Éditeur(s) : Université Paris 7 – Denis Diderot
Résumé : Sea surface salinity (SSS) influences numerous oceanic phenomena, for instance surface water ventilation, deep water formation and thermohaline circulation. SSS also controls some ocean-atmosphere coupled processes, such as the intensity of freshwater flux and the penetration of heat flux and turbulence. Salinity is more difficult to measure than temperature from in situ surveys, which results in 20 times less data being currently available. Moreover, sea surface temperature (SST) is routinely estimated from satellites, which is not possible yet for SSS. Two space missions will fill this gap soon: SMOS from the European Space Agency and Aquarius/SAC-D from NASA and CONAE. To contribute to the SMOS project, we propose a method for estimating SSS from current satellite observations and for studying the mechanisms governing its variability. We developed a simplified model of the ocean mixed layer, based on the "slab mixed layer" formulation (Frankignoul et Hasselmann, 1977). This 2D horizontal model is implemented over the global ocean, using a near 100 km resolution, and integrated during a climatological year. Air-sea fluxes are taken from the ECMWF meteorological model (ERA40 reanalysis) and the surface currents are provided by altimeter data (SSALTO-DUACS analysis). The mixed layer depth (MLD) is derived from SST observations, using an original inversion technique. The MLD fields obtained from this inversion are well correlated to in situ estimates. This effective depth represents the air-sea fluxes penetration and ensures consistency between fluxes, les currents and SST. We first validate the simulation through examination of the heat balance in north-eastern Atlantic, by comparing to measurements and models from the POMME experiment. Then we study the salinity balance in the global domain, in terms of its geographical distribution and seasonal evolution. Equilibrium between the various processes appears generally more complex than for temperature. Noteworthy, the role of atmospheric flux is less predominant (22%), while geostrophic advection (33%) and diapycnal mixing (22%) contribute more strongly. Our results indicate this model succeeds in reconstructing SSS variability over most of the oceans. Daily SSS variations are also simulated, whereas they are not represented in current observed data at a global scale. Owing to its simplicity and fast computation, the model will be useful to the SMOS mission. It can help for the measurement calibration/validation and provide a first guess estimate to the sophisticated algorithm required for SSS restitution.
La salinité de surface des océans (SSS) influence de nombreux phénomènes océaniques, parmi lesquels la ventilation des eaux de surface, la formation d'eaux profondes et la circulation thermohaline. Elle détermine aussi certains processus couplés océan-atmosphère, notamment l'intensité du flux d'eau douce, la pénétration du flux de chaleur et de la turbulence. La mesure in situ de salinité est plus compliquée que celle de température, si bien qu'on dispose actuellement de 20 fois moins de données pour cette propriété. De plus, la température de surface (SST) est couramment estimée par satellite, ce qui n'est pas encore le cas de la SSS. Deux missions spatiales vont prochainement combler cette lacune : le satellite SMOS de l'Agence Spatiale Européenne et le satellite Aquarius/SAC-D de la NASA et de la CONAE. En préparation du projet SMOS, nous proposons une méthode pour estimer la SSS à partir des observations satellitaires actuelles et étudier les mécanismes de sa variabilité. Nous avons développé un modèle simplifié de couche mélangée océanique, basé sur la formulation "slab mixed layer" (Frankignoul et Hasselmann, 1977). Ce modèle 2D horizontal est implémenté sur l'océan global, avec une résolution proche de 100 km, et intégré au cours d'une année climatologique. Les flux air-mer proviennent du modèle météorologique ECMWF (réanalyse ERA40) et les courants de surface sont issus de l'altimétrie (analyse SSALTO-DUACS). La profondeur de la couche mélangée (MLD) est dérivée des observations de SST, grâce à une technique d'inversion originale. La MLD obtenue par inversion est bien corrélée aux estimations basées sur des données in situ. Cette profondeur effective représente la pénétration des flux air-mer et assure la cohérence entre les flux, les courants et la SST. La simulation est d'abord validée en examinant le bilan de chaleur dans l'Atlantique Nord-Est, par comparaison aux mesures et aux modèles de l'expérience POMME. Puis le bilan de salinité est étudié dans le domaine global, en termes de distribution géographique et d'évolution saisonnière. L'équilibre entre les différents processus est généralement plus complexe que pour la température. Notamment, le rôle du flux atmosphérique est moins prépondérant (22%), tandis que l'advection géostrophique (33%) et le mélange diapycnal (22%) contribuent fortement. Nos résultats montrent que ce modèle parvient à restituer la variabilité de la SSS sur la majeure partie des océans. Le modèle simule aussi les variations journalières de SSS, qui ne sont pas représentées à l'échelle globale dans les observations actuelles. Grâce à sa simplicité et à sa rapidité, le modèle pourra être utile dans le cadre de SMOS. Il pourra aider à la calibration/validation de la mesure et fournir une estimation a priori pour l'algorithme complexe nécessaire à la restitution de la SSS.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/these-2302.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2302/

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : At its seasonal peak the Amazon/Orinoco plume covers a region of 10^6 km2 in the western tropical Atlantic with more than 1m of extra freshwater, creating a near-surface barrier layer (BL) that inhibits mixing and warms the sea surface temperature (SST) to >29oC. Here new sea surface salinity (SSS) observations from the Aquarius/SACD and SMOS satellites help elucidate the ocean response to hurricane Katia, which crossed the plume in early fall, 2011. Its passage left a 1.5psu high haline wake covering >10^5 km2 (in its impact on density, the equivalent of a 3.5oC cooling) due to mixing of the shallow BL. Destruction of this BL apparently decreased SST cooling in the plume, and thus preserved higher SST and evaporation than outside. Combined with SST, the new satellite SSS data provide a new and better tool to monitor the plume extent and quantify tropical cyclone upper ocean responses with important implications for forecasting.
Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2012-10 , Vol. 39 , N. L20603 , P. 1-8

Droits : 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00094/20540/18943.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2012GL053335
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00094/20540/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Royal Society, The
Résumé : International audience
Coral spawning times have been linked to multiple environmental factors; however, to what extent these factors act as generalized cues across multiple species and large spatial scales is unknown. We used a unique dataset of coral spawning from 34 reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans to test if month of spawning and peak spawning month in assemblages of Acropora spp. can be predicted by sea surface temperature (SST), photosynthetically available radiation, wind speed, current speed, rainfall or sunset time. Contrary to the classic view that high mean SST initiates coral spawning, we found rapid increases in SST to be the best predictor in both cases (month of spawning: R2 = 0.73, peak: R2 = 0.62). Our findings suggest that a rapid increase in SST provides the dominant proximate cue for coral mass spawning over large geographical scales. We hypothesize that coral spawning is ultimately timed to ensure optimal fertilization success.
ISSN: 0962-8452

hal-01325704
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01325704
DOI : 10.1098/rspb.2016.0011

Éditeur(s) : Public Library Science
Résumé : Changes in phenology, the timing of seasonal activities, are among the most frequently observed responses to environmental disturbances and in marine species are known to occur in response to climate changes that directly affects ocean temperature, biogeochemical composition and sea level. We examined nesting seasonality data from long-term studies at 8 green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookeries that include 21 specific nesting sites in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO). We demonstrated that temperature drives patterns of nesting seasonality at the regional scale. We found a significant correlation between mean annual Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and dates of peak nesting with rookeries exposed to higher SST having a delayed nesting peak. This supports the hypothesis that temperature is the main factor determining peak nesting dates. We also demonstrated a spatial synchrony in nesting activity amongst multiple rookeries in the northern part of the SWIO (Aldabra, Glorieuses, Mohéli, Mayotte) but not with the eastern and southern rookeries (Europa, Tromelin), differences which could be attributed to females with sharply different adult foraging conditions. However, we did not detect a temporal trend in the nesting peak date over the study period or an inter-annual relation between nesting peak date and SST. The findings of our study provide a better understanding of the processes that drive marine species phenology. The findings will also help to predict their ability to cope with climate change and other environmental perturbations. Despite demonstrating this spatial shift in nesting phenology, no trend in the alteration of nesting dates over more than 20 years was found.
Plos One (1932-6203) (Public Library Science), 2012-10 , Vol. 7 , N. 10 , P. 1-13

Droits : 2012 Dalleau et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00098/20940/18558.pdf
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0046920
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00098/20940/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Projections of climate change impacts on coral reefs produced at the coarse resolution (~1°) of Global Climate Models (GCMs) have informed debate but have not helped target local management actions. Here, projections of the onset of annual coral bleaching conditions in the Caribbean under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 are produced using an ensemble of 33 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-5 models and via dynamical and statistical downscaling. A high-resolution (~11 km) regional ocean model (MOM4.1) is used for the dynamical downscaling. For statistical downscaling, sea surface temperature (SST) means and annual cycles in all the GCMs are replaced with observed data from the ~4-km NOAA Pathfinder SST dataset. Spatial patterns in all three projections are broadly similar ; the average year for the onset of annual severe bleaching is 2040–2043 for all projections. However, downscaled projections show many locations where the onset of annual severe bleaching (ASB) varies 10 or more years within a single GCM grid cell. Managers in locations where this applies (e.g., Florida, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, and the Domini-can Republic, among others) can identify locations that represent relative albeit temporary refugia. Both downscaled projections are different for the Bahamas compared to the GCM projections. The dynamically downscaled projections suggest an earlier onset of ASB linked to projected changes in regional currents, a feature not resolved in GCMs. This result demonstrates the value of dynamical downscaling for this application and means statistically downscaled projections have to be interpreted with caution. However, aside from west of Andros Island, the projections for the two types of downscaling are mostly aligned; projected onset of ASB is within AE10 years for 72% of the reef locations.
ISSN: 1354-1013

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/
hal-01223492
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01223492
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01223492/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01223492/file/Hooidonk_et_al-2015-Global_Change_Biology.pdf
DOI : 10.1111/gcb.12901

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Coral bleaching events threaten coral reef habitats globally and cause severe declines of local biodiversity and productivity.Related to high sea surface temperatures (SST), bleaching events are expected to increase as a consequenceof future global warming. However, response to climate change is still uncertain as future low-latitude climatic conditionshave no present-day analogue. Sea surface temperatures during the Eocene epoch were warmer than forecastedchanges for the coming century, and distributions of corals during the Eocene may help to inform models forecastingthe future of coral reefs. We coupled contemporary and Eocene coral occurrences with information on their respectiveclimatic conditions to model the thermal niche of coral reefs and its potential response to projected climate change.We found that under the RCP8.5 climate change scenario, the global suitability for coral reefs may increase up to 16%by 2100, mostly due to improved suitability of higher latitudes. In contrast, in its current range, coral reef suitabilitymay decrease up to 46% by 2100. Reduction in thermal suitability will be most severe in biodiversity hotspots, especiallyin the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Our results suggest that many contemporary hotspots for coral reefs,including those that have been refugia in the past, spatially mismatch with future suitable areas for coral reefs posingchallenges to conservation actions under climate change.
ISSN: 1354-1013

hal-01145464
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01145464
DOI : 10.1111/gcb.12868

Éditeur(s) : Taylor & Francis Ltd
Résumé : A new method is developed to estimate daily turbulent airsea fluxes over the global ocean on a 0.25 degrees grid. The required surface wind speed (w(10)) and specific air humidity (q(10)) at 10m height are both estimated from remotely sensed measurements. w(10) is obtained from the SeaWinds scatterometer on board the QuikSCAT satellite. A new empirical model relating brightness temperatures (T-b) from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and q(10) is developed. It is an extension of the author's previous q(10) model. In addition to T-b, the empirical model includes sea surface temperature (SST) and airsea temperature difference data. The calibration of the new empirical q(10) model utilizes q(10) from the latest version of the National Oceanography Centre airsea interaction gridded data set (NOCS2.0). Compared with mooring data, the new satellite q(10) exhibits better statistical results than previous estimates. For instance, the bias, the root mean square (RMS), and the correlation coefficient values estimated from comparisons between satellite and moorings in the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea are 0.04gkg(1), 0.87gkg(1), and 0.95, respectively. The new satellite q(10) is used in combination with the newly reprocessed QuikSCAT V3, the latest version of SST analyses provided by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), and 10m air temperature estimated from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalyses (ERA-Interim), to determine three daily gridded turbulent quantities at 0.25 degrees spatial resolution: surface wind stress, latent heat flux (LHF), and sensible heat flux (SHF). Validation of the resulting fields is performed through a comprehensive comparison with daily, in situ values of LHF and SHF from buoys. In the northeast Atlantic basin, the satellite-derived daily LHF has bias, RMS, and correlation of 5Wm(2), 27Wm(2), and 0.89, respectively. For SHF, the statistical parameters are 2Wm(2), 10Wm(2), and 0.94, respectively. At global scale, the new satellite LHF and SHF are compared to NOCS2.0 daily estimates. Both daily fluxes exhibit similar spatial and seasonal variability. The main departures are found at latitudes south of 40 degrees S, where satellite latent and sensible heat fluxes are generally larger.
International Journal Of Remote Sensing (0143-1161) (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 2013-07 , Vol. 34 , N. 14 , P. 5243-5261

Droits : 2013 Taylor & Francis
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24825/23575.pdf
DOI:10.1080/01431161.2013.787502
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24825/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A high-resolution record of paleostorm events along the French Mediterranean coast over the past 7000 years was established from a lagoonal sediment core in the Gulf of Lions. Integrating grain size, faunal analysis, clay mineralogy and geochemistry data with a chronology derived from radiocarbon dating, we recorded seven periods of increased storm activity at 6300-6100, 5650-5400, 4400-4050, 3650-3200, 2800-2600, 1950-1400 and 400-50 cal yr BP (in the Little Ice Age). In contrast, our results show that the Medieval Climate Anomaly (1150-650 cal yr BP) was characterised by low storm activity.;The evidence for high storm activity in the NW Mediterranean Sea is in agreement with the changes in coastal hydrodynamics observed over the Eastern North Atlantic and seems to correspond to Holocene cooling-in the North Atlantic. Periods of low SSTs there may have led to a stronger meridional temperature gradient and a southward migration of the westerlies. We hypothesise that the increase in storm activity during Holocene cold events over the North Atlantic and Mediterranean regions was probably due to an increase in the thermal gradient that led to an enhanced lower tropospheric baroclinicity over a large Central Atlantic-European domain. (C) 2011 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 0033-5894

hal-00760909
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00760909
DOI : 10.1016/j.yqres.2011.09.002

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Seasonal climate forecasts mainly rely on the atmospheric sensitivity to its lower boundary conditions and on their own predictability. Besides sea surface temperature (SST), soil moisture (SM) may be an additional source of climate predictability particularly during boreal summer in the mid-latitudes. In this work, we investigate the role of SM initial conditions on near-surface climate predictability during ten boreal summer seasons using three complementary ensembles of AMIP-type simulations performed with the Arpège-Climat atmospheric general circulation model. First we have conducted an assessment of the SM predictability itself through a comparison of simple empirical SM models with Arpège-Climat. The statistical and dynamical models reveal similar SM prediction skill patterns but the Arpège-Climat reaches higher scores suggesting that it is at least suitable to explore the influence of SM initialization on atmospheric predictability. Then we evaluate the relationships between SM predictability and some near surface atmospheric predictability. While SM initialization obviously improves the predictability of land surface evaporation, it has no systematic influence on the precipitation and near surface temperature skills. Nevertheless, the summer hindcast skill is clearly improved during specific years and over certain regions (mainly north America and eastern Europe in the Arpège-Climat model), when and where the SM forcing is sufficiently widespread and strong. In this case, a significant impact is also found on the occurrence of heat waves and heavy rains, whose predictability at the seasonal timescale is a crucial challenge for years to come.
ISSN: 0930-7575

meteo-00346948
https://hal-meteofrance.archives-ouvertes.fr/meteo-00346948
DOI : 10.1007/s00382-008-0375-9

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Laboratoire Arago
Résumé : International audience
The analysis of the C-O stable isotope composition of coral reef fish otoliths from Taiaro, a French Polynesian atoll normally isolated from the Pacific Ocean, has been performed to address two main questions. The first is to confirm previous results which suggest that a lagoonal coral reef fish population is able to achieve its ontogenetic cycle without any open ocean phase. If so, are O isotopic values of otoliths an indicator of temperature fluctuations in the tropical Pacific Ocean related to climate change and in particular temperature variations of water masses? δ18O and δ13C values on both lagoon and open ocean fish otoliths caught in 2006 indicated clearly that O-isotopes reached the isotopic equilibrium; in contrast, all δ13C values exhibited a strong isotopic disequilibrium related to metabolic activity. Stable isotope compositions revealed a clear differentiation between fish from lagoons and those from the open ocean (with a δ18O enrichment of 1 ‰ in favour of the lagoon). This confirmed a lack of connectivity between habitats and that fish from lagoon lived their entire life cycle in the lagoon. Both δ18O and δ13C data indicated differences between nucleus and edge signatures with changes in fish behavior from the larval life to adulthood (habitat, diet, etc.), and a clear adaptation of dietary behavior of lagoon fish. The comparison of the 2006 data set with those of 1994 showed that environmental conditions were stable in the lagoon, leading to a very narrow range of variations in the δ18O values. δ18O of fish otoliths of the open ocean exhibited a wider variation (+0.25 ‰) between 1994 and 2006, suggesting a decrease in temperature linked to a change of SST, which can be interpreted in terms of climate change associated with El Nino Southern Oscilation (ENENSO). These differences could also be due to a switch of habitats during the life cycle of fish from the open ocean.
ISSN: 0240-8759

hal-01162477
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01162477