Ocean Transport Research Articles

Coupled analysis of seawater and sedimentary 231Pa/230Th in the tropical Atlantic

The 231Pa/230Th ratio of seawater and in ocean sediments is a potentially powerful tool in tracing oceanic processes such as the ocean circulation and marine primary productivity. However, 231Pa/230Th reflects the combined signal of multiple controls associated with scavenging and oceanic transport, limiting its use as a paleo-proxy. Given that links between seawater and sedimentary 231Pa and 230Th distributions are crucial for understanding the cycling and removal fluxes of these nuclides, we carry out analysis of 231Pa and 230Th in both seawater (dissolved phase) and modern sediment samples acquired from five depth transects across the northern tropical Atlantic open ocean. Overall, the sediment data support the dominance of 231Pa export in the deep Atlantic Ocean (>2.5 km) associated with the southward advection of North Atlantic Deep Water. However, the seawater data provide evidence for locally enhanced scavenging of 231Pa and 230Th near the western seamounts that is likely to be associated with the influence of hydrothermal activity or episodic formation of transient nepheloid layers. At shallower depths (0.5–1.5 km), paired sediment and seawater 231Pa/230Th data reveal enhanced burial of 231Pa at the eastern and mid-Atlantic sites that is likely related to elevated marine primary productivity and/or influence of boundary scavenging at the African margin, and a net input of 231Pa potentially maintained by the northward advection of intermediate water masses and an additional mechanism of upward diffusion. Our findings provide greater insights into the range of oceanic processes that play a significant role in the cycling of 231Pa and 230Th, with implications for the controls of 231Pa/230Th distribution in the Atlantic Ocean.

Climate‐Driven Changes in the Ocean's Ventilation Pathways and Time Scales Diagnosed From Transport Matrices

AbstractWe diagnose changes in the decadal‐mean ocean transport over the 21st century as simulated by the ACCESS‐1.3 model under RCP8.5 forcing. A matrix formulation of advection‐diffusion is used to quantify transport into the ocean interior and from the interior back to the surface. We compute the ocean volumes last ventilated at the surface, as well as the volumes next reexposed to the atmosphere, per unit area, and the distributions of water in transit between key ventilation regions. We find that for the 2090s circulation, Antarctic Bottom Water formation and Antarctic ventilation have collapsed but are compensated by increased mode water formation and ventilation at the poleward edge of the southern subtropical gyres. Reexposure of deep water back to the atmosphere in the Antarctic Southern Ocean is also reduced but compensated by enhanced reexposure in the subpolar Southern Ocean. Labrador Sea ventilation is suppressed, while there is increased ventilation in the eastern subpolar Atlantic. The 2090s surface‐to‐surface interbasin transport is much more sluggish than that of the 1990s, with 30–40% reduced volume flow rates. For transport from last ventilation in the subpolar North Atlantic to next ventilation in the tropical Eastern Pacific, the 2090s residence‐time distribution has a ∼40% longer mode with much more slowly decaying tails and correspondingly lagged path densities. The 2090s mean times since last ventilation, as well as the mean times to reexposure are older in the Antarctic Southern Ocean and elsewhere progressively with depth, by up to ∼1,000 years in the abyss.

Can digital ecosystems mitigate risks in sea transport operations? Estimating benefits for supply chain stakeholders

Decision-making supported by digital ecosystems has been increasingly studied during recent years, especially due to improved technical capabilities to collect, store, and analyze large amounts of data. The literature recognizes that these systems can reduce response time of managers and enhance a cost-efficient recovery of supply chains. However, there is a lack of methodological frameworks to evaluate the benefits of these platforms. In addition, there is still little understanding of the risks in ocean container transport and their implications for supply chains. This paper proposes and applies a mathematical model for evaluating the impacts of digital platforms, with a focus on solutions to mitigate risks in sea transport operations. The model is based on scenarios and decision tree models to evaluate the impacts of a supply chain digital ecosystem on full containers shipped from Asia to Europe implemented by four companies. Results show monetary savings per scenario in the range from €3448 to €79,242. The most significant savings are expected on unplanned transshipments, cargo damage, export inspections, container detention, and container release.

Variability in the global energy budget and transports 1985\u20132017

The study of energy flows in the Earth system is essential for understanding current climate change. To understand how energy is accumulating and being distributed within the climate system, an updated reconstruction of energy fluxes at the top of atmosphere, surface and within the atmosphere derived from observations is presented. New satellite and ocean data are combined with an improved methodology to quantify recent variability in meridional and ocean to land heat transports since 1985. A global top of atmosphere net imbalance is found to increase from 0.10 ± 0.61 W m−2 over 1985–1999 to 0.62 ± 0.1 W m−2 over 2000–2016, and the uncertainty of ± 0.61 W m−2 is related to the Argo ocean heat content changes (± 0.1 W m−2) and an additional uncertainty applying prior to 2000 relating to homogeneity adjustments. The net top of atmosphere radiative flux imbalance is dominated by the southern hemisphere (0.36 ± 0.04 PW, about 1.41 ± 0.16 W m−2) with an even larger surface net flux into the southern hemisphere ocean (0.79 ± 0.16 PW, about 3.1 ± 0.6 W m−2) over 2006–2013. In the northern hemisphere the surface net flux is of opposite sign and directed from the ocean toward the atmosphere (0.44 ± 0.16 PW, about 1.7 ± 0.6 W m−2). The sea ice melting and freezing are accounted for in the estimation of surface heat flux into the ocean. The northward oceanic heat transports are inferred from the derived surface fluxes and estimates of ocean heat accumulation. The derived cross-equatorial oceanic heat transport of 0.50 PW is higher than most previous studies, and the derived mean meridional transport of 1.23 PW at 26° N is very close to 1.22 PW from RAPID observation. The surface flux contribution dominates the magnitude of the oceanic transport, but the integrated ocean heat storage controls the interannual variability. Poleward heat transport by the atmosphere at 30° N is found to increase after 2000 (0.17 PW decade−1). The multiannual mean (2006–2013) transport of energy by the atmosphere from ocean to land is estimated as 2.65 PW, and is closely related to the ENSO variability.

Ice sheet controls on fine-grained deposition at the southern Mendeleev Ridge since the penultimate interglacial

Clay minerals deposited at the southern Mendeleev Ridge in the Arctic Ocean have a unique provenance, which can be used to reconstruct changes in the local sedimentary environment. We show that sediments in core ARC7-E23 record high-frequency changes in clay minerals since the penultimate interglacial. The clay minerals, grain size, and ice-rafted debris indicate the extent of the East Siberia Ice Sheet (ESIS). During the glacial periods of Marine Isotope Stage 2 (MIS2) and MIS4, the southern Mendeleev Ridge was likely covered by an ESIS-extended ice shelf, blocking almost all sediment input from the Canadian Arctic and Laptev Sea, but allowing transport of fine-grained sediments from the East Siberian and Chukchi Sea shelves. After ESIS retreat, the Beaufort Gyre and Transpolar Drift became the primary transport mechanism for the distally sourced sediments. Climate conditions in MIS3 enhanced both the oceanic circulation and sediment transport.

The DOE E3SM v1.1 Biogeochemistry Configuration: Description and Simulated Ecosystem‐Climate Responses to Historical Changes in Forcing

AbstractThis paper documents the biogeochemistry configuration of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM), E3SMv1.1‐BGC. The model simulates historical carbon cycle dynamics, including carbon losses predicted in response to land use and land cover change, and the responses of the carbon cycle to changes in climate. In addition, we introduce several innovations in the treatment of soil nutrient limitation mechanisms, including explicit dependence on phosphorus availability. The suite of simulations described here includes E3SM contributions to the Coupled Climate‐Carbon Cycle Model Intercomparison Project and other projects, as well as simulations to explore the impacts of structural uncertainty in representations of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation. We describe the model spin‐up and evaluation procedures, provide an overview of results from the simulation campaign, and highlight key features of the simulations. Cumulative warming over the twentieth century is similar to observations, with a midcentury cold bias offset by stronger warming in recent decades. Ocean biomass production and carbon uptake are underpredicted, likely due to biases in ocean transport leading to widespread anoxia and undersupply of nutrients to surface waters. The inclusion of nutrient limitations in the land biogeochemistry results in weaker carbon fertilization and carbon‐climate feedbacks than exhibited by other Earth System Models that exclude those limitations. Finally, we compare with an alternative representation of terrestrial biogeochemistry, which differs in structure and in initialization of soil phosphorus. While both configurations agree well with observational benchmarks, they differ significantly in their distribution of carbon among different pools and in the strength of nutrient limitations.

Mean state of global and regional ocean water cycle based on ERA-interim reanalysis

Based on ERA-interim reanalysis dataset from 1979 to 2018, this study revisits the global and regional water cycle, as well as the water vapor transport between ocean basins. The surface of the Earth is divided into five continents and four ocean basins, water vapor budget, and its seasonal variability of each continent and ocean basin are calculated. The Indian Ocean and the Atlantic are major net water vapor source regions, ~ − 0.47 Sv and ~ −0.82 Sv, respectively, while the Pacific and the Arctic are weak net water vapor sink regions, ~ 0.04 Sv and ~ 0.06 Sv, respectively. A total of 85% of evaporation and 78% of precipitation occur at the ocean-atmosphere interface while 15% of evaporation and 22% of precipitation occur at the land-atmosphere interface. About 1.19 Sv water vapor is carried out from oceans to lands. The water vapor transport is about 0.07 Sv from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, and 0.22 Sv from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the segments. At low latitudes, both the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean transport water vapor to the Pacific, with a total of 0.29 Sv. Those results update the estimate of global and regional water vapor budget.

Heat and carbon coupling reveals ocean warming due to circulation changes.

Anthropogenic global surface warming is proportional to cumulative carbon emissions1-3; this relationship is partly determined by the uptake and storage of heat and carbon by the ocean4. The rates and patterns of ocean heat and carbon storage are influenced by ocean transport, such as mixing and large-scale circulation5-10. However, existing climate models do not accurately capture the observed patterns of ocean warming, with a large spread in their projections of ocean circulation and ocean heat uptake8,11. Additionally, assessing the influence of ocean circulation changes (specifically, the redistribution of heat by resolved advection) on patterns of observed and simulated ocean warming remains a challenge. Here we establish a linear relationship between the heat and carbon uptake of theocean in response to anthropogenic emissions. This relationship is determined mainly by intrinsic parameters of the Earth system-namely, the ocean carbon buffer capacity, the radiative forcing of carbon dioxide and the carbon inventory of the ocean. We use this relationship to reveal the effect of changes in ocean circulation from carbon dioxide forcing on patterns of ocean warming in both observations and global Earth system models from the Fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). We show that historical patterns of ocean warming are shaped by ocean heat redistribution, which CMIP5 models simulate poorly. However, we find that projected patterns of heat storage are primarily dictated by thepre-industrial ocean circulation (and smallchanges in unresolved ocean processes)-that is, by the patterns of added heat owing toocean uptake of excess atmospheric heat rather than ocean warming by circulation changes. Climate models show more skill in simulating ocean heat storage by the pre-industrial circulationcompared to heat redistribution, indicating that warming patterns of the ocean may become more predictable as the climate warms.

Transient Overturning Compensation between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Basins

AbstractClimate models consistently project (i) a decline in the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and (ii) a strengthening of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds in response to anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing. These two processes suggest potentially conflicting tendencies of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC): a weakening AMOC due to changes in the North Atlantic but a strengthening AMOC due to changes in the Southern Ocean. Here we focus on the transient evolution of the global ocean overturning circulation in response to a perturbation to the NADW formation rate. We propose that the adjustment of the Indo-Pacific overturning circulation is a critical component in mediating AMOC changes. Using a hierarchy of ocean and climate models, we show that the Indo-Pacific overturning circulation provides the first response to AMOC changes through wave processes, whereas the Southern Ocean overturning circulation responds on longer (centennial to millennial) time scales that are determined by eddy diffusion processes. Changes in the Indo-Pacific overturning circulation compensate AMOC changes, which allows the Southern Ocean overturning circulation to evolve independently of the AMOC, at least over time scales up to many decades. In a warming climate, the Indo-Pacific develops an overturning circulation anomaly associated with the weakening AMOC that is characterized by a northward transport close to the surface and a southward transport in the deep ocean, which could effectively redistribute heat between the basins. Our results highlight the importance of interbasin exchange in the response of the global ocean overturning circulation to a changing climate.

Lagrangian eddy kinetic energy of ocean mesoscale eddies and its application to the Northwestern Pacific

Coherent oceanic mesoscale eddies with unique dynamical structures have great impacts on ocean transports and global climate. Eddy kinetic energy (EKE), derived from time-dependent circulation, is commonly used to study mesoscale eddies. However, there are three deficiencies of EKE when focusing on the analysis of coherent mesoscale eddies. Here, we propose a comprehensive concept—Lagrangian EKE (LEKE) as an additional metric which is a combination of gridded EKE calculated in Eulerian framework and tracked coherent mesoscale eddies in Lagrangian framework. Evidences suggest that LEKE can make up these deficiencies as an effective supplement. In this study, regional application over Northwestern Pacific Ocean is taken as an example. It clearly demonstrates that LEKE reveals more accurate and detailed characteristics of both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies than EKE when coherent mesoscale eddies are the specific focus, such as the variation rates of kinetic energy during the eddy propagation, spatial–temporal differences of kinetic energy between cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. Overall, using LEKE to analyze coherent mesoscale eddies gives the rise to understand the spatial–temporal contrasts between eddies with different polarities, and provides a new perspective to recognize the crucial role played by coherent mesoscale eddies in the ocean.

Early Islamic Torpedo Jars from Siraf: Scientific Analyses of the Clay Fabric and Source of Indian Ocean Transport Containers

ABSTRACT This paper concerns Sasanian to Early Islamic period transport containers, usually lined with bitumen, known as Torpedo jars. Widely distributed throughout the western Indian Ocean, with outliers as far west as Egypt and to the east in Indonesia, they are an important marker of maritime exchange. Their area of production is thought to be central/southern Iraq or southwestern Iran, the latter in keeping with proposed bitumen sources in the region of Ilam/Khuzestan. Here thirteen Torpedo jar samples from Siraf (southern Iran), belonging to two class categories defined by form and macroscopic fabric, were analysed. The technology of manufacture and potential source areas were examined in thin section by polarising, digital and scanning electron microscopy. These same techniques were used to examine the bitumen layer, providing insight into the vessel lining process. Analysis generally validated the distinction between the two classes; fabric variation within the classes identified eight petro-fabrics, suggestive of at least five workshops. These results point to regionally related workshops for each class category, exploiting distinct clay resources, rather than two single production sites. Suitable clay resources are widely available throughout central/southern Iraq and southwestern Iran, including Ilam/Khuzestan.

Publisher Correction: Impacts of hydrothermal plume processes on oceanic metal cycles and transport

Publisher Correction: Impacts of hydrothermal plume processes on oceanic metal cycles and transport

The importance of North Atlantic Ocean transports for seasonal forecasts

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a main driver for predictability at decadal time scales, but has been largely ignored in the context of seasonal forecasts. Here, we show compelling evidence that AMOC initialization can have a direct and strong impact on seasonal forecasts. Winter reforecasts with SEAS5, the current operational seasonal forecasting system by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, exhibit errors of sea-surface temperature (SST) in the western part of the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre that are strongly correlated with decadal variations in the AMOC initial conditions. In the early reforecast period 1981–1996, too warm SST coincide with an overly strong AMOC transporting excessive heat into the region. In the ocean reanalyses providing the forecast initial conditions, excessive heat transport is balanced by additional surface cooling from relaxing towards observed SST, and therefore the fit to observations is acceptable. However, the additional surface cooling contributes to enhanced deep convection and strengthens the AMOC, thereby establishing a feedback loop. In the forecasts, where the SST relaxation is absent, the balance is disrupted, and fast growth of SST errors ensues. The warm SST bias has a strong local impact on surface air temperature, mean sea-level pressure, and precipitation patterns, but remote impact is small. In the late reforecast period 2001–2016, neither the SST in the western North Atlantic nor the AMOC show large biases. The non-stationarity of the bias prevents an effective forecast calibration and causes an apparent loss of skill in the affected region. The case presented here demonstrates the importance of correctly initializing slowly varying aspects of the Earth System such as the AMOC in order to improve forecasts on seasonal and shorter time scales.

Local Grid Refinement in New Zealand's Earth System Model: Tasman Sea Ocean Circulation Improvements and Super‐Gyre Circulation Implications

AbstractThis paper describes the development of New Zealand's Earth System Model (NZESM) and evaluates its performance against its parent model (United Kingdom Earth System Model, UKESM) and observations. The main difference between the two earth system models is an embedded high‐resolution (1/5°) nested region over the oceans around New Zealand in the NZESM. Due to this finer ocean model mesh, currents such as the East Australian Current, East Australian Current Extension, Tasman Front, and Tasman Leakage, and their volume and heat transports are better simulated in the NZESM. The improved oceanic transports have led to a reduction in upper ocean temperature and salinity biases over the nested region. In addition, net transports through the Tasman Sea of volume, heat and salt in the NZESM agree better with previously reported estimates. A consequence of the increased cross‐Tasman Sea transports in the NZESM is increased temperatures and salinity west of Australia and in the Southern Ocean reducing the meridional sea surface temperature gradient between the subtropics and sub‐Antarctic. This also leads to a weakening of the westerly winds between 60°S and 45°S over large parts of the Southern Ocean, which reduces the northward Ekman transport, reduces the formation of Antarctic Intermediate Water, and allows for a southward expansion of the Super‐Gyre in all ocean basins. Connecting an improved oceanic circulation around New Zealand to a basin‐wide Super‐Gyre response is an important step forward in our current understanding of how local scales can influence global scales in a fully coupled earth system model.

Development of double cyclonic mesoscale eddies at around Xisha islands observed by a‘Sea-Whale 2000’ autonomous underwater vehicle

Mesoscale eddies regulate oceanic material transport and atmospheric current. The area around Xisha Islands is an important sink region for mesoscale eddies. We observed two cyclones during September to October 2019, and found that these two cold eddies had split from one local cold eddy. Using a Chinese Autonomous Underwater Vehicle(AUV), called ‘Sea-Whale 2000’, for field experiment, we successfully observed the fine structures at the interface of the two cyclones, which showed that two vertical layers of water developed into three layers. The AUV was operated at 300 m and captured the temperature, salinity and velocity oscillation at the bottom of the two cyclonic eddies. A simple barotropic quasi-geostrophic numerical experiment showed that the slope gradient effect played a major role in eddy splitting. Through energy conservation analysis, we confirmed that the barotropic instability was a major contributor to the development of the cold eddies.

Moisture sources associated with heavy rainfall over the Limpopo River Basin, southern Africa

Moisture sources and pathways over the Limpopo River Basin (LRB) in southern Africa were identified using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model applied to NCEP II (2.5° × 2.5°) reanalysis data for 1981–2016. The 10-day air parcel backward trajectories were produced for the extended wet season (October–April) as well as the early and late summer. Analysis of a 36-year climatology of air parcel trajectories indicated seven moisture source regions for the LRB; namely, local continental, tropical southeast Atlantic Ocean, midlatitude South Atlantic Ocean, tropical northwest Indian Ocean, tropical southwest Indian Ocean, subtropical southwest Indian Ocean, and the Agulhas Current. The results have shown that important differences in moisture source regions and pathways exist between early (October–December) and late (January–April) summers, with the tropical northwestern Indian Ocean and the northern Agulhas Current sources more prominent during JFMA than OND. On interannual time scales, there are notable differences in moisture source regions between anomalously wet and dry summers, with the South Indian Ocean moisture contribution and transport over the LRB smaller during dry summers than wet summers. Changes in specific humidity for trajectory linked to heavy daily rainfall events (defined from CHIRPS data) showed that subtropical South Indian Ocean source is more extensive for the heavy rainfall than for the moderate case. Generally, moisture source regions and transport pathways for LRB tend to be influenced by both the regional summer season circulation and the synoptic setting.

Impacts of hydrothermal plume processes on oceanic metal cycles and transport

Chemical, physical and biological processes in hydrothermal plumes control the flux of elements from hydrothermal vents to the global oceans. The timescales of these processes range from less than a second, as the hydrothermal fluid mixes with seawater at the seafloor, to decades, as the plume disperses over thousands of kilometres. Integrating hydrothermal geochemistry throughout the lifetime of the plume reveals some well-constrained processes, along with many surprises. For instance, contrary to the idea that metals are removed from the hydrothermal plume via oxidation, a survey of recent datasets reveals that oxidation of iron and manganese does not consistently result in their removal from the plume, and that manganese may be lost from the water column more rapidly than iron. These observations suggest that our understanding of element transport in hydrothermal plumes is incomplete, partly due to the change in removal processes as the plume disperses from less than 1 km from the vent to more than 4,000 km. We suggest that characterizing the plume on the basis of regions that retain some reduced components versus those that are fully oxidized, in addition to buoyancy, will illuminate the nature of the dominant processes and allow a more complete understanding of the ultimate fate of hydrothermally derived metals. Characterization of hydrothermal plumes in terms of redox, rather than distance from the vent, illuminates the dominant transport processes and fate of metals, focusing on iron and manganese.

Orbital and sea-level changes regulate the iron-associated sediment supplies from Papua New Guinea to the equatorial Pacific

Iron (Fe) supplied to the equatorial Pacific are thought to play a critical role in marine biogeochemical cycle and the related air–sea CO2 flux. Previous studies have shown that Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a major Fe contributor for the western equatorial Pacific. However, key issues of this Fe supply including the exact sources, transport processes and distribution range remain unclear, especially its long-term variability associated with hydroclimatic and paleoceanographic changes. Using a set of cores collected offshore the northern PNG and from the Ontong-Java Plateau (OJP), shown to situate along the pathway of Fe delivery by undercurrents, here we compile high-resolution records to explore how the Fe-associated sediment supplies varied and distributed on orbital time-scale during the past 400 ka. The chronologic frameworks of these cores are established by using 14C datings and stratigraphic correlations of foraminiferal δ18O records and carbonate contents. The sedimentary Fe and clay-mineral smectite in the offshore-PNG sites show a prominent precession cycle, in phase with the March insolation change at 5°S. Such precessional predominance suggests the control of local precipitation and river runoff on the offshore deposition of the Fe-associated sediment. For the OJP sites the proxies derived from terrigenous detrital component give a spectral pattern, however, prevailed by ∼100-ka cycle with secondary precessional highs. The significant 100-ka cycle can best be attributed to glacial–interglacial changes in oceanic transports, likely caused by sea-level regulated variability in the strength and/or route of the coastal undercurrents off PNG. This variability may have influenced the long-distance transport of Fe-rich particulates from the PNG to the OJP, and further eastwards via the Equatorial Undercurrent.

Contributions of Indonesian Throughflow to eastern Indian Ocean surface variability during ENSO events

AbstractThe contribution of ocean transport to the transition between the Indian Ocean Dipole mode (IOD) and the Indian Ocean Basin mode (IOB) during El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) years is investigated using reanalysis products. Composite analysis suggests that the IOD–IOB transition is robust among ENSO years, with variations in the eastern Indian Ocean mixed layer playing a key role. Although this transition has typically been attributed to changes in surface heat flux in the eastern Indian Ocean, our results suggest that approximately one third of the mixed layer temperature tendency during the transition results from anomalous ocean heat transport. Enhanced surface heat flux anomalies and oceanic advection starting from October during El Niño developing years combine to warm the eastern Indian Ocean, promoting the decay of the positive IOD cold tongue and the emergence of a positive IOB pattern. The contribution of ocean advection to the IOD—IOB transition is dominated by the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF), which accounts for around 70–80% of total ocean advection contribution in the southeastern Indian Ocean (20–25% of the total warming tendency). These variations in ITF heat transport arise in large part from local wind anomalies. Southeasterly wind anomalies along the northeastern edge of an anomalous Indian Ocean anticyclone associated with El Niño intensify surface‐layer heat transport into the Indian Ocean in the ITF outflow region. This change in surface transport contrasts with total ITF transport anomalies during El Niño years, as total transport is dominated by negative subsurface transport anomalies.

The Piecewise Parabolic Method for the Parameters Estimation in an Ocean Pollutant Transport Adjoint Model

In this paper, a higher-order and conservative Piecewise Parabolic interpolation is proposed to estimate key parameters of an ocean pollutant transport model. The Piecewise Parabolic interpolation quality is verified by groups of experiments. The results show that the Piecewise Parabolic Method (PPM) in independent point scheme (IPS) can realize better parameter estimation with fewer independent points.