Yoshida Sachiko

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Yoshida
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Sachiko
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Investigating subsurface pathways of Fukushima cesium in the Northwest Pacific

2019-06-18 , Cedarholm, Ella R. , Rypina, Irina I. , Macdonald, Alison M. , Yoshida, Sachiko

Advective pathways for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP)‐derived cesium observed in 2013 at 166°E south of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) at >500 m on the 26.5σθ isopycnal are investigated. Attention is paid to the KE's role in shaping these pathways. Using a high‐resolution model, particle trajectories were simulated backward and forward in time on 26.5σθ between the 2013 observations and the 2011 source. A large fraction of backtracked trajectories interacted with the mixed layer just offshore of the FDNPP. The likeliest pathway reaching the deepest 2013 observed cesium location runs along the KE out to ~165°E, where it turns sharply southward. Forward trajectory statistics suggest that for 26.5σθ waters originating north of the KE, this current acted as a permeable barrier west of 155–160°E. The deepest 2011 model mixed layers suggest that FDNPP‐derived radionuclides may have been present at 30°N in 2013 at greater depths and densities (700 m; 26.8σθ).

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Fukushima-derived radionuclides in the ocean and biota off Japan

2012-04-02 , Buesseler, Ken O. , Jayne, Steven R. , Fisher, Nicholas S. , Rypina, Irina I. , Baumann, Hannes , Baumann, Zofia , Breier, Crystaline F. , Douglass, Elizabeth M. , George, Jennifer , Macdonald, Alison M. , Miyamoto, Hiroomi , Nishikawa, Jun , Pike, Steven M. , Yoshida, Sachiko

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Multi-iteration approach to studying tracer spreading using drifter data

2017-01-31 , Rypina, Irina I. , Fertitta, David , Macdonald, Alison M. , Yoshida, Sachiko , Jayne, Steven R.

A novel multi-iteration statistical method for studying tracer spreading using drifter data is introduced. The approach allows for the best use of the available drifter data by making use of a simple iterative procedure, which results in the statistically probable map showing the likelihood that a tracer released at some source location would visit different geographical regions, along with the associated arrival travel times. The technique is tested using real drifter data in the North Atlantic. Two examples are considered corresponding to sources in the western and eastern North Atlantic Ocean, that is, Massachusetts Bay–like and Irish Sea–like sources, respectively. In both examples, the method worked well in estimating the statistics of the tracer transport pathways and travel times throughout the entire North Atlantic. The role of eddies versus mean flow is quantified using the same technique, and eddies are shown to significantly broaden the spread of a tracer. The sensitivity of the results to the size of the source domain is investigated and causes for this sensitivity are discussed.

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Low-frequency eddy modulations in the Hawaiian Lee Countercurrent : observations and connection to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

2011-12-08 , Yoshida, Sachiko , Qiu, Bo , Hacker, Peter

Interannual-to-decadal time scale eddy variability in the Hawaiian Lee Countercurrent (HLCC) band is investigated using the available sea surface height, sea surface temperature, and surface wind stress data sets. In the HLCC band of 17°N–21.7°N and 170E°–160°W, the prevailing interannual eddy kinetic energy (EKE) signals show enhanced eddy activities in 1993–1998 and 2002–2006, and subpar eddy activities in 1999–2001 and 2007–2009. These interannual EKE signals exhibit little connection to the zonal HLCC velocity changes generated by the dipolar wind stress curl forcing in the immediate lee of the island of Hawaii. Instead, they are highly correlated to the time series of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) index. Through a budget analysis for the meridional temperature gradient along the HLCC, we find that during the positive phase of the PDO index, the surface heat flux forcing induces cold (warm) sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies to the north (south) of the HLCC, intensifying the vertical shear between the surface, eastward-flowing HLCC and the subsurface, westward-flowing North Equatorial Current (NEC). This increased vertical shear enhances the baroclinic instability of the HLCC-NEC system and leads to a higher regional EKE level. The opposite processes occur when the PDO switches to a negative phase with the resulting lowered EKE level along the HLCC band. Compared to the surface heat flux forcing, the Ekman flux convergence forcing is found to play a minor role in modifying the meridional SST changes along the HLCC band.

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Short-term dispersal of Fukushima-derived radionuclides off Japan : modeling efforts and model-data intercomparison

2013-07-24 , Rypina, Irina I. , Jayne, Steven R. , Yoshida, Sachiko , Macdonald, Alison M. , Douglass, Elizabeth M. , Buesseler, Ken O.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that caused a loss of power at the Fukushima nuclear power plants (FNPP) resulted in emission of radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere and the ocean. In June of 2011, an international survey measuring a variety of radionuclide isotopes, including 137Cs, was conducted in surface and subsurface waters off Japan. This paper presents the results of numerical simulations specifically aimed at interpreting these observations and investigating the spread of Fukushima-derived radionuclides off the coast of Japan and into the greater Pacific Ocean. Together, the simulations and observations allow us to study the dominant mechanisms governing this process, and to estimate the total amount of radionuclides in discharged coolant waters and atmospheric airborne radionuclide fallout. The numerical simulations are based on two different ocean circulation models, one inferred from AVISO altimetry and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis wind stress, and the second generated numerically by the NCOM model. Our simulations determine that > 95% of 137Cs remaining in the water within ~600 km of Fukushima, Japan in mid-June 2011 was due to the direct oceanic discharge. The estimated strength of the oceanic source is 16.2 ± 1.6 PBq, based on minimizing the model-data mismatch. We cannot make an accurate estimate for the atmospheric source strength since most of the fallout cesium had left the survey area by mid-June. The model explained several key features of the observed 137Cs distribution. First, the absence of 137Cs at the southernmost stations is attributed to the Kuroshio Current acting as a transport barrier against the southward progression of 137Cs. Second, the largest 137Cs concentrations were associated with a semi-permanent eddy that entrained 137Cs-rich waters, collecting and stirring them around the eddy perimeter. Finally, the intermediate 137Cs concentrations at the westernmost stations are attributed to younger, and therefore less Cs-rich, coolant waters that continued to leak from the reactor in June of that year.

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Argo data 1999-2019: two million temperature-salinity profiles and subsurface velocity observations from a global array of profiling floats.

2020-09-15 , Wong, Annie P. S. , Wijffels, Susan E. , Riser, Stephen C. , Pouliquen, Sylvie , Hosoda, Shigeki , Roemmich, Dean , Gilson, John , Johnson, Gregory C. , Martini, Kim I. , Murphy, David J. , Scanderbeg, Megan , Udaya Bhaskar, T. V. S. , Buck, Justin J. H. , Merceur, Frederic , Carval, Thierry , Maze, Guillaume , Cabanes, Cécile , André, Xavier , Poffa, Noé , Yashayaev, Igor , Barker, Paul M. , Guinehut, Stéphanie , Belbeoch, Mathieu , Ignaszewski, Mark , Baringer, Molly O. , Schmid, Claudia , Lyman, John , McTaggart, Kristene E. , Purkey, Sarah G. , Zilberman, Nathalie , Alkire, Matthew , Swift, Dana , Owens, W. Brechner , Jayne, Steven R. , Hersh, Cora , Robbins, Pelle E. , West-Mack, Deb , Bahr, Frank B. , Yoshida, Sachiko , Sutton, Philip J. H. , Cancouët, Romain , Coatanoan, Christine , Dobbler, Delphine , Garcia Juan, Andrea , Gourrion, Jérôme , Kolodziejczyk, Nicolas , Bernard, Vincent , Bourlès, Bernard , Claustre, Hervé , d’Ortenzio, Fabrizio , Le Reste, Serge , Le Traon, Pierre-Yves , Rannou, Jean-Philippe , Saout-Grit, Carole , Speich, Sabrina , Thierry, Virginie , Verbrugge, Nathalie , Angel-Benavides, Ingrid M. , Klein, Birgit , Notarstefano, Giulio , Poulain, Pierre Marie , Vélez-Belchí, Pedro , Suga, Toshio , Ando, Kentaro , Iwasaska, Naoto , Kobayashi, Taiyo , Masuda, Shuhei , Oka, Eitarou , Sato, Kanako , Nakamura, Tomoaki , Sato, Katsunari , Takatsuki, Yasushi , Yoshida, Takashi , Cowley, Rebecca , Lovell, Jenny L. , Oke, Peter , van Wijk, Esmee , Carse, Fiona , Donnelly, Matthew , Gould, W. John , Gowers, Katie , King, Brian A. , Loch, Stephen G. , Mowat, Mary , Turton, Jon , Pattabhi Rama Rao, Eluri , Ravichandran, M. , Freeland, Howard , Gaboury, Isabelle , Gilbert, Denis , Greenan, Blair J. W. , Ouellet, Mathieu , Ross, Tetjana , Tran, Anh , Dong, Mingmei , Liu, Zenghong , Xu, Jianping , Kang, KiRyong , Jo, HyeongJun , Kim, Sung-Dae , Park, Hyuk-Min

In the past two decades, the Argo Program has collected, processed, and distributed over two million vertical profiles of temperature and salinity from the upper two kilometers of the global ocean. A similar number of subsurface velocity observations near 1,000 dbar have also been collected. This paper recounts the history of the global Argo Program, from its aspiration arising out of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, to the development and implementation of its instrumentation and telecommunication systems, and the various technical problems encountered. We describe the Argo data system and its quality control procedures, and the gradual changes in the vertical resolution and spatial coverage of Argo data from 1999 to 2019. The accuracies of the float data have been assessed by comparison with high-quality shipboard measurements, and are concluded to be 0.002°C for temperature, 2.4 dbar for pressure, and 0.01 PSS-78 for salinity, after delayed-mode adjustments. Finally, the challenges faced by the vision of an expanding Argo Program beyond 2020 are discussed.

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Spreading pathways of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station wastewater in and around Cape Cod Bay: Estimates from ocean drifter observations

2022-10-19 , Rypina, Irina I. , Macdonald, Alison , Yoshida, Sachiko , Manning, James P. , Gregory, Margaret , Rozen, Nimrod , Buesseler, Ken

Near-surface drifter observations were used to study the spreading pathways in and around the Cape Cod Bay from a source region located just offshore of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The study was motivated by the recent closing of the power plant and a possible release of accumulated wastewater. The investigation applies several different techniques to the drifter data set to estimate and quantify various aspects of the circulation and spreading. Our goal was two-fold: first, to better understand and predict the fate of the Pilgrim wastewater should it be released; and second, to review, compare, and contrast several useful techniques that can be applied to drifter datasets in other parts of the global ocean. Our analysis suggests weaker spreading of the wastewater plume inside the Bay than outside, and sensitivity of the advection pathways to the location of the release. Statistical techniques predicted that part of the plume would likely be advected cyclonically around the inner coastline of the Bay towards the more quiescent eastern regions, while another part of the plume would likely pass close to the tip of Cape Cod and the beaches of the Outer Cape. For the soluble radionuclides, the levels observed in our statistical model offshore of Provincetown and Dennis/Brewster will be at least 100 times smaller than the initial concentrations.

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Drifter-based estimate of the 5 year dispersal of Fukushima-derived radionuclides

2014-11-28 , Rypina, Irina I. , Jayne, Steven R. , Yoshida, Sachiko , Macdonald, Alison M. , Buesseler, Ken O.

Employing some 40 years of North Pacific drifter-track observations from the Global Drifter Program database, statistics defining the horizontal spread of radionuclides from Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean are investigated over a time scale of 5 years. A novel two-iteration method is employed to make the best use of the available drifter data. Drifter-based predictions of the temporal progression of the leading edge of the radionuclide distribution are compared to observed radionuclide concentrations from research surveys occupied in 2012 and 2013. Good agreement between the drifter-based predictions and the observations is found.

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Observed eastward progression of the Fukushima 134Cs signal across the North Pacific

2015-09-09 , Yoshida, Sachiko , Macdonald, Alison M. , Jayne, Steven R. , Rypina, Irina I. , Buesseler, Ken O.

Radionuclide samples taken as part of hydrographic surveys at 30°N in the North Pacific reveal that the easternmost edge of Fukushima-derived 134Cs observed at 174.3°W in 2012 had progressed eastward across the basin to 160.6°W by 2013. The 2013 30°N observations indicate surface 134Cs concentrations of 3–5 Bq/m3 between 160°E and 160°W, slightly lower concentrations west of 160°E and no detectable signal east of 160.6°W. Profile samples show 134Cs penetration to 500 m west of 180° with shoaling penetration depth toward to the east. The near-uniform vertical distribution of 137Cs between 152°W and 121.3°W in the top 500 m is indicative of trace amounts of radionuclides remaining from weapons testing. The physical processes responsible for the deep 134Cs penetration in the western Pacific appear to be related to distinct water mass subduction pathways; however, the timing and rapidity of deep penetration over the broad scales observed has yet to be clarified.

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