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Solar Radiation and Earth's Climate
Published in Robert Ehrlich, Harold A. Geller, John R. Cressman, Renewable Energy, 2023
Robert Ehrlich, Harold A. Geller, John R. Cressman
Finally, another example of a tipping point involves the multistability of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The MOC is a network of global oceanic currents produced by a number of forces including thermal and salinity-driven density changes as well as wind and tidal forces. In the northern Atlantic, hot salty water is transported toward the North Pole by the wind-driven gulf stream, an important component of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). As hot, salty water cools in the northern latitudes it becomes denser and falls through the water column displacing deep water to the south. Another region of recirculation occurs in the southern ocean and this network of surface and deep currents moves and mixes water around the globe. Higher temperatures in the north have led to greater amounts of fresh water from ice sheet and glacial melt, further leading to less dense surface waters and weakened convection. In fact, the Gulf Stream and AMOC have been weakening for the last 150 years and modeling shows that the AMOC has weakened to the point that it may be close to destabilizing. The effects of losing this global conveyer belt are complicated and not well understood however the vast quantities of thermal energy, approximately 25% of the atmospheric and oceanic heat flow, will most certainly effect the climate of the northern Europe and North America.
Environmental Chemistry
Published in Stanley E. Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2022
As noted above, a particularly important aspect of the Earth System is the continuous exchange of matter and energy among the five major environmental spheres. One of the major factors in these exchanges consists of two great fluids that circulate in the Earth System: (1) surface water, especially in the oceans and rivers, and (2) air in the atmosphere, both of which transport matter and energy. Air heated in equatorial regions expands and flows away from the equator carrying heat energy as sensible heat in the air molecules and latent heat in water vapor toward polar regions. The Gulf Stream, a plume of relatively warm water, heated in the Caribbean region flows northward near the surface of the Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of North America and releases heat off the coast of Europe before sinking and flowing back at greater depths. This phenomenon, called the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic, is responsible in part for the relatively warm temperatures of Ireland, England, and Western Europe despite their more northern latitudes, and its possible demise is of concern with respect to global climate change. In addition to large quantities of water, flowing rivers carry sediments and are very much involved in the transport of waterborne pollutants.
Quantum Cellular Automata Algorithm for Automatic Detection of Oil Spills and Look-Alikes
Published in Maged Marghany, Automatic Detection Algorithms of Oil Spill in Radar Images, 2019
An oil platform located 70 km from the coast of Louisiana sank on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, spilling oil into the sea (Fig. 12.11). In the RADARSAT-2 SAR Scan Narrow Beam (SCNB) data that were acquired at the time, the rapid growth of the oil slick footprint from April 27, 2010, to May 5, 2010, can be clearly seen (Fig. 12.12). Figure 12.12 shows that oil slick and sheen extended across 19,112 square miles (49,500 km2) of the Gulf. In addition, it is worth noting that the oil slick spun in a counter-clockwise direction. This behavior is attributed to the influence of the Gulf Stream. Nevertheless, the RADARSAT-2 SAR data did not indicate that the oil-slick footprint coincided with the loop current in the Gulf of Mexico. Consistent with Zangari [225], the oil slick was the one caused by the disconnection of the loop current in the Gulf of Mexico.
The influence of two-dimensional currents on the sea surface radar backscattering coefficient
Published in Journal of Spatial Science, 2023
Jiajie Chen, Lei Liu, Xunchao Liu, Hongli Miao, Qingjun Zhang
In order to verify the conclusion, the Sentinel-1A data product is used in this paper. The satellite has multiple-imaging modes, among which the interferometric wide swath (IW) is taken by progressive scanning, including three sub swaths (IW1, IW2 and IW3). Data from the area of the Gulf Stream, taken by Sentinel-1A on 22 July 2022, is shown in Figure 7(a). The Gulf Stream, a component of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, is the most powerful and far-reaching warm current in the global ocean (Dasari et al. 2022). Therefore, the satellite imagery from this area is used here as verification data.