MPO 551, Class 2
http://www.tstorms.org/tropical-storms/
MPO 551, Class 2
$$$1.00$$$ to Andrew p.23
“air circulates counterclockwise around
Lows [in the NH] and counterclockwise
around Highs”
The Earth System:
•The oceans, cryosphere,
•Hydrologic cycle
•Carbon cycle
•Oxygen
•Earth’s history
WATER:
Mass in units of 103 kg m-2 ~ 100 cm deep
The oceans: 72% of earth’s surface, 97% of the earth’s
Non-geologic water. Ice sheets ~ 2%, and 80% of earths
Freshwater. Antarctica ~ 89% of ice mass, Greenland 9%,
Surface area also important.
Role of Oceans in Climate:
• thermal inertia
• heat transport
• El Nino
• uptake of carbon
• source of trace gases
Ocean Temperature:
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Thin, mixed surface layer + thermocline + deep layer
M-AERI Observations
Temp (°C)
The Marine & Atmospheric Emitted
Radiance Interferometer precisely
measures the temperature of the ocean’s
thin surface layer or skin.
Day of the Year 2003
Time evolution of near-surface thermal gradients
SkinDeEP profiles on 12 October 1999. Off Baja California, R/V Melville.
From Ward, B. and P. J. Minnett, 2001. An autonomous profiler for near surface temperature measurements. Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces.
M. A. Donelan, W.M. Drennan, E.S. Saltzmann and R. Wanninkhof (Eds.) American Geophysical Union Monograph 127. 167 - 172.
SST,
8/27/05
Surface height anomaly
Tropical cyclone heat potential
Depth of 26.5 C isotherm
Gustavo Goni (AOML) Joaquin Trinanes (CIMAS)
Ocean composition:
~ 35 g/kg dissolved salts,or 35 0/00, parts per thousand by mass
Denser than fresh water by ~2.4%
Density gradient = pycnocline
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Temperature change required to offset change in salinity of 1 g/km, as f(T)
Thermohaline circulation
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Wind drift & sea level annual
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Thermohaline circulation: ~ hundreds of years
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Subtropical Atlantic Ocean sounding
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Biological productivity: upwelling+sun
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Costa Rica shallow thermocline dome
S.-P. Xie, TRMM SST + precipitation, 5-year average
Annual mean SST
SST
Departure from zonal-mean
Globally, P ~ E over continents, P>E
Winds+water vapor
TRMM
The cryosphere
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Sea ice: large range in albedo
Sheba track
Winter arctic sea-ice motion, from buoys. Beaufort Gyre.
Permafrost
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