Latest Oceanography Stories
Scientists at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography have made the first observation of a predator avoidance behavior by a species of phytoplankton, a microscopic marine plant. Susanne Menden-Deuer, associate professor of oceanography, and doctoral student Elizabeth Harvey made the unexpected observation while studying the interactions between phytoplankton and zooplankton. Their discovery will be published in the September 28 issue of the journal PLOS ONE. "It...
Earth observation measurements shouldn’t be taken with a pinch of salt. ESA is comparing readings of sea-surface salinity from drifting floats to confirm the SMOS water mission’s measurements. Since its launch in 2009, ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite has been helping us to understand the water cycle. As with any Earth observation mission, it is important to validate the readings acquired from space. This involves comparing the satellite data with...
NASA selects Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) of McLean, Va., for ocean color services at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. This is a five-year cost-plus-fixed fee, indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering value of $43 million. Performance period for the contract is Oct. 24 - Oct. 23, 2017. Under this contract, SAIC will provide support services focused on global ocean remote sensing, satellite data processing and...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Ocean waves are a source of calming for meditation, and a source of enjoyment for thrill-seeking surfers. These waves are also a source of wonder for researchers trying to explain the power of the tsunami. Two applied mathematicians from University of Colorado Boulder have taken a closer look at these waves, discovering X- and Y-shaped ocean waves that could help explain why some tsunamis become as powerful as they do....
Data buoy off Rhode Island coast providing vital wave information to scientists, mariners CONCORD, Mass., Sept. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies deployed a data buoy off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, three years ago to gather information on wave action for a Corps study and the scientific instrument has been providing useful information to scientists, mariners and the general public since that time. One of the main...
The CEOs of the world’s leading tidal device developers have committed to continued collaboration at the major industry meeting point this November. LONDON (PRWEB) September 10, 2012 CEOs from Atlantis Resources Corporation, Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, Marine Current Turbines, Tidal Generation (Rolls Royce) and Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies have again committed in 2012 to help push forward the tidal energy industry by continued collaboration and information sharing. They will be...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new expedition is set to get a better picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers, and how it shifts rainfall patterns. The NASA-sponsored expedition called the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS) will provided new data to help calibrate the salinity measurements NASA's Aquarius instrument has been collecting from space since August 2011. SPURS scientists will hop aboard the vessel...
Results will help scientists understand what to expect under future climate change A new study of deep-sea species across the globe aims to understand how natural gradients in food and temperature in the dark, frigid waters of the deep sea affect the snails, clams, and other creatures that live there. Similar studies have been conducted for animals in the shallow oceans, but our understanding of the impact of food and temperature on life in the deep sea — the Earth's largest and most...
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A NASA-sponsored expedition is set to sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The research voyage is part of a multi-year mission, dubbed the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional...
"Plastic Ocean" author launches Pacific Rim tour to discuss latest science about plastic pollution in the ocean, including recent research on tsunami debris Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) September 02, 2012 In association with Algalita Marine Research Institute, Captain Charles Moore prepares for the first in a series of presentations and dialogue meetings titled The Plastic Pollution Conversation, to be held at locations across the Pacific Rim, beginning September 8 in Tokyo. The Tour...
Latest Oceanography Reference Libraries
Baffin Bay, which is located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It’s connected to the Atlantic by Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea. A narrower Nares Strait connects the Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean. The Baffin Bay is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is bordered by Baffin Island towards the west, Greenland towards the east, and Ellesmere Island towards the north. It is connected to the Atlantic through the Davis...
The sea levels all around the world are rising. Current sea-level rise has the potential to affect human populations and the natural environment. Two key factors have contributed to the observed sea level rise. The first is thermal expansion: as the ocean water warms, it expands. The second is from the influence of land-based ice because of increased melting. The major store of water on land is found in the glaciers and the ice sheets. The rising of sea levels is one of several lines of...
Ocean acidification is the name that was given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of Earth’s oceans, a cause of the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. About 30 to 40 percent of the carbon dioxide that is released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into the lakes, oceans, and rivers. To maintain the chemical equilibrium, some of it reacts with the water to create carbonic acid. Some of these extra carbonic acid molecules react with a water molecule to provide a...
Image Credit: Meteorologist Joshua Kelly When meteorologists are forecasting for ocean-going vessels, there are a few terms that we need to understand. The first term is wavelength. Wavelength is defined as the distance between two crests or between two troughs as seen in the image above. The example above highlights the crest to crest concept of wavelength. The next term that we use is wave height, and to determine this, we first must look at the wave when it passes our station. When...
Point #1: Warm finger- This region inside the area marked number 1, represents a warm finger of the ocean temperatures. What is occurring is that the warmer air is being pushed faster in this region than the surrounding locations giving us this little finger of warmer temps in that region. Point #2: Warm Eddie- This is a region of warmer temps surrounded on all sides by colder water. Eddies are a closed circulation of water in the ocean that has in this case warmer temps around it. These...
