A simple model for the short-time evolution of near-surface current and temperature profiles

A simple analytical/numerical model has been developed for computing the evolution, over periods of up to a few hours, of the current and temperature profile in the upper layer of the ocean. The model is based upon conservation laws for heat and momentum, and employs an eddy diffusion parameterisation which is dependent on both the wind speed and the wind stress applied at the sea surface. Other parameters such as the bulk-skin surface temperature difference and CO$_2$ flux are determined by application of the Molecular Oceanic Boundary Layer Model (MOBLAM) of Schluessel and Soloviev. A similar model, for the current profile only, predicts a temporary increase in wave breaking intensity and decrease in wave height under conditions where the wind speed increases suddenly, such as, for example, during gusts and squalls. The model results are compared with measurements from the lagrangian Skin Depth Experimental Profiler (SkinDeEP) surface profiling instrument made during the 1999 MOCE-5 field experiment in the waters around Baja California. SkinDeEP made repeated profiles of temperature within the upper few metres of the water column. Given that no tuning was performed in the model, and that the model does not take account of stratification, the results of the model runs are in rather good agreement with the observations. The model may be suitable as an interface between time-independent models of processes very near the surface, and larger-scale three-dimensional time-dependent ocean circulation models. A straightforward extension of the model should also be suitable for making time-dependent computations of gas concentration in the near-surface layer of the ocean.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. In press at Deep-Sea Research II. Uses a modified form of elsart.cls. Proof correction

Broadcasting Truth to Power:The American Friends Service Committee and the Early Southern Civil Rights Movement

This article addresses two gaps in the historical literature on the modern civil rights movement. First, it highlights the contributions of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) to the struggle for racial justice in the South. Second, it reveals the importance of radio broadcasting in helping to create a climate in which southern white racial attitudes and discriminatory practices were challenged. It demonstrates how AFSC-sponsored broadcasts reflected Quaker principles, but also how debates over appropriate programme content exposed the tensions between principled and pragmatic considerations, morality and expediency, that shaped the Movement and determined the AFSC\u27s role in it

Mapping and Characterizing Subtidal Oyster Reefs Using Acoustic Techniques, Underwater Videography and Quadrat Counts

Populations of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica have been in long-term decline in most areas. A major hindrance to effective oyster management has been lack of a methodology for accurately and economically obtaining data on their distribution and abundance patterns. Here, we describe early results from studies aimed at development of a mapping and monitoring protocol involving acoustic techniques, underwater videography, and destructive sampling (excavated quadrats). Two subtidal reefs in Great Bay, New Hampshire, were mapped with side-scan sonar and with videography by systematically imaging multiple sampling cells in a grid covering the same areas. A single deployment was made in each cell, and a 5-10-s recording was made of a 0.25-m2 area; the location of each image was determined using a differential global position system. A still image was produced for each of the cells and all (n = 40 or 44) were combined into a single photomontage overlaid onto a geo-referenced base map for each reef using Arc View geographic information system. Quadrat (0.25 m2 ) samples were excavated from 9 or 10 of the imaged areas on each reef, and all live oysters were counted and measured. Intercomparisons of the acoustic, video, and quadrat data suggest: (1) acoustic techniques and systematic videography can readily delimit the boundaries of oyster reefs; (2) systematic videography can yield quantitative data on shell densities and information on reef structure; and (3) some combination of acoustics, systematic videography, and destructive sampling can provide spatially detailed information on oyster reef characteristics

Reply to comment on `A simple model for the short-time evolution of near-surface current and temperature profiles'

This is our response to a comment by Walter Eifler on our paper `A simple model for the short-time evolution of near-surface current and temperature profiles' (arXiv:physics/0503186, accepted for publication in Deep-Sea Research II). Although Eifler raises genuine issues regarding our model's validity and applicability, we are nevertheless of the opinion that it is of value for the short-term evolution of the upper-ocean profiles of current and temperature. The fact that the effective eddy viscosity tends to infinity for infinite time under a steady wind stress may not be surprising. It can be interpreted as a vertical shift of the eddy viscosity profile and an increase in the size of the dominant turbulent eddies under the assumed conditions of small stratification and infinite water depth.Comment: 4 pages. Accepted for publication in Deep-Sea Research II. Uses a modified form of elsart.cl

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