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Meteorology and Oceanography of the Middle East

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LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION Current References (91-3) METEOROLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE EAST U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Nationa~ Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Nationa~ Environmenta~ Sate~~ite, Data, and Information Service Nationa~ Oceanographic Data Center MARCH 1991 METEOROLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE EAST March 1991 With the outbreak of hostilities in the Arabian Gulf, there has been heightened interest in atmospheric and oceanographic data and information about the Middle East. This bibliography has been prepared to answer a wide range of questions related to this area. The bibliography is divided into five sections: I. Atmospheric Circulation page 1 II. Desalination page 7 Ill. Oceanic Circulation page 45 IV. Oil and Marine Pollution page 69 v. Data Distribution Plots page 171 The majority of the information provided in the first four parts is the result of searching the following databases: Chemical Abstracts Search Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts Oceanic Abstracts Pollution Abstracts National Technical Information Service GeoRef Waternet Biosis Enviroline Environmental Bibliography Pascal Magazine Index New Search Newswire DOE Energy Water Resources Abstracts The citations go back as far as 1967 so as to provide a good overview of the literature and data available. Recent news ·articles have been included on the massive oil spills due to Operation Desert Storm. Data sets with information pertinent to the various subject areas (ie. Atmospheric Circulation) have been retrieved from the National Oceanographic Data Center's NEDRES database and incorporated. Questions about materials cited in the first four sections may be addressed to: NOAA Central Library Reference Desk, E/OC4 6009 Executive Boulevard Rockville, Maryland, 20852 Phone enquiries may be made to (301) 443-8330. The final section, displaying data distribution plots, represents historical data held by the National Oceanographic Data Center. There are six physical/chemical data types presented. Questions about this material may be addressed to:. National Oceanographic Data Center Information Services Division, OC2 1825 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20256 Phone enquiries may be made to (202) 673-5549. ------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Atmospheric Circulation 1. ALPERT, P.; A. COHEN; J. NEUMANN, and E. DORON (Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem, Israel) A model simulation of the summer circulation from the Eastern Mediterranean past Lake Kinneret in the Jordan Valley. Monthly Weather Review, vol. 110, 1982. Index terms: Atmospheric circulation/Sea breeze/Summer/Digital simulation/Mathematical model/Mediterranean Sea/Israel · 2. ALPERT, P.; B.U. NEEMAN, andY. SHAY-EL (Tel Aviv University, Israel) Climatological analysis of Mediterranean cyclones using ECMWF data European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting. Tellus, Series A- Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography, vol. 42A, p. 65-77, Jan. 1990. Geophysical Society of Finland and AMS, Palmen Memorial Symposium on Extratropical Cyclones, Helsinki, Finland, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 1988) A thoroughly objective method for the definition, selection and tracing of Mediterranean region cyclones is presented. The method is applied to the ECMWF 1982-1987 analyzed datasets to show monthly cyclone frequencies, cyclonic tracks and vertical variation of average relative vorticity. Day-to-night changes and vertical variation of cyclonic frequencies/vorticities indicate the importance of the sea thermal effect in the eastern Mediterranean. In the western Mediterranean and to a lesser extent in the Cyprus region, the lee cyclogenetic effect is very pronounced. Monthly cyclone tracks are presented and they clearly indicate the preferred routes of cyclonic movements. (Author) Index terms: CLIMATOLOGY/CYCLONES/MEDITERRANEAN SEA/WEATHER FORECASTING /ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION/DIURNAL VARIATIONS/ . TEMPERATURE EFFECTS/ VERTICAL DISTRIBUTIONNORTICITY 3. ALPERT, P., and T. REISIN (Tel Aviv Univ., Dep. Geophysics, Ramat Aviv, Israel) An early winter polar air mass penetration to the Eastern Mediterranean. Monthly Weather Review, vol. 114, 1986. Index terms: Mediterranean Sea/Air mass/Penetration/Cold air/ Winter/ Case study/Atmospheric circulation 1 4. BIDLEMAN, T.F., and R. LEONARD (South Carolina, University, Columbia, SC) Aerial transport of pesticides over the Northern Indian Ocean and adjacent seas. Atmospheric Environment, vol. 16, no. 5, p. 1099-1107, 1982. Between 1976 and 1978, airborne organochlorines were measured over the northern Indian Ocean and the North Atlantic. Shipboard measurements in the Indian Ocean were made in the equatorial and northern Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. In the North Atlantic samples were collected at Barbados, the southern tip of Newfoundland, and from shipboard on a cruise across the trades region. Collections were made by pulling air through a glass fiber filter followed by a column of polyurethane foam. Analyses were done by packed and glass capillary gas chromatography using electron capture detection. The most striking difference in organochlorine patterns between the two oceans is the much higher DDT concentrations over the eastern. seas. Average DDT levels in the Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf-Red Sea area were 25-40 times the 3.0 pgm North Atlantic background value. These higher levels most likely result from the continued use of DDT in countries bordering these areas. By contrast, DDT use in the United States, Canada and most northern European countries has ceased. The most prevalent chlorinated pesticides over the North Atlantic were chlordane and polychloroterpenes, both of which are still used in the United States. ((Author)) Index terms: AIR POLLUTION/ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION/MARINE ENVIRONMENTS/ PESTICIDES/POLLUTION TRANSPORT /AIR SAMPLING/ CHLORINE COMPOUNDS/GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/INDIAN OCEAN/ ORGANIC COMPOUNDS 5. Distribution of Thunderstorms and Lightning over the Eastern Hemisphere, 1972, Jan. - Oct. 1972. Geographic Area- South, West, and Central Africa, North Africa, Mediterranean Sea, North and South Eurasia, Arabia, North and South India, Japan and Southeast Asia. An attempt was made to determine the distribution of thunderstorms and lightning and incidence of lightning discharge over the eastern hemisphere for 1972. Data were collected by Air Force personnel using Sferic sensor at 150,000 datum points. Lightning and thunderstorm data are presented by latitude and longitude and charts give distributions in isolines. 2 6. GRILLAKI, D., and S. PIACSEK (SACLANT ASW Research Center, La Spezia (Italy)) Numerical simulations of the circulation of the eastern Mediterranean. 1985. 30 p. Report #: AD-A 170219; SACLANTCEN-SR-92 Available from NTIS. Oceanographic observations have shown that the surface circulation in the eastern Mediterranean consists of the zonal North African Current along with systems of gyres and rings both north and south of the Current. A large cyclonic gyre occurs between Cyprus and Crete, and another between Greece and Libya. A weaker, quasi-permanent eddy is formed in the Ionian sea and is intensified by the flow through the Strait of Sicily. An anticyclonic ring occurs south of the North African Current in the Gulf of Sirte and another occurs in the southwest Levantine Sea. The reduced-gravity model (one active layer) of Hurlburt and Thompson has been adapted and applied to the semi-enclosed basin of the eastern Mediterranean. Using monthly averages of climatological wind stresses and the estimate of the annual mean flow through the Strait of Sicily, numerical simulations of the circulation in the eastern Mediterranean basin have been carried out. Model runs both with and without inflow through the Straits have been performed. The overall results agree with the observations. They show the presence of the North African Current, two persistent cyclonic gyres of varying strengths and two anticyclonic rings. (GRA) Index terms: ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION/MEDITERRANEAN SEA/OCEAN CURRENTS/ OCEAN MODELS /CYPRUS/GREECE/LIBYA/MATHEMATICAL MODELS/ NUMERICAL ANALYSIS/SICILY/ STRAITS/THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES 7. Hopkins, T.S. (Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY.) Discussion of the Ionian and Levantine Seas, NATO Workshop on Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation in the Mediterranean Basin. NATO workshop on atmospheric and oceanic circulation in the Mediterranean Basin. Washington, DC. : Department of Energy, 1983. 42 p. NTIS report number: DE84-011562. The Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) is the most critical water mass in the thermohaline heart of the Mediterranean. It is comprised of North Atlantic Water (NAW) which was transformed to salty water (36.2 to 39.2 ppt). In the eastern Mediterranean (EMED) the NAW changes to a warm saline surface layer and a cool 3 less saline layer. Much of the LIW is produced from winter cooling of surface waters. The distribution is patchy, dependant on original surface type, circulation, and atmospheric exposure. Convective depths range to 400 m; the densest water not necessarily correlated with the deepest convective layers. Survival of the LIW depends on circulation and density. The circulation of the EMED is barotropically controlled by sea level. The annual low frequency signal is a trough extending zonally south of center and deepening eastward. The resulting cyclonic circulation is skewed to the south and east. The westerly winds exaggerate the African eastward coastal flow. Wind stress, positive curl in northern Levantine and negative curl in
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