Compressed gas is usually used for the pressure compensation of the deep-sea pressure-maintaining sampler. The pressure and volume of the recovered fluid sample are highly related to the precharged gas. To better understand the behavior of the gas under high pressure, we present a new real gas state equation based on the compression factor Z which was derived from experimental data. Then theoretical calculation method of the pressure and volume of the sample was introduced based on this empirical gas state equation. Finally, the proposed calculation method was well verified by the high-pressure vessel experiment of the sampler under 115 MPa.

With the rapid development of the global economy, maritime transportation has become much more convenient due to large capacities and low freight. However, this means the sea lanes are becoming more and more crowded, leading to high probabilities of marine accidents in complex maritime environments. According to relevant historical statistics, a large number of accidents have happened in water areas that lack high precision navigation data, which can be utilized to enhance navigation safety. The purpose of this work was to carry out ship route planning automatically, by mining historical big automatic identification system (AIS) data. It is well-known that experiential navigation information hidden in maritime big data could be automatically extracted using advanced data mining techniques; assisting in the generation of safe and reliable ship planning routes for complex maritime environments. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to construct a big data-driven framework for generating ship planning routes automatically, under varying navigation conditions. The method performs density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise first on a large number of ship trajectories to form different trajectory vector clusters. Then, it iteratively calculates its centerline in the trajectory vector cluster, and constructs the waterway network from the node-arc topology relationship among these centerlines. The generation of shipping route could be based on the waterway network and conducted by rasterizing the marine environment risks for the sea area not covered by the waterway network. Numerous experiments have been conducted on different AIS data sets in different water areas, and the experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the framework of the ship route planning proposed in this paper.

The spatial-temporal patterns of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity changes caused by the warm ocean mesoscale eddy (WOME) distribution are evaluated using two sets of idealized numerical experiments. The results show that the TC was intensified and weakened when a WOME was close to and far away from the TC center, respectively. The area where the WOME enhanced (weakened) TC intensity is called the inner (outer) area in this study. Amplitudes of the enhancement and weakening caused by the WOME in the inner and outer area decreased and increased over time, while the ranges of the inner and outer area diminished and expanded, respectively. The WOME in the inner area strengthened the secondary circulation of the TC, increased heat fluxes, strengthened the symmetry, and weakened the outer spiral rainband, which enhanced TC intensity. The effect was opposite if the WOME was in the outer area, and it weakened the TC intensity. The idealized simulation employed a stationary TC, and thus the results may only be applied to TCs with slow propagation. These findings can improve our understanding of the interactions between TC and the WOME and are helpful for improving TC intensity forecasting by considering the effect of the WOME in the outer areas.

Secchi depth (SD, m) is a direct and intuitive measure of water’s transparency, which is also an indicator of water quality. In 2015, a semi-analytical model was developed to derive SD from remote sensing reflectance, thus able to provide maps of water’s transparency in satellite images. Here an in-situ dataset (338 stations) is used to evaluate its potential ability to monitor water quality in the coastal and estuarine waters, with measurements covering the Zhujiang (Pearl) River Estuary, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea where measured SD values span a range of 0.2–21.0 m. As a preliminary validation result, according to the whole dataset, the unbiased percent difference (UPD) between estimated and measured SD is 23.3% (N=338, R²=0.89), with about 60% of stations in the dataset having relative difference (RD)≤20%, over 80% of stations having RD≤40%. Furthermore, by excluding the field data which with relatively larger uncertainties, the semi-analytical model yielded the UPD of 17.7% (N=132, R²=0.92) with SD range of 0.2–11.0 m. In addition, the semi-analytical model was applied to Landsat-8 images in the Zhujiang River Estuary, and retrieved high-quality mapping and reliable spatial-temporal patterns of water clarity. Taking into account the uncertainties associated with both field measurements and satellite data processing, and that there were no tuning of the semi-analytical model for these regions, these findings indicate highly robust retrieval of SD from spectral techniques for such turbid coastal and estuarine waters. The results suggest it is now possible to routinely monitor coastal water transparency or visibility at high-spatial resolutions from measurements, like Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 and newly launched Gaofen-5.

Many typhoons pass through the East China Sea (ECS) and the oceanic responses to typhoons on the ECS shelf are very energetic. However, these responses are not well studied because of the complicated background oceanic environment. The sea surface temperature (SST) response to a severe Typhoon Rananim in August 2004 on the ECS shelf was observed by the merged cloud-penetrating microwave and infrared SST data. The observed SST response shows an extensive SST cooling with a maximum cooling of 3°C on the ECS shelf and the SST cooling lags the typhoon by about one day. A numerical model is designed to simulate the oceanic responses to Rananim. The numerical model reasonably simulates the observed SST response and thereby provides a more comprehensive investigation on the oceanic temperature and current responses. The simulation shows that Rananim deepens the ocean mix layer by more than 10 m on the ECS shelf and causes a cooling in the whole mixed layer. Both upwelling and entrainment are responsible for the cooling. Rananim significantly deforms the background Taiwan Warm Current on the ECS shelf and generates strong Ekman current at the surface. After the typhoon disappears, the surface current rotates clockwise and vertically, the current is featured by near inertial oscillation with upward propagating phase.

Interannual variability (IAV) in the barrier layer thickness (BLT) and forcing mechanisms in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean (EEIO) and Bay of Bengal (BoB) are examined using monthly Argo data sets during 2002–2017. The BLT during November–January (NDJ) in the EEIO shows strong IAV, which is associated with the Indian Ocean dipole mode (IOD), with the IOD leading the BLT by two months. During the negative IOD phase, the westerly wind anomalies driving the downwelling Kelvin waves increase the isothermal layer depth (ILD). Moreover, the variability in the mixed layer depth (MLD) is complex. Affected by the Wyrtki jet, the MLD presents negative anomalies west of 85°E and strong positive anomalies between 85°E and 93°E. Therefore, the BLT shows positive anomalies except between 86°E and 92°E in the EEIO. Additionally, the IAV in the BLT during December–February (DJF) in the BoB is also investigated. In the eastern and northeastern BoB, the IAV in the BLT is remotely forced by equatorial zonal wind stress anomalies associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the western BoB, the regional surface wind forcing-related ENSO modulates the BLT variations.

This study examines wave reflection by a multi-chamber partially perforated caisson breakwater based on potential theory. A quadratic pressure drop boundary condition at perforated walls is adopted, which can well consider the effect of wave height on the wave dissipation by perforated walls. The matched eigenfunction expansions with iterative calculations are applied to develop an analytical solution for the present problem. The convergences of both the iterative calculations and the series solution itself are confirmed to be satisfactory. The calculation results of the present analytical solution are in excellent agreement with the numerical results of a multi-domain boundary element solution. Also, the predictions by the present solution are in reasonable agreement with experimental data in literature. Major factors that affect the reflection coefficient of the perforated caisson breakwater are examined by calculation examples. The analysis results show that the multi-chamber perforated caisson breakwater has a better wave energy dissipation function (lower reflection coefficient) than the single-chamber type over a broad range of wave frequency and may perform better if the perforated walls have larger porosities. When the porosities of the perforated walls decrease along the incident wave direction, the perforated caisson breakwater can achieve a lower reflection coefficient. The present analytical solution is simple and reliable, and it can be used as an efficient tool for analyzing the hydrodynamic performance of perforated breakwaters in preliminary engineering design.

The comprehensive three-dimensional structures of an anti-cyclonic mesoscale eddy (AE) in the subtropical northwestern Pacific Ocean were investigated by combining the Argo floats profiles with enhanced vertical and temporal sampling and satellite altimetry data. The AE originated near the Kuroshio Extension and then propagated westward with mean velocity of 8.9 cm/s. Significant changes and evolutions during the AE’s growing stage (T1) and further growing stage (T2) were revealed through composite analysis. In the composite eddy core, maximum temperature (T) and salinity (S) anomalies were of 1.7 (1.9)°C and 0.04 (0.07) psu in T1 (T2) period, respectively. The composite T anomalies showed positive in almost whole depth, but the S anomalies exhibited a sandwich-like pattern. The eddy’s intensification and its influence on the intermediate ocean became more significant during its growth. The trapping depth increased from 400×10⁴ Pa to 580×10⁴ Pa while it was growing up, which means more water volume, heat and salt content in deeper layers can be transported. The AE was strongly nonlinear in upper oceans and can yield a typical mean volume transport of 0.17×10⁶ m³/s and a mean heat and salt transport anomaly of 3.6×10¹¹ W and –2.1×10³ kg/s during the observation period. The Energy analysis showed that eddy potential and kinetic energy increased notably as it propagated westward and the baroclinic instability is the major energy source of the eddy growth. The variation of the remained Argo float trapped within the eddy indicated significant water advection during the eddy’s propagation.

The characteristics of the T/S structures, water mass exchange and deep circulation in the Andaman Sea are investigated based on the simulation from a high-resolution general circulation model (MITgcm). The results show that, below 1 000 m, the water mass is saltier, warmer and more homogeneous in the Andaman Sea than that in the Bay of Bengal, attributing to the strong vertical mixing at the depth of ~1 800 m. The water mass exchange between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal goes through three major channels, which manifests itself as follows: the northern channel (Preparis Channel) is the main passage of water mass transport from the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea, whereas the Middle Channel (the south of Andaman Islands and the north of Nicobar Islands) has an opposite transport; the southern channel (Great Channel) features with a four-layer water exchange which results in the least net transport among the three channels; all the transports through the three channels have an intra-annual variation with a period of half a year. At 1 000-m depth, the entire Andaman Sea is occupied by a cyclonic circulation in January and July while by an anticyclonic one in April and October. The semiannual cycle found in both the deep circulation and water mass exchange is likely associated with the downwelling eastward-propagating Kelvin waves induced by the semiannual westerly component in the equatorial Indian Ocean during intermonsoon seasons.