Assimilation of the seabird and ship drift data in the north-eastern sea of Japan into an operational ocean nowcast/forecast system

Miyazawa, Yasumasa; Guo, Xinyu; Varlamov, Sergey M.; Miyama, Toru; Yoda, Ken; Sato, Katsufumi; Kano, Toshiyuki; Sato, Keiji

doi:10.1038/srep17672

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These seabird-derived current data were assimilated into ocean models, resulting in refinement of the gyre patterns represented by the model (20). These studies demonstrate the potential of animal-derived environmental data in meteorological observations.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 88%

“…This suggests that the bird-based wind estimates could be used to cover the satellite measurement gaps. In fact, geophysical data directly measured by instrumented animals or indirectly extracted from animal movements that complement conventional observation gaps have been assimilated to geophysical model analyses, as shown in currents extracted from shearwaters drift data (19) that were assimilated to ocean surface circulation models (20) and temperature and salinity profile measured by instrumented seals (11) used in Antarctic circumpolar circulation models (12). Wind stress and wind stress curl in coastal areas induce surface currents and upwelling systems that often generate areas of high biological productivity (6,8).…”

Section: Bird-based Wind Covers Spatial and Temporal Observation Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction

Yonehara

Goto

Yoda

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ocean surface winds are an essential factor in understanding the physical interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean. Surface winds measured by satellite scatterometers and buoys cover most of the global ocean; however, there are still spatial and temporal gaps and finer-scale variations of wind that may be overlooked, particularly in coastal areas. Here, we show that flight paths of soaring seabirds can be used to estimate fine-scale (every 5 min, ∼5 km) ocean surface winds. Fine-scale global positioning system (GPS) positional data revealed that soaring seabirds flew tortuously and ground speed fluctuated presumably due to tail winds and head winds. Taking advantage of the ground speed difference in relation to flight direction, we reliably estimated wind speed and direction experienced by the birds. These birdbased wind velocities were significantly correlated with wind velocities estimated by satellite-borne scatterometers. Furthermore, extensive travel distances and flight duration of the seabirds enabled a wide range of high-resolution wind observations, especially in coastal areas. Our study suggests that seabirds provide a platform from which to measure ocean surface winds, potentially complementing conventional wind measurements by covering spatial and temporal measurement gaps.biologging | dynamic soaring | satellite scatterometer | GPS | meteorology R ecently, remote-sensing systems used to record atmospheric circulation have been developed. Satellite-borne scatterometers estimate ocean surface wind velocities each day covering the majority of the global ocean. These wide-range wind data in combination with refined ocean models are used in numerical weather predictions and describe the oceanographic features more accurately (1-3). Buoys scattered over the ocean also measure fine-time resolution in situ surface winds and are used in validating remote-sensing measurements and are assimilated into model analyses (4, 5). However, because wind data are only acquired twice per day by each satellite and buoys have limited spatial coverage, finer-scale changes of hours to days in local wind conditions could be overlooked. In addition, in coastal areas, where high biological productivity is associated with ocean and atmosphere circulation patterns (6), wind data are lacking due to variations in wind and wave caused by complex topographic effects that satellites have difficulty measuring (5,7,8). Obtaining in situ high-resolution atmospheric and oceanographic data to fill these spatial and temporal observation gaps would deepen our understanding of physical processes relevant to interactions between the atmosphere and ocean, contribute to improved atmospheric and ocean model analyses (7,8), and reveal detailed structure that remains unresolved by using conventional methods (9).The recent development of miniaturized animal-borne data loggers presented a capability to use animals as indicators of environmental variables. The extensive movement range and locomotion ability of marine mammals and seabirds ena...

show abstract

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Bird-based Wind Covers Spatial and Temporal Observation Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction

Yonehara

Goto

Yoda

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The sea birds forage boundary areas between two oceanic mesoscale eddies where primary productivity and prey density are thought to be high. The current data from sea birds improved reproducibility of eddies through data assimilation into an operational ocean nowcast/forecast system (Miyazawa et al, 2015).…”

Section: Development Of Biologging As An Ocean Observation Platform Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean Observations in Support of Studies and Forecasts of Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past decade, measurements from the climate-oriented ocean observing system have been key to advancing the understanding of extreme weather events that originate and intensify over the ocean, such as tropical cyclones (TCs) and extratropical bomb cyclones (ECs). In order to foster further advancements to predict and better understand these extreme weather events, a need for a dedicated observing system component specifically to support studies and forecasts of TCs and ECs has been identified, but such a system has not yet been implemented. New technologies, pilot networks, targeted deployments of instruments, and state-of-the art coupled numerical models have enabled advances in research and forecast capabilities and illustrate a potential framework for future development. Here, applications and key results made possible by the different ocean observing efforts in support of studies and forecasts of TCs and ECs, as well as recent advances in observing technologies and strategies are reviewed. Then a vision and specific recommendations for the next decade are discussed.

show abstract

“…We hope to exploit this large amount of data and expect the use of AIS data will become a new method for measuring and forecasting great tsunamis. Similar concepts of diverting information from crowd-sourced agents to Earth monitoring recently have been also applied to grasp earthquakes (Kong et al 2016), winds, and ocean currents (Miyazawa et al 2015).…”

Section: Summary and Remarksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring offshore tsunami currents using ship navigation records

Inazu

Ikeya

Waseda

et al. 2018

Prog Earth Planet Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated ship navigation records known as Automatic Identification System (AIS) data near the source region of the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, tsunami. The AIS data of 16 ships in the offshore navigation could be compiled by about 40 min after the tsunami generation. Most of the AIS data showed notable deviation of the ship heading from the course over ground during the tsunami passage. There was good agreement in terms of amplitude/phase between the ship velocity and the simulated tsunami velocity in the direction normal to the ship heading. An equation of motion due to wave drag and inertia forces was examined for an offshore movable floating body. We explain that the ship movement in the direction normal to the heading immediately responds to the tsunami current, and relative velocity between the ship and the tsunami current asymptotically become zero. This indicates the movement velocity of navigating ships in the direction normal to the heading derived from AIS data will work as an offshore tsunami current meter. We examined the AIS data during the 2011 Tohoku tsunami and showed these data could be useful for tsunami source estimation and forecast. The AIS data in the current framework will possibly be a crowd-sourced tool for monitoring offshore tsunami current and tsunami forecast.

show abstract

Assimilation of the seabird and ship drift data in the north-eastern sea of Japan into an operational ocean nowcast/forecast system

Cited by 24 publications

References 21 publications

Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction

Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction

Ocean Observations in Support of Studies and Forecasts of Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones

Measuring offshore tsunami currents using ship navigation records

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About