Environmental Data Service Research Articles

Coral skeletal proxy records database for the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Abstract. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, has a long history of palaeoenvironmental coral research. However, it can be logistically difficult to find the relevant research and records, which are often unpublished or exist as “grey literature”. This hinders researchers' abilities to efficiently assess the current state of coral core studies on the GBR and thus identify any key knowledge gaps. This study presents the Great Barrier Reef Coral Skeletal Records Database (GBRCD), which compiles 208 records from coral skeletal research conducted since the early 1990s. The database includes records from the Holocene, from ∼8000 years ago, to the present day; records are from the northern, central, and southern GBR from inshore and offshore locations. Massive Porites spp. coral records comprise the majority (92.5 %) of the database, and the remaining records are from Acropora, Isopora, or Cyphastrea spp. The database includes 78 variables, with Sr/Ca, U/Ca, and Ba/Ca being the most frequently measured. Most records measure data over 10 or more years and are at monthly or lower resolution. The GBRCD is machine readable and easily searchable so that users can find records relevant to their research, e.g. by filtering for site name, time period, or coral type. It is publicly available as comma-separated values (CSV) data and metadata files with entries linked by the unique record ID and as Linked Paleo Data (LiPD) files. The GBRCD is publicly available from the NOAA National Center for Environmental Information World Data Service for Paleoclimatology at https://doi.org/10.25921/hqxk-8h74 (Arzey et al., 2024). The intention is to update the GBRCD annually, depending on the availability of relevant new GBR records or submission of legacy records to the GBRCD for archiving. The collection and curation of existing GBR coral research data provide researchers with the ability to analyse common proxies such as Sr/Ca across multiple locations and/or examine regional to reef-scale trends. The database is also suitable for multi-proxy comparisons and combination or composite analyses to determine overarching changes recorded by the proxies. This database represents the first comprehensive compilation of coral records from the GBR. It enables the investigation of multiple environmental factors via various proxy systems for the GBR, northeastern Australia, and potentially the broader Indo-Pacific region.

Understanding the Pathways to the Healthy Aging Framework: Empirical Evidence and Future Directions

Despite a large body of literature documenting the association between individual characteristics and financial literacy, our understanding of the impact of macro-environmental conditions on individual financial literacy remains limited, particularly in later life. Drawing from a micro-macro perspective on the social environment and individual processes, we examined the extent to which three state-level contextual characteristics were associated with individual later-life financial literacy in the United States: tertiary educational attainment, poverty prevalence, and Internet penetration. We utilized data from the 2019 Understanding America Study (UAS) for adults aged 50 years or older to assess financial literacy (n=2,930), and data from the American Community Survey to evaluate contextual conditions. The UAS is a nationally representative survey panel supported by the Social Security Administration and the National Institute on Aging. Cross-sectional multilevel regression models were used to examine the hypothesized effects. We found that state-level poverty prevalence was negatively associated with individual financial literacy while state-level Internet penetration was positively associated with individual financial literacy, over and above individual characteristics known to impact financial literacy. No association was found between state-level educational attainment and individual financial literacy after controlling for respondents’ own education. Findings suggest that the social environment may condition financial literacy in later life through exposure to opportunities that promote knowledge acquisition. Interventions to enhance later-life financial literacy may benefit from targeted approaches that take into account the environmental characteristics of their locations of residence.

A novel transversal processing model to build environmental big data services in the cloud

This paper presents a novel transversal, agnostic-infrastructure, and generic processing model to build environmental big data services in the cloud. Transversality is used for building processing structures (PS) by reusing/coupling multiple existent software for processing environmental monitoring, climate, and earth observation data, even in execution time, with datasets available in cloud-based repositories. Infrastructure-agnosticism is used for deploying/executing PSs on/in edge, fog, and/or cloud. Genericity is used to embed analytic, merging information, machine learning, and statistic micro-services into PSs for automatically and transparently converting PSs into big data services to support decision-making procedures. A prototype was developed for conducting case studies based on the data climate classification, earth observation products, and making predictions of air data pollution by merging different monitoring climate data sources. The experimental evaluation revealed the efficacy and flexibility of this model to create complex environmental big data services.

Visualising and evaluating objective citizen-contributed environmental information: the CITI-SENSE Citizens’ Observatory Toolbox

Introduction: The Citizens’ Observatory Toolbox (COT) has been developed within the CITI-SENSE project (partly funded by the EU FP7-ENV-2012, grant agreement no. 308524) for collecting citizen-contributed observations of air quality. Methods: Environmental micro-sensor nodes for measuring air quality have been developed and are used to monitor NO, NO2, O3, CO, PM2.5, PM10, and noise. Static nodes (AQMesh pods) and portable nodes were deployed with different stakeholders. The portable nodes are coupled to the ExpoApp smartphone application (Android), which also collects geolocation and accelerometry data. Both the AQMesh pods and the LEOs automatically and wirelessly transmit encrypted data to dedicated Spatial and Environmental Data Service (SEDS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) databases, where they are processed for visualisation and evaluation for usefulness by users. Results: AQMesh pods with an updated algorithm (v4.1) show highest correlations (R2 = 0.76–0.81) for NO2 when comparing 15-minute averages obtained by reference instruments at municipal monitoring stations. The portable nodes, due to the challenges of micro-sensors and egomotion, are communicating real-time Air Pollution Indication (APIN) levels to users. The APIN is based upon the Common Air Quality Index (CAQI) but represents minute averages, showing potential to improve micro-environmental exposure classifications as well as personal air quality advice. Dynamic city-wide air quality maps have been produced using data assimilation techniques, fusing data from the AQMesh pods with base maps obtained by land-use regression modeling. The products are being evaluated by focus groups of stakeholders, to assess the usefulness of the COT. Conclusions: The CITI-SENSE COT is facilitating environmental health governance and contributing to future work on time-space-activity exposure classification and dynamic air quality maps. All tools within it are being made available online upon completion of the project.

Salinity variability along the eastern continental shelf of Canada and the United States, 1973–2013

Continental shelf waters located off the east coast of Canada and the United States are part of a long shelf current system that is partly comprised of colder, less-saline waters originating from high latitudes, including waters from the North Atlantic sub-polar gyre, along with ice-melt and freshwater input from local rivers. A 41-year analysis (1973–2013) of near-surface salinity (NSS) using three hydrographic datasets (Bedford Institute of Oceanography “Climate”, NOAA/ESDIM, and Canadian Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS)) allowed an examination of NSS variability within 11 continental shelf sub-regions, extending from the southern Newfoundland Shelf of eastern Canada to the DelMarVa/Hatteras Shelf of the United States. Although the periods of record containing sufficient data vary between sub-regions, regional mean NSS values are lowest within the Gulf of St. Lawrence and highest on the DelMarVa/Hatteras shelf, with largest annual variability within the Gulf of St. Lawrence. After removal of outliers, long-term linear trends computed from annual mean NSS were detected along the Newfoundland Shelf (+0.011y−1), Western Scotian Shelf (−0.007y−1), Gulf of Maine (−0.014y−1), Georges Bank (−0.011y−1), and DelMarVa/Hatteras Shelf (+0.024y−1). A long-term quadratic fit to annual mean NSS from the Eastern Scotian Shelf displays a salinity increase through 1992 of +0.026y−1, decreasing thereafter until 2013 by −0.028y−1. A quadratic fit for the Western Grand Banks displays a NSS increase through 2007 of +0.022y−1, decreasing thereafter through 2013 by −0.006 y−1. Annual mean NSS from the Eastern Grand Banks, Tail of the Grand Banks, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Middle Atlantic Bight display no long-term trends. Inter-annual variability (IAV) of NSS residuals shows similar small mean squared error (mse) of 0.02–0.04 for the four northern-most sub-regions (Newfoundland Shelf, Eastern, Tail and Western Grand Banks) and are correlated at 0-year lag. IAV of NSS residuals (mse) are larger for the Gulf of St. Lawrence (~0.19), Eastern and Western Scotian Shelf (~0.09–0.06), Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank (~0.08–0.06), Middle Atlantic Bight (~0.19), and maximal for the DelMarVa/Hatteras Shelf (~0.36), and are also correlated at 0-year lag, but are uncorrelated with the four northern-most sub-regions. Consideration of a simple “flux variation” model that includes along-shelf, altimeter-derived velocity anomalies measured upstream on the Western Scotian Shelf and the positive along-shelf mean salinity gradient between the Eastern Scotian Shelf and the DelMarVa/Hatteras Shelf, may explain the synchronous nature of NSS residuals for the southern-most 6 sub-regions. Furthermore, the flux variation model results in calculated NSS residuals that are within a factor of two of observed NSS residuals for the southern-most DelMarVa/Hatteras Shelf. Co-varying broad-scale coastal sea level and shelf break front position anomalies also support the flux variation model, as do CMV Oleander temperature anomalies across a limited Middle Atlantic Bight shelf region. Overall, the relationships between along-shelf observations of NSS and other shelf parameters support an existing wind-driven dynamical shelf model. Specifically, a flux variation model is able to describe IAV of NSS along a section of the Canadian and U.S shelf for periods greater than one year. In the future, this model may be able to provide useful indices of regime change as noted within the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem by other workers.

Evaluation of Intensity of Recent Seismogenic Tsunamis in the World Ocean from 2000 to 2014

Tsunami intensity on the Soloviev–Imamura scale is one of the most important parameters for characterizing the overall size of a tsunami generated by submarine earthquakes. Consequently, this parameter is included in both global tsunami databases maintained by the National Centers for Environmental Information/World Data Service (NCEI/WDS) and the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory of the Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics (NTL/ICMMG). S. Soloviev made the initial evaluation of the intensities of a large number of destructive historical tsunamis while compiling his two historical catalogs of tsunamis in the Pacific. The Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory under the Expert Tsunami Database Project made further determinations of tsunami intensity for the events after 1975. These intensities have been periodically incorporated into the NCEI/WDS tsunami database under the Global Tsunami Database Joint ICG/ITSU-IUGG/TC Project. In the on-line version of the NCEI/WDS Tsunami Database, the data on tsunami intensity are available only for the events prior to 2003. The main purpose of this paper is to extend the temporal coverage of this important parameter for characterizing tsunamigenic events to the present in order to provide researchers with more data for analyzing the temporal and spatial tsunami occurrence. However, of the 164 tsunamigenic events in the World Ocean from 2000 to the present, we could determine the intensity value for only 44 events that is less than 27 % of the total. For the rest of the events (that is, 73 %), the intensity value cannot be determined due to the lack of data on wave heights from the nearest coast. This shows that despite a great improvement in the tsunami-recording network in the Pacific and other oceanic basins during the last two decades, the data for reliable estimates of tsunami intensity are still problematic.

Seasonal Variation of Surface Circulation Along Peninsular Malaysia' East Coast

The sea surface circulation pattern over the coast of Peninsula Malaysia's East Coast during Northeast Monsoon (NE) and Southwest Monsoon (SW) are derived using the seasonally averaged sea level anomaly (SLA) data from altimetric data and 1992-2002 Mean Dynamic Ocean Topography. This altimetric data has been derived from multi-mission satellite altimeter TOPEX, ERS-1, ERS-2, JASON-1, and ENVISAT for the period of nineteen years (1993 to 2011) using the Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS). The estimated sea level anomaly (SLA) have shown similarity in the pattern of sea level variations observed by four tide gauges. Overall, the sea surface circulations during the NE and SW monsoons shows opposite patterns, northward and southward respectively. During the SW monsoon, an anti-cyclonic circulation has been detected around the Terengganu coastal area centred at (about 5.5° N 103.5° E) and nearly consistent with previous study using numerical modelling. The estimated geostrophic current field from the altimeter is consistent with the trajectories of Argos-tracked Drifting Buoys provided by the Marine Environmental Data Services (MEDS) in Canada.

An Analysis of Tropical Ocean Diurnal Warm Layers

Abstract During periods of light surface wind, a warm stable layer forms at the ocean surface with a maximum sea surface temperature (SST) in the early afternoon. The diurnal SST amplitude (DSA) associated with these diurnal warm layers (DWLs) can reach several degrees and impact the tropical climate variability. This paper first presents an approach to building a daily time series of the DSA over the tropics between 1979 and 2002. The DSA is computed over 2.5° of latitude–longitude regions using a simple DWL model forced by hourly-interpolated surface radiative and turbulent fluxes given by the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40). One advantage of this approach is the homogeneity of the results given by the relative homogeneity of ERA-40. The approach is validated at the global scale using empirical DWL models reported in the literature and the Surface Velocity Program (SVP) drifters of the Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS). For the SVP dataset, a new technique is introduced to derive the diurnal variation of the temperature from raw measurements. This DWL time series is used to analyze the potential role of DWLs in the variability of the tropical climate. The perturbation of the surface fluxes by DWLs can give a cooling of the ocean mixed layer as large as 2.5 K yr−1 in some tropical regions. On a daily basis, this flux perturbation is often above 10 W m−2 and sometimes exceeds 50 W m−2. DWLs can be organized on regions up to a few thousand kilometers and can persist for more than 5 days. It is shown that strong DWLs develop above the equatorial Indian Ocean during the suppressed phase of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO). DWLs may trigger large-scale convective events and favor the eastward propagation of the ISO convective perturbation during boreal winter. This study also suggests that the simple approach presented here may be used as a DWL parameterization for atmospheric general circulation models.

Validation of Jason-1 and Envisat Remotely Sensed Wave Heights

Abstract Satellite altimetry provides an immensely valuable source of operational significant wave height (Hs) data. Currently, altimeters on board Jason-1 and Envisat provide global Hs observations, available within 3–5 h of real time. In this work, Hs data from these altimeters are validated against in situ buoy data from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) and Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) buoy networks. Data cover a period of three years for Envisat and more than four years for Jason-1. Collocation criteria of 50 km and 30 min yield 3452 and 2157 collocations for Jason-1 and Envisat, respectively. Jason-1 is found to be in no need of correction, performing well throughout the range of wave heights, although it is notably noisier than Envisat. An overall RMS difference between Jason-1 and buoy data of 0.227 m is found. Envisat has a tendency to overestimate low Hs and underestimate high Hs. A linear correction reduces the RMS difference by 7%, from 0.219 to 0.203 m. In addition to wave height–dependent biases in the altimeter Hs estimate, a wave state–dependent bias is also identified, with steep (smooth) waves producing a negative (positive) bias relative to buoys. A systematic difference in the Hs being reported by MEDS and NDBC buoy networks is also noted. Using the altimeter data as a common reference, it is estimated that MEDS buoys are underestimating Hs relative to NDBC buoys by about 10%.

Electricity generation from wave power in Canada

The performance of three different types of wave energy converters (WECs) is evaluated at hundreds of Canadian locations using wave activity data made available by the Marine Environmental Data Service of Canada. Two Atlantic and three Pacific locations are found where at least one of these devices operates with a capacity factor of greater than 20%, while also being located close to urban/industrial centers. The economics of a nominal 25 GWh wave power plant are investigated at these five locations and compared among the three WEC types using two indicators: the 25-year life-cycle cost, and the required price of electricity for a 10-year simple payback period. The lowest required electricity price for a 10-year payback is $0.089/kWh, and occurs at a location near the Hibernia Oil Platform using the AquaBuOY WEC. The highest annual capacity factor is 32.1%, which occurs near the Hibernia Oil Platform when using the WaveDragon WEC. The 25-year life-cycle cost evaluations suggest that wave power plants at locations near Ucluelet, St. John's, and the Hibernia Oil Platform could all be profitable using either the AquaBuOY or the WaveDragon if a price of electricity between $0.10 and $0.15/kWh can be secured, depending on location and device.

Surface circulation derived from drifting buoys in mid-and low-latitude Pacific

A dataset of drifting buoys from the Marine Environmental Data Service of Canada was analyzed to map surface circulation of the Pacific. More information of the surface circulation than that acquired before was reported in this paper, showing clear and strong western boundary currents, equatorial currents, and subtropical gyres in the North and South Pacific regions in velocity field, with a more systematic structure in the North Pacific.

New global drifter data set available

Since 1978, oceanographers, meteorologists, and the U.S. Navy have deployed a large number of Argos satellite‐tracked drifters in all of the major ocean basins (Table l). The Data Buoy Cooperation Panel (DBCP) of the World Meteorological Organization/Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (WMO/IOC) has coordinated the deployment of drifters via cooperative projects in various ocean basins. In any given month since 1993, there has been an array of more than 600 drifters in the global ocean (http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/dac/ dacdata.html).Most of the raw observations and processed data have been accumulating at the Meteorological and Environmental Data Service (MEDS), Canada. The raw data on file have been processed from MEDS, and other sources, and merged with the processed data at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) to form a single file.

A reconstruction of large‐scale circulation in the Pacific Ocean north of 10°N

A dynamically consistent steady state circulation pattern of the North Pacific (NP) ocean is presented. The fields describing oceanic state and atmospheric forcing are obtained by fitting a steady state large‐scale circulation model to the 1.0 release of World Ocean Circulation Experiment hydrology, da Silva atmospheric climatologies, TOPEX‐Poseidon altimetry, and Marine Environmental Data Service drifter data. Heat, salt, and mass transports of the major circulation features of the NP are presented. All the estimates are supplied with error bars obtained via the approximate inversion of the Hessian matrix. The optimized pattern shows, in particular, that NP is heated at an average rate of 11±7 W m−2 and loses 26±18 cm of fresh water from its surface per year. Zonal mean transport north of 20°N is characterized by an upwelling of 7±2 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) in the intermediate layers (500–3000 m) within the latitudes 30°–50°N. A weaker overturning cell characterized by the downwelling of 3±1 Sv at 55°–60°N contributes to the meridional circulation pattern north of 51°N. The net meridional advective heat transport in the midlatitudes is statistically undistinguishable from zero and amounts to −0.1±0.4 PW (1 PW = 1015 W). At 35°N, fresh water is transported southward at the rate equivalent to the average rainfall to the north of 35°N of 18±14 cm yr−1. Analysis of the water mass transformation rates reveals the major NP intermediate water formation site to be east of Hokkaido and South Kuril Islands. A much weaker source is detected in the Alaskan Gyre. The net production rate of the NPIW source water east of Kuril Islands is estimated as 2.5 Sv.

Appraising renewable energy developments in remote communities: the case of the North Assynt Estate, Scotland

Renewable sources of energy currently supply just 1% of energy consumption in the United Kingdom (ENDS, 1998. The Ends Report No. 277, Environmental Data Services Ltd, pp. 43, 44). In this paper two economic appraisal techniques are applied with the aim of evaluating three renewable energy options: a three-turbine wind farm, a small-scale hydro scheme and biomass development — for a remote community in North West Scotland. Many renewable energy resources throughout Europe are concentrated by their nature in such remote areas. A strategy whereby remote communities could develop these resources could bring economic benefits to these areas: however, both financial and environmental cost implications also need to be addressed. An integral aspect of the research described herein was to develop approaches that could be followed and adapted for use by other communities wishing to plan for development of renewable energy. After a discussion of the implementation and results gained from applying a visitor impact analysis and a residents’ contingent valuation survey to our case study area (Assynt, in North West Scotland), we outline the advantages and limitations of using these techniques in other remote areas.

Quality Control and Interpolations of WOCE-TOGA Drifter Data

Abstract Satellite-tracked drifting buoy data are being collected by numerous investigators and agencies in several countries for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment-Tropical Oceans Global Atmosphere (WOCE-TOGA) Surface Velocity Program. By the end of the century, and thereafter, this global dataset will provide the best available climatology and chronology of the surface currents of the World Ocean. To expedite completion of research quality datasets for archival and dissemination, a data acquisition activity is being conducted at NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Miami, Florida. At AOML, data from drifting buoys of cooperating operators are quality controlled and optimally interpolated to uniform 6-h interval trajectories for archival at the Marine Environmental Data Service (Canada). This report describes in detail the procedures used in preparing these data for the benefit of second- or third-party users, or future buoy operators who may wish to process data in a con...

EEC Environmental Policy and Britain. An Essay and a Handbook. By Nigel Haigh. [London: Environmental Data Services. 1984. ii + 323 pp. £12.95

EEC Environmental Policy and Britain. An Essay and a Handbook. By Nigel Haigh. [London: Environmental Data Services. 1984. ii + 323 pp. £12.95

EEC Environmental Policy and Britain. An Essay and HandbookNigel Haigh Environmental Data Services Ltd, 40 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R ONE, 1984, £12·95

EEC Environmental Policy and Britain. An Essay and HandbookNigel Haigh Environmental Data Services Ltd, 40 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R ONE, 1984, £12·95

Fossil pollen reveals ancient weather

Natural records trapped in fossilized pollen are revealing the first detailed picture of changing climatic conditions in the northeastern United States over the past 2,500 years.Studying fossil pollen contained in lake sediments, J. C. Bernabo of the Environmental Data Service, NOAA, determined that recent decades are the warmest in the upper Midwest since 1200 A.D. Long‐term trends in the same area showed that annual rain and snowfall since 600 B.C. have increased 50% with some overall cooling. Reporting on his work at the 1978 AGU Spring Meeting, Bernabo said that his initial Research in Michigan shows that the past 30 years in this region have been warmer than any similar period in the last 775 years.

Environmental Data Service

Last year NERC commissioned all the data centres as a single service. It’s been business as usual, but we are now planning for things we can do together.

New U.S. data manager for IFYGL program

William T. Hodge of NOAA's National Climatic Center, Ashevill, North Carolina, was appointed IFYGL data manager early this year. He succeeds David Drury of NOAA's Environmental Data Service, Center for Experiment Design and Data Analysis (CEDDA).