Value of Bulk Heat Flux Parameterizations for Ocean SST Prediction

Abstract

Bulk heat flux parameterization is an increasingly popular technique for forcing non-coupled ocean models. If sea surface temperature (SST) from the model is colder (warmer) than observed, then the net heat flux will be higher (lower) than observed; thus bulk parameterizations tend to keep model SST close to observational SST on long time scales. However, bulk parameterizations imply neither strong damping of SST variability nor strong relaxation to near-surface (e.g., at 10 m) air temperature (Ta). This is demonstrated using SST simulations from a 0.72 deg x 0.72 deg cos(lat) (longitude x latitude) resolution global HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) that does not include assimilation of any SST data or explicit relaxation to any SST climatology, but does use bulk heat fluxes.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA541618

Entities

People

  • A. Birol Kara
  • Alan J. Wallcraft
  • Harley E. Hurlburt

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Temperature
  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Boundary Layer
  • Climate Change
  • Databases
  • Grids
  • Heat Energy
  • Latent Heat
  • Latitude
  • Ocean Currents
  • Oceanography
  • Oceans
  • Sea Surface Temperature
  • Sea Water
  • Surface Temperature
  • Terrain
  • Topography

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers