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Estimating the Bowen ratio over the open and ice‐covered ocean
Author(s) -
Andreas Edgar L,
Jordan Rachel E.,
Mahrt Larry,
Vickers Dean
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1002/jgrc.20295
Subject(s) - bowen ratio , latent heat , sublimation (psychology) , heat flux , eddy covariance , sensible heat , atmospheric sciences , humidity , turbulence , thermodynamics , chemistry , meteorology , physics , heat transfer , psychology , ecology , ecosystem , biology , psychotherapist
The Bowen ratio, the ratio of the turbulent surface fluxes of sensible ( H s ) and latent ( H L ) heat, Bo ≡ H s / H L , occurs throughout micrometeorology. It finds application in the Bowen ratio and energy budget method, where it provides both turbulent heat fluxes when only the available energy at the surface is known. It can yield an estimate of a missing H s or H L if the other flux is known. We also suggest that the Bowen ratio may provide the missing piece needed to infer the surface sensible heat flux from satellite data. For this study, we analyze almost 9000 eddy‐covariance measurements of H s and H L . About half were made over sea ice; the other half, over the open ocean. These are saturated surfaces where the surface specific humidity is the saturation value at the surface temperature. Surface temperatures ranged from −44°C to 32°C and predict the Bowen ratio through the Bowen ratio indicator, B o * =c p / ( L v ∂ Q s a t / ∂ Θ ) |Θ s. Here c p is the specific heat of air at constant pressure, L v is the latent heat of sublimation or vaporization, and ∂ Q s a t / ∂ Θ is the derivative of the saturation specific humidity ( Q sat ) with temperature (Θ). All quantities are evaluated at the surface temperature, Θ s . Although H s and H L can occur in nine possible combinations, in our data set, three combinations represent over 90% of the cases: H s > 0 and H L > 0, H s < 0 and H L < 0, and H s < 0 and H L > 0. In each of these three cases, the data suggest B o = a B o * , where a is 0.40, 3.27, and −0.65, respectively.