Thermal lag correction on Slocum CTD glider data

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 28 (2011): 1065–1071, doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-10-05030.1.In this work a new methodology is proposed to correct the thermal lag error in data from unpumped CTD sensors installed on Slocum gliders. The advantage of the new approach is twofold: first, it takes into account the variable speed of the glider; and second, it can be applied to CTD profiles from an autonomous platform either with or without a reference cast. The proposed methodology finds values for four correction parameters that minimize the area between two temperature–salinity curves given by two CTD profiles. A field experiment with a Slocum glider and a standard CTD was conducted to test the method. Thermal lag–induced salinity error of about 0.3 psu was found and successfully corrected.This work is part of the SINOCOP and GliderBal projects funded by CSIC and Govern Balear, respectively

Scientific management of Mediterranean coastal zone: A hybrid ocean forecasting system for oil spill and search and rescue operations

Jordi, Antoni et al.The oil spill from Prestige tanker showed the importance of scientifically based protocols to minimize the impacts on the environment. In this work, we describe a new forecasting system to predict oil spill trajectories and their potential impacts on the coastal zone. The system is formed of three main interconnected modules that address different capabilities: (1) an operational circulation sub-system that includes nested models at different scales, data collection with near-real time assimilation, new tools for initialization or assimilation based on genetic algorithms and feature-oriented strategic sampling; (2) an oil spill coastal sub-system that allows simulation of the trajectories and fate of spilled oil together with evaluation of coastal zone vulnerability using environmental sensitivity indexes; (3) a risk management sub-system for decision support based on GIS technology. The system is applied to the Mediterranean Sea where surface currents are highly variable in space and time, and interactions between local, sub-basin and basin scale increase the non-linear interactions effects which need to be adequately resolved at each one of the intervening scales. Besides the Mediterranean Sea is a complex reduced scale ocean representing a real scientific and technological challenge for operational oceanography and particularly for oil spill response and search and rescue operations. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer Reviewe

SOCIB: the impact of new marine infrastructures in understanding and forecasting the coastal oceans: some examples from the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea

New monitoring technologies are being progressively implemented in coastal ocean observatories. As an example, gliders allow high resolution sampling, showing the existence of new features, such as submesoscale eddies with intense vertical motions that significantly affect upper ocean biogeochemical exchanges, an issue of worldwide relevance in a climate change context. SOCIB, is one of such systems, a new facility of facilities (covering from the coast to the open sea, and including among others a nearshore beach monitoring facility, HF radar, gliders and AUV’s, moorings, satellite, drifters and ARGO profilers, modelling), a scientific and technological infrastructure which is providing free, open, quality controlled and timely streams of oceanographic and coastal data and also modelling services. SOCIB takes profit of the strategic position of the Balearic Island at the Atlantic/Mediterranean transition area, one of the ‘hot spots’ of biodiversity in the world’s oceans. As an example of on-going SOCIB operations, since January 2011 sustained glider operations are in place in the Ibiza and Mallorca channels. The data centre is the core of SOCIB. The data management system created for gliders is an example of the new informatics capabilities for real time definition of mission planning, including adaptive sampling and real time monitoring using a Web tool that allows quick visualization and download. This type of new infrastructures, combined with new technologies and careful scientific analysis will allow new ways of international cooperation leading to major science breakthroughs in the very near future and new ways of science based coastal and ocean management.Peer Reviewe

Underwater glider observations and modeling of an abrupt mixing event in the upper ocean

7 páginas, 4 figuras.An abrupt mixing event in the upper ocean is investigated in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea using gliders, a new ocean monitoring technology, combined with regional atmospheric model outputs and mooring data. Intense winds (up to 20 m s−1) and buoyancy forcing during December 2009 induced strong vertical mixing of the upper ocean layer in the Balearic Sea. High-resolution data from a coastal glider reveal a surface cooling of near 2 °C and the deepening of the Mixed Layer Depth (MLD) by more than 40 meters in the center of the basin. Comparisons between glider and ship-emulated sections of hydrographic profiles show that the glider data make visible the small-scale spatial variability of the MLD. The heat content released to the atmosphere by the upper ocean during this mixing event exceeds 1000 W m−2. A simulation from the Weather Research and Forecasting model reports values consistent with these observations. Additionally the atmospheric numerical simulation shows the development and evolution of a cyclone located south of the Balearic Islands. This cyclone is likely to be responsible for the wind intensification and the consequent air-sea energy exchanges that occurred in the study area during this period.Este trabajo ha sido realizado gracias a una parte de la financiación de los proyectos Gliderbal y MyOcean, subvencionados por el Gobierno de las Islas Baleares (AAEE0051/08) y por la Comisión Europea respectivamente.Peer reviewe

Balearic islands coastal observing and forecasting system

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Balearic islands coastal observing and forecasting system

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WMOP: The SOCIB Western Mediterranean Sea Operational forecasting system

Trabajo presentado en la EGU General Assemby 2013, celebrada del 7 al 12 de abril de 2013 en Viena (Austria)Peer Reviewe

Monitoring the Eastern Alborán sea using High-Resolution glider data

The European Commission has carried out a glider mission in the eastern Alborán Sea with an aim to provide physical and biogeochemical measurements detailing the forcing, dynamics and exchanges with adjacent sub-basins using new glider technologies. The Trajectory was established to be coincident with track 172 of the satellite Jason-1, and the sample was designed to collect data with the satellite passage. A path-planning analysis algorithm developed was used to a priori test the feasibility of the glider mission using three different types of available derived velocity fields. The deployed glider was found to be effective by the strong currents in the sea, and exhibited the existence of a strong convergence between Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. The SST images collected simultaneous to the glider mission provide evidence for a southward spreading of Mediterranean water pressing along the Spanish coast.Peer Reviewe

WMED/BALOP: The SOCIB Western Mediterranean Sea operational forecasting system

Comunicación presentada en First Symposium on the "Future of Operational Oceanography", celebrado del 25 al 27 de octubre de 2011 en Hamburgo (Alemania)Peer Reviewe