Scientists find evidence of tsunamis on Indian Ocean shores long before 2004

Scientists find evidence of tsunamis on Indian Ocean shores long before 2004

A quarter-million people were killed when a tsunami inundated Indian Ocean coastlines the day after Christmas in 2004. Now scientists have found evidence that the event was not a first-time occurrence.

A team working on Phra Thong, a barrier island along the hard-hit west coast of Thailand, unearthed evidence of at least three previous major tsunamis in the preceding 2,800 years, the most recent from about 550 to 700 years ago. That team, led by Kruawun Jankaew of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, included Brian Atwater, a University of Washington affiliate professor of Earth and space sciences and a U.S. Geological Survey geologist.

A second team found similar evidence of previous tsunamis during the last 1,200 years in Aceh, a province at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra where more than half the deaths from the 2004 tsunami occurred.

Findings from both teams are published in the Oct. 30 edition of Nature.

Sparse knowledge of the region's tsunami history contributed to the loss of life in 2004, the scientists believe. Few people living along the coasts knew to heed the natural tsunami warnings, such as the strong shaking felt in Aceh and the rapid retreat of ocean water from the shoreline that was observed in Thailand.

But on an island just off the coast of Aceh most people safely fled to higher ground in 2004 because the island's oral history includes information about a devastating tsunami in 1907.

"A region's tsunami history can serve as a long-term warning system," Atwater said.

The research will reinforce the importance of tsunami education as an essential part of early warning, said Jankaew, the lead author.

"Many people in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, believe, or would like to believe, that it will never happen again," Jankaew said. "This will be a big step towards mitigating the losses from future tsunami events."

The team found evidence for previous tsunamis by digging pits and auguring holes at more than 150 sites on an island about 75 miles north of Phuket, a Thai tourist resort area ravaged by the 2004 tsunami. That tsunami was generated 300 miles to the west when the seafloor was warped during a magnitude 9.2 earthquake.

At 20 sites in marshes, the researchers found layers of white sand about 4 inches thick alternating with layers of black peaty soil. Witnesses confirmed that the top sand layer, just below the surface, was laid down by the 2004 tsunami, which ran 20 to 30 feet deep across much of the island.

Radiocarbon dating of bark fragments in soil below the second sand layer led the scientists to estimate that the most recent predecessor to the 2004 tsunami probably occurred between A.D. 1300 and 1450. They also noted signs of two earlier tsunamis during the last 2,500 to 2,800 years.

There are no known written records describing an Indian Ocean tsunami between A.D. 1300 and 1450, including the accounts of noted Islamic traveler Ibn Battuta and records of the great Ming Dynasty armadas of China, both of which visited the area at different times during that period. Atwater hopes the new geologic evidence might prompt historians to check other Asian documents from that era.

"This research demonstrates that tsunami geology, both recent and past tsunamis, can help extend the tsunami catalogues far beyond historical records," Jankaew said.

The new findings also carry lessons for the northwest coast of North America, where scientists estimate that many centuries typically elapse between catastrophic tsunamis generated by the Cascadia subduction zone.

"Like Aceh, Cascadia has a history of tsunamis that are both infrequent and catastrophic, and that originate during earthquakes that provide a natural tsunami warning," Atwater said. "This history calls for sustained efforts in tsunami education."

WEATHER NOTE

FROM NWS CHICAGO

River Ice Spotters Wanted

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Chicago/Romeoville, IL is looking for individuals that live or work along rivers to become part of our river ice spotter network. The river ice spotter network was created last year and was a great success. It consisted of ice spotters living primarily along the Kankakee River that provided valuable data on ice cover and ice jam flooding to our office. We would like to expand our network this season to include ice spotters along other rivers in northern Illinois including the Fox and Rock rivers.

Ice jams can result in rapid and devastating flooding. Although the NWS does monitor automated river gages, they typically do not accurately reflect the current conditions upstream and downstream due to the isolated nature of ice jams. It is also important to know the extent of the current ice cover and other conditions. That kind of information can only be obtained from visual observations. Under no circumstances are river ice spotters to actually go out on the ice! Your safety is important to us. Observations should be made from a safe location only.

River ice spotters will receive basic training that will cover ice formation and ice reporting procedures.

If you are interested please contact Bill Morris, Hydrologist at the National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville office. Please include your name, address, phone number, and email.

Thank you!

MARITIME NOTE

Maritime Transportation And Shipping Talk

Maritime Transportation In North Atlantic - Winter Time

North Atlantic Ocean can be an unforgiving place to be in the winter. Any seafarer that works in this area knows that firsthand. More than likely they have seen how ruffs this area can be. Nerves are stretched and senses are on high alert. Leaving port, a last check on all lashing, weather-doors and hatches. Forecast looks ok at the moment but things can change in a hurry up here in the North Atlantic wintertime.

Modern equipment for weather and navigation has made things easier for preparation but it should not make you complacent. I guess that a few hours of steaming should be enough time to see if all is ok with cargo lashings etc. Making rounds and verifying lashings and other security is routine on most cargo ships but the North Atlantic makes for heightened security inspections and attention to details become more important than ever. Your life might just depend on it. Stress on ship and men are extreme this time of the year.

So what are some of the factors involved?

From a safety point of view onboard the ship, nothing should really change but it does. Maximum safety precautions should be taken no matter what time of the year it is but wintertime a few is added and some of the others are simply strengthened. Winter brings with it freezing condition in addition to the bad weather so ice build up becomes a great concern. Any build up of ice on deck will change the stability of the ship and therefore has to be watched very carefully and removed before it becomes a problem.

One thing I have found is that a couple of good fan heaters mounted under the forecastle can be of great help in reducing the amount of ice build-up. Use of ice mallets by the crew in order to physically remove the ice is almost guaranteed this time of the year. I prefer the hardwood type myself, as I seem to get more of an impact with it. I have tried the rubber ones and also the plastic but they don’t give same effect on the ice. One positive thing about the rubber/plastic ones is that it doesn’t damage the paint as much as the hardwood ones.

Wintertime storms make the sea a bit ruff and the movements of the ship makes for possible movement of cargo onboard. One inch to start can become 1 foot in a hurry if it gets the room to play. This is one of the reasons for the inspection rounds as we talked bout earlier on. To verify and tighten lashings are a part of regular routine onboard.

Cargo lashing gears are strengthened and some are doubled up for maximum effect. A Container Ship is typical for this type of arrangement and also a very exposed type of ships as it usually carries a lot of containers on deck. A Tank Ship is somewhat less exposed as all cargo is liquid and below deck in tanks. However it can be rolling quiet a bit more than the container ship. It all depends on the cargo and how it’s loaded.

RS

When It Comes To Sea Level Changing Glaciers, New NASA Technique Measures Up

When It Comes To Sea Level Changing Glaciers, New NASA Technique Measures Up

ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2008) — A NASA-led research team has used satellite data to make the most precise measurements to date of changes in the mass of mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska, a region expected to be a significant contributor to global sea level rise over the next 50-100 years.

Geophysicist Scott Luthcke of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and colleagues knew from well-documented research that changes in the cryosphere – glaciers, ice caps, and other parts of the globe covered year-round by ice -- are a key source of most global sea level rise. Melting ice will also bring changes to freshwater resources and wildlife habitat. Knowing that such ice-covered areas are difficult to observe consistently, the team worked to develop a satellite-based method that could accurately quantify glacial mass changes across seasons and years, and even discern whether individual glacier regions are growing or shrinking.

The study's authors found that the annual ice mass lost from glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska has been 84 gigatons annually, about five times the average annual flow of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and equal to the entire amount of water in the Chesapeake Bay.

"The Gulf of Alaska region is 20 times smaller than the ice-covered area of Greenland, yet it contributes nearly half as much freshwater melt as Greenland and accounts for about 15 percent of present-day global sea level rise stemming from melting ice," said Luthcke, lead author of the study which will appear this week in the Journal of Glaciology. "Considering that the Gulf of Alaska makes such a disproportionate contribution, it is vital that we know more about the nature of glacial change there."

Luthcke and colleagues found a way to remotely measure the "mass balance" of a glacier; that is, the net annual difference between ice accumulation and ice loss. Past measurements of glacial mass balance in remote mountain ranges have been sparse or imprecise. Ground-based sensors can provide long-term data, but such data points are scattered due to the inaccessibility of many remote mountain ranges. Altimeters aboard aircraft can measure changes in the height of glaciers, but the sampling is sporadic because flights are relatively infrequent.

Glaciers in the coastal environments on the edge of the Arctic or Antarctic shed and gain mass rapidly, a high mass turnover that is particularly sensitive to climate change. Warming seas can accelerate the motion of tidewater glaciers, and melt water on glacial surfaces can flow to the floors of glaciers and serve as a lubricant as the ice slides toward the sea. The subsequent addition of freshwater to the ocean contributes to one of two sources of global sea level rise; "eustatic" rise resulting from melted ice in the form of freshwater, with the other source set off by "thermal expansion," sea level rise that occurs due to warming ocean temperatures.

The Goddard-led research team developed a new data analysis technique for NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. GRACE is made up of twin satellites that orbit Earth about 137 miles apart and 300 miles above Earth's surface. The positions of the two satellites change in response to variations in Earth's gravity field, which is stronger or weaker depending on the land or ice mass that they are flying over. Microwave ranging systems measure the distance between the two satellites down to the width of a human hair, so by measuring the change in the distance between the satellites over time, researchers can essentially "weigh" the changes in Gulf of Alaska glaciers.

Using data collected by the GRACE satellites from 2003-2007, as well as unique processing and analysis techniques, Luthcke and colleagues were able to measure the mass of the glaciers every 10 days across an area spanning 18,919 square miles, about the equivalent of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.

The team found the largest ice mass losses occurring in the Yakutat, Glacier Bay, and St. Elias regions. Those observations are consistent with recent studies from aircraft-based altimeters and other satellites.

"The consistent and direct measurement of ice-mass change made possible by the GRACE data and the analysis techniques applied in this study provide unprecedented observations that further our knowledge of the region's complex ice evolution," said Luthcke.

The most rapid glacial melt, according to Luthcke and colleagues, came in response to the summer heat wave of 2004, when the region's glaciers shed 374 gigatons of ice, or about 98 cubic miles of ice. In comparison, the record for Greenland ice melt was 500 gigatons, or about 131 cubic miles, during the summer of 2007.

"With such rapid change taking place in such a critical area, we need to be able to more reliably observe how these glaciers are responding," said Luthcke. "The direct measurement of ice-mass variation is important for improving our modeling capability and for ultimately predicting future changes."

WEATHER NOTE

Colors of the ocean make their way into a book

The compositions are simple: cresting waves, a stretch of sand, a field of sky. In some, glimmering sunlight highlights the ocean’s surface. In others, a protected cove is defined by water that ebbs and flows over sand. Gray cloudscapes sometimes threaten; the water might be rough.

Regardless, all the watercolor paintings seem serene, and project an air of solitude. No one inhabits these beaches—the viewer is one with the vista, alone, looking out to sea.

And this is exactly what artist Mike Solomon intended. It’s how he experiences the ocean while scanning sea conditions, waiting to surf. Waiting for the perfect time to put away his paints, grab his board and see how the shoreline view meshes with surfing reality.

The paintings can easily stand on their own. But closer examination brings a subtle surprise—there is writing across the bottom of the composition. At first, it seems like some sort of code: a numerical date, an actual time or time of day, a location. Notations on swell heights, air temperature, water temperature and weather-related information follow. The words are clinical, factual: a straight reporting of conditions. Then, unexpectedly, the personal.

A single sentence punctuates the text, changing the whole experience. The words can be simple like “(Michele’s Birthday)” or “A couple of guys out.” Sometimes the reference leans toward the poetic: “Strong offshores and shoulder high swell at low tide—all the elements baking in the sun.”

In some works, an unexpected twist concludes the text: “I sat and watched for a couple of hours but saw nothing worth enduring that cold for.” Or, “Claudia took her expensive sunglasses off and hid them in a crevice, never to be found again…” or “Xavier, the owner, offers me a beer.”

Yet other comments are more reflective: “They say Mike Diffenderfer used to surf the wave off the island. I would.” Or, “small surf can change on the tide—got it on the high a few days later—surprisingly good sometimes,” or “…No one out yet, just me with a few birds…” The cumulative effect changes the art and renders it more personal. Reading the small writing beneath the composition requires moving closer to the work, which the artist hopes will evoke the experience of feeling connected to the seascape and help viewers experience the artwork more intensely. These effects are of a piece with Mr. Solomon’s intentions.

“The paintings are deceptively simple,” he said. “They are memories of a specific time and place. The diaristic aspect is my way of bringing people closer to experiencing the ocean and the day the way that I did.”

Viewing a painting from close range also creates the sensation of “seeing” the view that lies beyond the 
parameters of the painting, Mr. Solomon explained.

“How we look at these paintings is important,” he said. “It’s not just what’s in the painting and what we see there. The work is about how we look at something.”

There’s no doubt the series of watercolor paintings is personal. The diaristic entries are part of it—but so are seascapes painted so that the emotional resonance of his experience radiates from the multi-layered composition.

The watercolor paintings take center stage in two manifestations. A series of 12 paintings is currently being shown in a solo show at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller at 36 Newtown Lane in East Hampton. And 36 paintings are the substance of Mr. Solomon’s new book, “Meterological Watercolors,” with the title a nod to the weather and water notations that accompany each painting.

The 80-page book is self-created and will be available through the publisher, Blurb.com, in December, for $60. A foreword was written by Alicia G. Longwell, chief curator at the Parrish Art Museum. Signed copies are available now at Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, 87 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, for $75, and copies are also available through the artist’s website, www.mikesolomon.com.

The book contains artwork made from 1999 to August 2008, printed in chronological order. The paintings occupy the right-hand page with the text set on the opposite page. The foreword is the only introduction and explanation for the artwork. Some of the art is already part of collections held by private individuals or museums.

Watercolors are not Mr. Solomon’s primary method of expression. He is known more for abstract expressionist paintings and minimalist sculptures. His subject matter is often inspired by waves and the ocean, reflecting his lifelong love of surfing and the sea. He decided to create a series of watercolor paintings after uncovering a sketchbook from his 20s when he lived and surfed on the California coast.

Like the current series of paintings, his notebook artwork was rendered in watercolors while on site. After examining the combination of words and images, Mr. Solomon decided there was something that still spoke to him in the work. So he set out to create a new series of paintings.

Most of the compositions are painted on site. The painting is then developed and completed in his studio using multiple layers of watercolors. Sometimes the views are local; other times they capture foreign locales. The local site names were changed to protect beloved surfing spots.

Mr. Solomon’s aim is to conjure the mood and experience of watching a specific stretch of ocean at a specific time while gauging the surf conditions. Sometimes the mood is based on a two-hour span; other times a full day of observation is synthesized.

“It’s not a photograph,” Mr. Solomon said. “It’s not an exact replica—it’s a painting. I’m capturing a memory of that moment and that particular place.”

The exhibition, “Mike Solomon/Meteorological Watercolors,” remains on view through November 29 at John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, 36 Newtown Lane, East Hampton. The gallery is open weekends. For information, call 324-5561 or visit Johnmcwhinne.com .

Further information on Mr. Solomon’s art can be found at www.mikesolomon.com. He is represented by Salomon Contemporary (no relation). The book can be ordered in December through blurb.com.

Have You Seen Our Hourly Weather Graphs?

Have you ever wanted to know what the forecast temperature is for 2 PM the next day? Or what the chance of rain is at 7 AM Friday morning? Did you know you can get hourly forecasts out to seven days on our website? You can! Weather forecast graphs, just like the one below, can be created and custom tailored to your location with just a few mouse clicks on our website!

MARITIME NOTE

PhilNaRe's profit falls after paying for marine accident claims

MANILA, Philippines - The National Reinsurance Corp. of the Philippines (PhilNaRe) said profit fell by more than half as it paid claims to beneficiaries of marine accident victims, including those in the Princess of the Stars tragedy.

Net income for the third quarter of 2008 plunged 52 percent to P45.8 million from P95.6 million during the same period last year, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

Claims and losses from July to September reached P236.2 million, 73.4 percent more than last year’s P136.2 million, said PhilNaRe, which helps other firms share their insurance risks.

“Claims incurred in the current quarter include large marine losses including, among others, Princess of the Stars, Sea Bass Carriers, and Oceanic Container Line," the company said.

However, the company earned from foreign currency gains as its investments and other income reached P119.4 million during the three-month period, higher than the P82.1 million reported from July to September last year.

During the period, expenses climbed to P43 million, 45.67 percent more than the P30 million it spent last year. The company hiked employee benefits and salaries and paid taxes, licenses, and professional fees.

Earnings for the first nine months declined due to the fall in underwriting and investment income.

“Net income for the first three quarters was P238 million, P179 million or 43 percent lower than last year’s performance," the company said.

Meanwhile, expenses for the nine-month period went up by 37.5 percent to P123.6 million as against last year’s P89.9 million.

On the other hand, investment and other income declined by 6.6 percent to P350.4 million in the first nine months of 2007, the company said.

“The decline was largely due to the absence of trading opportunities during the period owing to the steep drop in the Philippine stock market," the company said. “Higher interest rates also negatively affected the valuation of the company’s investment portfolio, which is concentrated largely in fixed-income investments." - GMANews.TV

RS

2008 tornado season could blow away records

2008 tornado season could blow away records

(USA TODAY) The 2008 tornado season is on track to set a record for the number of tornadoes in the USA, according to National Weather Service data.

Through July, 1,390 tornadoes were officially recorded in the first seven months of a year - the most ever. The annual record for tornadoes in the USA is 1,817, set in 2004.

"This year, every month has been above average for tornadoes," says Greg Forbes, of the Weather Channel.

"The 123 deaths so far this year are the second most in the Doppler-radar era, behind only 1998, when tornadoes killed 130," Forbes says.

Official numbers from the weather service's Storm Prediction Center since Aug. 1 aren't available yet, but preliminary reports for the period since then show as many as 300 tornadoes could be added. On top of that, October and November are usually very active for tornadoes.

"We tend to see a peak in the central Plains and Midwest in October, and the Southeast USA in November," says meteorologist Gregory Carbin at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. This month, the center says there have been 17 preliminary reports of tornadoes. Preliminary reports must be checked for duplication.

The number of tornadoes this year already is well above the 1,270 tornadoes the nation normally sees in a year, according to the National Weather Service.

"2008 will compete with 2004 as far as total numbers for the year," Carbin says. "There's a good chance that 2008 will see the greatest number of observed tornadoes on record."

February saw 148 tornadoes, by far a record; the February average is 28, Forbes says. May's 460 tornadoes made it the third most active May on record.

"The pattern in May and June was quite active" Carbin says. "We'd have two to three strong storm systems a week."

Although the number of reports has risen sharply since the early 1990s, Forbes says many of the weaker tornadoes probably would not have been recorded in earlier decades. Reliable tornado records in the USA go back to 1950.

An increase in national Doppler radar coverage, population sprawl into previously little-occupied areas and greater attention to reporting have contributed to the rising number of tornado reports, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

WEATHER NOTE

Format Change for Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) From 24 Hour Format to 30 Hour Format: Effective November 5 2008.


MARITIME NOTE

From Freaque Waves....

Friday, October 10, 2008

Another small boat capsizing ascribed to a freaque wave

Similar story, different part of the world oceans. This time it happens in Victoria, Australia. According to The Standard:

A CATAMARAN dubbed 'Battle Cat' felt the full fury of the sea when it was capsized and destroyed off The Flume yesterday.

The catamaran was travelling west 300 metres off the coast from Granny's Grave to The Flume at 5.30pm when a strong wind dropped and a freak wave capsized the boat.

The occupants of the vessel, Warrnambool's Kevin Chisholm, 26 and Jack Curwen-Walker, 19, escaped from the wreckage relatively unscathed.

The bad news is that's another case ascribed to a freaque wave with no particular details. The good news is that both boaters are "escaped from the wreckage relatively unscathed." Thanks be to God!

NOAA – new GPS reference stations added

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a news release stating that it recently incorporated 43 new GPS tracking sites into the Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network. These GPS correctors enable users to determine three-dimensional locations with an accuracy of a few meters. (10/8/08).

RS

Hurricane Ike Impact Felt In Space

Hurricane Ike Impact Felt In Space

ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2008) — Hurricane Ike has delayed the scheduled Friday arrival of a Russian Progress cargo ship at the International Space Station 220 miles above Earth.

The Progress docking was postponed when the space station's control room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston was closed Thursday because of the approaching storm.

Control of the space station was handed to flight controllers at backup facilities near Austin, Texas, and Huntsville, Ala. Because the Mission Control Center in Houston is responsible for commanding many of the station's systems, U.S. and Russian officials agreed to delay the docking.

Russian flight controllers will execute a maneuver to place the Progress spacecraft into a safe orbit away from the station until docking, which is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 17. If Johnson's control center is not restored to full capability for docking, one of the backup facilities may be used to command the station's systems.

Station Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Greg Chamitoff are awaiting the arrival of the cargo ship. The spacecraft is carrying more than 2 tons of supplies, including food and fuel.

Hurricane Ike Spurs 2,000 Rescues; Thousands More Await

When Hurricane Ike blasted the U.S. Gulf Coast on Saturday, an estimated 140,000 Texas residents refused to evacuate when ordered to do so.

Now 1,984 of these people have been rescued so far in Texas, including 394 by air, authorities said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. A door-to-door search continues in Galveston, where Ike came ashore early Saturday.

(See Hurricane Ike photos.)

Officials are urging all residents of Galveston to stay away from the barrier island, telling them there is no way to live there right now. It could take up to a month to restore power, and roads are still flooded. (VIDEO: Hurricane Ike Devastation.)

Crews navigated debris-strewn streets to reach people still stuck in some of the thousands of homes flooded by the hurricane. Authorities imposed a curfew in Houston and warned it would be weeks before the nation's fourth largest city is fully back up and running.

Heavy morning rains hampered rescue efforts in the hardest-hit areas of the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Meanwhile, residents who had evacuated and tried to return to the Houston area found interstates and streets blocked by flooding and debris.

Authorities hoped to spare thousands of Texans from another night amid the destruction. Eight deaths have been blamed on the storm, and authorities are worried the toll could rise.

"I'm worried about my mother's medical condition. We haven't been able to get to anyone at the clinic on the phone," said Zee Ellis, whose mother, 80-year-old Ruth Willis, fled Houston with her family ahead of the storm.

As they waited out a downpour along Interstate 10 on Sunday morning, Ellis said her mother's cancer treatments had been interrupted as they had moved from place to place, looking for shelter and electricity.

U.S. President George W. Bush planned to travel to Texas on Tuesday to express sympathy and lend support to the storm's victims. He asked people who evacuated before the hurricane to listen to local authorities before trying to return home.

In Houston a weeklong curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. has been imposed, because most of the city is still without power. Highways, darkened streetlights, and pooled water make it difficult to drive.

"In the interest of safety, we're asking people to not be out in the streets in their vehicles or on foot," the Houston police chief, Harold Hurtt, said.

In Hackberry, Louisiana, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the coast, workers moved a large shrimp boat out of the highway with a bulldozer. But the team had to stop because of strong currents in the floodwaters and difficulty in seeing the roadway.

"You can't see the sides of the road, and if you left the road, you'd just be swept away," National Guard spokesperson Sgt. Rebekah Malone said. About 20 people have been evacuated by boat in Hackberry.

Residents of the tiny community of Seabrook, Texas, near NASA's Johnson Space Center, were met by a roadblock as they tried to return home, and police officers standing in the rain turned them away. At times the line was 6 to 12 cars deep.

"It's going to be a while," an officer shouted to one man as he made a U-turn. "Just listen to the news."

"Seabrook is a disaster area: no sewer, no infrastructure. It really isn't safe," said officer Charlie Skinner. "It's making residents pretty upset. I understand, but … There's an order signed by the mayor. We can't let anybody in."

Overnight, a team of paramedics, rescue dogs, and structural engineers fanned out under a nearly full moon on a finger of land in Galveston Bay. To the northeast, Coast Guard crews also worked into early Sunday morning, pulling a half dozen people out of Bridge City before rescue missions were suspended for the night.

Five-year-old Jack King escaped serious injury when a rush of storm-surge water washed out the first floor of his family's Galveston home just two blocks from the bay.

"I falled in the attic," the boy told paramedic Stanley Hempstead of his ten-foot (three-meter) tumble through the attic and onto the garage floor.

Jack and his family rode out the storm with blankets and other supplies. As the Texas Task Force 1 Search and Rescue crew arrived, Jack gazed at a TV aglow with The Simpsons, a Band-Aid covering a gash on his head.

"We just didn't think it was going to come up like this," said the boy's father, Lee King. "I'm from New Orleans, I know better. I just didn't think it was going to happen."

On one side of the Galveston peninsula, two barges had broken loose and smashed into homes. Everything from red vinyl barstools to clay roof tiles litters the landscape.

The second floors of some homes sit where the first floors were before Ike's surge washed them out, and only frames remain below the roofs of others, opening a clear view from front yard to back.

Eight deaths have been blamed on the storm—five in Texas, two in Louisiana and one in Arkansas. Authorities said Sunday three people have been found dead in Galveston, including one person found in a submerged vehicle near the airport. Another person died in Arkansas when a tree fell on his mobile home as the remnants swept through.

Texas Governor Rick Perry's office said 940 people had been saved by nightfall Saturday but that thousands had made distress calls the night before. Another 600 have been rescued from flooding in Louisiana.

In Orange, Texas, Mayor Brown Claybar estimated about a third of the city of 19,000 people was flooded, from 6 inches (15 centimeters) of water to 6 feet (183 centimeters). He said about 375 people who stayed behind during the storm had begun to emerge, some needing food, water, and medical care.

"These people got out with the wet shirts on their back," Claybar said. He said he did not know how many were still stranded. He didn't know exactly how long it would take to pump water out of the city.

Hurricane Ike was the first major storm to directly hit a major U.S. metro area since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

Ike weakened to a tropical depression early Sunday morning but was still packing winds up to 35 miles (56 kilometers) as it dumped rain over Arkansas and traveled across Missouri. Tornado-warning sirens sounded Saturday in parts of Arkansas, and the storm downed trees and knocked out power to thousands there.

More than three million people were without power in Texas at the height of the storm, and it could be weeks before electric service is fully restored. Utilities had made some progress by late Saturday, and lights had returned to parts of Houston.

In Louisiana, battered by both Ike and Labor Day's Hurricane Gustav, 180,000 homes and businesses were in the dark.

Those residents who did leave were glad they had heeded orders, despite the inconvenience. Retired nurse Ida Mayfield said that, because Gustav hit Louisiana and not Beaumont two weeks ago, many people had decided not to evacuate ahead of Ike. She was warm and dry at a church-turned-shelter in Tyler, along with thousands of her neighbors.

"Two o'clock this morning made a believer out of all of them," said the 52-year-old Mayfield, adding that she spoke to a friend Saturday who was on a roof waiting for help after calling 911. "They're scared now."

Associated Press Writers Pauline Arrillaga in Houston, Jay Root and Kelley Shannon in Austin, Doug Simpson in Baton Rouge, April Castro, Mark Williams and Andre Coe in College Station, Allen G. Breed in Surfside Beach, Juan Lozano in Orange, Elizabeth White in San Antonio and Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

HURRICANE BASICS

IKE AND CHICAGO!

KLOT - September 13^th to 14^th Flooding Event

A tropical air mass set up across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana which led to a large portion of the region ending up with substantial flooding. The heaviest rain began early on Saturday the 13^th and lasted through most of the day, with a brief period in the evening where rain finally ceased. Rainfall amounts were generally in the 4 to 8 inch range across the hardest hit areas, which spans across most of northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. Numerous streets and highways have shut down because of the heavy rain along with basement flooding. The large swath of heavy rain has also caused most rivers in the region to climb into flood stage, with major to record flooding forecast on some rivers. Additionally, the 6.64 inches of rain that fell at O’Hare International Airport on the 13^th established a new all time record calendar day rainfall for Chicago, where records date back to 1871. The previous record was on August 14, 1987 when 6.49 inches fell. The following is a map plotting out all of the Flood or Flash Flood reports received by the National Weather Service in Romeoville from Saturday morning through Saturday evening as well as the radar estimate of the event from Friday evening (when rainfall was light) through Sunday morning.

Flood reports from September 13^th to 14^th

NWS Chicago Doppler radar estimate of rainfall from Friday evening into Sunday morning. Green shading indicates 1 to 2.5 inches, yellow shading indicates 2.5 to 5 inches, while red shading indicates 5 to 10 inches of rain.

Unfortunately, the rainfall is not over. The tropical remnants of what was Hurricane Ike are moving northeastward into the region and combined with a cold front trying to push through has led to the redevelopment of light to moderate rainfall. As the remnants of Ike reach the Chicago area later this morning, the rainfall is expected to intensify with additional amounts of 1 to 2 inches with locally higher amounts of 4 inches by this evening. With most areas still having standing water and rivers stressed to their limits, any additional rainfall is going to make conditions worse.

Residents of northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana are asked to take caution and beware of flooded roadways. With the amount of roads that have been closed due to flooding, some municipalities have run out of signs to mark roadways that are flooded. Take particular caution if you are driving at night as a flooded roadway may not be noticeable until you are upon it. As always, it is very difficult to judge how deep the standing or flowing water over a roadway may be, so turn around and don’t drown!

Here are a few helpful links to monitor the flooding…

AHPS/River Info

Latest Text Flood Warnings/Statements

Latest Storm Reports

HPC Day 1: 24 Hour Quantitative Precipitation Forecast

HPC Excessive Rainfall Forecast

Additional information can always be found on NWS Chicago’s website at weather.gov/chicago

Rainfall Totals From the Storm September 12-14 2008!

Here are the storm total precipitation amounts from our Cooperative Observers as well as our CoCoRaHs observers across Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana. It covers the period from 7 am Friday, September 12 through 7 am Monday, September 15, 2008. The table below is listed from highest to lowest amounts. If you would like to see the list by county, click here.

Thank you to all our volunteers who reported during this rain event!

Station ID	Name	3 day total
IN-PT-64	VALPARAISO 1.4 ENE	11.02
IN-PT-32	PORTAGE 0.9 ESE	10.74
IN-PT-69	PORTER 0.6 S	10.69
IN-PT-34	CHESTERTON 1.7 WSW	10.59
IL-DP-53	WHEATON 1.7 N	10.53
ELBI2	ELBURN	10.51
IL-KN-30	ELBURN 0.4 NW	10.51
IN-PT-60	LAKES OF THE FOUR SEASONS	10.41
IN-PT-8	VALPARAISO 0.6 SE	10.33
IL-CK-107	EVANSTON 1.4 N	10.20
IN-PT-27	KOUTS 2.8 N	10.16
IN-PT-62	VALPARAISO 7.4 WSW	10.09
IL-CK-69	PARK FOREST 0.8 NNE	10.01
IN-LK-6	CROWN POINT 6.6 ESE	9.94
IN-PT-1	VALPARAISO 3.9 NNW	9.87
IN-LP-14	MICHIGAN CITY 1.3 SSW	9.79
IL-CK-84	BARTLETT 1.2 NE	9.78
IN-PT-13	VALPARAISO 6.2 WSW	9.74
IN-PT-30	VALPARAISO 5.8 WSW	9.67
IN-LK-31	MERRILLVILLE 0.8 NNW	9.37
IL-CK-46	DES PLAINES 0.5 NW	9.36
IN-PT-19	VALPARAISO 5.9 NW	9.22
SCKI2	ST CHARLES 7 NW	9.18
PAWI2	PAW PAW	9.16
IL-KN-8	GENEVA 3.3 WSW	9.15
IL-KN-58	LILY LAKE 2.1 E	9.13
IN-PT-43	CHESTERTON 2.3 ESE	9.13
SCHI2	ST CHARLES	9.10
IL-KN-68	GENEVA 0.9 N	9.09
IN-PT-12	VALPARAISO 4.3 SW	9.09
IL-KN-64	ST CHARLES 0.1 E	9.08
IN-LK-26	CROWN POINT 1.1 N	9.04
IL-KN-66	GENEVA 1.0 E	9.03
IL-DP-34	WEST CHICAGO 2.7 N	9.02
IL-CK-75	ELK GROVE VILLAGE 2.2 WSW	8.95
IN-LK-8	HAMMOND 3.0 SW	8.95
IN-PT-44	CROWN POINT 7.6 ESE	8.90
IL-CK-64	HOMEWOOD 0.1 ESE	8.89
IL-KN-31	ST CHARLES 1.6 SW	8.83
IN-PT-14	CHESTERTON 3.0 ESE	8.77
IL-CK-76	FLOSSMOOR 1.1 ESE	8.76
IN-PT-25	VALPARAISO 5.1 WSW	8.76
IL-CK-63	ELK GROVE VILLAGE 0.6 ESE	8.74
IL-DP-61	ROSELLE 0.5 S	8.61
STAI2	STREATOR	8.55
IL-WL-25	CRETE 2.6 E	8.55
IN-LK-24	CROWN POINT 2.0 WSW	8.55
IL-KN-63	GENEVA 1.7 WSW	8.54
IL-KN-1	GENEVA 1.6 ENE	8.52
IL-DP-42	CAROL STREAM 0.3 SSE	8.51
IL-CK-18	SKOKIE 1.0 NNE	8.47
IL-DP-11	CAROL STREAM 0.7 WNW	8.45
IN-PT-18	HEBRON 3.7 NE	8.31
IL-KN-33	NORTH AURORA 1.5 NE	8.27
IL-KN-10	ELGIN 0.9 WSW	8.26
IL-KN-23	BATAVIA 1.5 WNW	8.23
IL-KN-57	GENEVA 1.9 W	8.21

Continue Reading

MARITIME NOTE

A Sri Lanka Rice Cargo Ship Sinks Near Chittagong Harbor – 16 Crew Men Rescued, One Missing Thu, 2008-08-21 14:31

By Walter Jayawardhana

A Sri Lankan cargo vessel carrying 3609 tons of rice was sunk off Banglades’s Chiitagong harbor after colliding with a Panamanian empty tanker , the harbor authorities said.

Radio Controller of Chittagong Port Authoritiy,Wahidur Rahman said, “After receiving an SOS from the vessel rescue boats of the harbor authorities saved 16 Sri Lankan and Myanmar crew men but one Myanmar man was still missing.”

The rice laden Sri Lankan vessel, “Badulu Valley” collided with the unloaded Panamanian oil Tanker, Hung Geu in the rough weather August 20 at 11.45 Chittagon time and capsized by the rough sea.

The port authorities said the Chief Engineer of the vessel, Aung kian, a Myanmar national is believed to be trapped inside engine room of the sunken cargo ship.

The accident is believed to have occurred near the outer anchorage of the Chittagon Harbor. The rice laden ship was believed to be moving towards the jetty while the unloaded oil tanker was anchored about one nautical mile away from the coast when the accident happened.

When captain of the sinking Sri Lankan ship radioed an SOS three rescue vessels rushed to the spot and rescued the 16 crewmen.

The sunken vessel sailed from Kakinada port in Orrisa, India on August 17 and was scheduled to berth at Chittagong port Wednesday, said Chief of Operation of the local agent of the vessel- CLA.

Though the oil tanker suffered physical damage following the collision, it fortunately did not catch fire as its hatch was empty, a local newspaper reported.

An official of the local agent of the sunken vessel Continental Liner Agencies (CLA) Saiful Ahmed said that the rescued crew was Myanmar and Sri Lankan nationals.
The search work for the missing engineer started by marking the place of accident.

Sources closed to the rescue workers said that the possibility of finding the missing person is bleak.

However, Radio control room suspected that the missing man might have been trapped in the engine room and the body could be found after recovery of the wreckage.

A two-member probe body comprising - Captain Jashim Uddin and Assistant Harbour Master Rahmat Ullah - has been formed to look into the incident, secretary of the CPA Farhad Syed Uddin Ahmed said.

The probe team has been asked to submit its report within seven days.

10:00AM 16 September 2008 =WebCast

Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Oil Spill in New Orleans in July 2008 and Safety on the Inland River System

* 2167 Rayburn House Office Building

Full Summary of Subject Matter

RS

IKE!

Hurricane Ike Aims at Houston; Evacuations Called

By Brian K. Sullivan

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ike tripled in size in the central Gulf of Mexico on a weekend collision course with the 5.6 million residents of the Houston area.

Traffic jammed highways as Texas coastal communities evacuated.

The system's strongest winds extend as far as 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the eye, up from 35 miles yesterday, the Miami- based National Hurricane Center said today. Ike's wind field is now larger than that of Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005, said Jeff Masters, the director of meteorology at private forecaster Weather Underground Inc.

``The total amount of energy is more powerful than Katrina, so we could be seeing a storm surge that could rival Katrina,'' Masters said. The storm is so large ``the location doesn't matter much; it is going to inundate a huge part of the Texas coast.''

Three houses away from Galveston Bay in LaPorte, Jamie and April Ybarra packed their two children, two dogs and cat into a Chevy sports utility vehicle and prepared to leave.

``I think the call for evacuation came a little late,'' Jamie Ybarra, a 32-year-old safety coordinator, said. ``You hear the roads are crowded; you hear people are losing their cool.''

This is the third time the family has evacuated in three years, April Ybarra said. And ``we may not be coming back here for awhile.''

Galveston, parts of southern Houston and areas south of the city and near the Texas coast were under a mandatory evacuation order that started at noon today. Hurricane Ike is following a track similar to the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 8,000 people, the deadliest storm in U.S. history.

Felt Before Landfall

Ike was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 100 mph, up from 80 mph yesterday, the center said in an advisory at 4 p.m. Houston time. Its central pressure is more like that associated with a Category 3 or 4 storm, Masters said.

``It is a massive storm; it is impacting in terms of its scope 40 percent of the Gulf,'' said Michael Chertoff, U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, in a conference call from Washington. ``The most important message I can send is, do not take this storm lightly. This is not a storm to gamble with. It is large and powerful and carries a lot of water with it.''

The storm is 400 miles east-southeast of Galveston and moving west-northwest at 10 mph, with landfall south of Galveston forecast for early Sept. 13. Because of its size, Ike will be felt along the Texas coast long before its eye makes landfall.

Strengthening Likely

The center's forecasters said Ike may strengthen to at least a major hurricane with Category 3 intensity, meaning sustained winds of at least 111 mph, before landfall. Other forecasters predict Ike may become a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, packing winds from 131 to 155 mph.

The storm is forecast to sweep through the center of the Gulf, missing the offshore Louisiana oil and natural gas fields. The Gulf is home to about a quarter of U.S. oil production.

Even so, about 96 percent of all oil production in the Gulf has been shut in along with 73.1 percent of natural gas facilities, according to the Minerals Management Service, a bureau of the Interior Department. Some facilities have been closed since Hurricane Gustav struck Louisiana last week.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Baytown facility, 17 miles east of Houston, is the country's biggest, with a capacity of 586,000 barrels a day. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which is the largest U.S. oil-import terminal and handles 13 percent of imports, said it closed marine operations because of Ike.

Chemical Plants Closed

Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, and competitors such as DuPont Co., LyondellBassell Industries and Texas Petrochemicals Inc. are closing plants in the Houston area. The Texas Gulf Coast produces two-thirds of the nation's ethylene, used in products from plastic bags to auto parts.

President George W. Bush declared an emergency for Texas, his home state, and Governor Rick Perry readied 1,350 buses to evacuate residents in preparation for Ike's landfall. As many as 7,500 Texas National Guard members are on standby.

Houston's population is 2.2 million, making it the fourth- biggest U.S. city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and its metropolitan area, with a population of 5.6 million, is the sixth-largest in the U.S.

Officials in Harris, Brazoria, Chambers, Matagorda and Galveston counties ordered about 564,063 people to leave homes that are now in Ike's path. Television news reports showed miles- long traffic jams in the area.

Governor Urges Prudence

``My message to Texans in the projected impact area is this: finish your preparations because Ike is dangerous and he's on his way,'' Perry said in a statement. ``If your local officials tell you to evacuate, follow their instructions.''

Jim Rouiller, a meteorologist with Planalytics Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania, said he's particularly worried about storm surge damage around Galveston Bay, on the coast southeast of Houston, which may be in the top right quadrant of the storm field where rains and winds are most powerful.

Galveston's seawall is 17 feet high and the forecast storm surge is 20 feet high.

``If that's breached, a whole refinery complex goes under water,'' Rouiller said.

Some parts of the Texas-Louisiana coast may get as much as 15 inches of rain, the hurricane center said.

Ike could inflict between $5 billion and $15 billion of insured damage depending on how much it intensifies, said Steve Smith, atmospheric physicist for the Carvill reinsurance broker.

NASA Center Closed

NASA's Johnson Space Center heeded the evacuation order, preparing to shut its 1,600-acre facility in Houston that houses Mission Control and the training ground for astronauts.

In July, Hurricane Dolly, with winds of 100 mph, struck the Texas coast at South Padre Island, about 35 miles northeast of Brownsville.

Crude oil for October delivery fell $1.68, or 1.6 percent, to $100.90 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $100.10, the lowest since April 2. Prices are up 31 percent from a year ago.

Morphed Integrated Microwave Imagery at CIMSS (MIMIC)

IKE TRACK

Eastern Pacific Atlantic

WEATHER NOTE

NOAA Historical Hurricane Tracks Web Site Helps Users Prepare for Big Storms

As the U.S. coastal population continues to grow, so do the hazards when big storms approach. Now, an on-line tool, Historical Hurricane Tracks, helps users get a quick picture of coastal areas with the greatest frequency of hurricanes and tropical storms�and that historical "snapshot" can help community members and local emergency managers develop better plans for storm preparation and recovery.

NOAA's Historical Hurricane Tracks Web site, http://maps.csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/, includes data on storm strikes through 2007. Current hurricane activity can be followed at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

"When you know the history of hurricane landfalls in your community, you are better prepared to protect yourself from these potentially devastating storms," says Margaret Davidson, director of the NOAA Coastal Services Center. "Historical Hurricane Tracks is part of a suite of products developed by the center to help coastal residents, planners, and emergency managers prepare for�and reduce�the affects of coastal storms."

The website allows users to generate customized maps showing the path of storms that have made landfall in the United States in years past. Users can search by U.S. ZIP code, state or county, latitude and longitude, or a storm's name or year. Searches can be narrowed to specific storm categories.

Developed by NOAA's Coastal Services Center in partnership with NOAA's National Hurricane Center, the site contains more than 150 years of Atlantic hurricane data and nearly 60 years of eastern north Pacific Ocean data, which may be downloaded for use in geographic information system applications. The site also links to detailed reports on the life history and effects of U.S. tropical cyclones since 1958.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. Visit www.noaa.gov.

On the Web:

NOAA Coastal Services Center: http://www.csc.noaa.gov
NOAA National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Tornado Occurs on September 4 2008

During the afternoon hours of Thursday September 4, the remnants of what was once Hurricane Gustav continued to move northeast passing over far southern Lake Michigan during the evening hours on September 4th. Several bands of rain moved through northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana with one band eventually producing small areas of convective cells that moved through northern Jasper County Indiana.

One of these convective cells produced a tornado approximately 5 miles northwest of Wheatfield, IN near the Oak Heritage Estates. This torando caused structural damage to one mobile home, damage to multiple trees and corn fields. The damage track began southwest of the Heritage Estates near the intersection of north 450 West and Hawthorn Rd. where a 10 yard diameter wide area of corn stalks were completely flattened in a convergent manner. Damage continued northeast from there where a roof was lifted off a mobile home and thrown into the yard. Also at this residence were two large trees that were completely uprooted. These were two or four trees that were uprooted by this tornado, with many trees having branches from their tops sheared off. Also, there was other debris scattered about, including kids toys and trach bins.

The tornado was on the ground for approximately 1/4 mile wth a maximum path width of 20 yards. The maximum winds with this tornado were estimated to be around 90 mph, which is consistent with EF-1 damage on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

Tornado Location

MARITIME NOTE

Crew error blamed for grounded ship

A report has blamed crew error and management principles for the grounding of a bulk carrier in Gladstone Harbour, off central Queensland, last year.

The Endeavour River ran aground at the entrance to Auckland Channel on December 7 last year while trying to berth at South Trees Wharf on a flood tide.

The master of the ship was battling a tail wind and even with the use of two attending tugs, was unable to counteract the tidal influence.

Five days later, the ship was eventually refloated and manoeuvred to the wharf by tugs.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau report has stated bridge resource management principles were not practised by the bridge team and that no monitoring of the passage took place.

The report has also identified a number of safety issues which are being addressed by ASP Ship Management and Maritime Safety Queensland.

STAY SAFE

RS

New Radar Satellite Technique Sheds Light On Ocean Current Dynamics

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2008) — Ocean surface currents have long been the focus of research due to the role they play in weather, climate and transportation of pollutants, yet essential aspects of these currents remain unknown.

By employing a new technique – based on the same principle as police speed-measuring radar guns – to satellite radar data, scientists can now obtain information necessary to understand better the strength and variability of surface current regimes and their relevance for climate change.

Scientists at the SeaSAR 2008 workshop held this week in ESRIN, ESA's European Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati, Italy, demonstrated how this new method on data from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument aboard ESA’s Envisat, enabled measurements of the speed of the moving ocean surface.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments, such as ASAR, record microwave radar backscatter in order to identify roughness patterns, which are linked to varying surface winds, waves and currents of the ocean surface. However, interpreting radar images to identify and quantify surface currents had proven very difficult.

By using the new information embedded in the radar signal – the Doppler shift of the electromagnetic waves reflected from the water surface – Dr Bertrand Chapron of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), Dr Johnny Johannessen of Norway’s Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre (NERSC) and Dr Fabrice Collard of France's BOOST Technologies were able to determine how surface winds and currents contribute to the Doppler shift.

The Doppler shift occurs due to changing relative velocities, experienced in everyday life in the way the pitch of a siren on a passing ambulance goes up as it approaches, then goes down as the vehicle recedes away.

The shift is introduced by the relative motion between the satellite platform, the rotation of the Earth and the velocity of the particular facets of the sea surface from which the SAR signal scatters back to orbit. The initial two values are well known – particularly for Envisat, with its very stable satellite orbit and attitude – and can be simply subtracted to extract the useful sea surface velocity information.

Chapron first demonstrated the concept in 2005 with initial tests carried out over the Gulf Stream. Although the results were promising, repeat acquisitions and careful validation were not possible. However, based on these conclusions ESA upgraded its ASAR ground segment in July 2007 to systematically process and disseminate a Doppler grid product, a regularly spaced collection of individual Doppler information, for all Wide Swath acquired images.

The Doppler grid, embedded in ESA standard products, is now regularly tested on a number of so-called super-sites, including regions of the Gulf Stream and the greater Agulhas Current, both among the strongest western boundary currents of the world’s oceans.

"These measurements are very useful for advancing the understanding of surface current dynamics and mesoscale variability, as well as for determining surface drift, important for oil dispersion and pollution transport and for wave-current interaction, probably influencing the existence of extreme waves," Johannessen said.

"The method at this very high resolution could also complement the use of additional information sources to improve 3-D ocean models. Its use for sensor synergy with radiometry, spectrometry and altimetry is very promising," Chapron added.

The ground segment upgrade is also allowing the scientists to examine the anticipated Doppler shift signal of the river outflow at the mouth of the Amazon delta to monitor river runoff and improve our understanding of hydrological processes.

Chapron and Collard also presented their Near Real Time global swell wave observations to the workshop, attended by 150 participants from 25 countries. Using standard processed SAR ESA wave mode products, the team produces three hourly animations every morning for the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and makes them available online.

Tracking swell waves from space is very important because they are generally preceded by calm water, making it impossible to detect their arrival from shore. Envisat’s Wave Mode acquires 10 by 5 km small images, or 'imagettes', of the sea surface every 100 km along the satellite orbit. These small images, which depict the wave groups, are then mathematically transformed into wave energy and direction, called ocean-wave spectra.

ESA has provided SAR data to some 500 oceanography projects since 1998 and remains committed to providing continuity to its SAR missions. As part of its Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme, the agency will launch the Sentinels – the first series of operational satellites responding to the Earth Observation needs of GMES, a joint initiative of the European Commission and ESA.

Sentinel-1, expected to be launched in 2011, will ensure the continuity of C-band SAR data with ESA's ERS-2 and Envisat satellites. Important applications driving the mission concept include marine - vessel detection, oil spill mapping and sea ice mapping. With these new findings, Sentinel-1 is expected to provide additional information, such as consistent wind, wave and current products.

Adapted from materials provided by European Space Agency.

NOAA DATABASE SUMMARY

SPC Preliminary Severe Weather Database Summary

2008 Monthly Summaries

2007 Monthly Summaries

MARITIME ALERT

Maritime Accident Casebook
Confined Space Casualties - Worse Than Expected

By Bob Couttie

Early results of a study by the Maritime Accident Investigators International Forum, MAIIF, of accidents in confined spaces aboard ships suggest that the problem may be far bigger than anticipated. Despite decades of regulation and training, it's a problem that continued to
take the lives of seafarers at an alarming, and under-reported rate.

Still incomplete, the MAIIF figures report 44 deaths and 66 injuries in 63 incidents on ships of 15 Flag States since 1993. The data was supplied by the UK's MAIB and similar organisations in Vanuatu, Latvia, Cyprus, Marshall Islands and Germany. Figures for Hong Kong have yet to be included and more information has been promised by Sweden and South Africa and Finland.

In an email to MAIIF members, Don Sheetz of the Vanuatu administration, who has been tasked with gathering information for the report, says: "The information obtained so far is very troubling as the problem we originally identified may be even larger than anticipated."

A review of incidents already show that a confined space "may be any space, of any size, containing cargo, oil, water, petroleum, or nothing at all. A confined space may even be, as in the case of the fatality on the /Monika/ a cabin where a crewmember died," says Sheetz.

A new approach may be needed in defining a confined space. Says Sheetz: "It is apparent that the issue of confined space entry is not a single dimensional issue about entering a space which could be defined as a potential risk, but a multi-dimensional one where any space could, by virtue of its cargo, lack of oxygen, use of toxic chemicals, gaseous atmosphere, inerting, etc., cause death or injury, either shortly after the person enters or even several hours later. And the space could be a tiny lazarette, a battery room, a diesel engine cylinder, a boiler, a paint locker, an access way, a cargo hold, a cargo tank, a pump room, a chain locker, a fore peak or after peak tank, void spaces, fish meal processing rooms, the carpenter's shop, etc. It could be small enough to permit access only to a person's head or it could be 100,000 cubic meters or more in size."

Bob Couttie, administrator of Maritime Accident Casebook, a maritime safety internet site at www.maritimeaccident.org http://www.maritimeaccident.org/, which operates a confidential reporting system for seafarers, says: "Confined spaces often don't have visible hazards so there's a lot of complacency. Very saddening are those cases in which would-be rescuers come to grief trying to save a fellow seafarer. What we have to look at is how to establish and maintain seafarer competency in the workplace. Until the industry addresses the competency issue we'll go on seeing this kind of incident."

Do you have experience of a confined space incident, an actual or close call incident, whether officially reported or not? Sharing that information through the Maritime Accident Casebook confidential report system might help save the lives of other seafarers. Your identity will remain confidential. The address is confidential@maritimeaccident.org.

MARITIME NOTES

USCG – Cosco Busan ISPR

The US Coast Guard issued a press release announcing the availability of the Incident Specific Preparedness Review (ISPR) report on the response to the oil spill from the M/V COSCO BUSAN in San Francisco Bay on 7 November 2007. The report did not examine the causes of the spill, only the response thereto.

The major areas for improvement identified in the report include having more experienced personnel on duty or on standby; prompt communication with local officials and the public; and improved planning for training and utilization of volunteers offering assistance in the response effort. The report found that the actual response effort in this spill was quite good, but that the initial investigation and external relations were lacking.

The Coast Guard also published a Timeline showing the various notifications and response actions, as well as a Hindcast, showing the estimated movement of the spilled oil through San Francisco Bay and adjacent waters in the hours after the spill. Finally, the Coast Guard released a PowerPoint document that walks through some of the major points of the ISPR. (1/28/08)

Hole found in storm ship's side

Surveyors examining a refrigerated cargo ship which was battered by a storm off Cornwall have found an 18ins (0.46m) hole in her side.

NOTES FROM gCAPTAIN

Beached In Rotterdam - Zhen Hua Heavy Lift Crane Ship
February 3rd, 2008




NOAA NEWS

Marine Safety Expert Now Heads NOAA Response Office

David Westerholm, a former chief of the U.S. Coast Guard's Office of Response, is the new director of NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration. He oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's preparation for and respond to environmental hazards caused by marine debris and oil/chemical spills in U.S. ocean and coastal waters.

"David Westerholm is an innovative and proven leader who has more than 30 years' experience heading and managing environmental, safety, security, and engineering programs," said John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service. "His expertise in preparing for and responding to oil spills and the release of hazardous materials will enhance NOAA's already strong response capabilities."

Before joining NOAA, Westerholm was VP and senior operations director for maritime security, policy, and communications with General Dynamics Information Technology, where he managed $17 million in contracts supporting federal and state customers in homeland security, emergency response, and strategic communications. While serving as a Coast Guard officer from 1976 to 2003, he worked in marine safety, homeland security, environmental compliance, and emergency planning and response roles. He has a master of science degree in environmental policy and planning from the University of Michigan.

RS