• Title/Summary/Keyword: the eastern Pacific

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An Estimation of Water Structure and Dynamics in the East/Japan Sea Shelf Zone Using Acoustic Tomography

  • Akulichev, Victor Anatolievich;Bezotvetnykh, Vladimir Victorovich;Morgunov, Yury Nikolaevich;Polovinka, Yury Alexandrovich;Strobykin, Dmitry Sergeevich
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2009
  • When evaluating acoustic methods for measuring physical parameters in the ocean, economical and technical considerations are paramount. As an indirect method of estimating ocean dynamics, acoustic tomography has advantages over more conventional approaches. It allows the reconstruction of temperature and flow fields from the acoustic impulse time-of-flight measured along the rays propagating from the source to the receiver. However, many problems require complicated and expensive systems. To use the acoustic tomography method to best effect, developing hardware systems with sources and receivers mounted permanently on the sea bottom is crucial. Akulichev et al. presented some experimental results from shallow zones of the World Ocean that served as a motive for developing a multifunction system with acoustic hardware and software. Here we present technical features and the sea test results of the system.

First Record of the Pacific Fanfish Pteraclis aesticola (Jordan and Snyder, 1901) in the Tropical Eastern Pacific

  • Aguero, Jose De La Cruz;Gomez, Victor Manuel Cota
    • Ocean Science Journal
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.161-164
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    • 2008
  • One specimen of Pteraclis aesticola was collected off San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico ($22^{\circ}54'N$, $109^{\circ}45'W$), in March 2007. Present record is the first reported occurrence of the species in the Tropical Eastern Pacific biogeographic region (Gulf of California to southern Ecuadorian waters). Its large fan-like anal and dorsal fins and its counts of fin rays and vertebrae can distinguish the Pacific fanfish from the other species in the genus. This fish may have not yet been recorded in the region because its presence has been overlooked in the past because of rarity and lack of commercial value.

Oceanic Characteristics of Fishing Ground for Yellowfin and Bigeye Tunas Caught by Korean Tuna Longline Fishery in the Tropical Pacific (열대 태평양 연승어업 대상 황다랑어와 눈다랑어 어장 분포의 해황 특성)

  • YANG Won Seok;CHO Kyu Dae;MOON Dae Yeon;KOH Jeong Rack
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.196-204
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    • 2005
  • The horizontal and vertical distribution of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre) and bigeye tuna, Tunnus obesus (Lowe) in relation to oceanic conditions such as thermal structure produced during El Nino/La Nina episodes were analyzed on the basis of data sets for the catches and efforts from the Korean tuna longline fishery and for the oceanographic observations from the NOAA during 1982-2002 in the tropical Pacific. The high density of fishing ground appeared in the western Pacific ($5^{\circ}N-5^{\circ}S,\;160^{\circ}E-180^{\circ}W$) for yellowfin tuna and in the eastern Pacific ($5^{\circ}N-15^{\circ}S,\;130^{\circ}W-100^{\circ}W$) for bigeye tuna. yellowfin and bigeye tunas were mainly distributed at the 110-250 m layer and 245-312 m layer, respectively, in the western Pacific. However, in the eastern Pacific, they were mostly caught at the 116-161 m and 205-276 m layer for yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna, respectively. It can be suggested that bigeye tuna be distributed in the deepest layer among tunas and show a vertical size stratification. It was observed that during the El Nino events the main fishing ground of yellowfin tuna shifted from the western Pacific toward the eastern Pacific. In the eastern Pacific which showed a higher density of bigeye tuna, the vulnerability of bigeye tuna caught by deep longline increased during the El Nino events due to deepening of thermocline layer and a more intensively distribution of the fish schools in the lower layer of thermocline during the El Nino events.

Usage of Internet-based Oceanographic GIS of the NW Pacific for Joint Analysis of Satellite and sub-Satellite Data

  • Golik A.V.;Fischenko V.K.;Dubina V.A.;Mitnik L.M.
    • Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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    • 2004.10a
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    • pp.371-374
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    • 2004
  • The task of development and usage in a corporate computer network of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FEB RAS) of integrated technology of joint use by the scientists of satellite and sub satellite data on a Northwestern Pacific is considered. This integrated technology is realized by embedding of satellite data in the corporate oceanographic GIS of FEB RAS as a new information layer, and also by support of GIS by program techniques for specialized processing of both kinds of the data. As a result of integration the specialists of FEB RAS have an opportunity to carry out coordinated samples of satellite and various oceanographic data as a function of area, time and other important conditions, visualize them together and carry out analytical processing with the usage of the GIS tools. Application of the realized approach to improve the techniques of detection and description of the oceanic phenomena on ERS-l and ERS-2 SAR images as well as to improve of perspective techniques of the usage the brightness temperatures measured by a microwave radiometers AMSR-E on a board of Aqua (USA) satellites are discussed.

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Remote Sensing of Surface Films as a Tool for the Study of Oceanic Dynamic Processes

  • Mitnik, Leonid;Dubina, Vyacheslav;Konstantinov, Oleg;Fischenko, Vitaly;Darkin, Denis
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.111-119
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    • 2009
  • Biogenic surface films, which are often present in coastal areas, may enhance the signatures of hydrodynamic processes in microwave, optical, and infrared imagery. We analyzed ERS-1/2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) images taken over the Japan/East Sea (JES). We focused on the appearance of the contrast SAR signatures, particularly the dark features of different scales caused by various oceanic and atmospheric phenomena. Spiral eddies of different scales were detected through surface film patterns both near the coast and in the open regions of the JES in warm and cold seasons. During field experiments carried out at the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) Marine Station 'Cape Shults' in Peter the Great Bay, the sea surface roughness characteristics were measured during the day and night using a developed polarization spectrophotometer and various digital cameras and systems of floats. The velocity of natural and artificial slicks was estimated using video and ADCP time series of tracers deployed on the sea surface. The slopes of gravity-capillary wave power spectra varied between .4 and .5. Surface currents in the natural and artificial slicks increased with the distance from the coast, varying between 4 and 40 cm/s. The contrast of biogenic and anthropogenic slicks detected on vertical and horizontal polarization images against the background varied over a wide range. SAR images and ancillary satellite and field data were processed and analyzed using specialized GIS for marine coastal areas.

A taxonomic and distributional study of the rhodolith-forming species Lithothamnion muelleri (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

  • Robinson, Nestor M.;Hansen, G.I.;Fernandez-Garcia, C.;Riosmena-Rodriguez, R.
    • ALGAE
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.63-71
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    • 2013
  • Lithothamnion muelleri is reported for the first time as one of the main components of rhodolith beds along the Eastern Pacific Ocean based on samples from Washington State (USA), Pacific Baja California (M$\acute{e}$xico), southern Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Individual rhodoliths ranged from fruticose to lumpy in morphology, and bi-sporangial, tetrasporangial, and gametangial plants were similar to those described from Australia and Brazil. Our study revealed a surprisingly wide latitudinal distribution of this species along the American continent. Its documentation in the Eastern Pacific will facilitate a more accurate interpretation of the ecology, biology, and biogeography of rhodolith beds worldwide.

Hydrographic Structure Along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in the Northeastern Pacific in July-August 2005 (2005년 7-8월에 관측한 북동태평양 $131.5^{\circ}W$의 해수특성 및 해양구조)

  • Shin, Hong-Ryeol;Hwang, Sang-Chul
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.190-199
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    • 2008
  • To investigate hydrographic structure and characteristics of the tropical ocean in the eastern and the western Pacific, CTD(Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) data along $131^{\circ}W$ and $137^{\circ}-142^{\circ}E$ in July-August 2005 were analyzed. Sea surface temperature along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in summer is highest in the Equatorial Counter Current(ECC) because of the high-temperature water greater than $28^{\circ}C$ moving through the ECC from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific in spring and summer. Based on the evidence of the presence of low salinity and high dissolved oxygen water in the North Equatorial Current(NEC), we suggested that the low salinity water moved from the Gulf of Panama to the east of Philippine along the North Equatorial Current(NEC). The South Equatorial Current(SEC) had the most saline water from surface to deep layer because the saline water from the Subtropical South Pacific Ocean moved to the north. The salinity minimum layer was observed at 500-1500 m depth along $131.5^{\circ}W$. The water mass with the salinity minimum layer in the north of $5^{\circ}N$ came from the North Pacific Intermediate Water(NPIW) and that in the south of $5^{\circ}N$ came from the Antarctic Intermediate Water(AAIW), which was more saline than the NPIW. Cyclonic cold eddy with a diameter of about 200km was found in $4-6^{\circ}N$. Sea surface temperature along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in the eastern Pacific was lower than along $137^{\circ}-142^{\circ}E$ in the western Pacific; on the other hand, sea surface salinity in the eastern Pacific was higher than in the western Pacific. Subsurface saline water from the Subtropical South Pacific Ocean was less saline in the eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific. Salinity and density(${\sigma}_{\theta}$) of the salinity minimum layer south of $14^{\circ}N$ was higher in the eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific.

Verification of the Wind-driven Transport in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre using Gridded Wind-Stress Products Constructed by Scatterometer Data

  • Aoki, Kunihiro;Kutsuwada, Kunio
    • Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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    • 2007.10a
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    • pp.418-421
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    • 2007
  • Using gridded wind-stress products constructed by satellite scatterometers (ERS-1, 2 and QSCAT) data and those by numerical weather prediction(NWP) model(NCEP-reanalysis), we estimate wind-driven transports of the North Pacific subtropical gyre, and compare them in the central portion of the gyre (around 300 N) with geostrophic transports calculated from historical hydrographic data (World Ocean Database 2005). Even if there are some discrepancies between the wind-driven transports by the QSCAT and NCEP products, they are both in good agreement with the geostrophic transports within reasonable errors, except for the regional difference in the eastern part of the zone. The difference in the eastern part is characterized by an anticyclonic deviation of the geostrophic transport resulting from an anti-cyclonic anomalous flow in the surface layer, suggesting that it is related to the Eastern Gyral produced by the thermohaline process associated with the formation of the Eastern Subtropical Mode Water. We also examine the consistency of the Sverdrup transports estimated from these products by comparing them with the transports of the western boundary current, namely the Kuroshio regions, in previous studies. The net southward transport, based on the sum of the Sverdrup transports by QSCAT and NCEP products and the thermohaline transport, agrees well with the net northward transport of the western boundary current, namely the Kuroshio transport. From these results, it is concluded that the Sverdrup balance can hold in the North Pacific subtropical gyre.

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