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The Oceanic
Heat Budget
The
oceanic heat budget is the result of heat gain and loss at any given site
on the ocean surface. The ocean surface is the site of heat and energy
exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere. The oceanic heat budget
can be parameterized as:
QT
= QI + QLW + QS + QL + QV
[W m-2]
with QT
= total heat flux, and
-
QI
– insulation by sunlight:
-
Length
of day (latitude
Height
of sun (latitude, season, daytime
Clouds,
dust, aerosols, waves
-
QLW
– longwave radiation from sea
-
Clouds,
ice cover, waves,
-
CO2,
water temperature
-
QS
– sensible heat flux:
-
Wind
speed
-
Air –
sea temp. difference
-
QL
– latent heat flux: heat carried by evaporated water
-
Increase
with high wind and low humidity
-
QV
– heat transport by advection: currents
-
General
heat transport from southern to northern hemisphere
-
Gulf
Stream as central heater for northern Europe
-
Oceans
and atmosphere each transport ~½ of heat needed to warm higher latitudes
Upper: Zonal averages of heat transfer to
and from the ocean; Lower:
Net heat flux through the sea surface
Northward heat transport for 1988 in each
ocean and the total transport summed over all oceans
The
net heat loss from the oceans is largest in mid-latitudes and offshore
of Japan and New England
For more information see
http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/~mattom/IntroOc/notes/lecture04.html
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