Hydrography, currents and distribution of suspended matter during a dumping experiment in the western Baltic Sea at a site near Warnemünde

During a dumping experiment on 20/21 June 2001, an extensive data record was collected to understand the dynamical processes in the water column of the investigation area and to validate model results. Weak westerly winds with strongly changing cloud coverage characterized the meteorological situation. During the second day the wind calmed down and moved shortly to easterly directions. The water column was characterized by a strong vertical stratification with discontinuity layers in temperature and salinity in 12 and 16 m. The current regime was dominated by outflow at the water surface and inflow along the German coast, with strong current shearing in the dumping area. The suspended matter clouds could be identified by optical methods and ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) scattering intensity. During the experiment the suspended matter plumes were only visible at the surface up to 1 h after the dumping. The aerial photographs document that the particle clouds at the surface drifted to the west and, after approximately 40 min, they were only weakly visible. The fine material was concentrated in the discontinuity layer leading to substantially higher values of optical parameters and suspended matter concentration than measured in the surface clouds. Due to the vertical current shears the material was transported in the water column in different directions. At the first day the maximum of the suspended matter in the discontinuity layer was in the north-western corner and in the bottom layer in the northeast corner of the dumping area. Strong wind conditions after the dumping led to periodical resuspension processes.     

Recent observations in the straits of the East/Japan Sea: A review of hydrography, currents and volume transports

Recent observations of hydrography, currents and volume transports in the straits of the East/Japan Sea are reviewed. It is newly found that bottom cold water in the Korea/Tsushima Strait originating from the northern region of the East/Japan Sea appears not only in summer and autumn but also in winter. Intensive observations in the Korea/Tsushima Strait revealed two distinct cores of northeastward currents in the upper layer of the western and eastern channels. Mean volume transport through the Korea/Tsushima Strait is calculated as 2.5 ± 0.5 Sv from four-year direct and indirect measurements. As continuous monitoring has started in the Tsugaru and Soya Straits, understanding of temporal variability of currents and volume transports through the straits is in progress. For the first time, simultaneous time series of volume transports are available in the Korea/Tsushima and Tsugaru Straits during the winter of 1999–2000. Ouflow through the Tsugaru Strait accounts for about 70% of inflow through the Korea/Tsushima Strait for this period.     

Circulation features in the Japan/East Sea related to statistically obtained wind patterns in the warm season

A response of the circulation in the Japan/East Sea (JES) to different kinds of wind forcing is studied, with the emphasis on the warm season, using a primitive equation oceanic model. Wind forcing is based on typical patterns obtained from complex empirical orthogonal functions of 1°-gridded NCEP/NCAR 6 h winds for 1998–2005. These patterns are distinguished by a prevailing wind direction. Northwestern wind and strong cyclonic (C) curl prevail in winter, while a variety of patterns occur in the warm season, differing in the wind direction and curl. Three model runs are performed to examine the circulation in response to a prevailing C wind stress curl or an alternating C and anticyclonic (AC) curl or a strong C curl in the warm season. The simulated features are consistent with the observational evidence, in particular with thermal fronts and frequent eddy locations derived from multi-year infrared satellite imagery. The simulated C circulation intensifies and the subarctic region extends southward with the strengthening of a summer C wind stress curl over the JES. Variability of Subarctic Front (SF) in the western JES (between 130°E and 133°E) is strongly affected by summer wind stress curl. Forcing by an AC curl tends to shift SF northward, while SF shifts to the south under the forcing by a C curl, reaching the southern Ulleung Basin in the case of the strong C curl. In the northwestern JES (off Peter the Great Bay, Russia, and North Korea), the SF northwestern branch (NWSF) is simulated. It is a known feature in autumn and early winter and can also occur in the warm season. The simulation results suggest an AC wind stress curl as the forcing of the formation of the NWSF in the warm season. The Siberia Seamount and sharply bending coastline near Peter the Great Bay facilitate partial separation of the Primorye (Liman) Current from the coast. The wind stress curl can be an additional forcing of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) branching off the Korea Strait to the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) and the offshore branch (OB). In the warm season, the simulated TWC bifurcation occurs farther north, the EKWC is strong, and the OB is weak under the forcing of the AC wind stress curl. The EKWC is weak and the OB is strong under the forcing of the strong C wind stress curl.     

Wave energy assessments in the Black Sea

The present work aims to evaluate the wave energy resources in the Black Sea basin. The study is focused on the western part of the sea, which is traditionally considered as being more energetic. In order to give a first perspective of the wave climate, a medium-term wave analysis was carried out using in situ measured data. As a further step, a wave prediction system was implemented for the Black Sea. This was based on the simulating waves near-shore model, which is used for both wave generation and near-shore transformation. This methodology has the advantage that a single model covers the full scale of the modelling process. Various tests were performed considering data measured at three different locations. Special attention was paid to the whitecapping process, which is still widely considered to be the weak link in deep water wave modelling. Comparisons carried out against measured data show that the wave prediction system generally provides reliable results, especially in terms of significant wave heights and mean periods. By increasing the resolution in geographical space, the field distributions of wave energy were analysed for both high and average wave conditions. The analysis and the wave prediction system developed are a prerequisite for further investigations extended in time and with increased resolution in the near-shore direction.     

北亚得里亚海集装箱港口群市场前景分析

欧洲发达市场是全球集装箱海运重要板块,对其市场发展潜力分析是中资企业参与欧洲集装箱港口投资的必要前提。集装箱港口市场发展潜力受多种因素影响,以腹地生产法进行市场预测是当前的主流方法,但该方法主要以外贸需求作为变量,存在片面性。针对当前海外港口集装箱市场分析中存在的问题,提出最优路径模型下港口集装箱市场规模预测,并以亚得里亚海北部港口群作为典型案例予以说明。分析表明,最优路径模型在大范围集装箱港口市场规模分析中具有较好的适应性,能够为投资决策提供参考。     

The environmental costs and economic implications of container shipping on the Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) has tremendous potential for ocean shipping between Europe and Asia due to the savings from shorter transit time and distance. However, the Arctic area is environmentally vulnerable and thus there is a trade-off between NSR’s impacts on environment vs. its economic benefits, especially when compared with the traditional route, such as through the Suez Canal Route (SCR). This study estimates the market shares of different transport modes and alternative shipping routes for the container transport market between Europe and Asia, and the resulting environmental costs. Our result suggests that NSR can be a viable option under the status quo. However, its environmental costs tend to be higher than SCR due to small ship size and low load factor in the present, thus the development of NSR would lead to worse environment outcomes. If these issues can be resolved, NSR can benefit from lower operational and environmental costs, which will lead to higher market share and social welfare. Otherwise, increased use of NSR may lead to higher total environment costs than the status quo.     

Economic feasibility of an NSR/SCR-combined container service on the Asia-Europe lane: a new approach dynamically considering sea ice extent

The trend towards global warming and the rapid decline in the extent of summer Arctic sea ice over recent years has increased the feasibility of international Arctic shipping. In this study we propose a seasonal NSR (North Sea Route)/SCR (Suez Canal Route)-combined shipping service linking Shanghai and Rotterdam, using the Northern Sea Route during the economical navigable window but using the traditional Suez Canal Route at other times. Different from the previous literatures, this paper dynamically considers the sea ice extent in the model, which is more reasonable for the assessment of Arctic container shipping, because fuel consumption is highly related to ship speed, while ship speed is determined by the relative distances of ice-covered and ice-free route stages. A new approach is developed to predict the time points at which the ship enters and exits the ice-covered stage, given that both the ship position and the extent of sea ice are constantly changing. The results show that the NSR/SCR-combined Arctic container service can be more economical than the SCR, given lower NSR tariffs.     

白令海潮汐能通量和底边界能耗散

The spatial distribution of the energy flux, bottom boundary layer (BBL) energy dissipation, surface elevation amplitude and current magnitude of the major semidiurnal tidal constituents in the Bering Sea are examined in detail. These distributions are obtained from the results of a three-dimensional numerical simulation model (POM). Compared with observation data from seven stations, the root mean square errors of tidal height are 2.6 cm and 1.2 cm for M₂ and N₂ respectively, and those of phase-lag are 21.8° and 15.8° respectively. The majority of the tidal energy flux off the deep basin is along the shelf edge, although some of this flux crosses the shelf edge, especially in the southeast of the shelf break. The total M₂ energy dissipation in the Bering Sea is 30.43 GW, which is about 10 times of that of N₂ and S₂. The semidiurnal tidal energy enters mainly to the Bering Sea by Samalga Pass, Amukta Pass and Seguam Pass, accounting more than 60% of the total energy entering the Being Sea from the Pacific.     

Long-term sea surface temperature baselines—time series, spatial covariation and implications for biological processes

Coastal areas such as estuaries, bays and fjords usually have hydrographic characteristics (e.g., temperature, salinity) which differ from those at larger spatial scales and in offshore areas. The differences can arise if the areas are subject to different climatic forcing or if they are relatively isolated from each other due to topographic and ocean circulation features which inhibit advective inputs of water mass properties. Local differences in hydrographic conditions can therefore potentially limit the applicability of existing long time series of coastally monitored temperatures for addressing questions at large spatial scales, such as the response of species distributions and phenologies to climate change. In this study we investigate the spatial synchrony of long-term sea surface temperatures in the North Sea–Baltic Sea region as measured daily at four coastal sites (Marsdiep, Netherlands; Torungen, Norway; Skagens Reef, Denmark; and Christiansø, Denmark) and in several large offshore areas. All time series, including two series reconstructed and intercalibrated for this study (Skagens Reef and Christiansø, Denmark), began during 1861–1880 and continue until at least 2001. Temperatures at coastal sites co-varied strongly with each other and with opportunistically measured offshore temperatures despite separation distances between measuring locations of 20–1200 km. This covariance is probably due to the influence of large-scale atmospheric processes on regional temperatures and is consistent with the known correlation radius of atmospheric fluctuations (ca. 1000 km). Differences (e. g, long-term trends, amplitude of seasonal variations) between coastal temperatures and those measured in adjacent offshore areas varied nonrandomly over time and were often significantly autocorrelated up to 2 years. These differences suggest that spatial variations in physical oceanographic phenomena and sampling heterogeneities associated with opportunistic sampling could affect perceptions of biological responses to temperature fluctuations. The documentation that the coastally measured temperatures co-vary with those measured opportunistically in offshore areas suggests that the coastal data, which have been measured daily using standardized methods and instruments, contain much of the variability seen at larger spatial scales. We conclude that both types of time series can facilitate assessments of how species and ecosystems have responded to past temperature changes and how they may react to future temperature changes.