Measurements of ocean wave and current field using dual polarized X-band radar

A new ocean wave and sea surface current monitoring system with horizontally-(HH) and vertically-(VV) polarized X-band radar was developed. Two experiments into the use of the radar system were carried out at two sites, respectively, for calibration process in Zhangzi Island of the Yellow Sea, and for validation in the Yellow Sea and South China Sea. Ocean wave parameters and sea surface current velocities were retrieved from the dual polarized radar image sequences based on an inverse method. The results obtained from dual-polarized radar data sets acquired in Zhangzi Island are compared with those from an ocean directional buoy. The results show that ocean wave parameters and sea surface current velocities retrieved from radar image sets are in a good agreement with those observed by the buoy. In particular, it has been found that the vertically-polarized radar is better than the horizontally-polarized radar in retrieving ocean wave parameters, especially in detecting the significant wave height below 1.0 m.     

Elimination of the impact of vessels on ocean wave height inversion with X-band wave monitoring radar

Directional wave spectra and integrated wave parameters can be derived from X-band radar sea surface images.A vessel on the sea surface has a significant influence on wave parameter inversions that can be seen as intensive backscatter speckles in X-band wave monitoring radar sea surface images.A novel algorithm to eliminate the interference of vessels in ocean wave height inversions from X-band wave monitoring radar is proposed.This algorithm is based on the characteristics of the interference.The principal components(PCs) of a sea surface image sequence are extracted using empirical orthogonal function(EOF)analysis.The standard deviation of the PCs is then used to identify vessel interference within the image sequence.To mitigate the interference,a suppression method based on a frequency domain geometric model is applied.The algorithm framework has been applied to OSMAR-X,a wave monitoring system developed by Wuhan University,based on nautical X-band radar.Several sea surface images captured on vessels by OSMAR-X are processed using the method proposed in this paper.Inversion schemes are validated by comparisons with data from in situ wave buoys.The root-mean-square error between the significant wave heights(SWH) retrieved from original interference radar images and those measured by the buoy is reduced by 0.25 m.The determinations of surface gravity wave parameters,in particular SWH,confirm the applicability of the proposed method.     

A joint method to retrieve directional ocean wave spectra from SAR and wave spectrometer data

This paper proposes a joint method to simultaneously retrieve wave spectra at dif ferent scales from spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR) and wave spectrometer data. The method combines the output from the two dif ferent sensors to overcome retrieval limitations that occur in some sea states. The wave spectrometer sensitivity coeffi cient is estimated using an ef fective signifi cant wave height(SWH), which is an average of SAR-derived and wave spectrometer-derived SWH. This averaging extends the area of the sea surface sampled by the nadir beam of the wave spectrometer to improve the accuracy of the estimated sensitivity coeffi cient in inhomogeneous sea states. Wave spectra are then retrieved from SAR data using wave spectrometer-derived spectra as fi rst guess spectra to complement the short waves lost in SAR data retrieval. In addition, the problem of 180° ambiguity in retrieved spectra is overcome using SAR imaginary cross spectra. Simulated data were used to validate the joint method. The simulations demonstrated that retrieved wave parameters, including SWH, peak wave length(PWL), and peak wave direction(PWD), agree well with reference parameters. Collocated data from ENVISAT advanced SAR(ASAR), the airborne wave spectrometer STORM, the PHAROS buoy, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting(ECMWF) were then used to verify the proposed method. Wave parameters retrieved from STORM and two ASAR images were compared to buoy and ECMWF wave data. Most of the retrieved parameters were comparable to reference parameters. The results of this study show that the proposed joint retrieval method could be a valuable complement to traditional methods used to retrieve directional ocean wave spectra, particularly in inhomogeneous sea states.     

A new method for the estimation of oceanic mixed-layer depth using shipboard X-band radar images

Shipboard X-band radar images acquired on 24 June 2009 are used to study nonlinear internal wave characteristics in the northeastern South China Sea. The studied images show three nonlinear internal waves in a packet. A method based on the Radon Transform technique is introduced to calculate internal wave parameters such as the direction of propagation and internal wave velocity from backscatter images. Assuming that the ocean is a two-layer finite depth system, we can derive the mixed-layer depth by applying the internal wave velocity to the mixed-layer depth formula. Results show reasonably good agreement with in-situ thermistor chain and conductivity-temperature-depth data sets.     

Contrast validation test for retrieval method of high frequency ground wave radar

1 INTRODUCTION Ocean wave and sea wind, are important oce-anic dynamic phenomena having great influence on the development of marine economy, exploitation of marine resources, and location selection, planning and designing, construction and operation of marine projects; so study on measuring methods of ocean wave and sea wind is important. High frequency ground wave radar (HF radar) was a technique developed in the last decades for the detection of oceanic environment. Long radio wave (mu…     

LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS OF THE EFFECTS OF VISCOSITY ON SHORT WATER WAVE SPECTRA AND IMPLICATION FOR RADAR REMOTE SENSING OF THE OCEAN SURFACE

Using an X-band radar and a mechanical short wave generator, we measured the dependenceof radar return power on the viscosity of water which was adjusted by changing the watertemperature. From the measurements we drew two inferences: (1) the spectral density of short waterwaves, F, depends strongly on the viscosity of waterF(v)=F_0~mwhere is normalized viscosity, and m=-1.72; and (2) the normalized radar cross section, σ_0(dB), dependsstrongly on the water temperature△σ_0 (dB)=O.217△TAnalyses indicate that these dependencies can be observed in the field only at low wind conditionsat which the Bragg scattering is a dominant mechanism for producing the radar return signals. Theresults of this study can be used to interpret the sharp variability in radar cross section across a watertemperature front and SAR images of oeeanic phenomena.     

Effect of non-Gaussian properties of the sea surface on the low-incidence radar backscatter and its inversion in terms of wave spectra by an ocean wave spectrometer

The principle of ocean wave spectrometers was first presented several decades ago to detect the directional wave spectrum with real-aperture radar(Jackson,1981). To invert wave spectra using an ocean wave spectrometer,for simplicity,the hydrodynamic forcing and wave-wave interaction effect are neglected and a Gaussian slope probability density function(pdf) is used to calculate the normalized backscattering cross-section( σ 0) of the ocean surface. However,the real sea surface is non-Gaussian. It is not known whether the non-Gaussian property of the sea surface will affect the performance of the inversion of the wave spectrum if following existing inversion steps and methods. In this paper,the pdf of the sea surface slope is expressed as a Gram-Charlier fourth-order expansion,which is quasi-Gaussian. The modulation transfer function(MTF) is derived for a non-Gaussian slope pdf. The effects of non-Gaussian properties of the sea surface slope on the inversion process and result are then studied in a simulation of the SWIM(Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring) instrument configuration to be used on the CFOSAT(China-France Oceanography Satellite) mission. The simulation results show that the mean trend of σ 0 depends on the sea slope pdf,and the peakedness and skewness coefficients of the slope pdf affect the shape of the mean trend of σ 0 versus incidence and azimuth; owing to high resolution of σ 0 in the range direction,MTF obtained using the mean trend of σ 0 is almost as accurate as that set in the direct simulation; in the inversion,if ignoring the non-Gaussian assumption,the inversion performances for the wave spectrum decrease,as seen for an increase in the energy error of the inverted wave slope spectrum. However,the peak wavelength and wave direction are the same for inversions that consider and ignore the non-Gaussian property.     

A new probability distribution function of wave steepness

Wave steepness is an important characteristic describing the severity of sea state in ocean engineering. In the existing theoretical and experimental studies, wave steepness is often substituted by some related quantities. In this paper, a new probability density function (pdf) of steepness, which is a pdf of the steepness in its original definition, is obtained for narrowband Gaussian processes. The drawback inherent in the previous theoretical pdfs of steepness, that is, the probability density at zero steepness is nonzero, has been eliminated. Laboratory experiments were conducted in a wind-wave flume to measure the wave steepness distribu- tion. Comparisons among laboratory measurements and some theoretical pdfs of steepness show that the new pdf generally fits the data better than the one proposed by Zheng et al. (1999).     

A temporal sliding procedure for ocean wave variational data assimilation and its application

For sequential performance of wave variational data assimilation, we proposed a temporal sliding method in which the temporal overlap is considered. The advantage of this method is that the initial wave spectrum of the optimization process is modified by the observations in latter and former times. This temporal sliding procedure is important for marginal region, such as the China seas, where the duration of assimilation effectiveness is 2-3 days. Experiments were performed in the whole course of Cyclone 9403 (Russ). Around the cyclone center, the maximum value of wave elements did not change much by assimilation, because the extreme value was determined by wind energy input that was not yet optimized. In the area outside the cyclone center, this modification is evident especially for wind wave growth.     

A new free-living marine nematode species of Rhinema from the South China Sea

A new free-living marine nematode species of the genus Rhinema belonging to the family Monoposthiidae was collected from marine sediments in the Qiongzhou Strait of the South China Sea,and it is described here as Rhinema longispicula sp.nov.The new species is characterized by coarsely annulated cuticle with 12 longitudinal ridges(alae) marked as reversed V-shaped.The first and second annuli broader and form a kind of a cephalic capsule.The amphideal fovea circular,situated in the middle of the broad second annulus,not surrounded by dense annulations.Buccal cavity cylindrical with a large dorsal tooth.Pharynx with a prominent anterior pharyngeal bulb and an elongated terminal bulb.Elongate spicules strongly curved,with cephalated proximal end and pointed distal end.Gubernaculum boat-shaped,without apophysis.A long and blunt precloacal seta present.Female with two opposed,outstretched ovaries.     

A new algorithm for sea-surface wind-speed retrieval based on the L-band radiometer onboard Aquarius

Aquarius is the second satellite mission to focus on the remote sensing of sea-surface salinity from space and it has mapped global sea-surface salinity for nearly 3 years since its launch in 2011. However,benefiting from the high atmospheric transparency and moderate sensitivity to wind speed of the L-band brightness temperature(TB),the Aquarius L-band radiometer can actually provide a new technique for the remote sensing of wind speed. In this article,the sea-surface wind speeds derived from TBs measured by Aquarius' L-band radiometer are presented,the algorithm for which is developed and validated using multisource wind speed data,including Wind Sat microwave radiometer and National Data Buoy Center buoy data,and the Hurricane Research Division of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory wind field product. The error analysis indicates that the performance of retrieval algorithm is good. The RMSE of the Aquarius wind-speed algorithm is about 1 and 1.5 m/s for global oceans and areas of tropical hurricanes,respectively. Consequently,the applicability of using the Aquarius L-band radiometer as a near all-weather wind-speed measuring method is verified.     

A NEW BIOGENIC SULFIDE CHEMICAL SENSOR FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND SURVEY

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＢｉｏｇｅｎｉｃｓｕｌｆｉｄｅｐｒｏｄｕｃｅｄｂｙｂａｃｔｅｒｉａｌｓｕｌｆａｔｅｒｅｄｕｃｔｉｏｎｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｔｉｎｄｉｃａｔｏｒｓｉｎａｎｏｘｉｃｍａｒｉｎｅｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔｓ,ｐａｒｔｉｃｕｌａｒｌｙｉｎｃｏｎｆｉｎｉｎｇｂａｙｓ,ｐｏｌｌｕｔｅｄｅｓｔｕａｒｉｅｓａｎｄａｑｕａｃｕｌｔｕｒｅａｒ ｅａｓ.Ｔｈｅｉｎｃｒｅａｓｅｏｆｉｔｓｃｏｎｃｅｎｔｒａｔｉｏｎｕｓｕａｌｌｙｉｎｄｉｃａｔｅｓｗｏｒｓｅｎｅｄｃｏｎｄｉｔｉｏｎｓ.…     

A method for sea surface wind field retrieval from SAR image mode data

To retrieve wind field from SAR images, the development for surface wind field retrieval from SAR images based on the improvement of new inversion model is present. Geophysical Model Functions(GMFs) have been widely applied for wind field retrieval from SAR images. Among them CMOD4 has a good performance under low and moderate wind conditions. Although CMOD5 is developed recently with a more fundamental basis, it has ambiguity of wind speed and a shape gradient of normalized radar cross section under low wind speed condition. This study proposes a method of wind field retrieval from SAR image by combining CMOD5 and CMOD4 Five VV-polarisation RADARSAT2 SAR images are implemented for validation and the retrieval results by a combination method(CMOD5 and CMOD4) together with CMOD4 GMF are compared with QuikSCAT wind data. The root-mean-square error(RMSE) of wind speed is 0.75 m s-1 with correlation coefficient 0.84 using the combination method and the RMSE of wind speed is 1.01 m s-1 with correlation coefficient 0.72 using CMOD4 GMF alone for those cases. The proposed method can be applied to SAR image for avoiding the internal defect in CMOD5 under low wind speed condition.     

Isolation and identification of a bacterium from marine shrimp digestive tract: A new degrader of starch and protein

It is a practical approach to select candidate probiotic bacterial stains on the basis of their special traits. Production of digestive enzyme was used as a trait to select a candidate probiotic bacterial strain in this study. In order to select a bacterium with the ability to degrade both starch and protein, an ideal bacterial strain STE was isolated from marine shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) intestines by using multiple selective media.The selected isolate STE was identified on the basis of its morphological, physiological,and biochemical characteristics as well as molecular analyses. Results of degradation experiments confirmed the ability of the selected isolate to degrade both starch and casein. The isolate STE was aerobic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped, motile and non-spore-forming, and had catalase and oxidase activities but no glucose fermentation activity. Among the tested carbon/nitrogen sources, only Tween40, alanyl-glycine, aspartyl-glycine, and glycyl-l-glutamic acid were utilized by the isolate STE. Results of homology comparison analyses of the 16S rDNA sequences showed that the isolate STE had a high similarity to several Pseudoalteromonas species and, in the phylogenetic tree, grouped with P. ruthenica with maximum bootstrap support (100%). In conclusion, the isolate STE was characterized as a novel strain belonging to the genus Pseudoalteromonas.This study provides a further example of a probiotic bacterial strain with specific characteristics isolated from the host gastrointestinal tract.     

A new record from China of epiphytic marine algae, Acrochaete leptochaete (Chaetophoraceae, Chlorophyta) with its primary experimental biology

Acrochaete leptochaete,a species in Chaetophoraceae(Chlorophyta),was observed during our recent laboratory culture of the macroalgae Chaetomorpha that was originally collected from an intertidal pool in Rongcheng,Shandong Province,China.This is the first record of this species in China.Its morphology,taxonomy,and distribution were introduced and discussed in detail.Isolated culture experiments at different temperatures(9-29℃)and light intensities(36-108μmmol/m 2·s)were also carried out.The culture-based observations have extended our knowledge of growth morphology and general biology of the species.     

A new identification method for five species of oysters in genus Crassostrea from China based on high-resolution melting analysis

The high phenotypic plasticity in the shell of oysters presents a challenge during taxonomic and phylogenetie studies of these economically important bivalves. However, because DNA can exhibit marked differences among morphologically similar species, DNA barcoding offers a potential means for oyster identification. We analyzed the complete sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I （COI） of five common Crassostrea species in China （including Hong Kong oyster C. hongkongensis, Jinjiang oyster C. ariakensis, Portuguese oyster C. angulata, Kumamoto oyster C. sikamea, and Pacific oyster C. gigas） and screened for distinct fragments. Using these distinct fragments on a high-resolution melting analysis platform, we developed an identification method that does not rely on species-specific PCR or fragment length polymorphism and is efficient, reliable, and easy to visualize. Using a single pair of primers （Oyster- COI-1）, we were able to successfully distinguish among the five oyster species. This new method provides a simple and powerful tool for the identification of oyster species.