Ocean-Atmosphere Interfaces in Climate
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Robert Weller and Al Plueddemann
Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
David Halpern
Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
and
1
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Planet Ocean
• Upper 3 m of the ocean has
the same amount of heat as
the entire atmosphere
• Ocean absorbs heat
produced by greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere
• Ocean redistributes solar
heat through advection (e.g.,
El Nino) and mixing (e.g.,
upper ocean processes)
• “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth
when clearly it is Ocean.” (Arthur C. Clarke, 1990, Nature, 344, 102)
¾ No single ocean site and time interval are representative of variable
2
biological, chemical and physical (incl. atmosphere) characteristics
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
°C
3
°C
°C
(Barnett et al., 2005, Science, 309, 284-287)
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
2.9 ± 0.4 mm/yr
TOPEX/Poseidon
[IPCC TAR Models,
~2 mm/yr]
60-day smoothing
[Ocean Heating, ~2.1 mm/yr]
[Greenland & Antarctica Melt, ~0.8 mm/yr]
Jason
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://sealevel.colorado.edu
4
During August-December warming phase of the 1982 El Nino, the observed
time rate of change of the 15- to 200-m heat content at 0°, 110°W (and 0°,
95°W) was 500 W m-2, which was more than 10 times larger than the monthly
mean surface heat flux for this period. The rapid change in heat content at the
two sites during the January-February 1983 cooling phase was -460 W m-2.5
(Halpern, 1987, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 8197-8212)
Eppley Precision Spectral
Pyranometer
Pyranometer Difference
Minute: 20 W m-2 (rms)
Day: 6 W m-2 (rms)
Year: 5 W m-2 (bias)
(Colbo and Weller, 2006, JAOT)
3.2 m
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
6
Shortwave Radiation Measurements
20°S, 85°W
Pyranometer
W m-2
A
• <1-min>
B
o <15-min>
W m-2
20 W m-2
Left Panels:
<1-min>
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
W m-2
(Colbo and Weller,
2006, JAOT)
Logarithmic scale
(W m-2)
7
Pyranometer Measurement Differences
(W m-2)
1-min rms
15-min rms
1-year mean
30.7
25.5
28.9
2.6
4.3
1.1
2.4
0.2
2.1
14.2
33.9
1.3
2.2
3.1
6.4
• 20°S, 85°W
¾ Year 1:
¾ Year 2:
¾ Year 3:
• 15°N, 51°W
¾ Year 1:
¾ Year 2:
(Colbo and Weller, 2006, J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., submitted)
8
Incident Shortwave Radiation Spectrum
2001, 2002, 2003
20°S, 85°W
Data
Sensor
Difference
95%
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
9
(Colbo and Weller, 2006, J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., submitted)
1-day average
1-week average
1-month average
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
15°N, 51°W
1 Apr 2001 - 16 Feb 2003
10
Application 1: Air-Sea Heat Flux
The warm Gulf Stream is a challenging Longwave radiation, shortwave
area for atmospheric models to simulate
radiation, precipitation, sea
Flux reference moorings would be
air-sea heat flux because the GS losesextremely
surface
temperature,
air
valuable
here.
a tremendous amount of heat to the
temperature, wind speed and
cold atmosphere, especially in winter.
direction, relative humidity,
11
barometric pressure.
A 2: Incident Surface Shortwave Radiation (W m-2)
Observed and Computed
Buoy
ISCCP
NCEP1
NCEP2
ECMWF
0-15°N, 23-38°W
09/97 - 08/02
217
235 (+18)
212 (-15)
193 (-34)
194 (-23)
15°N, 51°W
03/01 - 08/02
242
254 (+12)
217 (-25)
244 (+2)
227 (-15)
Buoy
ISCCP
NCEP1
NCEP2
ECMWF
18-33°N, 22-34°W
06/91 - 06/93
200
207 (+7)
188 (-12)
207 (+7)
201 (+1)
41°N, 71°W
07/96 - 06/97
132
138 (+6)
147 (+15)
167 (+35)
150 (+18)
12
(Robert Weller, 2006, BSRN Scientific Review and Workshop, Lindenberg, Germany)
A 3: CERES and IMET Regression Analysis
(http://snowdog.larc.nasa.gov/cave/cave2.0/Ancil.dir/valplot)
3°S, 125°W
10°N, 126°W
A
N
80
Bias 6 W m-2
RMS 97 W m-2
B
A
20°S, 85°W
B
N
35
Bias 17 W m-2
RMS 129 W m-2
CERES Footprint:
±10km, ±30 min
IMET: <15-min>
15°N, 51°W
C
N
107
Bias 33 W m-2
RMS 254 W m-2
C
D
D
N
34
-2
Bias
8W
13 m
RMS 301 W m-2
A 3: Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse
WHOI
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
BSRN
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
14
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
15
SUMMARY
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
(Robert Weller, WHOI)
• Heat budget of the upper ocean is dependent on knowledge of the four-
dimensional structure (time, horizontal distribution over the sea surface, and
depth of penetration) of incoming shortwave radiation, and other features.
• IMET moorings are an excellent platform for incident shortwave radiation and
other measurements for ground-truth data for satellites.
• Satellite radiation community and oceanographers should work together.16