scholarly journals Latent Heat Flux in the Agulhas Current

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arielle Stela Imbol Nkwinkwa N. ◽  
Mathieu Rouault ◽  
Johnny A. Johannessen

In-situ observation, climate reanalyses, and satellite remote sensing are used to study the annual cycle of turbulent latent heat flux (LHF) in the Agulhas Current system. We assess if the datasets do represent the intense exchange of moisture that occurs above the Agulhas Current and the Retroflection region, especially the new reanalyses as the former, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis 2 (NCEP2) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis second-generation reanalysis (ERA-40) have lower sea and less distinct surface temperature (SST) in the Agulhas Current system due to their low spatial resolution thus do not adequately represent the Agulhas Current LHF. We use monthly fields of LHF, SST, surface wind speed, saturated specific humidity at the sea surface (Qss), and specific humidity at 10 m (Qa). The Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast fifth generation (ERA-5), and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version-2 (MERRA-2) are similar to the air–sea turbulent fluxes (SEAFLUX) and do represent the signature of the Agulhas Current. ERA-Interim underestimates the LHF due to lower surface wind speeds than other datasets. The observation-based National Oceanography Center Southampton (NOCS) dataset is different from all other datasets. The highest LHF of 250 W/m2 is found in the Retroflection in winter. The lowest LHF (~100 W/m2) is off Port Elizabeth in summer. East of the Agulhas Current, Qss-Qa is the main driver of the amplitude of the annual cycle of LHF, while it is the wind speed in the Retroflection and both Qss-Qa and wind speed in between. The difference in LHF between product are due to differences in Qss-Qa wind speed and resolution of datasets.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-106
Author(s):  
Sevak Das ◽  
A. I. Desai

The medium range weather forecast issued from NCMRWF, Noida on rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and wind speed for the last 18 years (1999-2016) has been verified with observed weather parameters recorded at agrometeorological observatory, Sardarkrushinagar to known its accuracy. The results revealed that the usability of rainfall was higher in pre monsoon, post monsoon and winter seasons. However, during monsoon, the accuracy of rainfall forecast was 78 percent with RMSE value of 15.3 that indicated the lower accuracy. The maximum temperature forecast accuracy was very good varied from 76 to 88% in different seasons. Similarly, minimum temperature forecast was excellent in monsoon season (88%), and poor in winter season (57%). The wind speed forecast was excellent in all the seasons.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqi Wang ◽  
Renguang Wu

AbstractSurface latent heat flux (LHF) is an important component in the heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere over the tropical western North Pacific (WNP). The present study investigates the factors of seasonal mean LHF variations in boreal summer over the tropical WNP. Seasonal mean LHF is separated into two parts that are associated with low-frequency (> 90-day) and high-frequency (≤ 90-day) atmospheric variability, respectively. It is shown that low-frequency LHF variations are attributed to low-frequency surface wind and sea-air humidity difference, whereas high-frequency LHF variations are associated with both low-frequency surface wind speed and high-frequency wind intensity. A series of conceptual cases are constructed using different combinations of low- and high-frequency winds to inspect the respective effects of low-frequency wind and high-frequency wind amplitude to seasonal mean LHF variations. It is illustrated that high-frequency wind fluctuations contribute to seasonal high-frequency LHF only when their intensity exceeds the low-frequency wind speed under which there is seasonal accumulation of high-frequency LHF. When high-frequency wind intensity is smaller than the low-frequency wind speed, seasonal mean high-frequency LHF is negligible. Total seasonal mean LHF anomalies depend on relative contributions of low- and high-frequency atmospheric variations and have weak interannual variance over the tropical WNP due to cancellation of low- and high-frequency LHF anomalies.


Author(s):  
Yunwei Yan ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Xiangzhou Song ◽  
Guihua Wang ◽  
Changlin Chen

AbstractDiurnal variation in surface latent heat flux (LHF) and the effects of diurnal variations in LHF-related variables on the climatological LHF are examined using observations from the Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array. The estimated amplitude of the climatological diurnal LHF over the Indo-Pacific warm pool and the equatorial Pacific and Atlantic cold tongues is remarkable, with maximum values exceeding 20.0 W m−2. Diurnal variability of sea surface skin temperature (SSTskin) is the primary contributor to the diurnal LHF amplitude. Because the diurnal SSTskin amplitude has an inverse relationship with surface wind speed over the tropical oceans, an inverse spatial pattern between the diurnal LHF amplitude and surface wind speed results. Resolving diurnal variations in the SSTskin and wind improves the estimate of the climatological LHF by properly capturing the daytime SSTskin and daily mean wind speed, respectively. The diurnal SSTskin-associated contribution is large over the warm pool and equatorial cold tongues where low wind speeds tend to cause strong diurnal SSTskin warming, while the magnitude associated with the diurnal winds is large over the highly dynamic environment of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. The total diurnal contribution is about 9.0 W m−2 on average over the buoy sites. There appears to be a power function (linear) relationship between the diurnal SSTskin-associated (wind-associated) contribution and surface mean wind speed (wind speed enhancement from diurnal variability). The total contribution from diurnal variability can be estimated accurately from high-frequency surface wind measurements using these relationships.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1363-1375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungwook Hong ◽  
Hwa-Jeong Seo ◽  
Young-Joo Kwon

AbstractThis study proposes a sea surface wind speed retrieval algorithm (the Hong wind speed algorithm) for use in rainy and rain-free conditions. It uses a combination of satellite-observed microwave brightness temperatures, sea surface temperatures, and horizontally polarized surface reflectivities from the fast Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV), and surface and atmospheric profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Regression relationships between satellite-observed brightness temperature and satellite-simulated brightness temperatures, satellite-simulated brightness temperatures, rough surface reflectivities, and between sea surface roughness and sea surface wind speed are derived from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR-2). Validation results of sea surface wind speed between the proposed algorithm and the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) data show that the estimated bias and RMSE for AMSR-2 6.925- and 10.65-GHz bands are 0.09 and 1.13 m s−1, and −0.52 and 1.21 m s−1, respectively. Typhoon intensities such as the current intensity (CI) number, maximum wind speed, and minimum pressure level based on the proposed technique (the Hong technique) are compared with best-track data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), and the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (CIMSS) for 13 typhoons that occurred in the northeastern Pacific Ocean throughout 2012. Although the results show good agreement for low- and medium-range typhoon intensities, the discrepancy increases with typhoon intensity. Consequently, this study provides a useful retrieval algorithm for estimating sea surface wind speed, even during rainy conditions, and for analyzing characteristics of tropical cyclones.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Diana Cahaya Siregar ◽  
Vivi Putrima Ardah ◽  
Arlin Martha Navitri

Abstract Tropical cyclones is a synoptic scale low pressure system which can have an impact, both directly or indirectly to its traversed area. On January 1 to 6, 2019, Pabuk tropical cyclone was active on the South China Sea which its movement was to the west with its maximum wind speed was 64 knots. The aim of this study was to know the impact of Pabuk tropical cyclone to the atmospheric condition and sea wave on the Riau Islands region. This study used convective index analysis using IR1 channel of Himawari-8 satellite imagery and rainfall distribution data from rainfall observation by meteorological stations which are in the Riau Islands region. European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis data likes relative humidity, vertical velocity, and divergence was used to describe the atmospheric condition during the life time of Pabuk tropical cyclone. Wavewatch-III data was used to describe the condition of sea waves on the Riau Islands region. The results showed that Pabuk tropical cyclone had an impact on the growth of convective clouds which it caused the light to moderate rainfall quite evenly in the Riau Islands region. Besides, it was impact to the potential of high waves reached 4.5 meters on the northern of Anambas Sea and 7.0 meters on the north-eastern of Natuna Sea.Key words: Tropical cyclone, satellite imagery, wave height Abstrak Siklon tropis merupakan sistem tekanan rendah berskala sinoptik yang berdampak secara langsung maupun tidak langsung terhadap wilayah yang dilalui. Pada tanggal 1-6 Januari 2019, siklon tropis Pabuk muncul di wilayah Laut Cina Selatan dengan pergerakan ke arah barat dan kecepatan angin maksimumnya mencapai 64 knots. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengkaji dampak yang ditimbulkan oleh siklon tropis Pabuk terhadap kondisi atmosfer dan gelombang laut di wilayah Kepulauan Riau. Penelitian ini menggunakan analisis indeks konvektif dari data citra satelit Himawari-8 kanal IR1 dan analisis sebaran hujan menggunakan data pengamatan curah hujan dari beberapa stasiun meteorologi yang ada di Kepulauan Riau. Data reanalisis European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) berupa kelembaban udara, vertical velocity, dan divergensi diolah untuk menggambarkan kondisi atmosfer pada masa hidup siklon tropis Pabuk. Data gelombang Wavewatch-III digunakan untuk menggambarkan kondisi gelombang laut di sekitar wilayah Kepulauan Riau. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa aktifnya siklon tropis Pabuk berdampak terhadap pertumbuhan awan konvektif yang menimbulkan hujan ringan hingga sedang yang cukup merata di wilayah Kepulauan Riau. Selain itu, berdampak juga pada potensi terjadinya gelombang tinggi mencapai 4,5 meter di sebelah utara Perairan Anambas dan 7,0 meter di sebelah timur laut Perairan Natuna.Kata Kunci: Siklon tropis, citra satelit, tinggi gelombang


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