ESA : Glitter helps to monitor ocean waves .- El resplandor ayuda a monitorear las olas oceánicas

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-2/Glitter_helps_to_monitor_ocean_waves

Sun glitter

 

20 March 2017

The notion of glitter might appear as somewhat frivolous, but scientists are using Sun glitter in images from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to map the motion of the sea surface.

Created by wind blowing across the surface, wave patterns are complex and highly varied. Being able to predict their movement can greatly benefit mariners, port and rig builders, coastal farmers and more.

Since measurements of waves from buoys and ships are limited in numbers and in coverage, satellites provide the answer over the oceans. As well as the well-established use of measurements of roughness from satellite sensors, Sentinel-2’s multispectral camera can also have an important role to play in mapping ocean waves.

 

Sun glitter from Sentinel-2A

Many images from Sentinel-2 capture the glitter of sunlight that can be turned into wealth of information about the direction, height and movement of waves.

Two papers in AGU Publications describe how a team of scientists developed a method to do just this. Highly scattered light means rough seas, for example.

They used this information to build a series of detailed images of wave patterns off the coast of Dorre Island in Western Australia.

Building on this technique and through ESA’s Scientific Assessment of Ocean Glitter project, they were able to map how waves develop in regions where there are strong ocean currents.

 

Glitter reveals swirls

“We went on to test our method on the Agulhas Current, a historically treacherous current around the southernmost coast of Africa,” said Vladimir Kudryavstev from the Russian State Hydrometeorological University’s Satellite Oceanography Laboratory.

“Using data collected in January 2016, we traced the behaviour of ocean waves and their interactions with currents.

“We found that ocean surface currents transform dominant surface waves, which are the tallest surface waves in a given area, driven by local wind and large-scale swells.

“They also showed how wave packets can be deflected and trapped by ocean surface currents, creating surface waves that are much higher than normal.”

 

Colour vision for Copernicus

 

With two Sentinel-2 satellites now in orbit, the amount of data available for using glitter to map ocean waves will soon be doubled.  

ESA’s Craig Donlon adds, “The development of new approaches to exploit advances in technologies that are now carried on the Sentinel-2 satellites means that we are not only able to gain further scientific knowledge of surface ocean dynamics, but we are also able to develop the next generation of the operational products for Copernicus.”

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Second ‘colour vision’ satellite for Copernicus launched
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ESA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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NSF: Scientists discover that salty sea spray affects clouds .- Científicos descubren que el mar salado nubes con efectos de aerosol

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., Haciendo una parodia En todo el planeta, cada día, los océanos envían plumas de mar aerosol en la atmósfera. Más allá de la poesía de la que se estrellan las olas del mar, este spray salada y rica en carbono también tiene un efecto dramático en la formación de nubes y la duración. 

More  information............  

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=136822&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

Aerosols have impact on cloud composition, duration

Oceans send plumes of sea spray into the atmosphere, altering the formation and duration of clouds. Credit and Larger Version

December 21, 2015

All over the planet, every day, oceans send plumes of sea spray into the atmosphere. Beyond the poetry of crashing ocean waves, this salt- and carbon-rich spray also has a dramatic effect on cloud formation and duration.

In a new paper published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Colorado State University atmospheric scientist Paul DeMott finds that sea spray is a unique, underappreciated source of what are called ice nucleating particles. These microscopic bits make their way into clouds and initiate the formation of ice, affecting the clouds' composition.

"The presence of these particles is critically important for precipitation and the lifetime of clouds, and consequently, for their radiative properties," DeMott said.

Added Nick Anderson, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research: "The development of clouds and precipitation is a core issue for understanding weather and climate processes. By studying ice nuclei, which can be considered a building block for clouds, these researchers will help piece together the puzzle of how clouds and precipitation form, especially over remote oceanic regions."

Clouds cover 60 percent of the Earth's surface at any given time. With their ability to reflect solar energy and absorb terrestrial radiation, clouds have dramatic effects on climate.

That ability is greatly influenced by the number, size and type of droplets and ice particles they contain. These cloud particles come from aerosols -- particles suspended in air -- from land and ocean surfaces.

From desert dust to fossil fuels, aerosols that affect clouds are everywhere.

The study has confirmed that ice nucleating particles from oceans are distinct -- both in their abundance and ice-making properties -- from land-sourced particles. Hence, their influence on the liquid-to-ice phase structure of clouds, and the clouds' radiative characteristics, can differ over vast swaths of Earth.

The laboratory portion of the study was conducted with other researchers at the NSF-supported Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment (CAICE), at which DeMott is a senior scientist.

Based at the University of California-San Diego, CAICE has laboratory wave flumes that simulate how ocean waves send sea spray aerosols into the air.

Researchers can study the biological and chemical makeup of these particles, as well as the transformations they undergo, and use special instruments to see how they influence cloud formation. DeMott and colleagues compared these data to other measurements made over oceans.

The study offers one explanation for why global climate models have consistently underestimated reflected, short-wave solar radiation in regions dominated by oceans, particularly in the southern hemisphere.

"Our paper gives a clearer picture of the behavior of major classes of atmospheric aerosols in clouds," DeMott said.

-NSF-

Media Contacts Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734,

cdybas@nsf.gov
Anne Manning, Colorado State University, (970) 491-7099,

anne.manning@colostate.edu

Related WebsitesNSF Award: Laboratory and Surface-based Studies of Atmospherically-relevant Ice Nucleating Particle Sources, Concentrations and Compositions:

 http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1358495&HistoricalAwards=false
Science Nation: Sea Spray -- Complex chemistry with big effects on climate:

 http://1.usa.gov/1IdPDCi
NSF Award: CCI Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment:

 http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1305427&HistoricalAwards=false

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2015, its budget is $7.3 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 48,000 competitive proposals for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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Ice nucleating particles from sea spray make their way into clouds, affecting clouds' longevity.
Credit and Larger Version

Clouds cover 60 percent of Earth's surface at any given time.
Credit and Larger Version

Clouds' ability to reflect solar energy and absorb radiation affect Earth's climate.
Credit and Larger Version

Earth's oceans and atmosphere are inextricably linked in how long clouds last.
Credit and Larger Version

Ice nucleating particles from oceans are distinct from those on land, scientists have found.
Credit and Larger Version
The National Science Foundation (NSF)
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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SCIENCE: One if by Land, Two if by Sea? Climate Change "Escape Routes"

Hi my Friends: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., The study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and performed in part through the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California at Santa Barbara.Escaping climate change: one if by land, two if by sea? No, according to recent results. Similar movement rates needed for animals and plants on land and in the oceans.

One if by land, two if by sea?
Results of a study published this week in the journal Science show how fast animal and plant populations would need to move to keep up with recent climate change effects in the ocean and on land.
The answer: at similar rates.
The study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and performed in part through the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
"That average rates of environmental change in the oceans and on land are similar is not such a surprise," says Henry Gholz, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology.
"But averages deceive," Gholz says, "and this study shows that rates of change are at times greater in the oceans than on land--and as complex as the currents themselves."
Greenhouse gases have warmed the land by approximately one degree Celsius since 1960. That rate is roughly three times faster than the rate of ocean warming. These temperatures have forced wild populations to adapt--or to be on the move, continually relocating.
Although the oceans have experienced less warming overall, plants and animals need to move as quickly in the sea as they do on land to keep up with their preferred environments.
Surprisingly, similar movement rates are needed to out-run climate change. On land, movement of 2.7 kilometers (1.6 miles) per year is needed and in the oceans, movement of 2.2 kilometers (1.3 miles) per year is needed.
"Not a lot of marine critters have been able to keep up with that," says paper co-author John Bruno, a marine ecologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Being stuck in a warming environment can cause reductions in the growth, reproduction and survival of ecologically and economically important ocean life such as fish, corals and sea birds."
"These results provide valuable insights into how climate will affect biological communities worldwide," says David Garrison, director of NSF's Biological Oceanography Program.
The analysis is an example of the value of synthesis research centers, Garrison says, in addressing society's environmental challenges.
"With climate change we often assume that populations simply need to move poleward to escape warming, but our study shows that in the ocean, the escape routes are more complex," says ecologist Lauren Buckley of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also a co-author of the paper.
"For example, due to increased upwelling, marine life off the California coast would have to move south [rather than north] to remain in its preferred environment."
"Some of the areas where organisms would need to relocate the fastest are important biodiversity hot spots, such as the coral triangle region in southeastern Asia," says lead author Mike Burrows of the Scottish Association of Marine Science.
Whether by land or by sea, according to these results, all will need to be on the fly.
-NSF-
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
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