Tomographic observations of deep convection and the thermal evolution of the Greenland Sea Gyre, 1988-1989

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 1994The thermal evolution of the Greenland Sea Gyre is investigated using both historical data and tomographic results from the 1988-89 Greenland Sea Tomography Experiment. Thermal evolution of the gyre center divides naturally into three periods: a preconditioning phase (November-January), during which surface salinity is increased by brine rejection from ice formation and by entrainment but in which the mixed-layer deepens only slowly to a depth of some 150-200m, a deep mixing phase (February-March) during which the surface mixed-layer deepens rapidly to approximately 1500m in the gyre center purely under the influence of local surface cooling, and a restratification phase during which the products of deep mixing are replaced by inflowing Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW). The onset of the deep mixing phase occurs after ice formation in the gyre center stops, resulting in an area of open water where large heat fluxes can occur. In surrounding regions, including the odden region to the south, ice is still being formed, and the mixed layer does not deepen significantly. To the north and west, closer to the steep topography of the continental shelf, the inverse results show significant variability due to advection, and large temperature and heat content fluctuations with a period of about 50 days are seen. The effects of advection are deduced from heat and salt budgets, and appear to be important only during the restratification phase for intermediate depths, and only during the summer for the surface waters. Comparison of the tomographic results with point measurements indicates that deep mixing occurs in a field of small plumes in which dense water sinks downwards, surrounded by larger regions of upwelling. The plume geometry is consistent with that predicted by numerical and laboratory models. Dynamical processes for bringing the AIW to the surface in order to form deep water are not needed in this scenario, rather the surface waters are modified until they match the density of the AIW after which surface cooling drives convection

Ancient crops provide first archaeological signature of the westward Austronesian expansion

The Austronesian settlement of the remote island of Madagascar remains one of the great puzzles of Indo-Pacific prehistory. Although linguistic, ethnographic, and genetic evidence points clearly to a colonization of Madagascar by Austronesian language-speaking people from Island Southeast Asia, decades of archaeological research have failed to locate evidence for a Southeast Asian signature in the island's early material record. Here, we present new archaeobotanical data that show that Southeast Asian settlers brought Asian crops with them when they settled in Africa. These crops provide the first, to our knowledge, reliable archaeological window into the Southeast Asian colonization of Madagascar. They additionally suggest that initial Southeast Asian settlement in Africa was not limited to Madagascar, but also extended to the Comoros. Archaeobotanical data may support a model of indirect Austronesian colonization of Madagascar from the Comoros and/or elsewhere in eastern Africa

Horizontal patterns of water temperature and salinity in an estuarine tidal channel: Ria de Aveiro

This work presents results from two complementary and interconnected approaches to study water temperature and salinity patterns in an estuarine tidal channel. This channel is one of the four main branches of the Ria de Aveiro, a shallow lagoon located in the Northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Longitudinal and cross-sectional fields of water temperature and salinity were determined by spatial interpolation of field measurements. A numerical model (Mohid) was used in a 2D depth-integrated mode in order to compute water temperature and salinity patterns. The main purpose of this work was to determine the horizontal patterns of water temperature and salinity in the study area, evaluating the effects of the main forcing factors. The field results were depth-integrated and compared to numerical model results. These results obtained using extreme tidal and river runoff forcing, are also presented. The field results reveal that, when the river flow is weak, the tidal intrusion is the main forcing mechanism, generating saline and thermal fronts which migrate with the neap/spring tidal cycle. When the river flow increases, the influence of the freshwater extends almost as far as the mouth of the lagoon and vertical stratification is established. Results of numerical modelling reveal that the implemented model reproduces quite well the observed horizontal patterns. The model was also used to study the hydrology of the study area under extreme forcing conditions. When the model is forced with a low river flow (1 m3 s−1) the results confirm that the hydrology is tidally dominated. When the model is forced with a high river flow (1,000 m3 s−1) the hydrology is dominated by freshwater, as would be expected in such an area

Tomographic observations of deep convection and the thermal evolution of the Greeland Sea Gyre, 1988-1989

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering, 1994.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-174).by Ryszard A. Pawlowicz.Ph.D

Simulated tomographic reconstruction of ocean features using drifting acoustic receivers and a navigated source

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 1995. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 98 (1995): 2270-2279, doi:10.1121/1.413341.Numerically simulated acoustic transmission from a single source of known position (for example, suspended from a ship) to receivers of partially known position (for example, sonobuoys dropped from the air) are used for tomographic mapping of ocean sound speed. The maps are evaluated for accuracy and utility. Grids of 16 receivers are employed, with sizes of 150, 300, and 700 km square. Ordinary statistical measures are used to evaluate the pattern similarity and thus the mapping capability of the system. For an array of 300 km square, quantitative error in the maps grows with receiver position uncertainty. The large and small arrays show lesser mapping capability than the mid-size array. Mapping errors increase with receiver position uncertainty for uncertainties less than 1000-m rms, but uncertainties exceeding that have less systematic effect on the maps. Maps of rms error of the field do not provide a complete view of the utility of the acoustic network. Features of maps are surprisingly reproducible for different navigation error levels, and give comparable information about mesoscale structures despite great variations in those levels.This work was supported by Office of Naval Research grants N00014-9l-J-1138 (Arctic Sciences )and N00014-92-I-1162 (Ocean Acoustics)

Fortnightly changes in water transport direction across the mouth of a narrow estuary

This research investigates the dynamics of the axial tidal flow and residual circulation at the lower Guadiana Estuary, south Portugal, a narrow mesotidal estuary with low freshwater inputs. Current data were collected near the deepest part of the channel for 21 months and across the channel during two (spring and neap) tidal cycles. Results indicate that at the deep channel, depth-averaged currents are stronger and longer during the ebb at spring and during the flood at neap, resulting in opposite water transport directions at a fortnightly time scale. The net water transport across the entire channel is up-estuary at spring and down-estuary at neap, i.e., opposite to the one at the deep channel. At spring tide, when the estuary is considered to be well mixed, the observed pattern of circulation (outflow in the deep channel, inflow over the shoals) results from the combination of the Stokes transport and compensating return flow, which varies laterally with the bathymetry. At neap tide (in particular for those of lowest amplitude each month), inflows at the deep channel are consistently associated with the development of gravitational circulation. Comparisons with previous studies suggest that the baroclinic pressure gradient (rather than internal tidal asymmetries) is the main driver of the residual water transport. Our observations also indicate that the flushing out of the water accumulated up-estuary (at spring) may also produce strong unidirectional barotropic outflow across the entire channel around neap tide.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Research and numerical assessment of design and construction errors in the swimming pool facility structures

The proper performance of swimming pool halls depends on many factors. An extremely important one is the ventilation system, which is supposed to provide, among other things, the prevention of high temperatures, excessive moisture, chlorine vapors, and problems resulting from the impact of these factors on the entire building. Proper design of the ventilation system of the pool hall is an extremely demanding task, which has a key impact on the correct operation of the facility, the thermal comfort of users, energy efficiency and economy, and above all on the safety of the construction. In the presented article, the condition of the object in operation was analyzed. Using a computational program based on the assumptions of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), an analysis of the distribution of air velocity (Figure 1), temperature, and thermal comfort parameters was carried out, which made it possible to conclude the correctness of the proposed ventilation solutions.Award-winningObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats SosteniblesPostprint (published version

Vigorous lateral export of the meltwater outflow from beneath an Antarctic ice shelf

The instability and accelerated melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are among the foremost elements of contemporary global climate change1, 2. The increased freshwater output from Antarctica is important in determining sea level rise1, the fate of Antarctic sea ice and its effect on the Earth’s albedo4, 5, ongoing changes in global deep-ocean ventilation6, and the evolution of Southern Ocean ecosystems and carbon cycling7, 8. A key uncertainty in assessing and predicting the impacts of Antarctic Ice Sheet melting concerns the vertical distribution of the exported meltwater. This is usually represented by climate-scale models3–5, 9 as a near-surface freshwater input to the ocean, yet measurements around Antarctica reveal the meltwater to be concentrated at deeper levels10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Here we use observations of the turbulent properties of the meltwater outflows from beneath a rapidly melting Antarctic ice shelf to identify the mechanism responsible for the depth of the meltwater. We show that the initial ascent of the meltwater outflow from the ice shelf cavity triggers a centrifugal overturning instability that grows by extracting kinetic energy from the lateral shear of the background oceanic flow. The instability promotes vigorous lateral export, rapid dilution by turbulent mixing, and finally settling of meltwater at depth. We use an idealized ocean circulation model to show that this mechanism is relevant to a broad spectrum of Antarctic ice shelves. Our findings demonstrate that the mechanism producing meltwater at depth is a dynamically robust feature of Antarctic melting that should be incorporated into climate-scale models

The Effect of Diel Temperature and Light Cycles on the Growth of Nannochloropsis oculata in a Photobioreactor Matrix

A matrix of photobioreactors integrated with metabolic sensors was used to examine the combined impact of light and temperature variations on the growth and physiology of the biofuel candidate microalgal species Nannochloropsis oculata. The experiments were performed with algal cultures maintained at a constant 20u C versus a 15°C to 25°C diel temperature cycle, where light intensity also followed a diel cycle with a maximum irradiance of 1920 μmol photons m-2 s-1. No differences in algal growth (Chlorophyll a) were found between the two environmental regimes; however, the metabolic processes responded differently throughout the day to the change in environmental conditions. The variable temperature treatment resulted in greater damage to photosystem II due to the combined effect of strong light and high temperature. Cellular functions responded differently to conditions before midday as opposed to the afternoon, leading to strong hysteresis in dissolved oxygen concentration, quantum yield of photosystem II and net photosynthesis. Overnight metabolism performed differently, probably as a result of the temperature impact on respiration. Our photobioreactor matrix has produced novel insights into the physiological response of Nannochloropsis oculata to simulated environmental conditions. This information can be used to predict the effectiveness of deploying Nannochloropsis oculata in similar field conditions for commercial biofuel production. © 2014 Tamburic et al

Uncertainties in steric sea level change estimation during the satellite altimeter era: concepts and practices

This article presents a review of current practice in estimating steric sea level change, focussed on the treatment of uncertainty. Steric sea level change is the contribution to the change in sea level arising from the dependence of density on temperature and salinity. It is a significant component of sea level rise and a reflection of changing ocean heat content. However tracking these steric changes remains still a significant challenge for the scientific community. We review the importance of understanding the uncertainty in estimates of steric sea level change. Relevant concepts of uncertainty are discussed and illustrated with the example of observational uncertainty propagation from a single profile of temperature and salinity measurements to steric height. We summarise and discuss the recent literature on methodologies and techniques used to estimate steric sea level in the context of the treatment of uncertainty. Our conclusions are that progress in quantifying steric sea level uncertainty will benefit from: greater clarity and transparency in published discussions of uncertainty, including exploitation of international standards for quantifying and expressing uncertainty in measurement; and the development of community ‘recipes’ for quantifying the error covariances in observations and from sparse sampling, and for estimating and propagating uncertainty across spatio-temporal scales