¼ degree surface currents maps: daily from 01Aug1999 till 19Nov2009 (span of QSCAT data)‏

1. Ocean Surface Currents and Circulation of Marine Debris Jan Hafner and Nikolai Maximenko, IPRC/SOEST University of Hawaii IPRC Symposium 7th September 2011 Hawaii Asia Alaska years California SCUD - Surface CUrrents from Diagnostic model Final Product and data access • ¼ degree surface currents maps: daily from 01Aug1999 till 19Nov2009 (span of QSCAT data)‏ • Switch to ASCAT wind data for daily updates • SCUD dataset is open for free unrestricted use and distribution • Disseminated by APDRC servers : http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/projects/SCUD/ • LAS, LAS7, OpeNDAP, DChart • SCUD manual : http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/projects/SCUD/SCUD_manual_02_17.pdf • SCUD users listserver: http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/projects/SCUD/registration.html AVISO sea level QSCAT ocean surface wind Drifter Data AOML – 8058 drifters SCUD Drifters' Trajectories Drifters = marine debris Ocean surface currents Starting 01 AUG 1999 ending 18 NOV 2009 Statistical model Application on Marine Debris SCUD SCUD model Where the marine debris goes? How it gets there ? Numerical Experiment: SCUD currents applied on ocean tracers released daily from coast and weighted by coastal population count Photos of debris plume off Honshu after March 11, 2011 tsunami Japanese Tsunami 11th March 2011 SCUD Estimate: 6-10 million tons released. Where will it all go? 678,305 tracers released then advected by daily SCUD currents Statistical model Rate of “Mar 11, 2011” model debris deposition on shore after 10 years Courtesy of US Navy Conclusions: • Hawaii is the final destination of marine debris from the North Pacific – impacted the most • application of ocean surface current models on marine debris problem • more direct observations needed • March 2011 tsunami in Japan – opportunity to gain new knowledge about marine debris propagation and final destination Daily updates: http://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/hafner/PUBLIC/TSUNAMI_DEBRIS/tsunami_tracers_no_vector_large.html