Barry Ma

Prediction of underwater sound levels from rain and wind.

Wind and rain generated ambient sound from the ocean surface represents the background baseline of ocean noise. Understanding these ambient sounds under different conditions will facilitate other scientific studies. For example, measurement of the processes producing the sound, assessment of sonar performance, and helping to understand the influence of anthropogenic generated noise on marine mammals. About 90 buoy-months of ocean ambient sound data have been collected using Acoustic Rain Gauges in different open-ocean locations in the Tropical Pacific Ocean. Distinct ambient sound spectra for various rainfall rates and wind speeds are identified through a series of discrimination processes. Five divisions of the sound spectra associated with different sound generating mechanisms can be predicted using wind speed and rainfall rate as input variables. The ambient sound data collected from the Intertropical Convergence Zone are used to construct the prediction algorithms, and are tested on the data from the Western Pacific Warm Pool. This physically based semi-empirical model predicts the ambient sound spectra (0.5-50 kHz) at rainfall rates from 2-200 mm/h and wind speeds from 2 to 14 m/s.

Modulation of Kuroshio transport by mesoscale eddies at the Luzon Strait entrance

Measurements of Kuroshio Current velocity at the entrance to Luzon Strait along 18.75°N were made with an array of six moorings during June 2012 to June 2013. Strong positive relative vorticity of the order of the planetary vorticity f was observed on the western flank of the Kuroshio in the upper 150 m. On the eastern flank, the negative vorticity observed was about an order of magnitude smaller than f. Kuroshio transport near its origin is computed from direct measurements for the first time. Kuroshio transport has an annual mean of 15 Sv with a standard deviation of 3 Sv. It is modulated strongly by impinging westward propagating eddies, which are identified by an improved eddy detection method and tracked back to the interior ocean. Eight Kuroshio transport anomalies >5 Sv are identified; seven are explained by the westward propagating eddies. Cyclonic (anticyclonic) eddies decrease (increase) the zonal sea level anomaly (SLA) slope and reduce (enhance) Kuroshio transport. Large transport anomalies of >10 Sv within O(10 days) are associated with the pairs of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. The observed Kuroshio transport was strongly correlated with the SLA slope (correlation = 0.9). Analysis of SLA slope data at the entrance to Luzon Strait over the period 1992–2013 reveals a seasonal cycle with a positive anomaly (i.e., an enhanced Kuroshio transport) in winter and spring and a negative anomaly in summer and fall. Eddy induced vorticity near the Kuroshio has a similar seasonal cycle, suggesting that seasonal variation of the Kuroshio transport near its origin is modulated by the seasonal variation of the impinging mesoscale eddies.

Large-Amplitude Internal Solitary Waves Observed in the Northern South China Sea: Properties and Energetics

AbstractFive large-amplitude internal solitary waves (ISWs) propagating westward on the upper continental slope in the northern South China Sea were observed in May–June 2011 with nearly full-depth measurements of velocity, temperature, salinity, and density. As they shoaled, at least three waves reached the convective breaking limit: along-wave current velocity exceeded the wave propagation speed C. Vertical overturns of ~100 m were observed within the wave cores; estimated turbulent kinetic energy was up to 1.5 × 10−4 W kg−1. In the cores and at the pycnocline, the gradient Richardson number was mostly <0.25. The maximum ISW vertical displacement was 173 m, 38% of the water depth. The normalized maximum vertical displacement was ~0.4 for three convective breaking ISWs, in agreement with laboratory results for shoaling ISWs. Observed ISWs had greater available potential energy (APE) than kinetic energy (KE). For one of the largest observed ISWs, the total wave energy per unit meter along the wave crest E...

Passive acoustic detection and measurement of rainfall at sea

It is well recognized that rainfall measurements are needed over the world’s oceans. One method of providing these measurements is to passively listen for the underwater sound signal that is produced by rainfall striking the ocean surface. Since 1998, over 70 buoy‐months of ambient sound data have been collected using Acoustic Rain Gauges (ARGs) deployed on deep ocean moorings that form part of the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array in the Pacific Ocean. These data demonstrate the acoustic measurement of oceanic wind and rain. Other ‘‘noises’’ are present in the ocean and need to be detected and rejected. This is accomplished by recognizing the unique spectral and temporal character of rain‐generated sound. A quantitative relationship between absolute sound levels and rainfall rate is proposed. The probability of acoustic detection of rainfall events under different weather conditions will be discussed. A quantitative comparison of rainfall accumulation using the acoustic technique with co‐located rain...

Rain-induced turbulence and air-sea gas transfer

=4 for a range of rain rates with broad drop size distributions. The hydrodynamic measurements elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the rain-enhanced k results using SF6 tracer evasion and active controlled flux technique. High-resolution k and turbulence results highlight the causal relationship between rainfall, turbulence, stratification, and air-sea gas exchange. Profiles of e beneath the air-sea interface during rainfall, measured for the first time during a gas exchange experiment, yielded discrete values as high as 10 �2 Wk g �1 . Stratification modifies and traps the turbulence near the surface, affecting the enhancement of the transfer velocity and also diminishing the vertical mixing of mass transported to the air-water interface. Although the kinetic energy flux is an integral measure of the turbulent input to the system during rain events, e is the most robust response to all the modifications and transformations to the turbulent state that follows. The Craig-Banner turbulence model, modified for rain instead of breaking wave turbulence, successfully predicts the near-surface dissipation profile at the onset of the rain event before stratification plays a dominant role. This result is important for predictive modeling of k as it allows inferring the surface value of e fundamental to gas transfer.

The surface mixed layer heat budget from mooring observations in the central Indian Ocean during Madden–Julian Oscillation events

The oceanic surface mixed layer heat budget in the central equatorial Indian Ocean is calculated from observations at two mooring sites (0°S 79°E and 1.5°S 79°E) during three active and calm phases of Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) events between September 2011 and January 2012. At both mooring locations, the surface mixed layer is generally heated during MJO calm phases. During MJO active phases at both mooring locations, the surface mixed layer is always cooled by the net surface heat flux and also sometimes by the turbulent heat flux at the bottom of the surface mixed layer. The turbulent heat flux at the bottom of the surface mixed layer, however, varies greatly among different MJO active phases and between the two mooring locations. A barrier layer exerts control on the turbulent heat flux at the base of the surface mixed layer; we quantify this barrier layer strength by a “barrier layer potential energy,” which depends on the thickness of the barrier layer, the thickness of the surface mixed layer, and the density stratification across the isothermal layer. During one observed MJO active phase, a strong turbulent heat flux into the mixed layer was diagnosed, despite the presence of a 10−20 m thick barrier layer. This was due to the strong shear across the barrier layer driven by the westerly winds, which provided sufficient available kinetic energy to erode the barrier layer. To better simulate and predict net surface heat fluxes and the MJO, models must estimate the oceanic barrier layer potential energy, background shear, stratification, and surface forcing accurately.

Vertical arrival structure of shipping noise in deep water channels

In passive sonar systems, knowledge of low-frequency shipping noise is significant for target detection performance. However, an accurate model for the shipping noise structure is difficult to obtain, because of the varying distributions of ships and complicated underwater environment. This work characterizes low-frequency distant shipping noise observed in deep water environments as a function of receiver depth and vertical arrival structure placed below the conjugate depth. Distant shipping noise is examined using a Monte Carlo simulation based on statistics derived from the Historical Temporal Shipping (HITS) database. Source levels and source depths of ships are assigned depending on the ship classification. The complex pressure field radiated from each interferer is computed using a normal mode propagation model, and the predicted values are summed coherently at each receiver location. Parameters for the ocean channel are chosen in agreement with the experimental observations, and sensitivity to exact parameters of the bottom sediment is explored. The depth dependence of the simulated shipping noise is in agreement with published experimental measurements. A Vertical Line Array (VLA) is used to produce vertical beams that isolate the surface interference from nearby targets. Simulation results quantifying the beamformer output as a function of ocean environment, receiver aperture, and frequency are presented for both conventional and adaptive beamformers. The results suggest a favorable detection performance of a target in the presence of distant shipping interferers and wind noise, by adaptive beamforming using diagonal loading with white noise gain constraint techniques.

Combining Observations from Multiple Platforms across the Kuroshio Northeast of Luzon: A Highlight on PIES Data

AbstractThis study presents amended procedures to process and map data collected by pressure-sensor-equipped inverted echo sounders (PIESs) in western boundary current regions. The modifications to the existing methodology, applied to observations of the Kuroshio from a PIES array deployed northeast of Luzon, Philippines, consist of substituting a hydrography-based mean travel time field for the PIES-based mean field and using two distinct gravest empirical mode (GEM) lookup tables across the front that separate water masses of South China Sea and North Pacific origin. In addition, this study presents a method to use time-mean velocities from acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) to reference (or “level”) the PIES-recorded pressures in order to obtain time series of absolute geostrophic velocity. Results derived from the PIES observations processed with the hydrography-based mean field and two GEMs are compared with hydrographic profiles sampled by Seagliders during the PIES observation period and wi...

Ekman circulation in the Arctic Ocean: Beyond the Beaufort Gyre

Data derived from satellite based observations, with buoy-based observations and assimilations, are used to calculate ocean Ekman layer transport and evaluate long-term trends in the Arctic Ocean over the period 1979–2014. The 36-year mean of upwelling (downwelling) is 3.6 ± 2.0 (−4.0 ± 2.2) Sv for the entire Arctic Basin, with ∼0.4 Sv net downwelling contributed mostly by the Canadian region. With regard to long-term trends, the annual mean upwelling (downwelling) over the entire Arctic Basin is increasing at a linear rate of 0.89 (−0.96) Sv/decade. The Canada/Alaska coasts and Beaufort and Laptev seas are regions of greatest Ekman transport intensification. The central Arctic Ocean and Lincoln Sea also have an increasing trend in transport. The Canadian and Eurasian regions each account for about half the total vertical Ekman variations in the Arctic Basin. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Detection of Rainfall Events Using Underwater Passive Aquatic Sensors and Air–Sea Temperature Changes in the Tropical Pacific Ocean

Abstract Several years of long-term high temporal resolution ocean ambient noise data from the tropical Pacific Ocean are analyzed to detect oceanic rainfall. Ocean ambient noise generated by rainfall and wind are identified through an acoustic discrimination process. Once the spectra are classified, wind speed and rainfall rates are quantified using the empirical algorithms. Rainfall-rate time series have temporal resolutions of 1 min. These data provide a unique opportunity to study the rainfall events and patterns in two different climate regions, the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) of the tropical eastern Pacific (10° and 12°N, 95°W) and the equatorial western Pacific (0°, 165°E). At both locations the rain events have a mean rainfall of 15 mm h−1, but the events are longer in the eastern Pacific. After the rain event is defined, the probability that a rain event can be detected using the change in air–sea temperature often associated with the rainfall is investigated. The result shows that the ...