Premium
Atlantic Ocean baroclinic heat flux at 24 to 26° N
Author(s) -
O'Neil Baringer Molly,
Molinari Robert
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1998gl900323
Subject(s) - baroclinity , geostrophic wind , annual cycle , hydrography , zonal and meridional , heat flux , climatology , flux (metallurgy) , geology , boundary current , oceanography , atmospheric sciences , ocean current , heat transfer , physics , mechanics , chemistry , organic chemistry
The spatially varying, interior geostrophic baroclinic heat flux component of the total meridional oceanic heat flux near 24°N in the Atlantic Ocean is examined using four transatlantic hydrographic sections including the October 1957 DISCOVERY II IGY section, the September 1981 ATLANTIS section, the August 1992 HESPERIDES section, the February 1998 RONALD H. BROWN section and the 1982 Levitus and the Lozier, Owens, Curry climatologies. The 1992 section is complemented by shorter western boundary sections obtained concurrently during the Trident cruise. We find an average southward baroclinic heat flux of 0.9±0.3 PW with an annual cycle amplitude of ±0.3 PW. More than 90% of the annual cycle is captured within 30° of the western boundary.