Open AccessContribution of tropical cyclones to meridional heat transport by the oceans
Author(s) -
Emanuel Kerry
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000jd900641
Subject(s) - tropical cyclone , climatology , thermocline , thermohaline circulation , african easterly jet , environmental science , sea surface temperature , tropical atlantic , atmospheric sciences , tropics , extratropical cyclone , latitude , atlantic hurricane , ocean heat content , tropical wave , geology , geodesy , fishery , biology
Tropical cyclones mix warm surface waters with cooler water within the thermocline, leaving pronounced, cold wakes that over a period of weeks are restored to normal conditions by mixing and surface fluxes. This restoration is associated with net, vertically integrated heating of ocean columns, which in statistical equilibrium must be balanced by oceanic heat transport out of the regions affected by the storms. Observed tropical cyclone tracks together with coupled ocean‐atmosphere hurricane models are used to estimate the net ocean heating induced by global tropical cyclone activity during one calendar year (1996). This estimate, amounting to (1.4 ± 0.7) × l0 15 W, represents a substantial fraction of the observed peak poleward heat flux by the oceans, suggesting that tropical cyclones may play an important role in driving the thermohaline circulation and thereby in regulating climate. In particular, the strong sensitivity of tropical cyclone intensity to tropical ocean temperatures in turn implies that the net poleward heat flux by the ocean is sensitive to tropical temperature, reducing tropical climate sensitivity and increasing climate sensitivity at higher latitudes.