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Climatology of Global Climatology of Global Ocean WindsOcean Winds
(COGOW)(COGOW)
C.M Risien and D.B. Chelton
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Ehime Maru vs USS Greeneville• 9 Feb 2001 USS Greeneville collided with a Japanese
training and fishing vessel Ehime Maru
• Ehime Maru sank in ~ 600m of water, ~17km south of Diamond Head (Oahu, Hawaii)
• 26 of 35 crew members were rescued, 9 remaining crew members were assumed trapped inside the vessel
• After an environmental assessment & under mounting int’l pressure the US Navy agreed to attempt to recover the bodies
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Environmental Concerns
• There was still concern that during relocation a release of
contaminants (diesel fuel & lubricating oil) could occur
– Beach Contamination
– Marine Mammals, Migratory Birds, Sea Turtles, etc.
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NOAA OR&R’s Mandate
• To determine, through the use of oil-plume models, the optimal sea state and wind conditions necessary to avoid beach contamination
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Buoy Locations
National Data Center Buoys (NDBC) Scripps Buoys
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Ocean Wind Climatologies
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Climatology of Global Ocean Winds
http://cioss.coas.oregonstate.edu/cogow
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Summary
• Scatterometers provide valuable information in many regions of the world ocean that are sparsely sampled by ships and buoys
• Anticipated uses:– Oil spill mitigation– Training and emergency response planning
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NWS Feedback
• “excellent potential for our regional marine workshops”
• “Eastern Region would very much like to have this kind of data for our marine program”
• “The web site is cool”