Search results for "oceanography"
showing 10 items of 1567 documents
Improving the Downwind Sail Design Process by Means of a Novel FSI Approach
2021
The process of designing a sail can be a challenging task because of the difficulties in predicting the real aerodynamic performance. This is especially true in the case of downwind sails, where the evaluation of the real shapes and aerodynamic forces can be very complex because of turbulent and detached flows and the high-deformable behavior of structures. Of course, numerical methods are very useful and reliable tools to investigate sail performances, and their use, also as a result of the exponential growth of computational resources at a very low cost, is spreading more and more, even in not highly competitive fields. This paper presents a new methodology to support sail designers in ev…
First Evidence of Contourite Drifts in the North-Western Sicilian Active Continental Margin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea)
2021
We present the results of an integrated geomorphological and seismo-stratigraphic study based on high resolution marine data acquired in the north-western Sicilian continental margin. We document for the first time five contourite drifts (marked as EM1a, EM2b, EM2, EM3a, and EM3b), located in the continental slope at depths between ca. 400 and 1500 m. EM1a,b have been interpreted as elongated mounded drifts. EM1a,b are ca. 3 km long, 1.3 km wide, and have a maximum thickness of 36 m in their center that thins northwards, while EM1b is smaller with a thickness up to 24 m. They are internally characterized by mounded seismic packages dominated by continuous and parallel reflectors. EM2 is loc…
Multi‐specific small‐scale fisheries rely on few, locally essential, species: Evidence from a multi‐area study in the Mediterranean
2022
Achieving sound management of small-scale fisheries (SSFs) is globally recognized a key priority for sustaining livelihoods, local economies, social wealth and cultural heritage in coastal areas. The paucity of information on SSFs often prevents the proper assessment of different socio-ecological aspects, potentially leading to draw inappropriate conclusions and hampering the development and adoption of effective policies to foster SSF sustainability. To respond to the growing global call to assess these fisheries, we carried out a multi-disciplinary and data-rich assessment of SSFs at 11 areas in 6 Mediterranean EU countries, combining the analysis of 1292 SSF fishing operations and 149 se…
Estimating aggregated nutrient fluxes in four Finnish rivers via Gaussian state space models
2013
Reliable estimates of the nutrient fluxes carried by rivers from land-based sources to the sea are needed for efficient abatement of marine eutrophication. Although nutrient concentrations in rivers generally display large temporal variation, sampling and analysis for nutrients, unlike flow measurements, are rarely performed on a daily basis. The infrequent data calls for ways to reliably estimate the nutrient concentrations of the missing days. Here, we use the Gaussian state space models with daily water flow as a predictor variable to predict missing nutrient concentrations for four agriculturally impacted Finnish rivers. Via simulation of Gaussian state space models, we are able to esti…
In situ measurements of background aerosol and subvisible cirrus in the tropical tropopause region
2002
[1] In situ aerosol measurements were performed in the Indian Ocean Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) region during the Airborne Polar Experiment-Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone (APE-THESEO) field campaign based in Mahe, Seychelles between 24 February and 6 March 1999. These are measurements of particle size distributions with a laser optical particle counter of the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe (FSSP)-300 type operated on the Russian M-55 high-altitude research aircraft Geophysica in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere up to altitudes of 21 km. On 24 and 27 February 1999, ultrathin layers of cirrus clouds were penetrated by Geophysica directly…
Benthic foodweb structure in a large shallow lake studied by stable isotope analysis
2014
The benthic foodweb structure of Lake Võrtsjärv, a large (270 km2), shallow, and turbid Estonian lake, was evaluated based on C and N stable-isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N). Variation in δ13C between sampling sites was not related to site proximity to the littoral zone or the more vegetated southern part of the lake, but rather appeared to be influenced by in-situ site peculiarities. δ13C was stable temporally and between functional feeding groups, a result implying that the whole benthic food web of the lake relies largely on the same C source admixture, essentially particulate organic matter (POM). Thus, the foodweb composition of Lake Võrtsjärv is remarkably homogeneous given the lake’s …
Urban Flood Prediction through GIS-Based Dual-Coupled Hydraulic Models
2022
Propagation of pluvial floods in urban areas, occurring with return time periods of few years, can be well solved using dual models accounting for the mutual relationship between the water level in the streets and the discharges inside the sewer pipes. The extended WEC-flood model (EWEC), based on the use of unstructured triangular meshes and a diffusive formulation of the momentum equations in both the 2D and the 1D lower domains, is presented along with its novelty, limits, and advantages. The model is then applied to a small computational domain in the Palermo area, where only some ‘hard’ data given by one rain gauge has been used for calibration and validation, along with ot…
Evaluation of the wave energy density on the Sicilian coast
2016
In this article the wave energy density of the northern Sicilian coasts is evaluated and is used to evaluate the producibility of a wave nergy converter to be installed in an area in the north west part of Sicily. In particular, the objective of the study is the evaluation of a potential installation in an area between Trapani and Palermo, which are the largest cities in the north west part of Sicily. In particular in this research, the wave energy density of Sicily has been analyzed by using an analysis of wave data carried out in a 10-year period, using the measurements of buoyant of National Wave measuring System (RON - Rete Ondametrica Nazionale). The analysis shows that the north-weste…
Long-term changes in pigmentation of arctic Daphnia provide potential for reconstructing aquatic UV exposure
2016
Abstract Despite the biologically damaging impacts of solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) in nature, little is known about its natural variability, forcing mechanisms, and long-term effects on ecosystems and organisms. Arctic zooplankton, for example the aquatic keystone genus Daphnia (Crustacea, Cladocera) responds to biologically damaging UV by utilizing photoprotective strategies, including pigmentation. We examined the preservation and content of UV-screening pigments in fossil Daphnia remains (ephippia) in two arctic lake sediment cores from Cornwallis Island (Lake R1), Canada, and Spitsbergen (Lake Fugledammen), Svalbard. The aims were to document changes in the degree of UV-protective p…