Integration of a 3D Variational data assimilation scheme with a coastal area morphodynamic model of Morecambe Bay

This paper describes the implementation of a 3D variational (3D-Var) data assimilation scheme for a morphodynamic model applied to Morecambe Bay, UK. A simple decoupled hydrodynamic and sediment transport model is combined with a data assimilation scheme to investigate the ability of such methods to improve the accuracy of the predicted bathymetry. The inverse forecast error covariance matrix is modelled using a Laplacian approximation which is calibrated for the length scale parameter required. Calibration is also performed for the Soulsby-van Rijn sediment transport equations. The data used for assimilation purposes comprises waterlines derived from SAR imagery covering the entire period of the model run, and swath bathymetry data collected by a ship-borne survey for one date towards the end of the model run. A LiDAR survey of the entire bay carried out in November 2005 is used for validation purposes. The comparison of the predictive ability of the model alone with the model-forecast-assimilation system demonstrates that using data assimilation significantly improves the forecast skill. An investigation of the assimilation of the swath bathymetry as well as the waterlines demonstrates that the overall improvement is initially large, but decreases over time as the bathymetry evolves away from that observed by the survey. The result of combining the calibration runs into a pseudo-ensemble provides a higher skill score than for a single optimized model run. A brief comparison of the Optimal Interpolation assimilation method with the 3D-Var method shows that the two schemes give similar results.

Competing effects of toxin-producing phytoplankton on overall plankton populations in the Bay of Bengal

The coexistence of a large number of phytoplankton species on a seemingly limited variety of resources is a classical problem in ecology, known as ‘the paradox of the plankton’. Strong fluctuations in species abundance due to the external factors or competitive interactions leading to oscillations, chaos and short-term equilibria have been cited so far to explain multi-species coexistence and biodiversity of phytoplankton. However, none of the explanations has been universally accepted. The qualitative view and statistical analysis of our field data establish two distinct roles of toxin-producing phytoplankton (TPP): toxin allelopathy weakens the interspecific competition among phytoplankton groups and the inhibition due to ingestion of toxic substances reduces the abundance of the grazer zooplankton. Structuring the overall plankton population as a combination of nontoxic phytoplankton (NTP), toxic phytoplankton, and zooplankton, here we offer a novel solution to the plankton paradox governed by the activity of TPP. We demonstrate our findings through qualitative analysis of our sample data followed by analysis of a mathematical model.

Impacts of increasing the aerosol complexity in the Met Office global numerical weather prediction model.

The inclusion of the direct and indirect radiative effects of aerosols in high-resolution global numerical weather prediction (NWP) models is being increasingly recognised as important for the improved accuracy of short-range weather forecasts. In this study the impacts of increasing the aerosol complexity in the global NWP configuration of the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM) are investigated. A hierarchy of aerosol representations are evaluated including three-dimensional monthly mean speciated aerosol climatologies, fully prognostic aerosols modelled using the CLASSIC aerosol scheme and finally, initialised aerosols using assimilated aerosol fields from the GEMS project. The prognostic aerosol schemes are better able to predict the temporal and spatial variation of atmospheric aerosol optical depth, which is particularly important in cases of large sporadic aerosol events such as large dust storms or forest fires. Including the direct effect of aerosols improves model biases in outgoing long-wave radiation over West Africa due to a better representation of dust. However, uncertainties in dust optical properties propagate to its direct effect and the subsequent model response. Inclusion of the indirect aerosol effects improves surface radiation biases at the North Slope of Alaska ARM site due to lower cloud amounts in high-latitude clean-air regions. This leads to improved temperature and height forecasts in this region. Impacts on the global mean model precipitation and large-scale circulation fields were found to be generally small in the short-range forecasts. However, the indirect aerosol effect leads to a strengthening of the low-level monsoon flow over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal and an increase in precipitation over Southeast Asia. Regional impacts on the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) are also presented with the large dust loading in the aerosol climatology enhancing of the heat low over West Africa and weakening the AEJ. This study highlights the importance of including a more realistic treatment of aerosol–cloud interactions in global NWP models and the potential for improved global environmental prediction systems through the incorporation of more complex aerosol schemes.

Rotational aesthetics: Michael Bay and contemporary cinema’s machine movement

Digital imaging technologies enable a mastery of the visual that in recent mainstream cinema frequently manifests as certain kinds of spatial reach, orientation and motion. In such a context Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise can be framed as a digital re-tooling of a familiar fantasy of vehicular propulsion, US car culture writ large in digitally crafted spectacles of diegetic speed, the vehicular chase film ‘2.0’. Movement is central to these films, calling up Scott Bukatman’s observation that in spectacular visual media ‘movement has become more than a tool of bodily knowledge; it has become an end in itself’ (2003: 125). Not all movements and not all instances of vehicular propulsion are the same however. How might we evaluate what is at stake in a film’s assertion of movement as an end in itself, and the form that assertion takes, its articulations of diegetic velocity, corporeality, and spatial penetration? Deploying an attentiveness towards the specificity of aesthetic detail and affective impact in Bay’s delineation of movement, this essay suggests that the franchise poses questions about the relationship of human movement to machine movement that exceed their narrative basis. Identifying a persistent rotational trope in the franchise that in its audio-visual articulation combines oddly anachronistic elements (evoking the mechanical rather than the digital), the article argues that the films prioritise certain fantasies of transformation and spatial penetration, and certain modes of corporeality, as one response to contemporary debates about digital technologisation, sustainable energy, and cinematic spectacle. In this way the franchise also represents a particular moment in a more widely discernible preoccupation in contemporary cinema with what we might call a ‘rotational aesthetics’ of action, a machine movement made possible by the digital, but which invokes earlier histories and fantasies of animation, propulsion, mechanization and mechanization to particular ends.

The seaweed flora of Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctic

Admiralty Bay is located on the western side of King George Island. Although several research teams of different nationalities have carried out surveys in the region for decades, there are only two publications dealing with the seaweed flora of the bay. Here, we report on a taxonomic survey of the seaweeds we collected during the 25th Brazilian Antarctic Expedition (December 2006/November 2007). We discovered 42 species (21 Rhodophyta, 14 Phaeophyceae, and 7 Chlorophyta), corresponding to an increase of about 31% in the seaweed biodiversity hitherto known for the region. Considering that the Antarctic Peninsula, adjacent to King George Island seems to be one of the most rapidly warming spots on the planet, this kind of survey may provide a valuable tool for detecting eventual changes in seaweed biodiversity.

Characterization of organic matter in sediment cores of the Todos os Santos Bay, Bahia, Brazil, by elemental analysis and (13)C NMR

The impact of human activity on the sediments of Todos os Santos Bay in Brazil was evaluated by elemental analysis and (13)C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ((13)C NMR). This article reports a study of six sediment cores collected at different depths and regions of Todos os Santos Bay. The elemental profiles of cores collected on the eastern side of Frades Island suggest an abrupt change in the sedimentation regime. Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) analysis corroborates this result. The range of depths of the cores corresponds to about 50 years ago, coinciding with the implantation of major onshore industrial projects in the region. Principal Component Analysis of the (13)C NMR spectra clearly differentiates sediment samples closer to the Subae estuary, which have high contents of terrestrial organic matter, from those closer to a local oil refinery. The results presented in this article illustrate several important aspects of environmental impact of human activity on this bay. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

At Sunny Bay: building students` repertoire of literacy practices through process drama

This collection of resources provides classroom examples and case studies, offers a platform of ideas for teachers to investigate new ways of building the literacy development of their students.

An early occurrence of Sarcophilus laniarius harrisii (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae) from the early Pleistocene of Nelson Bay, Victoria

The isolated lower molar series of a dasyurid from early Pleistocene sediments at Nelson Bay, near Portland, is referred herein to Sarcophilus laniarius harrisii (Boitard, 1842). Dental measurements and morphological comparisons taken from this tooth series compare closely with those of the extant subspecies. The genus Sarcophilus is known from the early Pleistocene by the species S. moornaensis Crabb 1982. Fossil material assigned to S. laniarius harrisii is now also known from Early Pleistocene sediments. The new specimens from Nelson Bay extend the origin of S. laniarius harrisii to the early Pleistocene.

The breeding biology of the White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) on Mud Islands, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

The White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina) is restricted to three breeding colonies within Victoria: Mud Islands and South Channel Fort in Port Phillip Bay, and Tullaberga Island off Mallacoota. Numbers of these storm petrels breeding on Mud Islands have declined considerably since early last century. White-faced Storm Petrels were recorded on Mud Islands from early September 2002 until mid-March 2003 when the last chicks fledged. Eggs were laid from late October to early December, with chicks hatching in the later half of December. The mean incubation period was 51.7 days (± 3.2 days (s.d.), range = 38–53, n = 13), and may have been extended by periods of egg neglect. The mean nestling period was 54.8 days (± 4.4 days (s.d.), range 50–70, n = 21). Chick growth is described. Hatching success was 54% and fledging success was 77.8%, with overall breeding success being 42%. Burrow densities were found to be influenced by plant species, vegetation height and soil moisture. The position of the burrow within the colony was shown to influence breeding success, with those nearer the edge of the storm petrel colony, closer to the marsh, and further from a colony of Australian White (Threskiornis molucca) and Straw-necked (T. spinicollis) Ibis recording higher success.

Microsatellite DNA analysis of southeast Australian Haliotis laevigata (Donovan) populations - implications for ranching in Port Phillip Bay

The genetic composition of greenlip abalone (Haliotis laevigata) from Point Cook in Port Phillip Bay was examined prior to the aggregation of individuals from this site for ranching. The very thinly distributed natural population at Point Cook was believed to be of low genetic diversity, because the animals all originated from a single spawning event 5 y previously. Animals from Point Cook were compared with other H. laevigata from two sampling sites within Port Phillip Bay, and two sites outside the Bay in Bass Strait, to examine their genetic diversity and origin. Variation was assessed at five microsatellite loci. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were observed at some loci in various populations, but the Point Cook population was in HWE at all five loci. Mean heterozygosity and number of alleles was similar in all populations. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance indicated significant genetic variation among populations, but did not differentiate Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait populations. Pairwise comparisons of multilocus F_STand R_ST indicated significant genetic differences between Point Cook and some populations, as well as between other populations, but no consistent spatial pattern of differentiation was observed. There was no significant correlation between genetic and geographic distance. The level of genetic variation observed in the Point Cook individuals was similar to that in individuals from the other four sites, and sufficient to support a ranching program. However, this variation should be monitored to maximize genetic potential, and avoid commercially undesirable effects of inbreeding. Implications of this study in relation to the management of a ranching population in Port Phillip Bay are discussed.

Ostracoda from Lee Point on Shoal Bay, Northern Australia: part 3, podocopina (cytheracea)

The littoral environments present in Shoal Bay, Northern Territory (Australia) show a high diversity of ostracods cytheráceos (51 genera and 97 species). Probably this diversity is due to three factors: (1) marine environments warm and well oxygenated leading to a high level of biological productivity, (2) shallow marine environments favorable for the accumulation of material conchífero post mortem, and (3) a location central in the way of dispersal on the continental shelf between the regions of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. A particular feature of this fauna Cytherscea is that some genres, such as Alocopocythere, can be traced back to the Cretaceous when it first appeared in the shallow waters of the Tethys. In this overlay component of the ancient ostracods are the dominant fauna in partnerships of the modern Indo / Pacific, such as gender Keiji. While the Cytheracea ostracods are the dominant groups, especially the Cypridacea marine Bairdiacea and Plstycopina, are well represented and are quite different (fide Whatley et al., 1995, 1996). We describe here a new genre, Paraxestoleberis, and 15 new species: Dentibyíhere multituberosa, Dampiercythere papillolineata, Neocyíheromorpha papilloporosa, Loxoconcha catasíeros, Semicyrherura gamma, Callistocyíhere cookei, Loxocorniculum koolpionyahensis, Keúia interim, K. profundosculpia, K. parademissa, Quasibradleya leepoiníensis, Actinocyíhereis gippsi, Henryhowella sinespinosa, Poníicocyíhereis spatulospinosa and Paraxestoleberis posteroacuminata. Due to the limited material obtained, 16 species are kept in open nomenclature: Bythoceratina sp. Corallicyíhere sp. Venericythere sp. Tanella sp. Loxocorniculum sp. 1 L. sp. 2, Gambiella sp. Javanella sp. Paradoxostoma sp. Neomonoceratina sp., Bradley (sl) sp. Echinocytbereis (sl) sp. Plaíycyíhereis? sp. Alocopocyíhere sp. Xestoleberis sp. and Paraxestoleberis sp. The remaining 66 species have been described previously in other areas.

The influence of age on reproductive success and diet in Australasian gannets (Morus Serrator) breeding at Pope's Eye, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria

The influence of age on reproductive success and diet was examined in ‘old’ (experienced; 12 years and older) and ‘young’ (5–8 years of age) Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) breeding at Pope’s Eye, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria during the 2002–2003 breeding period. Although food availability, as indicated by commercial fish catches, throughout this breeding period was low, there were no significant differences in breeding success or chick growth between groups. Nevertheless, old birds tended to have higher reproductive success, replacing more lost eggs and fledging chicks of a greater mass. However, old birds also laid more eggs that failed to hatch. Five fish species, including jack mackerel (Trachurus declivis), barracouta (Thyrsites atun), redbait (Emmelichthys nitidus), anchovy (Engraulis australis) and red mullet (Upeneichthys vlamingii), were important in the gannet diet during this breeding period. There were no significant differences in dietary parameters, including range of species and size of prey, between old and young gannets, nor were there any differences between those of the chicks and their parents, suggesting that adults do not forage selectively for their chicks. This study showed that even during a period of presumed low food availability, when experienced (older) birds might be expected to have enhanced success, the differences between these and less experienced (younger) birds may not be apparent.