed a loss of 80% in their hatchery production. Likewise in 2008, Whiskey Creek Shellfish Company (Netarts Bay, OR) produced only 25% of their normal crop. These businesses and local scientists suspect low pH to be the culprit in the declines. In 2007, the Monterey Abalone Company suffered a 60K loss in their harvest. After contacting local scientists it was determined that the abalone crop died from a harmful algal bloom event. In response, the three West Coast Regional Associations under the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (NANOOS, CeNCOOS and SCCOOS) are working in collaboration with the Ocean Science Trust, Ocean Protection Council, CA Sea Grant, NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Program, and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project to develop an observing and near real-time data delivery network focused on harmful algal blooms, the Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring Alert Program and on ocean acidification, the California Current Acidification Network. The above organizations have participated in a number of workshops with members of the aquaculture community helping to design the network. It is clear that a spatial and temporal disconnect between the data needs of both groups exists. Aquaculture experts require daily and hourly data streams in the near-shore environment with a high degree of reliability in the data but not necessarily a high degree of accuracy. Conversely, scientists collect highly accurate data in the continental shelf and oceanic environment and model predictions on decadal scales. The networks are being designed to address scientific understanding and uncertainty as well as the management needs of various stakeholder groups. Better communication and delivery of near real time data will assist aquaculture growers to predict when larvae will recruit in the natural system, when and if to relocate crops, and when to pump water in a tanks system. Though an integrated west coast observational network satellite sea surface temperature, HAB tracking systems, ocean acidification buoys, and biological monitoring programs can be pulled together into a cohesive program. A network of scientists and industry stakeholders providing and utilizing a near real time data network saves money and increases efficiency. It is not possible to prevent variability in temperature, nutrients, pH and algal blooms, but increasing understanding will lead to more accurate predictions, and ultimately, better human adaptation to the harmful economic impacts of HABs and ocean acidification.

Ocean science: The rise of Rhizaria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caron, David A.

2016-04-01

Large amoeba-like organisms known as Rhizaria have often been overlooked in studies of ocean biology and biogeochemistry. Underwater imaging and ecological network analyses are revealing their roles. See Article p.465 & Letter p.504

Advantages of long-term multidisciplinary ocean observations for gas hydrate systems - Examples from Ocean Networks Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherwath, Martin; Riedel, Michael; Roemer, Miriam; Thomsen, Laurenz; Chatzievangelou, Damianos; Juniper, Kim; Heesemann, Martin; Mihaly, Steven

2017-04-01

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) operates permanent ocean observatories around Canada, with two science nodes on gas hydrate sites on its NEPTUNE observatory off Vancouver Island. We present examples of gas hydrates related scientific discoveries that require high power and high data capacity provided by the underwater cabled network. The first example utilizes the seafloor crawler Wally that is operated by Jacobs University in Bremen. Regular live crawler missions allowed a thorough analysis of the benthic activity around the hydrate mounds, where the cabled access makes it possible to drive at a speed dependent on the seafloor turbidity to obtain clear images. Combining these visual data with a variety of co-located environmental monitoring data showed which species reacted to which parameters, for instance that sablefish appear to follow low currents, Juvenile crabs react to oxygen levels or hagfish to chlorophyll. The second example is from gas vent monitoring using a 270 kHz sonar. At least one year of constant monitoring was necessary not only to prove that seafloor gas venting is primarily controlled by the tidal pressure but also to establish months-long phases of different venting intensity. This highlights that ship-based monitoring is less adequate for quantitative analyses of methane release into the ocean, though crucial for extrapolating the observatory results. Note that all these data are freely and openly accessible to the research community through Oceans 2.0, ONC's data portal; see http://www.oceannetworks.ca/DATA-TOOLS.

NOAA tsunami water level archive - scientific perspectives and discoveries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mungov, G.; Eble, M. C.; McLean, S. J.

2013-12-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and co-located World Data Service for Geophysics (WDS) provides long-term archive, data management, and access to national and global tsunami data. Currently, NGDC archives and processes high-resolution data recorded by the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) network, the coastal-tide-gauge network from the National Ocean Service (NOS) as well as tide-gauge data recorded by all gauges in the two National Weather Service (NWS) Tsunami Warning Centers' (TWCs) regional networks. The challenge in processing these data is that the observations from the deep-ocean, Pacific Islands, Alaska region, and United States West and East Coasts display commonalities, but, at the same time, differ significantly, especially when extreme events are considered. The focus of this work is on how time integration of raw observations (10-seconds to 1-minute) could mask extreme water levels. Analysis of the statistical and spectral characteristics obtained from records with different time step of integration will be presented. Results show the need to precisely calibrate the despiking procedure against raw data due to the significant differences in the variability of deep-ocean and coastal tide-gauge observations. It is shown that special attention should be drawn to the very strong water level declines associated with the passage of the North Atlantic cyclones. Strong changes for the deep ocean and for the West Coast have implications for data quality but these same features are typical for the East Coast regime.

A Deep Learning Algorithm of Neural Network for the Parameterization of Typhoon-Ocean Feedback in Typhoon Forecast Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Guo-Qing; Xu, Jing; Wei, Jun

2018-04-01

Two algorithms based on machine learning neural networks are proposed—the shallow learning (S-L) and deep learning (D-L) algorithms—that can potentially be used in atmosphere-only typhoon forecast models to provide flow-dependent typhoon-induced sea surface temperature cooling (SSTC) for improving typhoon predictions. The major challenge of existing SSTC algorithms in forecast models is how to accurately predict SSTC induced by an upcoming typhoon, which requires information not only from historical data but more importantly also from the target typhoon itself. The S-L algorithm composes of a single layer of neurons with mixed atmospheric and oceanic factors. Such a structure is found to be unable to represent correctly the physical typhoon-ocean interaction. It tends to produce an unstable SSTC distribution, for which any perturbations may lead to changes in both SSTC pattern and strength. The D-L algorithm extends the neural network to a 4 × 5 neuron matrix with atmospheric and oceanic factors being separated in different layers of neurons, so that the machine learning can determine the roles of atmospheric and oceanic factors in shaping the SSTC. Therefore, it produces a stable crescent-shaped SSTC distribution, with its large-scale pattern determined mainly by atmospheric factors (e.g., winds) and small-scale features by oceanic factors (e.g., eddies). Sensitivity experiments reveal that the D-L algorithms improve maximum wind intensity errors by 60-70% for four case study simulations, compared to their atmosphere-only model runs.

Challenges in Ocean Data Assimilation for the US West Coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Z.; Chao, Y.; Farrara, J.; Wang, X.

2006-12-01

A three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system has been developed for the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), and it is called ROMS-DAS. This system provides a capability of predicting meso- to small-scale variations with temporal scales from hours to days in the coastal oceans. To cope with the particular difficulties that result from complex coastlines and bottom topography, unbalanced flows and sparse observations, ROMS-DAS utilizes several novel strategies. These strategies include the implementation of three-dimensional anisotropic and inhomogeneous error correlations, application of particular weak dynamic constraints, and implementation of efficient and reliable algorithms for minimizing the cost function. The ROMS-DAS system was applied in field experiments for Monterey Bay during both 2003 (Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network - AOSN) and 2006 (MB06). These two experiments included intensive data collection from a variety of observational platforms, including satellites, airplanes, High Frequency radars, Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers, ships, drifters, buoys, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), and particularly a fleet of undersea gliders. Using these data sets, various data assimilation experiments were performed to address several major data assimilation challenges that arise from multi-scales structures, inhomogeneous properties, dynamical imbalance of the flow, and tides. Basing on these experiments, a set of strategies were formulated to deal with those challenges.

A database of chlorophyll a in Australian waters

PubMed Central

Davies, Claire H.; Ajani, Penelope; Armbrecht, Linda; Atkins, Natalia; Baird, Mark E.; Beard, Jason; Bonham, Pru; Burford, Michele; Clementson, Lesley; Coad, Peter; Crawford, Christine; Dela-Cruz, Jocelyn; Doblin, Martina A.; Edgar, Steven; Eriksen, Ruth; Everett, Jason D.; Furnas, Miles; Harrison, Daniel P.; Hassler, Christel; Henschke, Natasha; Hoenner, Xavier; Ingleton, Tim; Jameson, Ian; Keesing, John; Leterme, Sophie C.; James McLaughlin, M; Miller, Margaret; Moffatt, David; Moss, Andrew; Nayar, Sasi; Patten, Nicole L.; Patten, Renee; Pausina, Sarah A.; Proctor, Roger; Raes, Eric; Robb, Malcolm; Rothlisberg, Peter; Saeck, Emily A.; Scanes, Peter; Suthers, Iain M.; Swadling, Kerrie M.; Talbot, Samantha; Thompson, Peter; Thomson, Paul G.; Uribe-Palomino, Julian; van Ruth, Paul; Waite, Anya M.; Wright, Simon; Richardson, Anthony J.

2018-01-01

Chlorophyll a is the most commonly used indicator of phytoplankton biomass in the marine environment. It is relatively simple and cost effective to measure when compared to phytoplankton abundance and is thus routinely included in many surveys. Here we collate 173, 333 records of chlorophyll a collected since 1965 from Australian waters gathered from researchers on regular coastal monitoring surveys and ocean voyages into a single repository. This dataset includes the chlorophyll a values as measured from samples analysed using spectrophotometry, fluorometry and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The Australian Chlorophyll a database is freely available through the Australian Ocean Data Network portal (https://portal.aodn.org.au/). These data can be used in isolation as an index of phytoplankton biomass or in combination with other data to provide insight into water quality, ecosystem state, and relationships with other trophic levels such as zooplankton or fish. PMID:29461516

A database of chlorophyll a in Australian waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, Claire H.; Ajani, Penelope; Armbrecht, Linda; Atkins, Natalia; Baird, Mark E.; Beard, Jason; Bonham, Pru; Burford, Michele; Clementson, Lesley; Coad, Peter; Crawford, Christine; Dela-Cruz, Jocelyn; Doblin, Martina A.; Edgar, Steven; Eriksen, Ruth; Everett, Jason D.; Furnas, Miles; Harrison, Daniel P.; Hassler, Christel; Henschke, Natasha; Hoenner, Xavier; Ingleton, Tim; Jameson, Ian; Keesing, John; Leterme, Sophie C.; James McLaughlin, M.; Miller, Margaret; Moffatt, David; Moss, Andrew; Nayar, Sasi; Patten, Nicole L.; Patten, Renee; Pausina, Sarah A.; Proctor, Roger; Raes, Eric; Robb, Malcolm; Rothlisberg, Peter; Saeck, Emily A.; Scanes, Peter; Suthers, Iain M.; Swadling, Kerrie M.; Talbot, Samantha; Thompson, Peter; Thomson, Paul G.; Uribe-Palomino, Julian; van Ruth, Paul; Waite, Anya M.; Wright, Simon; Richardson, Anthony J.

2018-02-01

Chlorophyll a is the most commonly used indicator of phytoplankton biomass in the marine environment. It is relatively simple and cost effective to measure when compared to phytoplankton abundance and is thus routinely included in many surveys. Here we collate 173, 333 records of chlorophyll a collected since 1965 from Australian waters gathered from researchers on regular coastal monitoring surveys and ocean voyages into a single repository. This dataset includes the chlorophyll a values as measured from samples analysed using spectrophotometry, fluorometry and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The Australian Chlorophyll a database is freely available through the Australian Ocean Data Network portal (https://portal.aodn.org.au/). These data can be used in isolation as an index of phytoplankton biomass or in combination with other data to provide insight into water quality, ecosystem state, and relationships with other trophic levels such as zooplankton or fish.

Ocean Inside Saturn Moon Enceladus

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-04-03

Gravity measurements by NASA Cassini spacecraft and Deep Space Network suggest that Saturn moon Enceladus, which has jets of water vapor and ice gushing from its south pole, also harbors a large interior ocean beneath an ice shell.

Exploring the Unknown: Cabled Ocean Observatory Data and Discovery in University Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M.; Scherwath, M.; Riddell, D. J.; Hoeberechts, M.; Bourdeault-Fournier, A.; Schine, J.; Sammarco, P. M. P.

2016-12-01

Cabled ocean observatories, which supply continuous power and Internet connectivity to subsea instruments from the coast to the deep sea, enable us to extend our reach into unexplored regions of the ocean. Sensors become our eyes and ears in this mysterious world, allowing instructors and students to have a virtual presence in an environment that is otherwise inaccessible for human study. Networks of always-on sensors in habitats as diverse as submarine canyons, hypoxic marine basins, and active hydrothermal vent systems provide unprecedented opportunities for students to ask real scientific questions and to answer those questions with real data. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, operates coastal and deep ocean cabled observatories, including VENUS and NEPTUNE off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. ONC supports instructors in the creation of lab and course materials using observatory data. Data from the observatories are freely accessible through a web-based interface, which allows students to continue their investigations beyond the in-class activities. Here, we present three examples of the application of data from Ocean Networks Canada's cabled observatories in post-secondary education: an undergraduate lab in marine ecology in which students investigate the factors affecting spatial variation in benthic animal diversity using ocean sensor data and video footage from cameras on the seafloor; an undergraduate field course in acoustic ethnography in which students incorporate recordings from ONC's hydrophone arrays; and a graduate student "research derby" in which students propose hypotheses that can be investigated using ONC data in whole or in part, with rewards for those successful in publishing the results of their study in a peer-reviewed journal within two years.

Global Ocean Currents Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyer, T.; Sun, L.

2016-02-01

The NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information has released an ocean currents database portal that aims 1) to integrate global ocean currents observations from a variety of instruments with different resolution, accuracy and response to spatial and temporal variability into a uniform network common data form (NetCDF) format and 2) to provide a dedicated online data discovery, access to NCEI-hosted and distributed data sources for ocean currents data. The portal provides a tailored web application that allows users to search for ocean currents data by platform types and spatial/temporal ranges of their interest. The dedicated web application is available at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/gocd/index.html. The NetCDF format supports widely-used data access protocols and catalog services such as OPeNDAP (Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol) and THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services), which the GOCD users can use data files with their favorite analysis and visualization client software without downloading to their local machine. The potential users of the ocean currents database include, but are not limited to, 1) ocean modelers for their model skills assessments, 2) scientists and researchers for studying the impact of ocean circulations on the climate variability, 3) ocean shipping industry for safety navigation and finding optimal routes for ship fuel efficiency, 4) ocean resources managers while planning for the optimal sites for wastes and sewages dumping and for renewable hydro-kinematic energy, and 5) state and federal governments to provide historical (analyzed) ocean circulations as an aid for search and rescue

A MAC Protocol to Support Monitoring of Underwater Spaces.

PubMed

Santos, Rodrigo; Orozco, Javier; Ochoa, Sergio F; Meseguer, Roc; Eggly, Gabriel; Pistonesi, Marcelo F

2016-06-27

Underwater sensor networks are becoming an important field of research, because of their everyday increasing application scope. Examples of their application areas are environmental and pollution monitoring (mainly oil spills), oceanographic data collection, support for submarine geolocalization, ocean sampling and early tsunamis alert. The challenge of performing underwater communications is well known, provided that radio signals are useless in this medium, and a wired solution is too expensive. Therefore, the sensors in these networks transmit their information using acoustic signals that propagate well under water. This data transmission type not only brings an opportunity, but also several challenges to the implementation of these networks, e.g., in terms of energy consumption, data transmission and signal interference. In order to help advance the knowledge in the design and implementation of these networks for monitoring underwater spaces, this paper proposes a MAC protocol for acoustic communications between the nodes, based on a self-organized time division multiple access mechanism. The proposal was evaluated using simulations of a real monitoring scenario, and the obtained results are highly encouraging.

National Marine Sanctuaries as Sentinel Sites for a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muller-Karger, F. E.; Chavez, F.; Gittings, S.; Doney, S. C.; Kavanaugh, M.; Montes, E.; Breitbart, M.; Kirkpatrick, B. A.; Anderson, D. M.; Tartt, M.

2016-02-01

The U.S. Federal government (NOAA and NASA), academic researchers, and private partners are implementing a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) to monitor changes in marine biodiversity within two US National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS): Florida Keys and Monterey Bay. The overarching goal is to observe and understand life, from microbes to whales, in different coastal and continental shelf habitats. The specific objectives are to 1) Establish a protocol for MBON information to dynamically update Sanctuary status and trends reports; 2) Define an efficient set of observations required for implementing a useful MBON; 3) Develop technology for biodiversity assessments including emerging environmental DNA (eDNA) and remote sensing to coordinate with classical sampling; 4) Integrate and synthesize information in coordination with other MBON projects, the Smithsonian Institution's Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network (TMON), the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), the international Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network(GEO BON), and the UNESCO-IOC Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS); and 5) Understand the linkages between marine biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and the social-economic context of a region. Pilot projects have been implemented within the Florida Keys and Monterey Bay NMS. Limited observations will be collected at the Flower Garden Banks NMS. These encompass a range of marine environments, including deep sea, continental shelves, and coastal habitats including estuaries, wetlands, and coral reefs. The program will use novel eDNA techniques and ongoing observations to evaluate diversity. Multidisciplinary remote sensing will be used to evaluate dynamic 'seascapes'. The MBON will facilitate and enable regional biodiversity assessments, and contributes to addressing U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use marine resources.

A Deep-Ocean Observatory with Near Real-time Telemetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, J.; Orcutt, J. A.; Laske, G.

2014-12-01

We describe an autonomously deployable, deep-ocean observatory designed to provide long term and near-real-time observations from sites far offshore. The key feature of this new system is its ability to telemeter sensor data from the seafloor to shore without a cable or moored surface buoy. In the future the observatory will be deployable without a ship. The first application of this system is seismology. While permanent ocean seismic stations on the seafloor have long been a goal of global seismology, today there are still no ocean bottom stations in the Global Seismographic Network, mostly for reasons of life-cycle costs. Yet real-time data from stations in oceanic areas are critical for both national and international agencies in monitoring and characterizing earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear explosions. The system comprises an ocean bottom instrumentation package and a free-floating surface communications gateway, which uses a Liquid Robotics wave glider. The glider consists of a surfboard-sized float propelled by a tethered, submerged glider, which converts wave motion into thrust. For navigation, the wave gliders are equipped with a small computer, a GPS receiver, a rudder, solar panels and batteries, and an Iridium satellite modem. Wave gliders have demonstrated trans-oceanic range combined with long-term station holding. The 'communications gateway,' which provides the means of communicating between the ocean bottom package and land comprises a wave glider and a towed acoustic communications 'tow body'. Acoustic communications connect the subsea instruments and the surface gateway while communications between the gateway and land is provided by the Iridium satellite constellation. Tests of the surface gateway in 4350 m of water demonstrated the ability to send four channels of compressed 24-bit, 1 sample per second data from the ocean bottom to the gateway with an average power draw of approximately 0.2 W.

The status of marine and coastal EBM among a large sample of U.S. federal programs: a social network approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dell'Apa, A.; Fullerton, A.; Schwing, F. B.; Brady, M.

2016-12-01

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is an integrated management approach that considers the entire ecosystem, including humans, across multiple sectors, with the goal to collectively manage natural resources, habitat, and species in a sustainable manner while maintaining ecosystem services to humans on the long-term. In the United States, the National Ocean Council (NOC) established a federal interagency subgroup (National Ocean Policy EBM-Subgroup) to provide policy advice on EBM strategies and technical representation from the federal agencies that are part of the NOC. As part of the NOP EBM-Subgroup effort, this study summarizes the status of EBM for several federal programs within the NOC agencies that implement or support marine and coastal EBM activities. Our objective was to provide an overview of the current state of practice among the many and varied U.S. federal programs employing EBM approaches in the ocean, coastal zone, and the Great Lakes. We used social network analysis techniques to explore similarities among programs in different topic areas (e.g., type of audience, partners, training, EBM best management practices and principles). Results highlight substantial differences in perceived and effective performances across programs, with Management programs showing a higher level of integration of EBM approaches than Non-Management programs. The use of EBM best management practices and principles among programs is unbalanced, with some key elements of EBM strategies less commonly employed in the management planning. This analysis identified gaps in the implementation of EBM strategies that can inform natural resource managers and planners

The status of marine and coastal EBM among a large sample of U.S. federal programs: a social network approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dell'Apa, A.; Fullerton, A.; Schwing, F. B.; Brady, M.

2016-02-01

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is an integrated management approach that considers the entire ecosystem, including humans, across multiple sectors, with the goal to collectively manage natural resources, habitat, and species in a sustainable manner while maintaining ecosystem services to humans on the long-term. In the United States, the National Ocean Council (NOC) established a federal interagency subgroup (National Ocean Policy EBM-Subgroup) to provide policy advice on EBM strategies and technical representation from the federal agencies that are part of the NOC. As part of the NOP EBM-Subgroup effort, this study summarizes the status of EBM for several federal programs within the NOC agencies that implement or support marine and coastal EBM activities. Our objective was to provide an overview of the current state of practice among the many and varied U.S. federal programs employing EBM approaches in the ocean, coastal zone, and the Great Lakes. We used social network analysis techniques to explore similarities among programs in different topic areas (e.g., type of audience, partners, training, EBM best management practices and principles). Results highlight substantial differences in perceived and effective performances across programs, with Management programs showing a higher level of integration of EBM approaches than Non-Management programs. The use of EBM best management practices and principles among programs is unbalanced, with some key elements of EBM strategies less commonly employed in the management planning. This analysis identified gaps in the implementation of EBM strategies that can inform natural resource managers and planners

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) for Interactive Ocean Observatories: LOOKING Ahead

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orcutt, J.; Abbott, M.; Bellingham, J.; Chave, A.; Delaney, J.; Johnson, R.; Lazowska, E.; Moline, M.; Smarr, L.

2004-12-01

Investments in next-generation facilities to achieve a permanent, interactive telepresence throughout remote or hostile environments can empower a broad spectrum of autonomous sensornet facilities through the NSF Major Research Equipment and Facililties Construction Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). These systems must involve powerful suites of generic cyberinfrastructure tools designed to optimize access and benefits to a large academic and public user base. Many future research and educational efforts focused throughout the ocean basins, especially within heavily populated coastal regions, will be empowered by these new systems. Our project LOOKING (Laboratory for the Ocean Observatory Knowledge Integration Grid) is developing prototype CI for the OOI to achieve these goals. In the case of ocean observatory networks, it is essential to establish powerful network infrastructures linking the wet or subsea portion, with a host of shore station facilities. These components in turn must seamlessly communicate with an ensemble of data repositories, and relevant computer and visualization resources designed to serve a widely diverse ocean science community with real time, broadband access to all observatory system data, products, and metadata. This infrastructure must be secure, reliable, and resilient. It must meet the potentially ambitious latency, bandwidth, and performance requirements demanded by a set of evolving autonomous sensor platforms over a period of decades. This Grid environment must seamlessly interconnect all relevant national and international research and education nets accessible through high speed, next generation communication networks. The primary components of LOOKING are remote services that fulfill the CI needs of the ocean observatory community. These services arise from overarching science and education requirements: 1) Instrument Services operate at the sensor end of an ocean observatory, and are dominantly but not exclusively wet. 2) Infrastructure Services operate within the ocean observatory itself, providing data, time distribution, and power functions to instruments; 3) Data Services interface the ocean observatory to users, whether human beings or modeling programs. In an appropriately designed and functioning system, none can stand alone, nor can they be developed in isolation. These services and associated middleware layers must be designed from the outset to interact seamlessly and transparently.

Ocean Research - Perspectives from an international Ocean Research Coordination Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearlman, Jay; Williams, Albert, III

2013-04-01

The need for improved coordination in ocean observations is more urgent now given the issues of climate change, sustainable food sources and increased need for energy. Ocean researchers must work across disciplines to provide policy makers with clear and understandable assessments of the state of the ocean. With advances in technology, not only in observation, but also communication and computer science, we are in a new era where we can answer questions asked over the last 100 years at the time and space scales that are relevant. Programs like GLOBEC moved us forward but we are still challenged by the disciplinary divide. Interdisciplinary problem solving must be addressed not only by the exchange of data between the many sides, but through levels where questions require day-to-day collaboration. A National Science Foundation-funded Research Coordination Network (RCN) is addressing approaches for improving interdisciplinary research capabilities in the ocean sciences. During the last year, the RCN had a working group for Open Data led by John Orcutt, Peter Pissierssens and Albert Williams III. The teams has focused on three areas: 1. Data and Information formats and standards; 2. Data access models (including IPR, business models for open data, data policies,...); 3. Data publishing, data citation. There has been a significant trend toward free and open access to data in the last few years. In 2007, the US announced that Landsat data would be available at no charge. Float data from the US (NDBC), JCOMM and OceanSites offer web-based access. The IODE is developing its Ocean Data Portal giving immediate and free access to ocean data. However, from the aspect of long-term collaborations across communities, this global trend is less robust than might appear at the surface. While there are many standard data formats for data exchange, there is not yet widespread uniformity in their adoption. Use of standard data formats can be encouraged in several ways: sponsors of observational science programs can encourage or require standard formats for data storage; scientific journals can require that data in support of publication be deposited in a standard format; and finally, communities of scientists can recognize that observational or model-developed data sets are professional contributions deserving citation. Even with standards for exchange, the availability of data and models can limited by cultural and policy issues. Investigators on NSF grants are expected to share with other researchers the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created under their grants. Broader approaches to data availability are seen in the model of the human genome project; according to the Bermuda Agreement (1996), the funding agencies required that all scientists working on the human genome make the data quickly and openly available. Is this a model for ocean data? This presentation will examine the steps forward in stimulating interdisciplinary research through data exchange and better addressing the gaps in communication and approaches that are still common across the ocean sciences.

Towards An Oceanographic Component Of A Global Earth Observation System Of Systems: Progress And Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ackleson, S. G.

2012-12-01

Ocean observatories (systems of coordinated sensors and platforms providing real-time in situ observations across multiple temporal and spatial scales) have advanced rapidly during the past several decades with the integration of novel hardware, development of advanced cyber-infrastructures and data management software, and the formation of researcher networks employing fixed, drifting, and mobile assets. These advances have provided persistent, real-time, multi-disciplinary observations representing even the most extreme environmental conditions, enabled unique and informative views of complicated ocean processes, and aided in the development of more accurate and higher fidelity ocean models. Combined with traditional ship-based and remotely sensed observations, ocean observatories have yielded new knowledge across a broad spectrum of earth-ocean scales that would likely not exist otherwise. These developments come at a critical time in human history when the demands of global population growth are creating unprecedented societal challenges associated with rapid climatic change and unsustainable consumption of key ocean resources. Successfully meeting and overcoming these challenges and avoiding the ultimate tragedy of the commons will require greater knowledge of environmental processes than currently exists, including interactions between the ocean, the overlying atmosphere, and the adjacent land and synthesizing new knowledge into effective policy and management structures. To achieve this, researchers must have free and ready access to comprehensive data streams (oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial), regardless of location and collection system. While the precedent for the concept of free and open access to environmental data is not new (it traces back to the International Geophysical Year, 1957), implementing procedures and standards on a global scale is proving to be difficult, both logistically and politically. Observatories have been implemented in many parts of the global ocean, inspiring researchers to begin planning and developing connected regional observing systems that are networked into a Global Ocean Observing System as part of a comprehensive Global Earth Observation System of Systems. However, much remains to be accomplished, especially in the areas of standardizing observation methods and metadata, implementing procedures to assure an acceptable level of data quality, and defining and producing key derived products. This paper will briefly discuss the evolution of ocean observatories, summarize current efforts to develop local, regional and global observing networks, and suggest future steps towards a global ocean observing system.

Studying Fin Whales with Seafloor Seismic Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilcock, W. S.; Soule, D. C.; Weirathmueller, M.; Thomson, R.

2011-12-01

Baleen whales are found throughout the world's oceans and their welfare captivates the general public. Depending on the species, baleen whales vocalize at frequencies ranging from ~10 Hz to several kilohertz. Passive acoustic studies of whale calls are used to investigate behavior and habitat usage, monitor the recovery of populations from whaling and assess the impacts of anthropogenic sounds. Since airguns are a significant source of sound in the oceans, the research goals of academic seismologists can lead to conflicts with those who advocate for whale conservation while being unwilling to consider the societal benefits of marine geophysical studies. In contrast, studies that monitor earthquakes with ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) provide an opportunity to enhance studies of baleen whales and improve relationships with environmental advocates. The bandwidth of the typical high-frequency or intermediate-band ocean bottom seismometer overlaps the call frequency of the two largest baleen whale species; blue whales generate sequences of 10- to 20-s-long calls centered at ~16 Hz and fin whales produce long sequences of downswept 1-s-long chirps centered at ~20 Hz. Several studies have demonstrated the potential of OBS networks to monitor calling patterns and determine tracks for fin and blue whales. We will summarize the results from a study to track fin whales near the Endeavour hydrothermal vent fields on the Juan de Fuca Ridge and investigate a potential correlation between the density of whales and enhanced zooplankton found throughout the water column overlying the vent fields. From 2003-2006 an 8-station local seismic network that was designed to monitor hydrothermal earthquakes also recorded ~300,000 fin whale vocalizations, mostly in the fall and winter. Automatic picking and localization techniques that are analogous to those used to analyze earthquakes are employed to determine whale tracks. The tracks are then used to interpret calling patterns in the context of swimming behavior and net migration. Because the fin whale calls are repetitive, they are very amendable to the application of seismic correlation techniques and the double difference location method. While the typical uncertainty for an automatic location within the network is ~500 m, successive calls can be located relative to each other by the double difference method with a precision of ~20 m, which is similar to the length of the whale. As storage capabilities of seafloor instruments increase, OBSs could be made even more useful for marine mammal studies by expanding their upper frequency limit, either by increasing the sampling rate of the hydrophone channel or incorporating a compact standalone hydrophone package on the OBS frame.

A Self-Powered Fast-Sampling Profiling Float in support of a Mesoscale Ocean Observing System in the Western North Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valdez, T.; Chao, Y.; Davis, R. E.; Jones, J.

2012-12-01

This talk will describe a new self-powered profiling float that can perform fast sampling over the upper ocean for long durations in support of a mesoscale ocean observing system in the Western North Pacific. The current state-of-the-art profiling floats can provide several hundreds profiles for the upper ocean every ten days. To quantify the role of the upper ocean in modulating the development of Typhoons requires at least an order of magnitude reduction for the sampling interval. With today's profiling float and battery technology, a fast sampling of one day or even a few hours will reduce the typical lifetime of profiling floats from years to months. Interactions between the ocean and typhoons often involves mesoscale eddies and fronts, which require a dense array of floats to reveal the 3-dimensional structure. To measure the mesoscale ocean over a large area like the Western North Pacific therefore requires a new technology that enables fast sampling and long duration at the same time. Harvesting the ocean renewable energy associated with the vertical temperature differentials has the potential to power profiling floats with fast sampling over long durations. Results from the development and deployment of a prototype self-powered profiling float (known as SOLO-TREC) will be presented. With eight hours sampling in the upper 500 meters, the upper ocean temperature and salinity reveal pronounced high frequency variations. Plans to use the SOLO-TREC technology in support of a dense array of fast sampling profiling floats in the Western North Pacific will be discussed.

A Geographical Information System to Manage the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Douglas, K. L.; Hillier, M. C. J.; Thornborough, K. J.; Jenkyns, R.; Juniper, K.

2016-02-01

The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area (EHVMPA) is located approximately 250 km offshore of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Since its discovery in 1982, there have been hundreds of dives, samples collected, measurements made, and debris left behind at the EHVMPA. In 2003, the Canadian government declared the region as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under Canada's Oceans Act, to be managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) operates a cabled observatory in the EHVMPA, and streams data in near real-time via the Internet to science communities worldwide. ONC's observatory data, combined with observations made during maintenance expeditions provides insight assisting the management and preservation of the MPA. In 2014, DFO partnered with ONC to build a geodatabase to enhance and inform the knowledge base of the EHVMPA Management Plan. The geodatabase, built in ArcGIS, contains data integrated from ONC's Oceans 2.0 database, third parties, and relevant publications. Layers include annual observatory infrastructure deployments, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dive tracks, sampling activity, anthropogenic debris, high-resolution bathymetry, observations of species of interest, and locations of hydrothermal vents. The combined data show both efforts to better understand the environment and the resulting stressors that impact the MPA. The tool also links observed features such as debris and biological observations to the time-correlated ROV dive video using ONC's SeaTube video viewing tool allowing for further analysis. Through 2017, the geodatabase will be maintained by ONC and enriched with expedition data from organizations such as Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and the University of Washington. The end result is a tool that can integrate many types of data obtained from the MPA, and encourages systematic management of a remote, dynamic and fragile environment.

Validation and Inter-comparison Against Observations of GODAE Ocean View Ocean Prediction Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, J.; Davidson, F. J. M.; Smith, G. C.; Lu, Y.; Hernandez, F.; Regnier, C.; Drevillon, M.; Ryan, A.; Martin, M.; Spindler, T. D.; Brassington, G. B.; Oke, P. R.

2016-02-01

For weather forecasts, validation of forecast performance is done at the end user level as well as by the meteorological forecast centers. In the development of Ocean Prediction Capacity, the same level of care for ocean forecast performance and validation is needed. Herein we present results from a validation against observations of 6 Global Ocean Forecast Systems under the GODAE OceanView International Collaboration Network. These systems include the Global Ocean Ice Forecast System (GIOPS) developed by the Government of Canada, two systems PSY3 and PSY4 from the French Mercator-Ocean Ocean Forecasting Group, the FOAM system from UK met office, HYCOM-RTOFS from NOAA/NCEP/NWA of USA, and the Australian Bluelink-OceanMAPS system from the CSIRO, the Australian Meteorological Bureau and the Australian Navy.The observation data used in the comparison are sea surface temperature, sub-surface temperature, sub-surface salinity, sea level anomaly, and sea ice total concentration data. Results of the inter-comparison demonstrate forecast performance limits, strengths and weaknesses of each of the six systems. This work establishes validation protocols and routines by which all new prediction systems developed under the CONCEPTS Collaborative Network will be benchmarked prior to approval for operations. This includes anticipated delivery of CONCEPTS regional prediction systems over the next two years including a pan Canadian 1/12th degree resolution ice ocean prediction system and limited area 1/36th degree resolution prediction systems. The validation approach of comparing forecasts to observations at the time and location of the observation is called Class 4 metrics. It has been adopted by major international ocean prediction centers, and will be recommended to JCOMM-WMO as routine validation approach for operational oceanography worldwide.

The Western South Atlantic Ocean in a High-CO2 World: Current Measurement Capabilities and Perspectives.

PubMed

Kerr, Rodrigo; da Cunha, Letícia C; Kikuchi, Ruy K P; Horta, Paulo A; Ito, Rosane G; Müller, Marius N; Orselli, Iole B M; Lencina-Avila, Jannine M; de Orte, Manoela R; Sordo, Laura; Pinheiro, Bárbara R; Bonou, Frédéric K; Schubert, Nadine; Bergstrom, Ellie; Copertino, Margareth S

2016-03-01

An international multi-disciplinary group of 24 researchers met to discuss ocean acidification (OA) during the Brazilian OA Network/Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (BrOA/SOLAS) Workshop. Fifteen members of the BrOA Network (www.broa.furg.br) authored this review. The group concluded that identifying and evaluating the regional effects of OA is impossible without understanding the natural variability of seawater carbonate systems in marine ecosystems through a series of long-term observations. Here, we show that the western South Atlantic Ocean (WSAO) lacks appropriate observations for determining regional OA effects, including the effects of OA on key sensitive Brazilian ecosystems in this area. The impacts of OA likely affect marine life in coastal and oceanic ecosystems, with further social and economic consequences for Brazil and neighboring countries. Thus, we present (i) the diversity of coastal and open ocean ecosystems in the WSAO and emphasize their roles in the marine carbon cycle and biodiversity and their vulnerabilities to OA effects; (ii) ongoing observational, experimental, and modeling efforts that investigate OA in the WSAO; and (iii) highlights of the knowledge gaps, infrastructure deficiencies, and OA-related issues in the WSAO. Finally, this review outlines long-term actions that should be taken to manage marine ecosystems in this vast and unexplored ocean region.

Tsunami Simulation Method Assimilating Ocean Bottom Pressure Data Near a Tsunami Source Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanioka, Yuichiro

2018-02-01

A new method was developed to reproduce the tsunami height distribution in and around the source area, at a certain time, from a large number of ocean bottom pressure sensors, without information on an earthquake source. A dense cabled observation network called S-NET, which consists of 150 ocean bottom pressure sensors, was installed recently along a wide portion of the seafloor off Kanto, Tohoku, and Hokkaido in Japan. However, in the source area, the ocean bottom pressure sensors cannot observe directly an initial ocean surface displacement. Therefore, we developed the new method. The method was tested and functioned well for a synthetic tsunami from a simple rectangular fault with an ocean bottom pressure sensor network using 10 arc-min, or 20 km, intervals. For a test case that is more realistic, ocean bottom pressure sensors with 15 arc-min intervals along the north-south direction and sensors with 30 arc-min intervals along the east-west direction were used. In the test case, the method also functioned well enough to reproduce the tsunami height field in general. These results indicated that the method could be used for tsunami early warning by estimating the tsunami height field just after a great earthquake without the need for earthquake source information.

Relevance of peat-draining rivers for the riverine input of dissolved iron into the ocean.

PubMed

Krachler, Regina; Krachler, Rudolf F; von der Kammer, Frank; Süphandag, Altan; Jirsa, Franz; Ayromlou, Shahram; Hofmann, Thilo; Keppler, Bernhard K

2010-05-01

Peat bogs have the ability to produce strong chelate ligands (humic and fulvic acids) which enhance the weathering rates of iron-silicate minerals and greatly increase the solubility of the essential trace metal iron in river water. Fluvial networks link peat bogs with the ocean, and thus terrestrial-derived fulvic-iron complexes fuel the ocean's biological productivity and biological carbon pump, but understanding this role is constrained by inconsistent observations regarding the behaviour of riverine iron in the estuarine mixing zone, where precipitation reactions remove iron from the water column. We applied a characterization of the colloidal iron carriers in peatland-draining rivers in North Scotland, using field-flow fractionation (FFF), in combination with end-member mixing experiments of river water sampled near the river mouth and coastal seawater using a (59)Fe radiotracer method. According to our results, the investigated river contributed "truly dissolved" Fe concentrations of about 3300nmolL(-1) to the ocean which is nearly two orders of magnitude higher than the dissolved iron contribution of the "average world" river ( approximately 40nmolL(-1)). Thus we conclude that peatland-draining rivers are important sources of dissolved iron to the ocean margins. We propose highly electrostatic and sterical stabilized iron-organic matter complexes in the size range of <2kDa to be responsible for iron transport across the estuarine mixing zone. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sea surface currents and geographic isolation shape the genetic population structure of a coral reef fish in the Indian Ocean.

PubMed

Huyghe, Filip; Kochzius, Marc

2018-01-01

In this contribution, we determine the genetic population structure in the Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion akallopsisos) across the Indian Ocean, and on a smaller geographic scale in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Highly restricted gene flow was discovered between populations on either side of the Indian Ocean using the control region as a mitochondrial marker (mtDNA). We verify this conclusion using 13 microsatellite markers and infer fine scale genetic structuring within the WIO. In total 387 samples from 21 sites were analysed using mtDNA and 13 microsatellite loci. Analysis included estimation of genetic diversity and population differentiation. A haplotype network was inferred using mtDNA. Nuclear markers were used in Bayesian clustering and a principal component analysis. Both markers confirmed strong genetic differentiation between WIO and Eastern Indian Ocean (EIO) populations, and a shallower population structure among Malagasy and East African mainland populations. Limited gene flow across the Mozambique Channel may be explained by its complex oceanography, which could cause local retention of larvae, limiting dispersal between Madagascar and the East African coast. Two other potential current-mediated barriers to larval dispersal suggested in the WIO, the split of the SEC at approximately 10° S and the convergence of the Somali Current with the East African Coast Current at approximately 3° S, were not found to form a barrier to gene flow in this species.

Sea surface currents and geographic isolation shape the genetic population structure of a coral reef fish in the Indian Ocean

PubMed Central

Kochzius, Marc

2018-01-01

In this contribution, we determine the genetic population structure in the Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion akallopsisos) across the Indian Ocean, and on a smaller geographic scale in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Highly restricted gene flow was discovered between populations on either side of the Indian Ocean using the control region as a mitochondrial marker (mtDNA). We verify this conclusion using 13 microsatellite markers and infer fine scale genetic structuring within the WIO. In total 387 samples from 21 sites were analysed using mtDNA and 13 microsatellite loci. Analysis included estimation of genetic diversity and population differentiation. A haplotype network was inferred using mtDNA. Nuclear markers were used in Bayesian clustering and a principal component analysis. Both markers confirmed strong genetic differentiation between WIO and Eastern Indian Ocean (EIO) populations, and a shallower population structure among Malagasy and East African mainland populations. Limited gene flow across the Mozambique Channel may be explained by its complex oceanography, which could cause local retention of larvae, limiting dispersal between Madagascar and the East African coast. Two other potential current-mediated barriers to larval dispersal suggested in the WIO, the split of the SEC at approximately 10° S and the convergence of the Somali Current with the East African Coast Current at approximately 3° S, were not found to form a barrier to gene flow in this species. PMID:29522547

GEODIS: A Portable Ocean Bottom Very Broadband Seismic Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KARCZEWSKI, J.; MONTAGNER, J.; BEGUERY, L.; STUTZMANN, E.; ROULT, G.; LOGNONNE, P.; CACHO, S.; KOENIG, J.; SAVARY, J.

2001-12-01

The last ten years have seen the simultaneous development of a global seismic network coordinated through the FDSN (Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks) and of portable broadband seismic arrays. The same approach can be followed for improving our scientific understanding of the Earth processes below oceanic areas. Both components of ocean bottom geophysical networks, will be coordinated by ION (international Ocean Network). They are complementary since they enable to investigate the Earth structure and processes at different spatial and temporal scales. Geophysical Ocean bottom observatories (hereafter referred as GOBO) and portable seismic stations are sharing common technological problems. However, the issues of power supply and real-time data transmission are more crucial for a GOBO than for a portable temporary station. Since 1999, our group is developing a new "portable" geophysical ocean bottom autonomous station, named GEODIS. This station might be a basic element for a GOBO. It relies on the use of adapted VBB sensors issued from space experiments and technology and on improved electronics compared with previous ocean bottom experiments (SISMOBS/OFM 1992; MOISE 1997). The main characteristics of GEODIS are the following: - 3 axes VBB seismic sensors with a classical flat velocity response 360-0.2s. at 2500V/m/s (intrinsic noise level smaller than LNM). - Automatic (under software control) installation, levelling, centring of the 3 component seismic sensors. - 24 bit digitiser recording at 20sps, 3 seismic component and 1 infrasonic sensor. - Recording by a 16 bit converter at 1sps of the sea temperature in the vicinity of the instrument and housekeeping parameters (temperature, inclinations, power,...). - 1 year autonomy by using Lithium batteries. - Storage of data on Flash card and recording on hard disk every day. - Weight of GEODIS: 186kg in air and 110kg in water. - Overall dimensions: 930 x 930 x 440 mm. GEODIS can be easily installed by a small oceanographic vessel. Therefore, GEODIS has been designed in order to be reliable, with a low power consumption, to be financially affordable, to have excellent performances of sensors, to be easy to install and to recover.

AMBON - the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iken, K.; Danielson, S. L.; Grebmeier, J. M.; Cooper, L. W.; Hopcroft, R. R.; Kuletz, K.; Stafford, K.; Mueter, F. J.; Collins, E.; Bluhm, B.; Moore, S. E.; Bochenek, R. J.

2016-02-01

The goal of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) is to build an operational and sustainable marine biodiversity observing network for the US Arctic Chukchi Sea continental shelf. The AMBON has four main goals: 1. To close current gaps in taxonomic biodiversity observations from microbes to whales, 2. To integrate results of past and ongoing research programs on the US Arctic shelf into a biodiversity observation network, 3. To demonstrate at a regional level how an observing network could be developed, and 4. To link with programs on the pan-Arctic to global scale. The AMBON fills taxonomic (from microbes to mammals), functional (food web structure), spatial and temporal (continuing time series) gaps, and includes new technologies such as state-of-the-art genomic tools, with biodiversity and environmental observations linked through central data management through the Alaska Ocean Observing System. AMBON is a 5-year partnership between university and federal researchers, funded through the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP), with partners in the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM), and Shell industry. AMBON will allow us to better coordinate, sustain, and synthesize biodiversity research efforts, and make data available to a broad audience of users, stakeholders, and resource managers.

NONATObase: a database for Polychaeta (Annelida) from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Pagliosa, Paulo R; Doria, João G; Misturini, Dairana; Otegui, Mariana B P; Oortman, Mariana S; Weis, Wilson A; Faroni-Perez, Larisse; Alves, Alexandre P; Camargo, Maurício G; Amaral, A Cecília Z; Marques, Antonio C; Lana, Paulo C

2014-01-01

Networks can greatly advance data sharing attitudes by providing organized and useful data sets on marine biodiversity in a friendly and shared scientific environment. NONATObase, the interactive database on polychaetes presented herein, will provide new macroecological and taxonomic insights of the Southwestern Atlantic region. The database was developed by the NONATO network, a team of South American researchers, who integrated available information on polychaetes from between 5°N and 80°S in the Atlantic Ocean and near the Antarctic. The guiding principle of the database is to keep free and open access to data based on partnerships. Its architecture consists of a relational database integrated in the MySQL and PHP framework. Its web application allows access to the data from three different directions: species (qualitative data), abundance (quantitative data) and data set (reference data). The database has built-in functionality, such as the filter of data on user-defined taxonomic levels, characteristics of site, sample, sampler, and mesh size used. Considering that there are still many taxonomic issues related to poorly known regional fauna, a scientific committee was created to work out consistent solutions to current misidentifications and equivocal taxonomy status of some species. Expertise from this committee will be incorporated by NONATObase continually. The use of quantitative data was possible by standardization of a sample unit. All data, maps of distribution and references from a data set or a specified query can be visualized and exported to a commonly used data format in statistical analysis or reference manager software. The NONATO network has initialized with NONATObase, a valuable resource for marine ecologists and taxonomists. The database is expected to grow in functionality as it comes in useful, particularly regarding the challenges of dealing with molecular genetic data and tools to assess the effects of global environment change. Database URL: http://nonatobase.ufsc.br/.

NONATObase: a database for Polychaeta (Annelida) from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

PubMed Central

Pagliosa, Paulo R.; Doria, João G.; Misturini, Dairana; Otegui, Mariana B. P.; Oortman, Mariana S.; Weis, Wilson A.; Faroni-Perez, Larisse; Alves, Alexandre P.; Camargo, Maurício G.; Amaral, A. Cecília Z.; Marques, Antonio C.; Lana, Paulo C.

2014-01-01

Networks can greatly advance data sharing attitudes by providing organized and useful data sets on marine biodiversity in a friendly and shared scientific environment. NONATObase, the interactive database on polychaetes presented herein, will provide new macroecological and taxonomic insights of the Southwestern Atlantic region. The database was developed by the NONATO network, a team of South American researchers, who integrated available information on polychaetes from between 5°N and 80°S in the Atlantic Ocean and near the Antarctic. The guiding principle of the database is to keep free and open access to data based on partnerships. Its architecture consists of a relational database integrated in the MySQL and PHP framework. Its web application allows access to the data from three different directions: species (qualitative data), abundance (quantitative data) and data set (reference data). The database has built-in functionality, such as the filter of data on user-defined taxonomic levels, characteristics of site, sample, sampler, and mesh size used. Considering that there are still many taxonomic issues related to poorly known regional fauna, a scientific committee was created to work out consistent solutions to current misidentifications and equivocal taxonomy status of some species. Expertise from this committee will be incorporated by NONATObase continually. The use of quantitative data was possible by standardization of a sample unit. All data, maps of distribution and references from a data set or a specified query can be visualized and exported to a commonly used data format in statistical analysis or reference manager software. The NONATO network has initialized with NONATObase, a valuable resource for marine ecologists and taxonomists. The database is expected to grow in functionality as it comes in useful, particularly regarding the challenges of dealing with molecular genetic data and tools to assess the effects of global environment change. Database URL: http://nonatobase.ufsc.br/ PMID:24573879

Cross-Referencing GLM and ISS-LIS with Ground-Based Lightning Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virts, K.; Blakeslee, R. J.; Goodman, S. J.; Koshak, W. J.

2017-12-01

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), in geostationary orbit aboard GOES-16 since late 2016, and the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS), installed on the International Space Station in February 2017, provide observations of total lightning activity from space. ISS-LIS samples the global tropics and mid-latitudes, while GLM observes the full thunderstorm life-cycle over the Americas and surrounding oceans. The launch of these instruments provides an unprecedented opportunity to compare lightning observations across multiple space-based optical lightning sensors. In this study, months of observations from GLM and ISS-LIS are cross-referenced with each other and with lightning detected by the ground-based Earth Networks Global Lightning Network (ENGLN) and the Vaisala Global Lightning Dataset 360 (GLD360) throughout and beyond the GLM field-of-view. In addition to calibration/validation of the new satellite sensors, this study provides a statistical comparison of the characteristics of lightning observed by the satellite and ground-based instruments, with an emphasis on the lightning flashes uniquely identified by the satellites.

Energy Balanced Strategies for Maximizing the Lifetime of Sparsely Deployed Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Luo, Hanjiang; Guo, Zhongwen; Wu, Kaishun; Hong, Feng; Feng, Yuan

2009-01-01

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWA-SNs) are envisioned to perform monitoring tasks over the large portion of the world covered by oceans. Due to economics and the large area of the ocean, UWA-SNs are mainly sparsely deployed networks nowadays. The limited battery resources is a big challenge for the deployment of such long-term sensor networks. Unbalanced battery energy consumption will lead to early energy depletion of nodes, which partitions the whole networks and impairs the integrity of the monitoring datasets or even results in the collapse of the entire networks. On the contrary, balanced energy dissipation of nodes can prolong the lifetime of such networks. In this paper, we focus on the energy balance dissipation problem of two types of sparsely deployed UWA-SNs: underwater moored monitoring systems and sparsely deployed two-dimensional UWA-SNs. We first analyze the reasons of unbalanced energy consumption in such networks, then we propose two energy balanced strategies to maximize the lifetime of networks both in shallow and deep water. Finally, we evaluate our methods by simulations and the results show that the two strategies can achieve balanced energy consumption per node while at the same time prolong the networks lifetime. PMID:22399970

System Design for Ocean Sensor Data Transmission Based on Inductive Coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ming; Liu, Fei; Zong, Yuan; Hong, Feng

Ocean observation is the precondition to explore and utilize ocean. How to acquire ocean data in a precise, efficient and real-time way is the key question of ocean surveillance. Traditionally, there are three types of methods for ocean data transmission: underwater acoustic, GPRS via mobile network and satellite communication. However, none of them can meet the requirements of efficiency, accuracy, real-time and low cost at the same time. In this paper, we propose a new wireless transmission system for underwater sensors, which established on FGR wireless modules, combined with inductive coupling lab and offshore experiments confirmed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed wireless transmission system.

Acoustic monitoring of earthquakes along the Blanco Transform Fault zone and Gorda Plate and their tectonic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dziak, Robert Paul

Hydroacoustic tertiary (T-) waves are seismically generated acoustic waves that propagate over great distances in the ocean sound channel with little loss in signal strength. Hydrophone recorded T-waves can provide a lower earthquake detection threshold and an improved epicenter location accuracy for oceanic earthquakes than land-based seismic networks. Thus detection and location of NE Pacific ocean earthquakes along the Blanco Transform Fault (BTFZ) and Gorda plate using the U.S. Navy's SOSUS (SOund SUrveillance System) hydrophone arrays afford greater insight into the current state of stress and crustal deformation mechanics than previously available. Acoustic earthquake information combined with bathymetry, submersible observations, earthquake source- parameter estimates, petrologic samples, and water-column chemistry renders a new tectonic view of the southern Juan de Fuca plate boundaries. Chapter 2 discusses development of seismo-acoustic analysis techniques using the well-documented April 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquake sequence. Findings include a hydrophone detection threshold estimate (M ~ 2.4), and T-wave propagation path modeling to approximate earthquake acoustic source energy. Empirical analyses indicate that acoustic energy provides a reasonable magnitude and seismic moment estimate of oceanic earthquakes not detected by seismic networks. Chapters 3 documents a probable volcanogenic T-wave event swarm along a pull-apart basin within the western BTFZ during January 1994. Response efforts yielded evidence of anomalous water-column 3He concentrations, pillow- lava volcanism, and the first discovery of active hydrothermal vents along an oceanic fracture zone. Chapter 4 discusses the detection of a NE-SW trending microearthquake band along the mid-Gorda plate which was active from initiation of SOSUS recording in August 1991 through July 1992, then abruptly ceased. It is proposed that eventual termination of the Gorda plate seismicity band is due to strain reduction associated with the Cape Mendocino earthquake sequence. Chapter 5 combines bathymetric, hydro-acoustic, seismic, submersible, and gravity data to investigate the active tectonics of the transform parallel Blanco Ridge (BR), along the eastern BTFZ. The BR formation mechanism preferred here is uplift through strike-slip motion (with a normal component) followed by formation and intrusion of mantle-derived serpentinized-peridotite into the shallow ocean crust. The conclusion considers a potential link between the deformation patterns observed along the BTFZ and Gorda plate regions.

Adaptive Observatories for Observing Moving Marine Organisms (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellingham, J. G.; Scholin, C.; Zhang, Y.; Godin, M. A.; Hobson, B.; Frolov, S.

2010-12-01

The ability to characterize the response of small marine organisms to each other, and to their environment, is a demanding observational challenge. Small organisms live in a water reference frame, while existing cable or mooring-based observatories operate in an Earth reference frame. Thus repeated observations from a fixed system observe different populations as currents sweep organisms by the sensors. In contrast, mobile systems are typically optimized for spatial coverage rather than repeated observations of the same water volume. Lagrangian drifters track water mass, but are unable to find or reposition themselves relative to ocean features. We are developing a system capable of finding, following and observing discrete populations of marine organisms over time, leveraging a decade and a half investment in the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network (AOSN) program. AOSN undertook the development of platforms to enable multi-platform coordinated measurement of ocean properties in the late 1990s, leading to the development of a variety of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and associated technologies, notably several glider systems, now in common use. Efforts by a number of research groups have focused on methods to employ these networked systems to observe and predict dynamic physical ocean phenomena. For example, periodic large scale field programs in Monterey Bay have progressively integrated these systems with data systems, predictive models, and web-based collaborative portals. We are adapting these approaches to follow and observe the dynamics of marine organisms. Compared to physical processes, the temporal and spatial variability of small marine organisms, particularly micro-organisms, is typical greater. Consequently, while multi-platform observations of physical processes can be coordinated via intermittent communications links from shore, biological observations require a higher degree of adaptability of the observation system in situ. This talk will describe the platform capabilities developed for such observations, the onboard intelligence for finding and observing discrete populations, and the cyberinfrastructure employed to understand and coordinate observations from shore.

A neural network method to correct bidirectional effects in water-leaving radiance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Yongzhen; Li, Wei; Voss, Kenneth J.; Gatebe, Charles K.; Stamnes, Knut

2017-02-01

The standard method to convert the measured water-leaving radiances from the observation direction to the nadir direction developed by Morel and coworkers requires knowledge of the chlorophyll concentration (CHL). Also, the standard method was developed for open ocean water, which makes it unsuitable for turbid coastal waters. We introduce a neural network method to convert the water-leaving radiance (or the corresponding remote sensing reflectance) from the observation direction to the nadir direction. This method does not require any prior knowledge of the water constituents or the inherent optical properties (IOPs). This method is fast, accurate and can be easily adapted to different remote sensing instruments. Validation using NuRADS measurements in different types of water shows that this method is suitable for both open ocean and coastal waters. In open ocean or chlorophyll-dominated waters, our neural network method produces corrections similar to those of the standard method. In turbid coastal waters, especially sediment-dominated waters, a significant improvement was obtained compared to the standard method.

An overview of developments and applications of oceanographic radar networks in Asia and Oceania countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, Satoshi; Heron, Malcolm L.; Kim, Kuh; Lai, Jian-Wu; Lee, Sang-Ho; Wu, Xiangbai; Wu, Xiongbin; Wyatt, Lucy R.; Yang, Wen-Chang

2013-03-01

More than 110 radar stations are in operation at the present time in Asia and Oceania countries, which is nearly half of all the existing radar stations in the world, for purposes related to marine safety, oil spill response, tsunami warning, coastal zone management and understanding of ocean current dynamics, depending mainly on each country's coastal sea characteristics. This paper introduces the oceanographic radar networks of Australia, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, presented at the 1st Ocean Radar Conference for Asia (ORCA) held in May 2012, Seoul, Korea, to share information about the radar network developments and operations, knowledge and experiences of data management, and research activity and application of the radar-derived data of neighbouring countries. We hope this overview paper may contribute as the first step to promotion of regional collaborations in the radar observations and data usages and applications in order to efficiently monitor the coastal and marginal sea waters along the western Pacific Ocean periphery.

Reducing variability that is due to secondary pigments in the retrieval of chlorophyll a concentration from marine reflectance: a case study in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean.

PubMed

Gross, Lydwine; Frouin, Robert; Dupouy, Cécile; André, Jean Michel; Thiria, Sylvie

2004-07-10

A neural network is developed to retrieve chlorophyll a concentration from marine reflectance by use of the five visible spectral bands of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). The network, dedicated to the western equatorial Pacific Ocean, is calibrated with synthetic data that vary in terms of atmospheric content, solar zenith angle, and secondary pigments. Pigment variability is based on in situ data collected in the study region and is introduced through nonlinear modeling of phytoplankton absorption as a function of chlorophyll a, b, and c and photosynthetic and photoprotectant carotenoids. Tests performed on simulated yet realistic data show that chlorophyll a retrievals are substantially improved by use of the neural network instead of classical algorithms, which are sensitive to spectrally uncorrelated effects. The methodology is general, i.e., is applicable to regions other than the western equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Building oceanographic and atmospheric observation networks by composition: unmanned vehicles, communication networks, and planning and execution control frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, J. T.; Pinto, J.; Martins, R.; Costa, M.; Ferreira, F.; Gomes, R.

2014-12-01

The problem of developing mobile oceanographic and atmospheric observation networks (MOAO) with coordinated air and ocean vehicles is discussed in the framework of the communications and control software tool chain developed at Underwater Systems and Technologies Laboratory (LSTS) from Porto University. This is done with reference to field experiments to illustrate key capabilities and to assess future MOAO operations. First, the motivation for building MOAO by "composition" of air and ocean vehicles, communication networks, and planning and execution control frameworks is discussed - in networked vehicle systems information and commands are exchanged among multiple vehicles and operators, and the roles, relative positions, and dependencies of these vehicles and operators change during operations. Second, the planning and execution control framework developed at LSTS for multi-vehicle systems is discussed with reference to key concepts such as autonomy, mixed-initiative interactions, and layered organization. Third, the LSTS tool software tool chain is presented to show how to develop MOAO by composition. The tool chain comprises the Neptus command and control framework for mixed initiative interactions, the underlying IMC messaging protocol, and the DUNE on-board software. Fourth, selected LSTS operational deployments illustrate MOAO capability building. In 2012 we demonstrated the use of UAS to "ferry" data from UUVs located beyond line of sight (BLOS). In 2013 we demonstrated coordinated observations of coastal fronts with small UAS and UUVs, "bent" BLOS through the use of UAS as communication relays, and UAS tracking of juvenile hammer-head sharks. In 2014 we demonstrated UUV adaptive sampling with the closed loop controller of the UUV residing on a UAS; this was done with the help of a Wave Glider ASV with a communications gateway. The results from these experiments provide a background for assessing potential future UAS operations in a compositional MOAO.

A complete tomography of the Earth's interior with floating seismometers in the oceans: the EarthScope-Oceans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Y. J.; Nolet, G.

2016-12-01

While the tomography techniques of imaging the earth's interior have been improved significantly over the past three decades the resolution of the resulting 3D images of the earth's interior, particularly the lower mantle, has been severely limited by the lack of seismic stations in the oceans which cover the 2/3 of the earth's surface. But this is going to be changed by the recently developed floating hydrophones called "Mermaids" which, freely floating under the sea surface, can operate as seismometers (see abstract by Nolet et al. in session DI010). These `Mermaids' have recorded (1) teleseismic waves, crucial to provide resolution for tomographic images of the deep mantle beneath oceanic areas, as well as (2) swarms of earthquakes too small to be observed on land, indicative of tectonic motions on oceanic ridges. Transmission is in quasi-real time by satellite (Iridium). A new version of the Mermaid, of much larger capacity, with a lifetime of five to six years is available for deployment. SUSTC in Shenzhen, China, in close collaboration with Geoazur (France), will launch the first stage of a large scale, global network of floating seismometers in the oceans named EarthScope-Oceans in 2017 by setting afloat 50 Mermaids in the Indian Ocean. Japan and other European nations may join the effort, which should reach 500 sensors by 2019 covering the entire world oceans. After that, the robots will be equipped with sophisticated software currently under development, which adds the capacity to juggle up to eight sensors and that has a reprogramming ability even during missions. We then expect the network to become multi-disciplinary and be able to host instruments not only for global seismology but also for biologists, oceanographers, geochemists, meteorologists and others. This new monitoring network will greatly improve our knowledge of acoustic noise pollution, of cetacean populations and their interaction with noise and meteorological conditions in all of the oceans by providing large and continuous data coverage. It will transform the discipline of seismic tomography at sea and improve our understanding of geodynamical processes operating in the deep mantle of the Earth by filling the data gap that currently exists in the oceanic domain.

Where the Ocean Meets the Girl Guides, Exploring the Interface Between Teaching Science and Using Specialized Programs to Engage Girls in Ocean Literacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M. S.; Ewing, N.; Davidson, E.; Hoeberechts, M.

2016-02-01

This presentation focuses on Ocean Aware, a joint project between Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and the British Columbia Girl Guides Canada (Girl Guides). On World Oceans Day 2014, Girl Guides launched a new challenge to its members: "Are you Ocean Aware?" To answer this question, girls of any age can now earn their Ocean Aware Challenge crest. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, operates cabled ocean observatories which supply continuous power and Internet connectivity to a broad suite of subsea instruments from the coast to the deep sea. This Internet connectivity permits researchers, students and members of the public to download freely available data on their computers anywhere around the globe, in near real-time. Girl Guides provides a safe, all-girl environment that invites girls to challenge themselves, to find their voice, meet new friends, have fun and make a difference in the world. Girl Guides strives to ensure that girls and women from all walks of life, identities and lived experiences feel a sense of belonging and can fully participate. Girl Guides of Canada is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Through a partnership between ONC and Girl Guides, Ocean Aware was created to promote ocean literacy and ocean technology to thousands of Guiders in British Columbia and beyond. One of the most interesting challenges was to present STEM learning outcomes in such a way that they are accessible to girls, facilitators, and communities that are both on the coast and inland. With a creative eye to the preforming arts, hands-on experiments, interactive experiences and games, this challenge successfully brings the 7 Principles of Ocean Literacy to any girl, in any community. In this presentation we will share some of the strategies, challenges and impacts of creating a successful program that engages a large audience in ocean science through a novel partnership.

The GPS Topex/Poseidon precise orbit determination experiment - Implications for design of GPS global networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindqwister, Ulf J.; Lichten, Stephen M.; Davis, Edgar S.; Theiss, Harold L.

1993-01-01

Topex/Poseidon, a cooperative satellite mission between United States and France, aims to determine global ocean circulation patterns and to study their influence on world climate through precise measurements of sea surface height above the geoid with an on-board altimeter. To achieve the mission science aims, a goal of 13-cm orbit altitude accuracy was set. Topex/Poseidon includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) precise orbit determination (POD) system that has now demonstrated altitude accuracy better than 5 cm. The GPS POD system includes an on-board GPS receiver and a 6-station GPS global tracking network. This paper reviews early GPS results and discusses multi-mission capabilities available from a future enhanced global GPS network, which would provide ground-based geodetic and atmospheric calibrations needed for NASA deep space missions while also supplying tracking data for future low Earth orbiters. Benefits of the enhanced global GPS network include lower operations costs for deep space tracking and many scientific and societal benefits from the low Earth orbiter missions, including improved understanding of ocean circulation, ocean-weather interactions, the El Nino effect, the Earth thermal balance, and weather forecasting.

An Intelligent Pinger Network for Solid Glacier Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schönitz, S.; Reuter, S.; Henke, C.; Jeschke, S.; Ewert, D.; Eliseev, D.; Heinen, D.; Linder, P.; Scholz, F.; Weinstock, L.; Wickmann, S.; Wiebusch, C.; Zierke, S.

2016-12-01

This talk presents a novel approach for an intelligent, agent-based pinger network in an extraterrestrial glacier environment. Because of recent findings of the Cassini spacecraft, a mission to Saturn's moon Enceladus is planned in order search for extraterrestrial life within the ocean beneath Enceladus' ice crust. Therefore, a maneuverable melting probe, the EnEx probe, was developed to melt into Enceladus' ice and take liquid samples from water-filled crevasses. Hence, the probe collecting the samples has to be able to navigate in ice which is a hard problem, because neither visual nor gravitational methods can be used. To enhance the navigability of the probe, a network of autonomous pinger units (APU) is in development that is able to extract a map of the ice environment via ultrasonic soundwaves. A network of these APUs will be deployed on the surface of Enceladus, melt into the ice and form a network to help guide the probe safely to its destination. The APU network is able to form itself fully autonomously and to compensate system failures of individual APUs. The agents controlling the single APU are realized by rule-based expert systems implemented in CLIPS. The rule-based expert system evaluates available information of the environment, decides for actions to take to achieve the desired goal (e.g. a specific network topology), and executes and monitors such actions. In general, it encodes certain situations that are evaluated whenever an APU is currently idle, and then decides for a next action to take. It bases this decision on its internal world model that is shared with the other APUs. The optimal network topology that defines each agents position is iteratively determined by mixed-integer nonlinear programming. Extensive simulations studies show that the proposed agent design enables the APUs to form a robust network topology that is suited to create a reliable 3D map of the ice environment.

Deep Sea Drilling Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaneps, Ansis

1977-01-01

Discusses the goals of the ocean drilling under the International Phase of Ocean Drilling, which include sampling of the ocean crust at great depths and sampling of the sedimentary sequence of active and passive continental margins. (MLH)

AERONET-OC: Strengths and Weaknesses of a Network for the Validation of Satellite Coastal Radiometric Products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zibordi, Giuseppe; Holben, Brent; Slutsker, Ilya; Giles, David; D'Alimonte, Davide; Melin, Frederic; Berthon, Jean-Francois; Vandemark, Doug; Feng, Hui; Schuster, Gregory;

From Ship-To-Shore In Real Time: Data Transmission, Distribution, Management, Processing, And Archiving Using Telepresence Technologies And The Inner Space Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coleman, D. F.

2012-12-01

Most research vessels are equipped with satellite Internet services with bandwidths capable of being upgraded to support telepresence technologies and live shore-based participation. This capability can be used for real-time data transmission to shore, where it can be distributed, managed, processed, and archived. The University of Rhode Island Inner Space Center utilizes telepresence technologies and a growing network of command centers on Internet2 to participate live with a variety of research vessels and their ocean observing and sampling systems. High-bandwidth video streaming, voice-over-IP telecommunications, and real-time data feeds and file transfers enable users on shore to take part in the oceanographic expeditions as if they were present on the ship, working in the lab. Telepresence-enabled systematic ocean exploration and similar programs represent a significant and growing paradigm shift that can change the future of seagoing ocean observations using research vessels. The required platform is the ship itself, and users of the technology rely on the ship-based technical teams, but remote and distributed shore-based science users, students, educators, and the general public can now take part by being aboard virtually.

Enabling Long-Term Oceanographic Research: Changing Data Practices, Information Management Strategies and Informatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, K. S.; Chandler, C. L.

2008-12-01

Data management and informatics research are in a state of change in terms of data practices, information strategies, and roles. New ways of thinking about data and data management can facilitate interdisciplinary global ocean science. To meet contemporary expectations for local data use and reuse by a variety of audiences, collaborative strategies involving diverse teams of information professionals are developing. Such changes are fostering the growth of information infrastructures that support multi-scale sampling, data integration, and nascent networks of data repositories. In this retrospective, two examples of oceanographic projects incorporating data management in partnership with long-term science programs are reviewed: the Palmer Station Long-Term Ecological Research program (Palmer LTER) and the United States Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (US JGOFS). Lessons learned - short-term and long-term - from a decade of data management within these two communities will be presented. A conceptual framework called Ocean Informatics provides one example for managing the complexities inherent to sharing oceanographic data. Elements are discussed that address the economies-of-scale as well as the complexities-of-scale pertinent to a broad vision of information management and scientific research.

Objective assessment of the contribution of the RECOPESCA network to the monitoring of 3D coastal ocean variables in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamouroux, Julien; Charria, Guillaume; De Mey, Pierre; Raynaud, Stéphane; Heyraud, Catherine; Craneguy, Philippe; Dumas, Franck; Le Hénaff, Matthieu

2016-04-01

In the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel, in situ observations represent a key element to monitor and to understand the wide range of processes in the coastal ocean and their direct impacts on human activities. An efficient way to measure the hydrological content of the water column over the main part of the continental shelf is to consider ships of opportunity as the surface to cover is wide and could be far from the coast. In the French observation strategy, the RECOPESCA programme, as a component of the High frequency Observation network for the environment in coastal SEAs (HOSEA), aims to collect environmental observations from sensors attached to fishing nets. In the present study, we assess that network using the Array Modes (ArM) method (a stochastic implementation of Le Hénaff et al. Ocean Dyn 59: 3-20. doi: 10.1007/s10236-008-0144-7, 2009). That model ensemble-based method is used here to compare model and observation errors and to quantitatively evaluate the performance of the observation network at detecting prior (model) uncertainties, based on hypotheses on error sources. A reference network, based on fishing vessel observations in 2008, is assessed using that method. Considering the various seasons, we show the efficiency of the network at detecting the main model uncertainties. Moreover, three scenarios, based on the reference network, a denser network in 2010 and a fictive network aggregated from a pluri-annual collection of profiles, are also analysed. Our sensitivity study shows the importance of the profile positions with respect to the sheer number of profiles for ensuring the ability of the network to describe the main error modes. More generally, we demonstrate the capacity of this method, with a low computational cost, to assess and to design new in situ observation networks.

OCEAN-PC and a distributed network for ocean data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclain, Douglas R.

1992-01-01

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) wishes to develop an integrated software package for oceanographic data entry and access in developing countries. The software, called 'OCEAN-PC', would run on low cost PC microcomputers and would encourage and standardize: (1) entry of local ocean observations; (2) quality control of the local data; (3) merging local data with historical data; (4) improved display and analysis of the merged data; and (5) international data exchange. OCEAN-PC will link existing MS-DOS oceanographic programs and data sets with table-driven format conversions. Since many ocean data sets are now being distributed on optical discs (Compact Discs - Read Only Memory, CD-ROM, Mass et al. 1987), OCEAN-PC will emphasize access to CD-ROMs.

AtlantOS - Optimizing and Enhancing the Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reitz, Anja; Visbeck, Martin; AtlantOS Consortium, the

2016-04-01

Atlantic Ocean observation is currently undertaken through loosely-coordinated, in-situ observing networks, satellite observations and data management arrangements of heterogeneous international, national and regional design to support science and a wide range of information products. Thus there is tremendous opportunity to develop the systems towards a fully integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System consistent with the recently developed 'Framework of Ocean Observing'. The vision of AtlantOS is to improve and innovate Atlantic observing by using the Framework of Ocean Observing to obtain an international, more sustainable, more efficient, more integrated, and fit-for-purpose system. Hence, the AtlantOS initiative will have a long-lasting and sustainable contribution to the societal, economic and scientific benefit arising from this integrated approach. This will be delivered by improving the value for money, extent, completeness, quality and ease of access to Atlantic Ocean data required by industries, product supplying agencies, scientist and citizens. The overarching target of the AtlantOS initiative is to deliver an advanced framework for the development of an integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System that goes beyond the state-of -the-art, and leaves a legacy of sustainability after the life of the project. The legacy will derive from the following aims: i) to improve international collaboration in the design, implementation and benefit sharing of ocean observing, ii) to promote engagement and innovation in all aspects of ocean observing, iii) to facilitate free and open access to ocean data and information, iv) to enable and disseminate methods of achieving quality and authority of ocean information, v) to strengthen the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and to sustain observing systems that are critical for the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service and its applications and vi) to contribute to the aims of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation. The EU Horizon 2020 AtlantOS project pools the efforts of 57 European and 5 non-European partners (research institutes, universities, marine service providers, multi-institutional organisations, and the private sector) from 18 countries to collaborate on optimizing and enhancing Atlantic Ocean observing. The project has a budget of € 21M for 4 years (April 2015 - June 2019) and is coordinated by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany (Prof. Dr. Martin Visbeck). The project is organized along work packages on: i) observing system requirements and design studies, ii) enhancement of ship-based and autonomous observing networks, iii) interfaces with coastal ocean observing systems, iv) integration of regional observing systems, v) cross-cutting issues and emerging networks, vi) data flow and data integration, vii) societal benefits from observing /information systems, viii) system evaluation and resource sustainability. Engagement with wider stakeholders including end-users of Atlantic Ocean observation products and services will also be key throughout the project. The AtlantOS initiative contributes to achieving the aims of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation that was signed in 2013 by the EU, Canada and the US, launching a Transatlantic Ocean Research Alliance to enhance collaboration to better understand the Atlantic Ocean and sustainably manage and use its resources.

Creating Research/STEM Opportunities for Students - A Case for Collaboration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, R. W.; Sprenger, A.

2016-02-01

A unique collaboration between a Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System, the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, (NANOOS), a boat-based ocean science education non-profit organization, the Ocean Inquiry Project (OIP), an informal environmental education center, the Whidbey Watershed Stewards (WWS), and the South Whidbey School District, has resulted in an incredible STEM learning opportunity for middle school students. The year-long program challenges 200 6th and 7th graders at Langley Middle School on Whidbey Island WA, to investigate the fragile connection between the biotic and abiotic ocean, with a focus on ocean acidification, a growing environmental, economic concern in the school's local waters of Puget Sound. Students use a variety of field research techniques to collect original ocean data at a local marina, building an oceanographic time-series, over a 6 month time period (Nov - Apr) as the earth and ocean transition from winter into spring. Students have named their study "SWOOS" - the South Whidbey Ocean Observing Station. Every month, students measure parameters in seawater including temperature, salinity, pH, oxygen, and nitrates from their research site. Plankton samples are also collected and brought back to their science classroom to be analyzed. Students design and build their own "student buoys", which are deployed near the Langley Marina to collect temperature and light data throughout the 6-month research project. Students work with NANOOS staff to compare their data with data from other shore stations and buoys throughout Puget Sound and along the WA coast. The program culminates with a one-day oceanography cruise aboard a research vessel with state of the art equipment collecting data and working alongside University of Washington graduate students and scientists. Our program uses students' local environment, a variety of ocean research techniques and a compelling environmental issue to give students comprehensive knowledge of the scientific process, conceptual knowledge about current environmental threats and critical thinking skills so they will be armed with the fundamental 21stcentury skills needed to be able to make informed decisions into the future.

Short term forecasting for HFSWR sea surface current mapping using artificial neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, J. W.; Lu, Y. C.; Hsieh, C. M.; Liau, J. M.; Yang, W. C.

2016-02-01

Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI) established the Taiwan Ocean Radar Observing System (TOROS) based on the CODAR high frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR). The TOROS is the first network having complete, contiguous HFSWR coverage of nation's coastline in the world. This network consisting of 17 SeaSonde radars offers coverage across approximately 190,000 square kilometers an area, over five times the size of Taiwan's entire land mass. In the southernmost and narrowest part of Taiwan, two 13 MHz and one 24 MHz radars were established along the NanWan Bay since June, 2014. NanWan Bay, the southern tip of Taiwan, is a southward semi-enclosed basin bounded by two capes and is open to the Luzon Strait. The distance between the two caps is around 12 km, and the distance from the northernmost point of the bay to the caps are 5 and 11 km, respectively. Strong tidal currents dominate the ocean circulation in the NanWan Bay and induce obvious upwelling of cold water that intrudes on to the shallow regions of NanWan Bay around spring tides. From late fall to early spring, the seaward wind dominated by the northeast monsoon often destratifies the water column and decreases the sea surface temperature inside the Bay (Lee et al, 1997). Furthermore, the Nanwan Bay is famous with well-developed fringing reefs distributed along the shoreline. In this area, 230 species of scleractinian corals, nine species of non-scleractinian reef-building corals, and 40 species of alcyonacean corals have been recorded (Dai, 1991). NanWan, in the shape of a beautiful arch, attracts large crowds of people to take all kinds of beach or water activities every summer. In order to improve the applicability of HFSWR ocean surface current data on search and rescue issue and evaluation of coral spawn dispersal, a short term forecasting model using artificial neural network (ANN) was developed in this study. That ocean surface current vectors obtained from tidal theory are added as inputs in artificial neural network model is found to improve prediction ability for current vectors. The optimum structure of the present ANN model for each ocean current grid is set up from examining the learning rate, moment factor, input parameters, numbers of hidden layer, learning times and input length. Results show that the ANN model have better accuracy of short-term forecasting.

The Fram Strait integrated ocean observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fahrbach, E.; Beszczynska-Möller, A.; Rettig, S.; Rohardt, G.; Sagen, H.; Sandven, S.; Hansen, E.

2012-04-01

A long-term oceanographic moored array has been operated since 1997 to measure the ocean water column properties and oceanic advective fluxes through Fram Strait. While the mooring line along 78°50'N is devoted to monitoring variability of the physical environment, the AWI Hausgarten observatory, located north of it, focuses on ecosystem properties and benthic biology. Under the EU DAMOCLES and ACOBAR projects, the oceanographic observatory has been extended towards the innovative integrated observing system, combining the deep ocean moorings, multipurpose acoustic system and a network of gliders. The main aim of this system is long-term environmental monitoring in Fram Strait, combining satellite data, acoustic tomography, oceanographic measurements at moorings and glider sections with high-resolution ice-ocean circulation models through data assimilation. In future perspective, a cable connection between the Hausgarten observatory and a land base on Svalbard is planned as the implementation of the ESONET Arctic node. To take advantage of the planned cabled node, different technologies for the underwater data transmission were reviewed and partially tested under the ESONET DM AOEM. The main focus was to design and evaluate available technical solutions for collecting data from different components of the Fram Strait ocean observing system, and an integration of available data streams for the optimal delivery to the future cabled node. The main components of the Fram Strait integrated observing system will be presented and the current status of available technologies for underwater data transfer will be reviewed. On the long term, an initiative of Helmholtz observatories foresees the interdisciplinary Earth-Observing-System FRAM which combines observatories such as the long term deep-sea ecological observatory HAUSGARTEN, the oceanographic Fram Strait integrated observing system and the Svalbard coastal stations maintained by the Norwegian ARCTOS network. A vision of this modular underwater observatory network in Fram Strait will be presented.

Dynamic Task Assignment and Path Planning of Multi-AUV System Based on an Improved Self-Organizing Map and Velocity Synthesis Method in Three-Dimensional Underwater Workspace.

PubMed

Zhu, Daqi; Huang, Huan; Yang, S X

2013-04-01

For a 3-D underwater workspace with a variable ocean current, an integrated multiple autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) dynamic task assignment and path planning algorithm is proposed by combing the improved self-organizing map (SOM) neural network and a novel velocity synthesis approach. The goal is to control a team of AUVs to reach all appointed target locations for only one time on the premise of workload balance and energy sufficiency while guaranteeing the least total and individual consumption in the presence of the variable ocean current. First, the SOM neuron network is developed to assign a team of AUVs to achieve multiple target locations in 3-D ocean environment. The working process involves special definition of the initial neural weights of the SOM network, the rule to select the winner, the computation of the neighborhood function, and the method to update weights. Then, the velocity synthesis approach is applied to plan the shortest path for each AUV to visit the corresponding target in a dynamic environment subject to the ocean current being variable and targets being movable. Lastly, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, simulation results are given in this paper.

Fast neural network surrogates for very high dimensional physics-based models in computational oceanography.

PubMed

van der Merwe, Rudolph; Leen, Todd K; Lu, Zhengdong; Frolov, Sergey; Baptista, Antonio M

2007-05-01

We present neural network surrogates that provide extremely fast and accurate emulation of a large-scale circulation model for the coupled Columbia River, its estuary and near ocean regions. The circulation model has O(10(7)) degrees of freedom, is highly nonlinear and is driven by ocean, atmospheric and river influences at its boundaries. The surrogates provide accurate emulation of the full circulation code and run over 1000 times faster. Such fast dynamic surrogates will enable significant advances in ensemble forecasts in oceanography and weather.

Monitoring Anthropogenic Ocean Sound from Shipping Using an Acoustic Sensor Network and a Compressive Sensing Approach.

PubMed

Harris, Peter; Philip, Rachel; Robinson, Stephen; Wang, Lian

2016-03-22

Monitoring ocean acoustic noise has been the subject of considerable recent study, motivated by the desire to assess the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine life. A combination of measuring ocean sound using an acoustic sensor network and modelling sources of sound and sound propagation has been proposed as an approach to estimating the acoustic noise map within a region of interest. However, strategies for developing a monitoring network are not well established. In this paper, considerations for designing a network are investigated using a simulated scenario based on the measurement of sound from ships in a shipping lane. Using models for the sources of the sound and for sound propagation, a noise map is calculated and measurements of the noise map by a sensor network within the region of interest are simulated. A compressive sensing algorithm, which exploits the sparsity of the representation of the noise map in terms of the sources, is used to estimate the locations and levels of the sources and thence the entire noise map within the region of interest. It is shown that although the spatial resolution to which the sound sources can be identified is generally limited, estimates of aggregated measures of the noise map can be obtained that are more reliable compared with those provided by other approaches.

Monitoring Anthropogenic Ocean Sound from Shipping Using an Acoustic Sensor Network and a Compressive Sensing Approach †

PubMed Central

Harris, Peter; Philip, Rachel; Robinson, Stephen; Wang, Lian

2016-01-01

Monitoring ocean acoustic noise has been the subject of considerable recent study, motivated by the desire to assess the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine life. A combination of measuring ocean sound using an acoustic sensor network and modelling sources of sound and sound propagation has been proposed as an approach to estimating the acoustic noise map within a region of interest. However, strategies for developing a monitoring network are not well established. In this paper, considerations for designing a network are investigated using a simulated scenario based on the measurement of sound from ships in a shipping lane. Using models for the sources of the sound and for sound propagation, a noise map is calculated and measurements of the noise map by a sensor network within the region of interest are simulated. A compressive sensing algorithm, which exploits the sparsity of the representation of the noise map in terms of the sources, is used to estimate the locations and levels of the sources and thence the entire noise map within the region of interest. It is shown that although the spatial resolution to which the sound sources can be identified is generally limited, estimates of aggregated measures of the noise map can be obtained that are more reliable compared with those provided by other approaches. PMID:27011187

Mission Planning and Decision Support for Underwater Glider Networks: A Sampling on-Demand Approach

PubMed Central

Ferri, Gabriele; Cococcioni, Marco; Alvarez, Alberto

2015-01-01

This paper describes an optimal sampling approach to support glider fleet operators and marine scientists during the complex task of planning the missions of fleets of underwater gliders. Optimal sampling, which has gained considerable attention in the last decade, consists in planning the paths of gliders to minimize a specific criterion pertinent to the phenomenon under investigation. Different criteria (e.g., A, G, or E optimality), used in geosciences to obtain an optimum design, lead to different sampling strategies. In particular, the A criterion produces paths for the gliders that minimize the overall level of uncertainty over the area of interest. However, there are commonly operative situations in which the marine scientists may prefer not to minimize the overall uncertainty of a certain area, but instead they may be interested in achieving an acceptable uncertainty sufficient for the scientific or operational needs of the mission. We propose and discuss here an approach named sampling on-demand that explicitly addresses this need. In our approach the user provides an objective map, setting both the amount and the geographic distribution of the uncertainty to be achieved after assimilating the information gathered by the fleet. A novel optimality criterion, called Aη, is proposed and the resulting minimization problem is solved by using a Simulated Annealing based optimizer that takes into account the constraints imposed by the glider navigation features, the desired geometry of the paths and the problems of reachability caused by ocean currents. This planning strategy has been implemented in a Matlab toolbox called SoDDS (Sampling on-Demand and Decision Support). The tool is able to automatically download the ocean fields data from MyOcean repository and also provides graphical user interfaces to ease the input process of mission parameters and targets. The results obtained by running SoDDS on three different scenarios are provided and show that SoDDS, which is currently used at NATO STO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), can represent a step forward towards a systematic mission planning of glider fleets, dramatically reducing the efforts of glider operators. PMID:26712763

Mission Planning and Decision Support for Underwater Glider Networks: A Sampling on-Demand Approach.

PubMed

Ferri, Gabriele; Cococcioni, Marco; Alvarez, Alberto

2015-12-26

This paper describes an optimal sampling approach to support glider fleet operators and marine scientists during the complex task of planning the missions of fleets of underwater gliders. Optimal sampling, which has gained considerable attention in the last decade, consists in planning the paths of gliders to minimize a specific criterion pertinent to the phenomenon under investigation. Different criteria (e.g., A, G, or E optimality), used in geosciences to obtain an optimum design, lead to different sampling strategies. In particular, the A criterion produces paths for the gliders that minimize the overall level of uncertainty over the area of interest. However, there are commonly operative situations in which the marine scientists may prefer not to minimize the overall uncertainty of a certain area, but instead they may be interested in achieving an acceptable uncertainty sufficient for the scientific or operational needs of the mission. We propose and discuss here an approach named sampling on-demand that explicitly addresses this need. In our approach the user provides an objective map, setting both the amount and the geographic distribution of the uncertainty to be achieved after assimilating the information gathered by the fleet. A novel optimality criterion, called A η , is proposed and the resulting minimization problem is solved by using a Simulated Annealing based optimizer that takes into account the constraints imposed by the glider navigation features, the desired geometry of the paths and the problems of reachability caused by ocean currents. This planning strategy has been implemented in a Matlab toolbox called SoDDS (Sampling on-Demand and Decision Support). The tool is able to automatically download the ocean fields data from MyOcean repository and also provides graphical user interfaces to ease the input process of mission parameters and targets. The results obtained by running SoDDS on three different scenarios are provided and show that SoDDS, which is currently used at NATO STO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), can represent a step forward towards a systematic mission planning of glider fleets, dramatically reducing the efforts of glider operators.

Autonomous Adaptive Acoustic Relay Positioning

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

underwater acoustic sensor networks . In Proc. 1st ACM International Work- shop on Underwater Networks , pages 7–16, 2006. [4] A Alvarez, A...routing in underwater delay/disruption tolerant sensor networks . In Wireless on Demand Network Systems and Services, 2008. WONS 2008. Fifth Annual...the development of multi-vehicle applications in the ocean, and the main mode of wireless data transmission underwater is acoustic .

Multi-scale Quantitative Precipitation Forecasting Using Nonlinear and Nonstationary Teleconnection Signals and Artificial Neural Network Models

EPA Science Inventory

Global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies can affect terrestrial precipitation via ocean-atmosphere interaction known as climate teleconnection. Non-stationary and non-linear characteristics of the ocean-atmosphere system make the identification of the teleconnection signals...

Engineering the IOOS: A Conceptual Design and Conceptual Operations Plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lampel, M.; Hood, C.; Kleinert, J.; Morgan, R. A.; Morris, P.

2007-12-01

The Integrated Ocean Observing System is the United States component in a world wide effort to provide global coverage of the world's oceans using the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The US contribution includes systems supporting three major IOOS components: the Observation Subsystem, the Modeling and Analysis Subsystem, and the Data Management and Communications (DMAC) Subsystem. The assets to be used in these subsystems include hundreds of existing satellite sensors, buoy arrays, water level monitoring networks, wave monitoring networks, specialized systems for commerce, such as the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®), and health and safety monitoring systems such as NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasting System for the Gulf of Mexico. Conceptual design addresses the interconnectivity of these systems, while Conceptual Operations provides understanding of the motivators for interconnectivity and a methodology for how useful products are created and distributed. This paper will report on the conceptual design and the concept of operations devleoped by the authors under contract to NOAA.

Development of wavelet-ANN models to predict water quality parameters in Hilo Bay, Pacific Ocean.

PubMed

Alizadeh, Mohamad Javad; Kavianpour, Mohamad Reza

2015-09-15

The main objective of this study is to apply artificial neural network (ANN) and wavelet-neural network (WNN) models for predicting a variety of ocean water quality parameters. In this regard, several water quality parameters in Hilo Bay, Pacific Ocean, are taken under consideration. Different combinations of water quality parameters are applied as input variables to predict daily values of salinity, temperature and DO as well as hourly values of DO. The results demonstrate that the WNN models are superior to the ANN models. Also, the hourly models developed for DO prediction outperform the daily models of DO. For the daily models, the most accurate model has R equal to 0.96, while for the hourly model it reaches up to 0.98. Overall, the results show the ability of the model to monitor the ocean parameters, in condition with missing data, or when regular measurement and monitoring are impossible. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

IEOOS: the Spanish Institute of Oceanography Observing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tel, E.; Balbin, R.; Cabanas, J. M.; Garcia, M. J.; Garcia-Martinez, M. C.; Gonzalez-Pola, C.; Lavin, A.; Lopez-Jurado, J. L.; Rodriguez, C.; Ruiz-Villarreal, M.; Sanchez-Leal, R. F.; Vargas-Yanez, M.; Velez-Belchi, P.

2015-10-01

Since its foundation, 100 years ago, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) has been observing and measuring the ocean characteristics. Here is a summary of the initiatives of the IEO in the field of the operational oceanography (OO). Some systems like the tide gauges network has been working for more than 70 years. The IEO standard sections began at different moments depending on the local projects, and nowadays there are more than 180 coastal stations and deep-sea ones that are systematically sampled, obtaining physical and biochemical measurements. At this moment, the IEO Observing System (IEOOS) includes 6 permanent moorings equipped with currentmeters, an open-sea ocean-meteorological buoy offshore Santander and an SST satellital image reception station. It also supports the Spanish contribution to the ARGO international program with 47 deployed profilers, and continuous monitoring thermosalinometers, meteorological stations and ADCP onboard the IEO research vessels. The system is completed with the IEO contribution to the RAIA and Gibraltar observatories, and the development of regional prediction models. All these systematic measurements allow the IEO to give responses to ocean research activities, official agencies requirements and industrial and main society demands as navigation, resource management, risks management, recreation, etc, as well as for management development pollution-related economic activities or marine ecosystems. All these networks are linked to international initiatives, framed largely in supranational programs Earth observation sponsored by the United Nations or the European Union. The synchronic observation system permits following spatio-temporal description of some events, as new deep water formation in the Mediterranean Sea and the injection of heat to intermediate waters in the Bay of Biscay after some colder northern storms in winter 2005.

Listening to the Deep-Ocean Environment (LIDO): an ESONET Initiative for the Real-Time Monitoring of Geohazards and Marine Ambient Noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

André, Michel; Favali, Paolo; Piatteli, Paolo; Miranda, Jorge; Waldmann, Christoph; Esonet Lido Demonstration Mission Team

2010-05-01

Understanding the link between natural and anthropogenic processes is essential for predicting the magnitude and impact of future changes of the natural balance of the oceans. Deep-sea observatories have the potential to play a key role in the assessment and monitoring of these changes. ESONET is a European Network of Excellence of deep-sea observatories that includes 55 partners belonging to 14 countries. ESONET NoE is providing data on key parameters from the subsurface down to the seafloor at representative locations that transmit them to shore. The strategies of deployment, data sampling, technological development, standardisation and data management are being integrated with projects dealing with the spatial and near surface time series. LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean environment) is one of these projects and proposes to establish a first nucleus of a regional network of multidisciplinary seafloor observatories contributing to the coordination of high quality research in the ESONET NoE by allowing the real-time long-term monitoring of Geohazards and Marine Ambient Noise in the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent Atlantic waters. Specific activities address the long-term monitoring of earthquakes and tsunamis and the characterisation of ambient noise, marine mammal sounds and anthropogenic sources. The objective of this demonstration mission will be achieved through the extension of the present capabilities of the observatories working in the ESONET key-sites of Eastern Sicily (NEMO-SN1) and of the Gulf of Cadiz (GEOSTAR configured for NEAREST pilot experiment) by installing new sensor equipments related to Bioacoustics and Geohazards, as well as by implementing international standard methods in data acquisition and management.

IEOOS: the Spanish Institute of Oceanography Observing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tel, Elena; Balbin, Rosa; Cabanas, Jose-Manuel; Garcia, Maria-Jesus; Garcia-Martinez, M. Carmen; Gonzalez-Pola, Cesar; Lavin, Alicia; Lopez-Jurado, Jose-Luis; Rodriguez, Carmen; Ruiz-Villarreal, Manuel; Sánchez-Leal, Ricardo F.; Vargas-Yáñez, Manuel; Vélez-Belchí, Pedro

2016-03-01

Since its foundation, 100 years ago, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) has been observing and measuring the ocean characteristics. Here is a summary of the initiatives of the IEO in the field of the operational oceanography. Some systems like the tide gauges network has been working for more than 70 years. The standard sections began at different moments depending on the local projects, and nowadays there are more than 180 coastal stations and deep-sea ones that are systematically sampled, obtaining physical and biochemical measurements. At this moment, the Observing System includes six permanent moorings equipped with current meters, an open-sea ocean-meteorological buoy offshore Santander and a sea-surface temperature satellite image station. It also supports the Spanish contribution to the Argo international programme with 47 deployed profilers, and continuous monitoring thermosalinometers, meteorological stations and vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers on the research vessel fleet. The system is completed with the contribution to the Northwest Iberian peninsula and Gibraltar observatories, and the development of regional prediction models. All these systematic measurements allow the IEO to give responses to ocean research activities, official agencies requirements and industrial and main society demands such as navigation, resource management, risks management, recreation, as well as for management development pollution-related economic activities or marine ecosystems. All these networks are linked to international initiatives, framed largely in supranational programmes of Earth observation sponsored by the United Nations or the European Union. The synchronic observation system permits a spatio-temporal description of some events, such as new deep water formation in the Mediterranean Sea and the injection of heat to intermediate waters in the Bay of Biscay after some colder northern storms in winter 2005.

Multiple Ships and Multiple Media: A Flexible Telepresence Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M.; Hoeberechts, M.; Riddell, D. J.; Ewing, N.

2016-02-01

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) uses a number of research and exploration vessels equipped with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to maintain the NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. Maintenance expeditions range from several days to multiple weeks and encompass a range of activities including deploying new instruments, laying cable, recovering platforms, scientific sampling and conducting multibeam and visual surveys. In order to engage the widest possible participation in at-sea work, ONC uses telepresence technology to communicate from ship to shore and back with scientists, students, teachers and online viewers. In this presentation, we explore the challenge of designing a sustainable and flexible telepresence program which can be supported across multiple ship and ROV platforms, sometimes simultaneously. To meet outreach and education objectives, onboard educators conduct presentations to K-12 and post-secondary classrooms, museums and science centres on a daily basis. Online commentary by the educators, dive chief and ROV pilots accompanies the ROV dive footage and is streamed online 24/7 during underwater operations. Sharing the sights and sounds of the expeditions with students and educators ashore, including those in remote and inland communities, creates a unique learning environment for both formal and informal education audiences. As space is always a limiting factor on expeditions, the use of telepresence and other communication media enables ONC to simultaneously achieve engineering and science priorities at sea while communicating the successes and challenges of the expedition back to shore. Scientists and engineers provide guidance for operations from shore using a variety of communication technologies. We give examples from Ocean Networks Canada's most recent expedition, Fall 2015, which involved co-ordinated operations with three vessels - the R/V Thompson, the E/V Nautilus and the C/S Wave Venture.

Combining Passive Microwave Rain Rate Retrieval with Visible and Infrared Cloud Classification.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Shawn William

The relation between cloud type and rain rate has been investigated here from different approaches. Previous studies and intercomparisons have indicated that no single passive microwave rain rate algorithm is an optimal choice for all types of precipitating systems. Motivated by the upcoming Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), an algorithm which combines visible and infrared cloud classification with passive microwave rain rate estimation was developed and analyzed in a preliminary manner using data from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere-Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA-COARE). Overall correlation with radar rain rate measurements across five case studies showed substantial improvement in the combined algorithm approach when compared to the use of any single microwave algorithm. An automated neural network cloud classifier for use over both land and ocean was independently developed and tested on Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. The global classifier achieved strict accuracy for 82% of the test samples, while a more localized version achieved strict accuracy for 89% of its own test set. These numbers provide hope for the eventual development of a global automated cloud classifier for use throughout the tropics and the temperate zones. The localized classifier was used in conjunction with gridded 15-minute averaged radar rain rates at 8km resolution produced from the current operational network of National Weather Service (NWS) radars, to investigate the relation between cloud type and rain rate over three regions of the continental United States and adjacent waters. The results indicate a substantially lower amount of available moisture in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains than in the Midwest or in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Globalizing Lessons Learned from Regional-scale Observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glenn, S. M.

2016-02-01

The Mid Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS) has accumulated a decade of experience designing, building and operating a Regional Coastal Ocean Observing System for the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). MARACOOS serves societal goals and supports scientific discovery at the scale of a Large Marine Ecosystem (LME). Societal themes include maritime safety, ecosystem decision support, coastal inundation, water quality and offshore energy. Scientific results that feed back on societal goals with better products include improved understanding of seasonal transport pathways and their impact on phytoplankton blooms and hypoxia, seasonal evolution of the subsurface Mid Atlantic Cold Pool and its impact on fisheries, biogeochemical transformations in coastal plumes, coastal ocean evolution and impact on hurricane intensities, and storm sediment transport pathways. As the global ocean observing requirements grow to support additional societal needs for information on fisheries and aquaculture, ocean acidification and deoxygenation, water quality and offshore development, global observing will necessarily evolve to include more coastal observations and forecast models at the scale of the world's many LMEs. Here we describe our efforts to share lessons learned between the observatory operators at the regional-scale of the LMEs. Current collaborators are spread across Europe, and also include Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and South Africa. Specific examples include the development of a world standard QA/QC approach for HF Radar data that will foster the sharing of data between countries, basin-scale underwater glider missions between internationally-distributed glider ports to developed a shared understanding of operations and an ongoing evaluation of the global ocean models in which the regional models for the LME will be nested, and joint training programs to develop the distributed teams of scientists and technicians required to support the global network. Globalization includes the development of international networks to coordinate activities, such as the Global HF Radar network supported by GEO, the global Everyone's Glider Organization supported by WMO and IOC, and the need for professional training supported by MTS.

Role and goals of the EUR-OCEANS Consortium - Bringing marine scientists priorities and strategies to the European research planning agenda.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cury, Philippe; Baisnée, Pierre-François

2010-05-01

The EUR-OCEANS Consortium is the follow-up structure of the homonym European Network of Excellence (NoE; 2005-2008, FP6 contract number 511106). It is a scientific network, benefiting from and relying upon the institutional commitment of the 27 research performing organisations forming its core (paying) membership. It aims at the long-term harmonization of European research efforts related to ocean ecosystems undergoing anthropogenic and natural forcing. More specifically, its objectives are to facilitate and promote: (1) top-level scientific research on the impacts of anthropogenic and natural forcing on ocean ecosystems, fostering collaborations across the European Research Area; (2) the optimal use of any shared technical infrastructures and scientific facilities; and (3) activities to spread excellence, such as the training of scientific personnel and students, or knowledge dissemination towards the general public and socio-economic users. A particular focus is put during the first scientific coordination mandate on the building of scenarios for marine ecosystems under anthropogenic and natural forcing in the XXI Century, and on the improvement of the science-policy interface. Through calls for projects and networking activities, the Consortium seeks to favour the emergence of coordinated projects on key hot topics on one hand, and the crystallisation of scientific priorities and strategies that could serve as input to ERA-NETs, ESFRI, Joint Programming Initiatives and European Research Planning actors in general. While being an active standalone structure, the Consortium is also engaged in the Euromarine FP7 project (submitted) aiming at the definition of a common coordinating or integrating structure for the three follow-up entities of FP6 marine science NoEs (Marine Genomics Europe, MarBEF, EUR-OCEANS). The 2009-2011 strategy and activity plan of EUR-OCEANS will be presented and the involvement of EUR-OCEANS members in other key projects or programmes will be summarized.

Shedding light on the Global Ocean microbiome with algorithms and data collection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauro, F.; Ostrowski, M.; Chénard, C.; Acerbi, E.; Paulsen, I.; Jensen, R.

2016-02-01

In the Global Oceans, the marine microbiome plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, but surveying marine microbial communities requires ship time for sample collection, economically constraining the number of samples collected. An integrative understanding of the microbiome's activity and performance requires the collection of high-density data, both temporally and spatially in a cost-effective way. We have overcome this bottleneck by crowdsourcing the data collection to vessels of opportunity, including bluewater sailing yachts. Sailors know the oceans, and experience first-hand the declines in ocean productivity and the effects of pollution and climate change. Moreover, simply the ability to sample a microbial community during anomalous or inclement weather conditions is a major advance in sampling strategy. Our approach inherently incorporates the benefit of outreach and participation of people in scientific research, gaining positive media attention for sailors, scientists and concerned citizens alike. We have tested the basic methods during a 2013 Indian Ocean Concept Cruise, from Cape Town to Singapore, performing experimental work and reaching sampling locations inaccessible to traditional Oceanographic Vessels. At the same time we developed a small, yacht-adapted automated sampling device that takes a variety of biological and chemical measurements. In 2015 our first beta-cruisers sampled the Pacific Ocean in the first ever citizen-oceanography transect at high and low latitudes in both hemispheres. The collected samples were characterized with next-gen sequencing technology and analysed with a combination of novel algorithmic approaches. With big data management, machine learning algorithms and agent-based models we show that it is possible to deconvolute the complexity of the Ocean Microbiome for the scientific management of fisheries, marine protected areas and preservation of the oceans and seas for generations to come.

International Collaboration in Data Management for Scientific Ocean Drilling: Preserving Legacy Data While Implementing New Requirements.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rack, F. R.

2005-12-01

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP: 2003-2013 initial phase) is the successor to the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP: 1968-1983) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP: 1985-2003). These earlier scientific drilling programs amassed collections of sediment and rock cores (over 300 kilometers stored in four repositories) and data organized in distributed databases and in print or electronic publications. International members of the IODP have established, through memoranda, the right to have access to: (1) all data, samples, scientific and technical results, all engineering plans, data or other information produced under contract to the program; and, (2) all data from geophysical and other site surveys performed in support of the program which are used for drilling planning. The challenge that faces the individual platform operators and management of IODP is to find the right balance and appropriate synergies among the needs, expectations and requirements of stakeholders. The evolving model for IODP database services consists of the management and integration of data collected onboard the various IODP platforms (including downhole logging and syn-cruise site survey information), legacy data from DSDP and ODP, data derived from post-cruise research and publications, and other IODP-relevant information types, to form a common, program-wide IODP information system (e.g., IODP Portal) which will be accessible to both researchers and the public. The JANUS relational database of ODP was introduced in 1997 and the bulk of ODP shipboard data has been migrated into this system, which is comprised of a relational data model consisting of over 450 tables. The JANUS database includes paleontological, lithostratigraphic, chemical, physical, sedimentological, and geophysical data from a global distribution of sites. For ODP Legs 100 through 210, and including IODP Expeditions 301 through 308, JANUS has been used to store data from 233,835 meters of core recovered, which are comprised of 38,039 cores, with 202,281 core sections stored in repositories, which have resulted in the taking of 2,299,180 samples for scientists and other users (http://iodp.tamu.edu/janusweb/general/dbtable.cgi). JANUS and other IODP databases are viewed as components of an evolving distributed network of databases, supported by metadata catalogs and middleware with XML workflows, that are intended to provide access to DSDP/ODP/IODP cores and sample-based data as well as other distributed geoscience data collections (e.g., CHRONOS, PetDB, SedDB). These data resources can be explored through the use of emerging data visualization environments, such as GeoWall, CoreWall (http://(www.evl.uic.edu/cavern/corewall), a multi-screen display for viewing cores and related data, GeoWall-2 and LambdaVision, a very-high resolution, networked environment for data exploration and visualization, and others. The U.S Implementing Organization (USIO) for the IODP, also known as the JOI Alliance, is a partnership between Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Texas A&M University, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. JOI is a consortium of 20 premier oceanographic research institutions that serves the U.S. scientific community by leading large-scale, global research programs in scientific ocean drilling and ocean observing. For more than 25 years, JOI has helped facilitate discovery and advance global understanding of the Earth and its oceans through excellence in program management.

Joint Efforts Towards European HF Radar Integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubio, A.; Mader, J.; Griffa, A.; Mantovani, C.; Corgnati, L.; Novellino, A.; Schulz-Stellenfleth, J.; Quentin, C.; Wyatt, L.; Ruiz, M. I.; Lorente, P.; Hartnett, M.; Gorringe, P.

2016-12-01

During the past two years, significant steps have been made in Europe for achieving the needed accessibility to High Frequency Radar (HFR) data for a pan-European use. Since 2015, EuroGOOS Ocean Observing Task Teams (TT), such as HFR TT, are operational networks of observing platforms. The main goal is on the harmonization of systems requirements, systems design, data quality, improvement and proof of the readiness and standardization of HFR data access and tools. Particular attention is being paid by HFR TT to converge from different projects and programs toward those common objectives. First, JERICO-NEXT (Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory - Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories, H2020 2015 Programme) will contribute on describing the status of the European network, on seeking harmonization through exchange of best practices and standardization, on developing and giving access to quality control procedures and new products, and finally on demonstrating the use of such technology in the general scientific strategy focused by the Coastal Observatory. Then, EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data Network) Physics started to assemble HF radar metadata and data products within Europe in a uniform way. This long term program is providing a combined array of services and functionalities to users for obtaining free of charge data, meta-data and data products on the physical conditions of European sea basins and oceans. Additionally, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) delivers from 2015 a core information service to any user related to 4 areas of benefits: Maritime Safety, Coastal and Marine Environment, Marine Resources, and Weather, Seasonal Forecasting and Climate activities. INCREASE (Innovation and Networking for the integration of Coastal Radars into EuropeAn marine SErvices - CMEMS Service Evolution 2016) will set the necessary developments towards the integration of existing European HFR operational systems into CMEMS. Finally, these current progresses will contribute to integrate HFR platforms as important operational components of EOOS, the European Ocean Observing System, designed to align and integrate Europe's ocean observing capacity for a truly integrated end-to-end ocean observing in Europe.

Successful integration efforts in water quality from the integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations and the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ragsdale, R.; Vowinkel, E.; Porter, D.; Hamilton, P.; Morrison, R.; Kohut, J.; Connell, B.; Kelsey, H.; Trowbridge, P.

2011-01-01

The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS??) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as part of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network (Network) for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries in three IOOS Regional Associations, and these projects are ongoing. Examples of integrated science-based solutions to water quality issues of major concern from the IOOS regions and Network demonstration projects are explored in this article. These examples illustrate instances where management decisions have benefited from decision-support tools that make use of interoperable data. Gaps, challenges, and outcomes are identified, and a proposal is made for future work toward a multiregional water quality project for beach water quality.

A Network for Standardized Ocean Color Validation Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zibordi, Giuseppe; Holben, Brent; Hooker, Stanford; Melin, Frederic; Berthon, Jean-Francois; Slutsker, Ilya; Giles, David; Vandemark, Doug; Feng, Hui; Rutledge, Ken;

Searching for signatures across microbial communities: Metagenomic analysis of soil samples from mangrove and other ecosystems.

PubMed

Imchen, Madangchanok; Kumavath, Ranjith; Barh, Debmalya; Azevedo, Vasco; Ghosh, Preetam; Viana, Marcus; Wattam, Alice R

2017-08-18

In this study, we categorize the microbial community in mangrove sediment samples from four different locations within a vast mangrove system in Kerala, India. We compared this data to other samples taken from the other known mangrove data, a tropical rainforest, and ocean sediment. An examination of the microbial communities from a large mangrove forest that stretches across southwestern India showed strong similarities across the higher taxonomic levels. When ocean sediment and a single isolate from a tropical rain forest were included in the analysis, a strong pattern emerged with Bacteria from the phylum Proteobacteria being the prominent taxon among the forest samples. The ocean samples were predominantly Archaea, with Euryarchaeota as the dominant phylum. Principal component and functional analyses grouped the samples isolated from forests, including those from disparate mangrove forests and the tropical rain forest, from the ocean. Our findings show similar patterns in samples were isolated from forests, and these were distinct from the ocean sediment isolates. The taxonomic structure was maintained to the level of class, and functional analysis of the genes present also displayed these similarities. Our report for the first time shows the richness of microbial diversity in the Kerala coast and its differences with tropical rain forest and ocean microbiome.

A Survey on Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network Routing Protocols.

PubMed

Li, Ning; Martínez, José-Fernán; Meneses Chaus, Juan Manuel; Eckert, Martina

2016-03-22

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) have become more and more important in ocean exploration applications, such as ocean monitoring, pollution detection, ocean resource management, underwater device maintenance, etc. In underwater acoustic sensor networks, since the routing protocol guarantees reliable and effective data transmission from the source node to the destination node, routing protocol design is an attractive topic for researchers. There are many routing algorithms have been proposed in recent years. To present the current state of development of UASN routing protocols, we review herein the UASN routing protocol designs reported in recent years. In this paper, all the routing protocols have been classified into different groups according to their characteristics and routing algorithms, such as the non-cross-layer design routing protocol, the traditional cross-layer design routing protocol, and the intelligent algorithm based routing protocol. This is also the first paper that introduces intelligent algorithm-based UASN routing protocols. In addition, in this paper, we investigate the development trends of UASN routing protocols, which can provide researchers with clear and direct insights for further research.

A Survey on Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network Routing Protocols

PubMed Central

Li, Ning; Martínez, José-Fernán; Meneses Chaus, Juan Manuel; Eckert, Martina

2016-01-01

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) have become more and more important in ocean exploration applications, such as ocean monitoring, pollution detection, ocean resource management, underwater device maintenance, etc. In underwater acoustic sensor networks, since the routing protocol guarantees reliable and effective data transmission from the source node to the destination node, routing protocol design is an attractive topic for researchers. There are many routing algorithms have been proposed in recent years. To present the current state of development of UASN routing protocols, we review herein the UASN routing protocol designs reported in recent years. In this paper, all the routing protocols have been classified into different groups according to their characteristics and routing algorithms, such as the non-cross-layer design routing protocol, the traditional cross-layer design routing protocol, and the intelligent algorithm based routing protocol. This is also the first paper that introduces intelligent algorithm-based UASN routing protocols. In addition, in this paper, we investigate the development trends of UASN routing protocols, which can provide researchers with clear and direct insights for further research. PMID:27011193

Power systems for ocean regional cabled observatories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kojima, Junichi; Asakawa, Kenichi; Howe, Bruce M.; Kirkham, Harold

2004-01-01

Development of power systems is the most challenging technical issue in the design of ocean regional cabled observatories. ARENA and NEPTUNE are two ocean regional cabled observatory networks with aims that are at least broadly similar. Yet the two designs are quite different in detail. This paper outlines the both systems and explores the reasons for the divergence of design, and shows that it arose because of differences in the priority of requirements.

Implementing the National Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS): from the federal agency perspective

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bassett, R.; Beard, R.; Burnett, W.; Crout, R.; Griffith, B.; Jensen, R.; Signell, R.

2010-01-01

The national Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS??) is responsible for coordinating a network of people, resources, and technology to disseminate continuous data, information, models, products, and services made throughout our coastal waters, Great Lakes, and the oceans. There are many components of the IOOS-including government, academic, and private entities. This article will focus on some of the federal contributions to IOOS and describe the capabilities of several agency partners.

Dynamics and causalities of atmospheric and oceanic data identified by complex networks and Granger causality analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charakopoulos, A. K.; Katsouli, G. A.; Karakasidis, T. E.

2018-04-01

Understanding the underlying processes and extracting detailed characteristics of spatiotemporal dynamics of ocean and atmosphere as well as their interaction is of significant interest and has not been well thoroughly established. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of two main additional methodologies for the identification of spatiotemporal underlying dynamic characteristics and patterns among atmospheric and oceanic variables from Seawatch buoys from Aegean and Ionian Sea, provided by the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (HCMR). The first approach involves the estimation of cross correlation analysis in an attempt to investigate time-lagged relationships, and further in order to identify the direction of interactions between the variables we performed the Granger causality method. According to the second approach the time series are converted into complex networks and then the main topological network properties such as degree distribution, average path length, diameter, modularity and clustering coefficient are evaluated. Our results show that the proposed analysis of complex network analysis of time series can lead to the extraction of hidden spatiotemporal characteristics. Also our findings indicate high level of positive and negative correlations and causalities among variables, both from the same buoy and also between buoys from different stations, which cannot be determined from the use of simple statistical measures.

Oceanotron, Scalable Server for Marine Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loubrieu, T.; Bregent, S.; Blower, J. D.; Griffiths, G.

2013-12-01

Ifremer, French marine institute, is deeply involved in data management for different ocean in-situ observation programs (ARGO, OceanSites, GOSUD, ...) or other European programs aiming at networking ocean in-situ observation data repositories (myOcean, seaDataNet, Emodnet). To capitalize the effort for implementing advance data dissemination services (visualization, download with subsetting) for these programs and generally speaking water-column observations repositories, Ifremer decided to develop the oceanotron server (2010). Knowing the diversity of data repository formats (RDBMS, netCDF, ODV, ...) and the temperamental nature of the standard interoperability interface profiles (OGC/WMS, OGC/WFS, OGC/SOS, OpeNDAP, ...), the server is designed to manage plugins: - StorageUnits : which enable to read specific data repository formats (netCDF/OceanSites, RDBMS schema, ODV binary format). - FrontDesks : which get external requests and send results for interoperable protocols (OGC/WMS, OGC/SOS, OpenDAP). In between a third type of plugin may be inserted: - TransformationUnits : which enable ocean business related transformation of the features (for example conversion of vertical coordinates from pressure in dB to meters under sea surface). The server is released under open-source license so that partners can develop their own plugins. Within MyOcean project, University of Reading has plugged a WMS implementation as an oceanotron frontdesk. The modules are connected together by sharing the same information model for marine observations (or sampling features: vertical profiles, point series and trajectories), dataset metadata and queries. The shared information model is based on OGC/Observation & Measurement and Unidata/Common Data Model initiatives. The model is implemented in java (http://www.ifremer.fr/isi/oceanotron/javadoc/). This inner-interoperability level enables to capitalize ocean business expertise in software development without being indentured to specific data formats or protocols. Oceanotron is deployed at seven European data centres for marine in-situ observations within myOcean. While additional extensions are still being developed, to promote new collaborative initiatives, a work is now done on continuous and distributed integration (jenkins, maven), shared reference documentation (on alfresco) and code and release dissemination (sourceforge, github).

Did hydrographic sampling capture global and regional deep ocean heat content trends accurately between 1990-2010?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garry, Freya; McDonagh, Elaine; Blaker, Adam; Roberts, Chris; Desbruyères, Damien; King, Brian

2017-04-01

Estimates of heat content change in the deep oceans (below 2000 m) over the last thirty years are obtained from temperature measurements made by hydrographic survey ships. Cruises occupy the same tracks across an ocean basin approximately every 5+ years. Measurements may not be sufficiently frequent in time or space to allow accurate evaluation of total ocean heat content (OHC) and its rate of change. It is widely thought that additional deep ocean sampling will also aid understanding of the mechanisms for OHC change on annual to decadal timescales, including how OHC varies regionally under natural and anthropogenically forced climate change. Here a 0.25˚ ocean model is used to investigate the magnitude of uncertainties and biases that exist in estimates of deep ocean temperature change from hydrographic sections due to their infrequent timing and sparse spatial distribution during 1990 - 2010. Biases in the observational data may be due to lack of spatial coverage (not enough sections covering the basin), lack of data between occupations (typically 5-10 years apart) and due to occupations not closely spanning the time period of interest. Between 1990 - 2010, the modelled biases globally are comparatively small in the abyssal ocean below 3500 m although regionally certain biases in heat flux into the 4000 - 6000 m layer can be up to 0.05 Wm-2. Biases in the heat flux into the deep 2000 - 4000 m layer due to either temporal or spatial sampling uncertainties are typically much larger and can be over 0.1 Wm-2 across an ocean. Overall, 82% of the warming trend below 2000 m is captured by observational-style sampling in the model. However, at 2500 m (too deep for additional temperature information to be inferred from upper ocean Argo) less than two thirds of the magnitude of the global warming trend is obtained, and regionally large biases exist in the Atlantic, Southern and Indian Oceans, highlighting the need for widespread improved deep ocean temperature sampling. In addition to bias due to infrequent sampling, moving the timings of occupations by a few months generates relatively large uncertainty due to intra-annual variability in deep ocean model temperature, further strengthening the case for high temporal frequency observations in the deep ocean (as could be achieved using deep ocean autonomous float technologies). Biases due to different uncertainties can have opposing signs and differ in relative importance both regionally and with depth revealing the importance of reducing all uncertainties (both spatial and temporal) simultaneously in future deep ocean observing design.

Ichthyoplankton Time Series: A Potential Ocean Observing Network to Provide Indicators of Climate Impacts on Fish Communities along the West Coast of North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koslow, J. A.; Brodeur, R.; Duffy-Anderson, J. T.; Perry, I.; jimenez Rosenberg, S.; Aceves, G.

2016-02-01

Ichthyoplankton time series available from the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and California Current (Oregon to Baja California) provide a potential ocean observing network to assess climate impacts on fish communities along the west coast of North America. Larval fish abundance reflects spawning stock biomass, so these data sets provide indicators of the status of a broad range of exploited and unexploited fish populations. Analyses to date have focused on individual time series, which generally exhibit significant change in relation to climate. Off California, a suite of 24 midwater fish taxa have declined > 60%, correlated with declining midwater oxygen concentrations, and overall larval fish abundance has declined 72% since 1969, a trend based on the decline of predominantly cool-water affinity taxa in response to warming ocean temperatures. Off Oregon, there were dramatic differences in community structure and abundance of larval fishes between warm and cool ocean conditions. Midwater deoxygenation and warming sea surface temperature trends are predicted to continue as a result of global climate change. US, Canadian, and Mexican fishery scientists are now collaborating in a virtual ocean observing network to synthesize available ichthyoplankton time series and compare patterns of change in relation to climate. This will provide regional indicators of populations and groups of taxa sensitive to warming, deoxygenation and potentially other stressors, establish the relevant scales of coherence among sub-regions and across Large Marine Ecosystems, and provide the basis for predicting future climate change impacts on these ecosystems.

Geologic Seafloor Mapping Defines Extensive Paleochannel Network Offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula, U.S.A: Implications for Mid-Atlantic Bight Evolution since the Pliocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brothers, L. L.; Foster, D. S.; Pendleton, E. A.; Thieler, E. R.; Baldwin, W. E.; Sweeney, E. M.

2017-12-01

Nearly 10,000 km of geophysical data and seafloor grab samples along with photo and video data from more than 200 seafloor stations are used to interpret seafloor and shallow subsurface geology on the Delmarva Peninsula's inner continental shelf. These USGS data are supplemented with existing National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey data and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Wind Energy Area seismic reflection profile data to support one of the most data-rich and extensive inner continental shelf studies on the U.S. Atlantic coast. Using chirp, multi-channel boomer and sparker seismic reflection profile data, we map an extensive paleochannel network from 500 meters to 30 kilometers offshore of the modern Delmarva coastline. Fluvial erosional surfaces relating to six sea-level lowstands are identified at two-way travel times between 0.01 and 0.12 ms. Paleochannels exhibit up to 30 meters of relief and the discrete complexes can be >25 kilometers wide. Based on areal distribution, stratigraphic relationships and amino acid dating results from earlier borehole studies, we interpret the infilled channels as Late Tertiary and Quaternary courses of the Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac and York Rivers. Our study generates a detailed illustration of major river systems' paleochannel frequency, distribution and geometry and provides new insight into how coastal river systems evolve in low-gradient passive margins.

Dynamic relationship between ocean bottom pressure and bathymetry around northern part of Hikurangi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muramoto, T.; Inazu, D.; Ito, Y.; Hino, R.; Suzuki, S.

2017-12-01

In recent years, observation using ocean bottom pressure recorders for the purpose of the evaluation of sea floor crustal deformation is in great vogue. The observation network set up for the observation of sea floor is densely spaced compared with the instrument network for the observation of ocean. Therefore, it has the characteristic that it can observe phenomena on a local scale. In this study, by using these in situ data, we discuss ocean phenomena on a local scale. In this study, we use a high-resolution ocean model (Inazu Ocean Model) driven by surface air pressure and surface wind vector published by the Japan Meteorological Agency. We perform a hindcast experiment for ocean bottom pressure anomaly from April 2013 to June 2017. Then, we compare these results with in situ data. In this study, we use observed pressure records which were recorded by autonomous type instrument spanning a period from April 2013 to June 2017 off the coast of North Island in New Zealand. Consequently, we found this model can simulate not only the amplitude but also phase of non-tidal oceanic variation of East Cape Current (ECC) off the coast of North Island of New Zealand. Then, we calculate cross-correlation coefficient between the data at the OBP sites. We revealed that the ocean bottom pressure shows different behavior on the west side from the east side of edge of the continental shelf. This result implies that the submarine slope induces a dynamic effect and contributes to the seasonal variation of ocean bottom pressure. In addition, we calculate the velocity of the surface current in this area using our model, and consider the relationship between it and ocean bottom pressure variation. Taken together, we can say that the barotropic flow in the direction of south-west extends to the bottom of the sea in this area. Therefore, the existence of local cross-isobath currents is suggested. Our result indicates bathymetry has dynamic effect to ocean circulation on local scale and at the same time the surface ocean circulation contributes to ocean bottom pressure considerably.

GPM Satellite Radar Measurements of Precipitation and Freezing Level in Atmospheric Rivers: Comparison With Ground-Based Radars and Reanalyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannon, Forest; Ralph, F. Martin; Wilson, Anna M.; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.

2017-12-01

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) account for more than 90% of the total meridional water vapor flux in midlatitudes, and 25-50% of the annual precipitation in the coastal western United States. In this study, reflectivity profiles from the Global Precipitation Measurement Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (GPM-DPR) are used to evaluate precipitation and temperature characteristics of ARs over the western coast of North America and the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Evaluation of GPM-DPR bright-band height using a network of ground-based vertically pointing radars along the West Coast demonstrated exceptional agreement, and comparison with freezing level height from reanalyses over the eastern North Pacific Ocean also consistently agreed, indicating that GPM-DPR can be used to independently validate freezing level in models. However, precipitation comparison with gridded observations across the western United States indicated deficiencies in GPM-DPR's ability to reproduce the spatial distribution of winter precipitation, likely related to sampling frequency. Over the geographically homogeneous oceanic portion of the domain, sampling frequency was not problematic, and significant differences in the frequency and intensity of precipitation between GPM-DPR and reanalyses highlighted biases in both satellite-observed and modeled AR precipitation. Reanalyses precipitation rates below the minimum sensitivity of GPM-DPR accounted for a 20% increase in total precipitation, and 25% of radar-derived precipitation rates were greater than the 99th percentile precipitation rate in reanalyses. Due to differences in the proportions of precipitation in convective, stratiform bright-band, and non-bright-band conditions, AR conditions contributed nearly 10% more to total precipitation in GPM-DPR than reanalyses.

A methodology for calibration of hyperspectral and multispectral satellite data in coastal areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pennucci, Giuliana; Fargion, Giulietta; Alvarez, Alberto; Trees, Charles; Arnone, Robert

2012-06-01

The objective of this work is to determine the location(s) in any given oceanic area during different temporal periods where in situ sampling for Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) provides the best capability to retrieve accurate radiometric and derived product data (lowest uncertainties). We present a method to merge satellite imagery with in situ measurements, to determine the best in situ sampling strategy suitable for satellite Cal/Val and to evaluate the present in situ locations through uncertainty indices. This analysis is required to determine if the present in situ sites are adequate for assessing uncertainty and where additional sites and ship programs should be located to improve Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) procedures. Our methodology uses satellite acquisitions to build a covariance matrix encoding the spatial-temporal variability of the area of interest. The covariance matrix is used in a Bayesian framework to merge satellite and in situ data providing a product with lower uncertainty. The best in situ location for Cal/Val is then identified by using a design principle (A-optimum design) that looks for minimizing the estimated variance of the merged products. Satellite products investigated in this study include Ocean Color water leaving radiance, chlorophyll, and inherent and apparent optical properties (retrieved from MODIS and VIIRS). In situ measurements are obtained from systems operated on fixed deployment platforms (e.g., sites of the Ocean Color component of the AErosol RObotic NETwork- AERONET-OC), moorings (e.g, Marine Optical Buoy-MOBY), ships or autonomous vehicles (such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and/or Gliders).

Multi-Genetic Marker Approach and Spatio-Temporal Analysis Suggest There Is a Single Panmictic Population of Swordfish Xiphias gladius in the Indian Ocean

PubMed Central

Muths, Delphine; Le Couls, Sarah; Evano, Hugues; Grewe, Peter; Bourjea, Jerome

2013-01-01

Genetic population structure of swordfish Xiphias gladius was examined based on 2231 individual samples, collected mainly between 2009 and 2010, among three major sampling areas within the Indian Ocean (IO; twelve distinct sites), Atlantic (two sites) and Pacific (one site) Oceans using analysis of nineteen microsatellite loci (n = 2146) and mitochondrial ND2 sequences (n = 2001) data. Sample collection was stratified in time and space in order to investigate the stability of the genetic structure observed with a special focus on the South West Indian Ocean. Significant AMOVA variance was observed for both markers indicating genetic population subdivision was present between oceans. Overall value of F-statistics for ND2 sequences confirmed that Atlantic and Indian Oceans swordfish represent two distinct genetic stocks. Indo-Pacific differentiation was also significant but lower than that observed between Atlantic and Indian Oceans. However, microsatellite F-statistics failed to reveal structure even at the inter-oceanic scale, indicating that resolving power of our microsatellite loci was insufficient for detecting population subdivision. At the scale of the Indian Ocean, results obtained from both markers are consistent with swordfish belonging to a single unique panmictic population. Analyses partitioned by sampling area, season, or sex also failed to identify any clear structure within this ocean. Such large spatial and temporal homogeneity of genetic structure, observed for such a large highly mobile pelagic species, suggests as satisfactory to consider swordfish as a single panmictic population in the Indian Ocean. PMID:23717447

Forecasting ENSO events: A neural network-extended EOF approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tangang, F.T.; Tang, B.; Monahan, A.H.

The authors constructed neural network models to forecast the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) for three regions: Nino 4. Nino 3.5, and Nino 3, representing the western-central, the central, and the eastern-central parts of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, respectively. The inputs were the extended empirical orthogonal functions (EEOF) of the sea level pressure (SLP) field that covered the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans and evolved for a duration of 1 yr. The EEOFs greatly reduced the size of the neural networks from those of the authors` earlier papers using EOFs. The Nino 4 region appeared to be the best forecastedmore » region, with useful skills up to a year lead time for the 1982-93 forecast period. By network pruning analysis and spectral analysis, four important inputs were identified: modes 1, 2, and 6 of the SLP EEOFs and the SSTA persistence. Mode 1 characterized the low-frequency oscillation (LFO, with 4-5-yr period), and was seen as the typical ENSO signal, while mode 2, with a period of 2-5 yr, characterized the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) plus the LFO. Mode 6 was dominated by decadal and interdecadal variations. Thus, forecasting ENSO required information from the QBO, and the decadal-interdecadal oscillations. The nonlinearity of the networks tended to increase with lead time and to become stronger for the eastern regions of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. 35 refs., 14 figs., 4 tabs.« less

Multireceiver Acoustic Communications in Time-Varying Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

Canberra, ACT, 2012, pp. 1–7. [7] W. Chen and F. Yanjun, “Physical layer design consideration for underwater acoustic sensor networks ,”3rd IEEE Int...analysis of underwater acoustic MIMO communications,”OCEANS, Sydney, NSW, 2010, pp. 1–8. [9] Wines lab (2013). Wireless networks and embedded... NETWORKS ......................................................................3 B. CHALLENGES OF UNDERWATER ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATIONS

Sampling strategies based on singular vectors for assimilated models in ocean forecasting systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fattorini, Maria; Brandini, Carlo; Ortolani, Alberto

2016-04-01

Meteorological and oceanographic models do need observations, not only as a ground truth element to verify the quality of the models, but also to keep model forecast error acceptable: through data assimilation techniques which merge measured and modelled data, natural divergence of numerical solutions from reality can be reduced / controlled and a more reliable solution - called analysis - is computed. Although this concept is valid in general, its application, especially in oceanography, raises many problems due to three main reasons: the difficulties that have ocean models in reaching an acceptable state of equilibrium, the high measurements cost and the difficulties in realizing them. The performances of the data assimilation procedures depend on the particular observation networks in use, well beyond the background quality and the used assimilation method. In this study we will present some results concerning the great impact of the dataset configuration, in particular measurements position, on the evaluation of the overall forecasting reliability of an ocean model. The aim consists in identifying operational criteria to support the design of marine observation networks at regional scale. In order to identify the observation network able to minimize the forecast error, a methodology based on Singular Vectors Decomposition of the tangent linear model is proposed. Such a method can give strong indications on the local error dynamics. In addition, for the purpose of avoiding redundancy of information contained in the data, a minimal distance among data positions has been chosen on the base of a spatial correlation analysis of the hydrodynamic fields under investigation. This methodology has been applied for the choice of data positions starting from simplified models, like an ideal double-gyre model and a quasi-geostrophic one. Model configurations and data assimilation are based on available ROMS routines, where a variational assimilation algorithm (4D-var) is included as part of the code These first applications have provided encouraging results in terms of increased predictability time and reduced forecast error, also improving the quality of the analysis used to recover the real circulation patterns from a first guess quite far from the real state.

Significant wave heights from Sentinel-1 SAR: Validation and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stopa, J. E.; Mouche, A.

2017-03-01

Two empirical algorithms are developed for wave mode images measured from the synthetic aperture radar aboard Sentinel-1 A. The first method, called CWAVE_S1A, is an extension of previous efforts developed for ERS2 and the second method, called Fnn, uses the azimuth cutoff among other parameters to estimate significant wave heights (Hs) and average wave periods without using a modulation transfer function. Neural networks are trained using colocated data generated from WAVEWATCH III and independently verified with data from altimeters and in situ buoys. We use neural networks to relate the nonlinear relationships between the input SAR image parameters and output geophysical wave parameters. CWAVE_S1A performs well and has reduced precision compared to Fnn with Hs root mean square errors within 0.5 and 0.6 m, respectively. The developed neural networks extend the SAR's ability to retrieve useful wave information under a large range of environmental conditions including extratropical and tropical cyclones in which Hs estimation is traditionally challenging.