Assessment of the Intertropical Convergence Zone over the Atlantic Ocean through an Algorithm Based on Precipitation

The Intertropical Convergence Zone(ITCZ)is a key atmospheric system on a global scale,primarily driven by trade wind convergence near the equator.The ITCZ plays a crucial role in modulating the climate of the borders of tropical continental areas.For instance,Northeastern Brazil experiences a climate influenced by the ITCZ over the Atlantic Ocean.In some periods,the ITCZ exhibits double bands,known as the double ITCZ.While the features of the ITCZ have been described using various approaches and atmospheric variables,there is still a lack of regional studies focusing on the ITCZ and double ITCZ in the Atlantic Ocean.In this context,the main goals of this study are(1)to describe a simple algorithm based on precipitation to identify the ITCZ and double ITCZ,(2)to present a climatology(1997-2022)of the position,width,and intensity of these two convective bands,and(3)to investigate variabilities in the ITCZ characteristics associated with anomalies of sea surface temperature(SST)in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans.The double ITCZ typically occurs southward of the main cloud band,and between February and April,both bands are more distant(~4.5°).In the western sector of the Atlantic Ocean,the ITCZ and its double band extend to more southerly latitudes in austral autumn.Considering the entire Atlantic basin,the annual mean of the latitudinal position,width,and intensity of the ITCZ is 4.9°N,4.2°,and 11 mm/day,respectively,while for the double ITCZ,it is 0.4°N,2.6°,10.3 mm/day,respectively.While the SST anomalies in the Pacific Ocean(El Niño and La Niña episodes)affect more the ITCZ width,the SST anomalies in the Tropical South Atlantic affect both its position and width.

The Potential Vertical Distribution of Bigeye Tuna (Thunnus obesus) and Its Influence on the Spatial Distribution of CPUEs in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean

Understanding the potential vertical distribution of bigeye tuna(Thunnus obesus) is necessary to understand the catch rate fluctuations and the stock assessment of bigeye tuna. To characterize the potential vertical distribution of this fish while foraging and determine the influences of the distribution on longline efficiency in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the catch per unit effort(CPUE) data were compiled from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the Argo buoy data were downloaded from the Argo data center. The raw Argo buoy data were processed by data mining methods. The CPUE was standardized by support vector machine before analysis. We assumed the depths with the upper and lower limits of the optimum water temperatures of 15℃ and 9℃ as the preferred swimming depth, while the lower limit of the temperature(12℃) associated with the highest hooking rate as the preferred foraging depth(D12) of bigeye tuna during the daytime in the Atlantic Ocean. The preferred swimming depth and foraging depth range in the daytime were assessed by plotting the isobath based on Argo buoy data. The preferred swimming depth and vertical structure of the water column were identified to investigate the spatial effects on the CPUE by using a generalized additive model(GAM). The empirical cumulative distribution function was used to assess the relationship between the spatial distribution of CPUE and the depth of 12℃ isolines and thermocline. The results indicate that 1) the preferred swimming depth of bigeye tuna in the tropical Atlantic is from 100 m to 400 m and displays spatial variation;2) the preferred foraging depth of bigeye tuna is between 190 and 300 m and below the thermocline;3) the number of CPUEs peaks at a relative depth of 30 –50 m(difference between the 12℃ isolines and the lower boundary of the thermocline);and 4) most CPUEs are within the lower depth boundary of the thermocline levels(LDBT) which is from 160 m to 230 m. GAM analysis indicates that the general relationship between the nominal CPUE and LDBT is characterized by a dome shape and peaks at approximately 190 m. The oceanographic features influence the habitat of tropical pelagic fish and fisheries. Argo buoy data can be an important tool to describe the habitat of oceanic fish. Our results provide new insights into how oceanographic features influence the habitat of tropical pelagic fish and fisheries and how fisheries exploit these fish using a new tool(Argo profile data).

Temporal dynamics of shallow subtidal meiobenthos from a beach in Tenerife (Canary Islands, northeast Atlantic Ocean)

A shallow subtidal （3 m deep） meiofaunal assemblage in Los Abrigos Bay, Tenerife, Canary Islands was sam- pled during May 2000-April 2001. The main aims were to （1） find temporal variations in meiofaunal assem- blage structure and overall abundance, as well as in the most abundant meiofaunal species throughout the study period, and （2） identify environmental variables （sedimentary composition, organic matter content, and total nitrogen） that better explain meiofaunal assemblage structure during the study year. The most abundant species were the nematodes Siphonolaimus sp. 2 and Catanema sp., which represented 46.2% of the overall meiofaunal abundances and varied significantly throughout the study duration. Overall meio- faunal abundance and the most abundant taxonomic groups （nematodes, copepods, and oligochaetes） showed significant temporal variations during the study period. Nematodes overwhelmingly dominated during the study period, ranging from 78% in May to 97.34% in February. Multivariate analyses showed seasonality in meiofaunal community structure during the study year, with the lowest abundances in May. Keywords： Meiofauna, assemblage structure, subtidal, Canary Islands, Atlantic Ocean

The Storm Tracks Response to Changes in Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Concentration at the South of Brazil and Southwest Atlantic Ocean

Here we investigate the ocean-atmosphere coupling and the contribution of the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) variations in: 1) Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC) region, 2) Southwest Atlantic Ocean and 3) Southern Brazil. Numerical simulations of the ECHAM5/MPI-OM coupled ocean-atmosphere model were used to analyze the changes in the seasonal trajectory of the extratropical cyclones, in terms of intensification of physical mechanisms and implications for future scenarios. The numerical experiment for the future scenario considered an atmospheric CO2 concentration of approximately 770 ppm, which represents an increment of more than 350 ppm over the current values recorded by the Mauna Loa reference station. For this scenario, the results indicated a Storm Tracks (ST) displacement of 5° latitude toward south and changes of the meridional transport of sensible heat, close to 50°S. The increase in SST induces ST intensification and consequently an increase in the occurrence of extratropical cyclones. Overall, in the BMC region, we found a change in the pattern of cyclogenetic activity occurrence, with less frequent, but more intense events. On the Southern Brazilian region, the results of this study indicate increases in rainfall during summer months, whereas, a decrease in frequency and an increase in intensity were found for wintertime. We suggest that these changes could impact the climate dynamic of the Brazilian South coast, with a magnitude yet unknown.

Diagnostic of the diurnal cycle of turbulence of the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean upper boundary layer

This work is an attempt to diagnose the turbu-lence field of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean dur-ing the dry period when the mixed layer is more highly developed using the General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM). A relaxation scheme assimilates the vertical profiles of in situ ob-servations (current velocity, sea temperature and salinity) during simulations. In the absence of direct turbulence observations and modeling studies of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, the results are compared qualitatively to observed and simulated results for the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Similarities are noted between the At-lantic simulation and previous studies per-formed in the Pacific Ocean. The mechanism of nocturnal turbulence production, namely deep- cycle turbulence, is well captured by GOTM si-mulations. This deep nocturnal turbulence ap-pears rather suddenly during the night in the simulations and consequently seems to be un-related to surface wind and radiation forcing.

MODIS captures large-scale atmospheric gravity waves over the Atlantic Ocean

On April 27,2016,a striking true-color satellite image acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer（MODIS）onboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s（NASA’s）Aqua satellite showed several groups of very well structured arc cloud patterns（Fig.1）,which are associaed with atmospheric gravity waves,aligned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between

Projecting distributions of Argentine shortfin squid(Illex argentinus)in the Southwest Atlantic using a complex integrated model

We developed an approach that integrates generalized additive model（GAM） and neural network model（NNM）for projecting the distribution of Argentine shortfin squid（Illex argentinus）. The data for this paper was based on commercial fishery data and relevant remote sensing environmental data including sea surface temperature（SST）, sea surface height（SSH） and chlorophyll a（Chl a） from January to June during 2003 to 2011. The GAM was used to identify the significant oceanographic variables and establish their relationships with the fishery catch per unit effort（CPUE）. The NNM with the GAM identified significant variables as input vectors was used for predicting spatial distribution of CPUE. The GAM was found to explain 53.8% variances for CPUE. The spatial variables（longitude and latitude） and environmental variables（SST, SSH and Chl a） were significant. The CPUE had nonlinear relationship with SST and SSH but a linear relationship with Chl a. The NNM was found to be effective and robust in the projection with low mean square errors（MSE） and average relative variances（ARV）.The integrated approach can predict the spatial distribution and explain the migration pattern of Illex argentinus in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

Argo floats revealing bimodality of large-scale mid-depth circulation in the North Atlantic

Analysis of Argo float trajectories at 1 000 m and temperature at 950 m in the North Atlantic between November 2003 and January 2005 demonstrates the existence of two different circulation modes with fast transition between them. Each mode has a pair of cyclonic - anticyclonic gyres. The difference is the location of the cyclonic gyre. The cyclonic gyre stretches from southeast to northwest in the first mode and from the southwest to the northeast in the second mode. The observed modes strongly affect the heat and salt transport in the North Atlantic. In particular, the second mode slows down the westward transport of the warm and saline water from the Mediterranean Sea.

Changes of Air–sea Coupling in the North Atlantic over the 20th Century

Changes of air–sea coupling in the North Atlantic Ocean over the 20 th century are investigated using reanalysis data,climate model simulations, and observational data. It is found that the ocean-to-atmosphere feedback over the North Atlantic is significantly intensified in the second half of the 20 th century. This coupled feedback is characterized by the association between the summer North Atlantic Horseshoe（NAH） SST anomalies and the following winter North Atlantic Oscillation（NAO）. The intensification is likely associated with the enhancement of the North Atlantic storm tracks as well as the NAH SST anomalies. Our study also reveals that most IPCC AR4 climate models fail to capture the observed NAO/NAH coupled feedback.

Analysis of Heat Budget during the Intensification of Atlantic Tropical Cyclone

Based on air-sea observations and reanalysis data,the numerical simulation and diagnostic analysis of typical Atlantic TC cases during 2010-2015 were carried out,and the influence of thermodynamic factors in air-sea exchange and atmospheric environment field on TC intensity was quantitatively calculated.TC was considered as a cylinder with a minimum pressure as the center and a radius of 300 km extending from sea level to 100 hPa,and the input and output of heat at each boundary of TC were quantitatively calculated.In order to understand the heat contribution of Atlantic TC during its development,the heat input at each boundary of 18 Atlantic TC cases was analyzed to study the main heat sources promoting TC strengthening.The results show that the heat directly from the atmosphere was the main source of heat during TC development.Due to the errors in the selection and calculation of data,one of Atlantic TC cases was selected for simulation verification at last,and the simulation results reveal that the simulated TC was in good agreement with the actual observed TC.

Are assemblages of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata enhanced in sediments beneath offshore fish cages?

Abundances of the fireworm Hermodice carunculata were counted through a monitoring assessment study of fish cages in Barranco Hondo（NE Tenerife）. Seven campaigns were conducted from November 2007 to June 2010 and temporal variations were found, as well as differences among sampling stations. The polychaete H. carunculata obtained its highest abundance in sediments beneath fish cages throughout the study period. Thus, the assemblages of this omnivorous species were favoured by the presence of fish cages.

Distinguishing the Regional Atmospheric Controls on Precipitation Isotopic Variability in the Central-Southeast Portion of Brazil

Precipitation isotope ratios(O and H)record the history of water phase transitions and fractionation processes during moisture transport and rainfall formation.Here,we evaluated the isotopic composition of precipitation over the central-southeastern region of Brazil at different timescales.Monthly isotopic compositions were associated with classical effects(rainfall amount,seasonality,and continentality),demonstrating the importance of vapor recirculation processes and different regional atmospheric systems(South American Convergence Zone-SACZ and Cold Fronts-CF).While moisture recycling and regional atmospheric processes may also be observed on a daily timescale,classical effects such as the amount effect were not strongly correlated(δ^(18)O-precipitation rate r≤-0.37).Daily variability revealed specific climatic features,such asδ^(18)O depleted values(~-6‰to-8‰)during the wet season were associated with strong convective activity and large moisture availability.Daily isotopic analysis revealed the role of different moisture sources and transport effects.Isotope ratios combined with d-excess explain how atmospheric recirculation processes interact with convective activity during rainfall formation processes.Our findings provide a new understanding of rainfall sampling timescales and highlight the importance of water isotopes to decipher key hydrometeorological processes in a complex spatial and temporal context in central-southeastern Brazil.

Additional Records of the American Elephantfish <i>Callorhinchus callorynchus</i>(Chondrichthyes, Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) in Southeastern Brazil

Chimaeras, fish in the order Chimaeriformes, are among the rarest and least studied fish in the class Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish). Previous records have indicated that a species of chimaera known as the elephantfish, or cockfish, Callorhinchus callorynchus, may be found in marine waters off southeastern Brazil, as far north as the state of São Paulo. Here we report that C. callorynchus, caught with bottom gillnet, was found in an urban fish market in the city of Rio de Janeiro (~23˚S). This and other records from a variety of places call into question the distribution limits of the American elephantfish in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and whether, at least seasonally, this species may often be found as far north as the state of Rio de Janeiro. Because of scientific and conservation interests in the poorly known Chimaeriformes, we recommend long-term monitoring of the fish catch in ports along the southern Brazilian coast, to better understand the natural history of the intriguing chimeras.

The Marine Benthic Algae Diversity of Gabon: Case of the Rocky Foreshore of Cap Estérias

This study has allowed to classify the marine macroalgae from the intertidal zone on the Atlantic side of Cap Estérias (Gabon). This area has a rich biodiversity but very few studies in the knowledge of benthic macroalgae have been done. The first study on the knowledge of the algae of the Gabonese coast was made in February 1974 by John and Lawson. This article has been revised to transcribe books and our study would aim to update the existing collection. The algae census is spread over a year from August 2020 to August 2021 and is the first detailed study carried out over a year, with regard to this part of the Gabonese coast. This study has allowed to know the specific diversity, to determine the structure of the flora and its spread out over time. The results show a significant algal diversity of thirty five (35) identified species. Three classes of macroalgae were determined and the percentage of species in the class (%EC): Floridaophyceae at 50% EC, Phaeophyceae at 30% EC and Ulvophyceae at 20% EC. The red algae are the most common in the area with sixteen (16) species determined against twelve (12) species of brown algae and seven (7) species of green algae. The Phaeophyceae class presents the Dictyotaceae family which is the most diverse with 7 species found. Some species seen appear in the collection of John et al., but others are new species encountered in Gabon such as Caulerpa sertularioides, Bryopsis plumosa (two Ulvophytes), Padina arborescens which is a Pheophyte and Galaxaura filamentosa, Digenea simplex,Hildenbrandia rubra, Asparagopsis armata and Caulacanthus ustulatus which are Rhodophytes. Some species are permanently present, they are found in all seasons but with significant abundance from July to September.

Microphysical and Dynamical Climatology of Precipitating Systems Inferred by Weather Radar Polarimetric Measurements in Brazil

This work presents the climatology of the microphysics and the dynamics of weather systems in two coastal areas of São Paulo and the Espírito States at high spatial-temporal resolution as measured by two dual Doppler weather radars during the summer and early fall of 2015. Averages and respective standard deviations of polarimetric variables, namely, reflectivity (Z), differential reflectivity (ZDR), differential phase (ϕDP), specific differential phase (KDP), copolar correlation coefficient (ρoHV), radial velocity (Vr), and the spectral width (W) were obtained within a 240-km range on plan position indicator (PPI), constant altitude plan position indicator (CAPPI) and vertical cross-sections to analyze overall horizontal and vertical precipitation microphysics and mesoscale circulation of prevailing weather systems, and their peculiarities over coastal and oceanic, and urban and rural areas. Overall, raindrops tend to be larger over the Metropolitan area of São Paulo from the surface to up to 6 km altitude indicating more vigorous updrafts caused by the heat island effect and the local sea breeze. The vertical microphysical structure is remarkably distinct over the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) where thunderstorms can reach 20-km altitude in summertime under sea breeze and heat island effects. On the other hand, there is a dominancy of smaller drop sizes though larger ones observed close to the surface by the coast of Espírito Santo and at the land-ocean interface influenced by the local low-level jet and oceanic-type CCN. Convective cells tend to be smaller associated with Easterlies and more organized with Westerlies. The results indicate distinct features on hydrometeor types and circulation characteristics under these different surface and boundary-layer conditions in close agreement with previous results in the literature.

Andean orogenic signature in the Quaternary sandy barriers of Southernmost Brazilian Passive Margin – Paradigm as a source area

Multiple source provenance of sediments and submarine fan formation are herein investigated based on Quaternary sandy barriers of the Brazilian Southernmost Coastal Plain.LA-ICP-MS dating on 1625 detrital zircons from marine and aeolian facies sands of four successive lagoon-barrier systems are analyzed.The characterization of Archean to Pleistocene zircons into a younger Andean(22±4 Ma to 1±1 Ma,48 from 1625),Mesozoic to Paleozoic,and Mesoproterozoic(479 from 1622)populations suggest that the main feeding of sediments to the coastal plain occurred through the La Plata River drainage system.The significant contribution of sediments is transported from the mouth of La Plata River northward by longshore circulation(littoral drift).Minor contributions are also recognized as.a farther source associatedwith the Patagonia drainage and nearby source related to the Uruguay/Rio Grande do Sul Shield and the ParanáBasin,drained by the Camaquãand Jacuírivers.The latter one is recognized by the contribution fromNeoproterozoic to Early Paleozoic,and some Paleoproterozoic and Archean zircon grains.The definition of the sources of clastic sediments allows inferences about the origination of Rio Grande Fan where both the cold Falkland and the warm Brazil currents played a major role.

Applying a Context-based Method to Build a Knowledge Graph for the Blue Amazon

Knowledge graphs are employed in several tasks,such as question answering and recommendation systems,due to their ability to represent relationships between concepts.Automatically constructing such a graphs,however,remains an unresolved challenge within knowledge representation.To tackle this challenge,we propose CtxKG,a method specifically aimed at extracting knowledge graphs in a context of limited resources in which the only input is a set of unstructured text documents.CtxKG is based on OpenIE(a relationship triple extraction method)and BERT(a language model)and contains four stages:the extraction of relationship triples directly from text;the identification of synonyms across triples;the merging of similar entities;and the building of bridges between knowledge graphs of different documents.Our method distinguishes itself from those in the current literature(i)through its use of the parse tree to avoid the overlapping entities produced by base implementations of OpenIE;and(ii)through its bridges,which create a connected network of graphs,overcoming a limitation similar methods have of one isolated graph per document.We compare our method to two others by generating graphs for movie articles from Wikipedia and contrasting them with benchmark graphs built from the OMDb movie database.Our results suggest that our method is able to improve multiple aspects of knowledge graph construction.They also highlight the critical role that triple identification and named-entity recognition have in improving the quality of automatically generated graphs,suggesting future paths for investigation.Finally,we apply CtxKG to build BlabKG,a knowledge graph for the Blue Amazon,and discuss possible improvements.

ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE DIAGNOSIS OF OCEANIC EXPLOSIVE CYCLONES

Using the data of ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts) to undertake composite diagnoses of 16 explosive cyclones occurring at the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans,it is found that there are a lot of obvious discrepancies on the basic fields between these strong and weak explosive cyclones.The major reasons why the explosive cyclones over the Atlantic are stronger than those over the Pacific Ocean are that the non-zonal upper jet and the low-level warm moist flow over the Atlantic are stronger.The non-zonal upper jet offers stronger divergence,baroclinicity and baroclinic instability fields for explosive cyclones.Anticyclonic curvature at the high level of strong explosive cyclones is easy to make the inertia-gravitational wave developing at the moment of northward transfer of energy and stimulate the cyclones deepening quickly.Warm advection and diabatic heating can cause the upper isobaric surface lifting,as a result,the anticyclone curvature of cyclones enlarges,and wave energy develops easily as well.The most powerful period of the development of explosive cyclones is just the time when the positive vorticity advection center is located over the low vortex.At the upper level,when the distribution of potential vorticity contours changes suddenly from rareness to denseness,and the large values of the potential vorticity both in the west and north sides of cyclones extend downwards together,then cyclones are easy to explosively develop.The formation of strong explosive cyclones is closely related with the non-zonality of upper jet and the anticyclonic curvature.

A DIAGNOSIS OF THE INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND SURFACE WIND FIELD IN THE TROPICAL OCEANS AND ITS CORRELATIVE CHARACTERS WITH ENSO CYCLE

Utilizing the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis monthly datasets,and based on the filter and standard deviation calculation,the interannual variability of sea surface temperature(SST)and 1000 hPa wind field for the tropical Pacific,Indian and Atlantic Oceans is investigated for the past 20 years (1979—1998).The characters of space-time evolution in SST anomalies(SSTA)for each ocean and corresponding wind anomaly field are acquired by using rotated principal component(RPC) and linear regression analysis methods.Using the method of correlation analysis.the characters of three tropical oceans correlated with ENSO are investigated.The contemporary correlation between the SSTA in the Indian Ocean and in the equatorial eastern Pacific is positive,and there is a weak negative correlation between the SSTA in the equatorial east Atlantic Ocean and in the equatorial eastern Pacific.The lead-lag correlation analysis indicates that the SSTA in the equatorial Indian Ocean lags the dominant Pacific ENSO mode by 3 months,and the SSTA in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean leads ENSO mode by 6 months.The ENSO-correlated components in tropical Indian Ocean and tropical Atlantic Ocean display much the same amount of total variance in each ocean,i.e..14% in the Indian Ocean and 12% in the Atlantic Ocean and the maximums are all above 40%.

Digenean parasites of the marine gastropods Littorina littorea and Gibbula umbilicalis in the Northern Portuguese Atlantic coast,with a review of digeneans infecting the two gastropod genera

Objective:To study the digenean parasites of the prosobranch gastropods,Littorina littorea(L.littorea)and Gibbula umbilicalis(G.umbilicalis)from rocky shores of the Northern Atlantic coast of Portugal.Methods:A total of 413 L.littorea and 2603 G.umbilicalis were collected from rocky shores,at Aveiro estuary,Aguda Beach,and Foz Beach at Porto(Northern Atlantic coast of Portugal)from January to July 2014 and February 2014 to January 2015,respectively.Gonads and digestive glands of the gastropods were examined under light microscopy for the presence of digeneans.Infected gonads of L.littorea were prepared for histological observation,whereas digeneans found in G.umbilicalis were studied and identified with the aid of light and scanning electron microscopy.Results:Two species of digeneans were found infecting the digestive gland and gonads of G.umbilicalis,namely,Cainocreadium labracis and Lecithochirium furcolabiatum with a combined prevalence of 3%.Histological observations of gonads of L.littorea revealed the infection with digeneans,with considerable replacement of gonadal tissues.These digeneans were not identified to species level.The prevalence of digeneans in this snail host was 0.7%.Conclusions:The present study adds G.umbilicalis as another first intermediate host for Cainocreadium labracis and extends its geographical range to the Portuguese Atlantic coast.Cercariae of Lecithochirium furcolabiatum were previously reported from G.umbilicalis.A literature review of digeneans occurring in the gastropod genera Gibbula and Littorina is given.