OBSERVING HEAT FLUXES IN THE UPPER OCEAN DURING MISOs
Abstract
Turbulent processes in the ocean play a fundamental role in setting surface properties such as sea-surface temperature (SST) and sal"inity (SSS), which can in turn affect difficult-to-model tropical atmospheric processes such as MISOs. We assert that detailed obser""vations of upper ocean heat fluxes, and the small-scale physical processes driving them are essential to both better understand and" accurately model complex air-sea exchange phenomena. We phenomenologically delineate three sub-surface ocean zones that conspire in" nonlinear ways to set the rate of heatexchange with the atmosphere during passing MISOs: 1) skin temperature SST, related to the o""cean heat below in part due to wind-modulated breaking surface waves, 2) surface boundary layer, with rapid vertical heat exchange s""trongly influenced by fundamentally three dimensional, small-horizontal-scale processes, and 3) the stratified transition layer belo""w, with shear driven turbulence and related processes. Seamless observations of heat exchange through all three zones require simult"aneous measurement with the three complementary tools proposed below. We propose to use these tools for a combination of 1) high-res"olution along north-southship surveys, following a MISO event and 2) small-scale process surveys at particular locations of interes"t.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 05, 2017
- Source ID
- N000141712511
Entities
People
- Jennifer MacKinnon
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, San Diego