It has been established that idealized western boundary currents, which encounter a gap in their supporting boundary, will assume one of two dominant steady states: a loop current state and a gap leaping state, and that transitions between these states display hysteresis. However, a question of whether the idealized geometries considered to date apply to the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current (LC) remained. Here, the nonlinear potential vorticity advection-diffusions equations are solved, for Gulf of Mexico topography, using Newton’s method. We demonstrate that, in application to the LC in the Gulf of Mexico, the original conclusions do hold and additionally describe peculiarities of the more realistic steady states. The existence of our numerically calculated steady LC states in the actual Gulf of Mexico are supported through analysis of historical sea surface height data, and implications of our results for LC modeling and forecasting are discussed.
In the summer and fall of 2012, during the GLAD experiment in the Gulf of Mexico, the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) used several ocean models to assist the deployment of more than 300 surface drifters. The Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) at 1 km and 3 km resolutions, the US Navy operational NCOM at 3 km resolution (AMSEAS), and two versions of the Hybrid Coordinates Ocean Model (HYCOM) set at 4 km were running daily and delivering 72-h range forecasts. They all assimilated remote sensing and local profile data but they were not assimilating the drifter’s observations. This work presents a non-intrusive methodology named Multi-Model Ensemble Kalman Filter that allows assimilating the local drifter data into such a set of models, to produce improved ocean currents forecasts. The filter is to be used when several modeling systems or ensembles are available and/or observations are not entirely handled by the operational data assimilation process. It allows using generic in situ measurements over short time windows to improve the predictability of local ocean dynamics and associated high-resolution parameters of interest for which a forward model exists (e.g. oil spill plumes). Results can be used for operational applications or to derive enhanced background fields for other data assimilation systems, thus providing an expedite method to non-intrusively assimilate local observations of variables with complex operators. Results for the GLAD experiment show the method can improve water velocity predictions along the observed drifter trajectories, hence enhancing the skills of the models to predict individual trajectories. 相似文献
A series of consolidated-drained triaxial tests were performed on precut and polished clay specimens to measure their drained
residual strength. Two soils were tested during this research program: Rancho Solano Clay and San Francisco Bay Mud. Specimens
were tested using a specially modified triaxial compression device which was developed to minimize the effects of end-platen
restraint on the measured strengths. Special attention was paid to the influence of changing specimen area and membrane effects
during the test. Triaxial test results were compared with baseline measurements of drained residual shear strength that were
made for each of the clay soils using Bromhead ring shear tests and polished-specimen direct shear tests. Residual strength
values measured in the triaxial device were higher than the drained residual strengths measured in the Bromhead ring shear
apparatus and the direct shear device, indicating that this test approach is more challenging than the use of direct shear
tests conducted on polished slickensided surfaces. Comparison of single stage and multistage triaxial test data indicates
that multistage triaxial testing may work well for specimens that fail along a well-defined plane, provided that careful attention
is given to the effects of end platen restraint, membrane restraint, and changes in specimen area during shear. 相似文献
The responses of coastal upwelling to different magnitudes of wind stress over a narrow and a wide shelf are studied using a 3-D primitive equation numerical model. The results show that the position of the upwelling front depends on both the strength and the duration of the wind forcing. The comparison between different shelf widths shows that wide shelf will limit the cold water intrusion, so that the corresponding decrease in sea surface temperature is less compared to narrow shelves. Besides, the difference between hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic model results shows that nonhydrostatic effects will enhance the growth of surface meandering, and can be more pronounced near steep fronts. Although difference does exist, our results show that the nonhydrostatic effects are very small at least in this idealized study case. 相似文献
Recent studies suggest that vegetation can drive large-scale atmospheric circulations and substantially influence the hydrologic cycle. We present observational evidence to quantify the extent of coupling between vegetation and the overlying atmosphere. Within the context of vegetation–atmospheric interactions, we reanalyze existing climatological data from springtime leaf emergence, emissivity, dew point temperatures, and historical records of precipitation and forest coverage. We construct new rainfall transects based on a robust global climatology. Using isotopic analysis of precipitation, we find that rain in Amazonia comes primarily from large-scale weather systems coupling interior regions to the ocean and is not directly driven by local evaporation. We find that changes in vegetative cover and state influence the temperature and moisture content of the surface and atmospheric boundary layer but are not reflected in observable precipitation changes. This analysis reaffirms the view that changes in precipitation over continental reaches are a product of complex processes only partly influenced but not controlled by local water sources or vegetation. 相似文献
The bed load transport rate under random waves plus current has been predicted for a large range of wave–current conditions. A parameterized model valid for regular waves plus current has been used in Monte Carlo simulations, assuming the wave amplitudes to be Rayleigh distributed. The mean value, standard deviation and numerical estimates of the probability density function of the bed load transport rate are presented for a wide range of wave–current conditions. It appears that overall the effect of the current is dominating the bed load transport rate. Moreover, a significant scatter of the bed load transport rate under random waves plus current is found. Such a scatter is also found in field measurements by Amos et al. [J. Coast. Res. 15 (1999) 1]. Predicted ripple migration rates in the bed load regime have been compared with those obtained from field measurements by Amos et al. [J. Coast. Res. 15 (1999) 1], taking the bed load transport rate to be proportional to the ripple migration rate times the ripple height. Overall, the predictions capture the qualitative as well as the quantitative behaviour of the ripple migration rates in a wide range of wave–current conditions; the ripple migration rates, and thereby the bed load, are predicted within the correct order of magnitude for a wide range of wave–current conditions. 相似文献
Effects of mixing on water mass subduction are analyzed in the South Pacific Ocean. Model simulations using a passive tracer and its adjoint are employed in conjunction with a particle tracking method to distinguish effects of mixing from those of advection. The results show that mixing processes can contribute to as much as 20% of the overall subduction rate in the South Pacific. Of this mixing contribution, about 30% can be attributed to meso-scale eddies, including their associated bolus transport, while the major part (70%) is due to other diabatic processes. The impact of mixing reaches its maximum near the Sub-Antarctic Front, accounting for nearly 30% of the total subduction rate. Consequently, estimates based on tracing particles or on advection alone may significantly underestimate the subduction rate in the South Pacific Ocean. 相似文献
ITQs have not yet been introduced by the Government of Japan. In coastal areas, fishery cooperative associations have traditionally played an important role in managing fisheries through self-imposed rules and peer-monitoring systems. Recently, however, the economic competitiveness of Japanese fisheries in the international market is being questioned. In this paper, a detailed examination of the pros and cons of the current system in Japan is compared to the current fishery management measures of Iceland and the United States, where attaining economically or biologically efficient outcomes may be prioritized in making fisheries management decisions. For many coastal fisheries in Japan, maintaining a management scheme in which stakeholders play an active role in determining fisheries measures seems more relevant if their priority is to maintain the stability of coastal communities and equity of stakeholders. Intensive dialog among stakeholders would be necessary to identify shared objectives of their fishery operations and to make decisions to establish specific steps toward the goal of increasing economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, or stability of communities and equity of stakeholders. 相似文献