Similarities and Contrasts in Time-Mean Striated Surface Tracers in Pacific Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems: The Role of Ocean Currents in Their Generation

Eastern boundary upwelling systems feature strong zonal gradients of physical and biological properties between cool, productive coastal oceans and warm, oligotrophic subtropical gyres. Zonal currents and jets (striations) are therefore likely to contribute to the transport of water properties between coastal and open oceanic regions. For the first time, multi-sensor satellite data are used to characterize the time-mean signatures of striations in sea surface temperature (SST), salinity (SSS), and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in subtropical eastern North/South Pacific (ENP/ESP) upwelling systems. In the ENP, tracers exhibit striated patterns extending up to ~2500 km offshore. Striated signals in SST and SSS are highly correlated with quasi-zonal jets, suggesting that these jets contribute to SST/SSS mesoscale patterns via zonal advection. Striated Chl-a anomalies are collocated with sea surface height (SSH) bands, a possible result of mesoscale eddy trains trapping nutrients and forming striated signals. In the ESP, the signature of striations is only found in SST and coincides with the SSH bands, consistently with quasi-zonal jets located outside major zonal tracer gradients. An interplay between large-scale SST/SSS advection by the quasi-zonal jets, mesoscale SST/SSS advection by the large-scale meridional flow, and eddy advection may explain the persistent ENP hydrographic signature of striations. These results underline the importance of quasi-zonal jets for surface tracer structuring at the mesoscale.

Similarities and Contrasts in Stationary Striations of Surface Tracers in Pacific Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems

Eastern boundary upwelling systems feature strong zonal gradients of physical and biological ocean properties between cool, productive coastal oceans and warm, oligotrophic subtropical gyres. Zonal currents and jets (striations) are therefore likely to contribute to the transport of water properties between coastal and open oceanic regions. Multi-sensor satellite data are used to characterize the signatures of striations in sea surface temperature (SST), salinity (SSS), and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in subtropical eastern North/South Pacific (ENP/ESP) upwelling systems. In the ENP, tracers exhibit striated patterns extending up to ~2500 km offshore. Striations in SST and SSS are highly correlated with quasi-zonal jets, suggesting that these jets contribute to SST/SSS mesoscale patterns via zonal advection. Chl-a striations are collocated with sea surface height (SSH) bands, a possible result of mesoscale eddy trains trapping nutrients and forming striated signals. In the ESP, striations are only found in SST and coincide with SSH bands, consistently with quasi-zonal jets located outside major zonal tracer gradients. An interplay between large-scale SST/SSS advection by the quasi-zonal jets, mesoscale SST/SSS advection by the large-scale meridional flow and eddy advection may explain the persistent ENP hydrographic striations. These results underline the importance of quasi-zonal jets for surface tracer structuring at the mesoscale.

Environmental Correlates of Prevalence of an Intraerythrocytic Apicomplexan Infecting Caribbean Damselfish

Parasites are an integral part of coral reef ecosystems due to their influences on population dynamics, biodiversity, community structure, and food web connectivity. The Phylum Apicomplexa contains ubiquitous animal associates including the causative agents of globally important human diseases such as malaria and cryptosporidiosis. Despite their ubiquity, little is known about the biology, ecology, or distribution of these microorganisms in natural animal populations. In the US Virgin Islands, the dusky damselfish (Stegastes adustus) had a high but variable incidence of a Haemohormidium-like blood apicomplexan among 30 sites sampled. Microscopic analyses of blood smears allowed us to group these fish as infected, having low intensity infections, or uninfected. Regression analyses detected no significant differences in the condition indices (expressed as length–mass ratio). However, infection was clearly associated with potentially extremely high leukocyte counts among infected S. adustus that were not seen in uninfected fish. These results suggested the potential for some impact on the host. Linear mixed effects models indicated that S. adustus population density and meridional flow velocity were the main predictors of apicomplexan prevalence, with presence of other Stegastes species, population distance from watershed, zonal flow velocity, the complexity of the surrounding habitat, and season not showing any significant relationship with fish infection.

Solar cycle-related variation in solar differential rotation and meridional flow in solar cycle 24

We studied temporal variation of the differential rotation and poleward meridional circulation during solar cycle 24 using the magnetic element feature tracking technique. We used line-of-sight magnetograms obtained using the helioseismic and magnetic imager aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory from May 01, 2010 to March 26, 2020 (for almost the entire period of solar cycle 24, Carrington rotation from 2096 to 2229) and tracked the magnetic element features every 1 h. We also estimated the differential rotation and poleward meridional flow velocity profiles. The observed profiles are consistent with those of previous studies on different cycles. Typical properties resulting from torsional oscillations can also be observed from solar cycle 24. The amplitude of the variation was approximately ±10 m s$$^{-1}$$ - 1 . Interestingly, we found that the average meridional flow observed in solar cycle 24 is faster than that observed in solar cycle 23. In particular, during the declining phase of the cycle, the meridional flow of the middle latitude is accelerated from 10 to 17 m s$$^{-1}$$ - 1 , which is almost half of the meridional flow itself. The faster meridional flow in solar cycle 24 might be the result of the weakest cycle during the last 100 years.

Solar Cycle Related Variation in Solar Differential Rotation and Meridional Flow in Solar Cycle 24

We studied temporal variation of the differential rotation and poleward meridional circulation during solar cycle 24 using the magnetic element feature tracking technique. We used line-of-sight magnetograms obtained using the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory from May 01, 2010 to March 26, 2020 (for almost the entire period of solar cycle 24, Carrington Rotation from 2096 to 2229) and tracked the magnetic element features every 1 hour. We also estimated the differential rotation and poleward meridional flow velocity profiles. The observed profiles are consistent with those of previous studies on different cycles. Typical properties resulting from torsional oscillations can also be observed from solar cycle 24. The amplitude of the variation was approximately ±10 m s−1. Interestingly, we found that the average meridional flow observed in solar cycle 24 is faster than that observed in solar cycle 23. In particular, during the declining phase of the cycle, the meridional flow of the middle latitude is accelerated from 10 to 17 m s−1, which is almost half of the meridional flow itself. The faster meridional flow in solar cycle 24 might be the result of the weakest cycle during the last 100 years.

Solar Cycle Related Variation in Solar Differential Rotation and Meridional Flow in Cycle 24

We studied temporal variation of the differential rotation and poleward meridional circulation during solar cycle 24 using the magnetic element feature tracking technique. We used line-of-sight magnetograms obtained using the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory from May 01, 2010 to March 26, 2020 (for almost the entire period of solar cycle 24, Carrington Rotation from 2096 to 2229) and tracked the magnetic element features every 1 hour. We also estimated the differential rotation and poleward meridional flow velocity profiles. The observed profiles are consistent with those of previous studies on different cycles. Typical properties resulting from torsional oscillations can also be observed from solar cycle 24. The amplitude of the variation was approximately $\pm$10 m s$^{-1}$. Interestingly, we found that the average meridional flow observed in solar cycle 24 is faster than that observed in solar cycle 23. In particular, during the declining phase of the cycle, the meridional flow of the middle latitude is accelerated from 10 to 17 m s$^{-1}$, which is almost half of the meridional flow itself. The faster meridional flow in solar cycle 24 might be the result of the weakest cycle during the last 100 years.

On the Formulation of Nonreflecting Boundary Conditions for Turbomachinery Configurations: Part II — Application and Analysis

The flow in turbomachinery components is complex due to the relative motion of rotating and non-rotating elements. A proper design and prediction of physical phenomena requires reliable CFD tools. One important aspect is the incorporation of sophisticated algorithms at the boundaries of the computational domain. For inviscid, one-dimensional and two-dimensional Euler-flows there exist analytical solutions for the formulation of a boundary condition. Realistic applications, however, are viscous and consist of a complex three-dimensional character. Nevertheless, the analytical 2D nonreflecting boundary conditions are commonly used in CFD codes for their high computational efficiency and numerical robustness. The application becomes more challenging when the boundaries are close to geometrical features such as blades and vanes. In practical applications, the position of the boundaries is dictated by geometrical constraints and hence the proximity to the blading cannot always be avoided. The interaction of rotating and non-rotating geometrical features in a turbomachine produces complex flow patterns that propagate in the form of acoustic, vorticity and entropy waves. A boundary condition must be implemented in such a way that waves can propagate undisturbed out of the computational domain. Any reflection may unphysically affect the solution within the computational domain which is especially harmful to sensitive values such as unsteady aeroelastic quantities. But also steady-state computations may suffer from errors produced by reflective boundary conditions. The following paper is the second of two papers on the formulation of unsteady boundary conditions based on a two-dimensional analytical approach. The first part of this paper [6] explains how to extend 2D nonreflecting boundary conditions to real 3D annular domains by applying them in certain conical rotational surfaces. Two different formulations are discussed referring to the orientation of said rotational surfaces. In the first case the surfaces are oriented perpendicular to the boundary panel. In the second case the surfaces are aligned with the circumferentially averaged meridional flow velocity. In the present paper a thorough analysis of the two different approaches will be given. Both formulations of the boundary algorithm are validated on the basis of several elementary model flows. The behavior is analyzed for various unsteady wave patterns of different propagation directions with respect to the boundary. It will be shown that the alignment of the rotational surfaces with the meridional flow has a beneficial effect on the reflective behavior for the majority of the investigated flow conditions. The boundary conditions are then tested on realistic turbomachinery components in order to analyze their applicability on complex flows.