Understanding Global Climate Change with Ocean Acoustic Tomography and Models,
Abstract
Paleoclimate inferred from the Vostok ice core provides tantalizing evidence that increases in atmospheric CO2 are dynamically linked with increases in atmospheric temperature (Jouzel et al., 1987; Barnola et al., 1987; Genthon et al., 1987). However, the mechanisms responsible for the temporal and spatial scales of the accompanying temperature change are not understood because, in part, the ocean's role is not well understood. New technology is required to see inside the global oceans where vasts amount of heat are redistributed and eventually exchanged with the atmosphere. Waves and other features at large scales, approximately 100 to 10,000 km, having time scales less than centuries are virtually unexplored but these scales are important for understanding climate change (Gill, 1982; Philander, 1990). We are developing novel acoustic instruments that have the potential for measuring these scales in the global oceans in real-time. The cost for these measurements is projected to be less than the costs of mapping temperature and other variables in the atmosphere (Spiesberger, 1992). (MM)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA298499
Entities
People
- Daniel E. Frye
- Harley E. Hurlburt
- James J. O'brien
- John L. Spiesberger
- Mark A. Johnson
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory