Computations of the tropospheric radiation budget in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico area for clear sky conditions

Summary Computations of solar heating and infrared cooling for clear sky conditions in the area of the Central American Seas are presented, as based on conventional radiosondes in 1960. Results are discussed with regard to latitude mean data available in the literature.Both solar heating and infrared cooling display the most pronounced latitudinal variation in winter, while the distribution is rather uniform in summer. Large heating rates are found in the lower layers over the Caribbean Sea. The infrared cooling shows maxima around 700 mb and below the 950 mb level, in both summer and winter. This contrasts withLondon's result, but agrees with a more recent study byDavis. Infrared cooling rates computed for clear sky conditions up to 500 mb are somewhat larger than the results form radiometer soundings in fall 1960 as reported byRiehl. Discrepancies betweenRiehl's data andLondon's latitude mean values appear to result essentially from different cloud conditions. The pattern of net cooling is in general consistent withLondon's latitude mean cross-sections for average cloudiness.Effective outgoing radiation in winter displays a decrease from the Caribbean Sea towards the cold interior of the North American Continent, while latitudinal contrasts vanish during the summer season. Computations compare well withBudyko's table andRiehl's estimate for fall 1960, while they are substantially lower thanLondon's data and estimates fromSverdrup's graph.

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Zusammenfassung Absorption von Sonnenstrahlung und langwellige Ausstrahlung für wolkenfreien Himmel wurden für den Bereich des Amerikanischen Mittelmeers berechnet, auf Grund herkömmlicher Radiosondenaufstiege im Jahre 1960. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Hinblick auf die in der Literatur verfügbaren Breitenkreismittelwerte diskutiert.Absorption von Sonnenstrahlung und langwellige Ausstrahlung ändern sich mit der geographischen Breite besonders stark im Winter, wogegen horizontale Unterschiede im Sommer weniger ausgeprägt sind. Eine relativ starke Absorption von Sonnenstrahlung scheint in den unteren Schichten über der Karibischen See stattzufinden. Die langwellige Ausstrahlung ist besonders stark um 700 mb und unterhalb des 950 mb-Niveaus, und zwar sowohl im Sommer wie im Winter. Das steht im Gegensatz zu den Ergebnissen vonLondon, stimmt aber mit einer neueren Studie vonDavis überein. Die für wolkenfreien Himmel berechnete langwellige Ausstrahlung bis hinauf zum 500 mb-Niveau ist etwas grösser als die aus Aufstiegen von Radiometersonden im Herbst 1960 gewonnenen Werte vonRiehl. Unterschiede zwischen den Daten vonRiehl und den Breitenkreismittelwerten vonLondon scheinen im wesentlichen aus unterschiedlichen Bewölkungsverhältnissen herzurühren. Die aus Absorption und langwelliger Ausstrahlung resultierenden Abkühlungsbeträge entsprechen im allgemeinen den vonLondon für mittlere Bewölkungsverhältnisse mitgeteilten mittleren Vertikalschnitten.Die effektive Ausstrahlung der Erdoberfläche zeigt im Winter eine Abnahme von der Karibischen See auf den dann kalten Nordamerikanischen Kontinent hin; Unterschiede mit der geographischen Breite verschwinden hingegen im Sommer. Die Berechnungen entsprechen den Tabellenwerten vonBudyko und den Abschätzungen vonRiehl für den Herbst 1960;London's Daten sowie Abschätzungen nach dem Nomogramm vonSverdrup hingegen sind deutlich höher.

     

Seasonal and spatial heterogeneity of recent sea surface temperature trends in the Caribbean Sea and southeast Gulf of Mexico

Recent changes in ocean temperature have impacted marine ecosystem function globally. Nevertheless, the responses have depended upon the rate of change of temperature and the season when the changes occur, which are spatially variable. A rigorous statistical analysis of sea surface temperature observations over 25 years was used to examine spatial variability in overall and seasonal temperature trends within the wider Caribbean. The basin has experienced high spatial variability in rates of change of temperature. Most of the warming has been due to increases in summer rather than winter temperatures. However, warming was faster in winter in the Loop Current area and the south-eastern Caribbean, where the annual temperature ranges have contracted. Waters off Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas had a tendency towards cooling in winter, increasing the amplitude of annual temperature ranges. These detailed patterns can be used to elucidate ecological responses to climatic change in the region.     

The kinetic energy budget of monsoon circulation over the Indian region during ISMEX-1973

A kinetic energy budget over the Indian region is computed for the period 4–9 July 1973, when a twin monsoon depression-one in the Bay of Bengal and another in the Arabian sea were the dominant synoptic features. The generation term caused by the cross-contour flow is a dominant source to the kinetic energy. The dissipation term is computed as a residual and is a major sink for the kinetic energy. The horizontal flux divergence is also a sink term but is much smaller in magnitude than other major source and sink terms. From the results it may be inferred that the generation term is the most important for the maintenance of monsoon disturbances.     

非均匀灌溉棉田能量平衡特征研究

运用国际能量平衡实验(EBEX-2000)的湍流、净辐射和土壤观测资料,运用涡动相关法分析了非均匀灌溉引起的热内边界层发展条件下近地层感热、潜热通量特征,并对有无灌溉两种条件下的能量闭合度进行了对比分析.在计算感热、潜热通量过程中,分别将Schotanus订正和Webb订正纳入了考虑范围,研究了两种订正方法对计算湍流热通量的影响.研究结果发现,由于非均匀灌溉生成的热内边界层使得近地层感热通量受到抑制,潜热通量出现波动,该现象在8.7 m比2.7 m 更为显著.非均匀灌溉导致的热内边界层的存在使得近地层能量闭合度偏低,能量平衡比率约为0.65;而没有热内边界层存在时,近地层能量平衡比率约为0.70.本实验中,Schotanus订正使得感热通量显著减小,其订正量日平均值约为-8 W/m2,占净辐射的近4%;Webb订正量日平均值约为2 W/m2,对能量平衡的影响较小.     

A numerical study of the circulation and monthly-to-seasonal variability in the Caribbean Sea: the role of Caribbean eddies

This study examines the circulation and associated monthly-to-seasonal variability in the Caribbean Sea using a regional ocean circulation model. The model domain covers the region between 99.0 and 54.0°W and between 8.0 and 30.3°N, with a horizontal resolution of 1/6°. The ocean circulation model is driven by 6-hourly atmospheric reanalysis data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and boundary forcing extracted from 5-day global ocean reanalysis data produced by Smith et al. (Mercator Newsletter 36:39–49, 2010), and integrated for 7 years. A comparison of model results with observations demonstrates that the regional ocean circulation model has skill in simulating circulation and associated variability in the study region. Analysis of the model results, as well as a companion model run that uses steady annual mean forcing, illustrates the role of Caribbean eddies for driving monthly-to-seasonal circulation variability in the model. It is found that vertically integrated transport between Nicaragua and Jamaica is influenced by the interaction between the density perturbations associated with Caribbean eddies and the Nicaraguan Ridge. The impact of Caribbean eddies squeezing through the Yucatan Channel is also discussed.     

加勒比海东南部温盐阶梯的地震海洋学研究

通过处理EW0404航次的部分测线的多道地震数据,结合历史CTD（Conductivity,Temperature,Depth）数据,在加勒比海东南部发现了大量的温盐阶梯结构,地震剖面上阶梯层的结构和深度与测线附近的CTD,数据中发现的温盐阶梯有着较好的对应关系.分析认为加勒比海域有两种温盐阶梯形态：一种是连续且密集的阶梯层,阶梯层厚度中等,其在地震剖面上表现为大面积的块状密集高强度反射,是该海域主要的温盐阶梯形态;另一种是深度相差较大的阶梯层,阶梯层较厚,中间夹杂有小的阶梯,其在地震剖面上表现为水平延伸的条带状反射带.

     

Effects of shear in the convective boundary layer: analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy budget

Effects of convective and mechanical turbulence at the entrainment zone are studied through the use of systematic Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) experiments. Five LES experiments with different shear characteristics in the quasi-steady barotropic boundary layer were conducted by increasing the value of the constant geostrophic wind by 5 m s^-1 until the geostrophic wind was equal to 20 m s^-1. The main result of this sensitivity analysis is that the convective boundary layer deepens with increasing wind speed due to the enhancement of the entrainment heat flux by the presence of shear. Regarding the evolution of the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) budget for the studied cases, the following conclusions are drawn: (i) dissipation increases with shear, (ii) the transport and pressure terms decrease with increasing shear and can become a destruction term at the entrainment zone, and (iii) the time tendency of TKE remains small in all analyzed cases. Convective and local scaling arguments are applied to parameterize the TKE budget terms. Depending on the physical properties of each TKE budget contribution, two types of scaling parameters have been identified. For the processes influenced by mixed-layer properties, boundary layer depth and convective velocity have been used as scaling variables. On the contrary, if the physical processes are restricted to the entrainment zone, the inversion layer depth, the modulus of the horizontal velocity jump and the momentum fluxes at the inversion appear to be the natural choices for scaling these processes. A good fit of the TKE budget terms is obtained with the scaling, especially for shear contribution.     

Calculation of the reservoir age from organic and carbonate fractions of sediments in the Gulf of Cariaco (Caribbean Sea)

A set of 24 AMS ¹⁴C measurements were performed on different sediment fractions from short gravity cores taken from the Gulf of Cariaco (northeastern Venezuela) in order to construct a detailed sedimentary archive for recent centuries. A local reservoir effect was expected because of i) strong upwelling from the neighboring Cariaco Trough and anoxia and ii) the specific geomorphological setting related to active faults with seeps and diapirism. Measurements were thus performed on different components: sediment bulk organic fraction (SBOF), pteropods shells (surface water), bivalve shells (bottom), and plant fragments. Based on comparisons of the different results, we discuss different age corrections and calibrations, which lead us to consider a negligible local reservoir correction (ΔR) for the bivalve and pteropod shells, which show no reservoir age for carbonate and an absence of water stratification. However, a local 633 ± 64 yr ΔR appears in the organic fraction of the sediment, and its origin is primary related to the upwelling mechanism.     

A comparison of space-based observations of the energy budgets of the mesosphere and the troposphere

The flow of energy from the Sun, through the atmosphere, to the Earth's surface and oceans, and ultimately back to space, controls the weather and climate of the planet. Since the dawn of the Space Age, the energy balance of the planet has been measured by orbiting satellites. Over the past 40 years the technology and the scientific understanding have developed to the point where we can measure not only the energy balance of the entire Earth and its atmosphere but also of the various regions of the atmosphere including the troposphere, the stratosphere, and the mesosphere. With the planned space-based observations of the sources and sinks of energy in the mesosphere, the energy balance of this region of the atmosphere may soon be better understood from observations than the energy balance of the troposphere on seasonal to annual timescales. Fundamental to this assertion is the fact that the primary sources and sinks of radiative and chemical potential energy, the thermal structure, and the winds in the mesosphere are to be directly observed by space-based instrumentation at high vertical resolution, in contrast to the troposphere. In this paper we review some of the planned measurements of the energy budgets of the atmosphere from existing and future space-based platforms. We particularly show how the airglow can be used to determine many of the key sources of energy in the mesosphere. These ideas provide the basis for interpretation of new space-based measurements of the mesosphere planned in the near future.     

A method for the study of the zonal kinetic energy balance in the atmosphere

Summary The atmospheric balance of the kinetic energy of the zonally averaged zonal motion is investigated from five years of daily data at 800 stations for the northern hemisphere. The basic equation for such energy is used, together with the simplifying assumption that the frictional destruction is due in the main to stresses acting across horizontal surfaces, being thus presumably related to the vertical shear of the mean zonal wind, although no further details are needed in the analysis. The five-year averages of various terms as well as their seasonal means appear to give reasonable results.The research reported in this paper was sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. GA-1310X.     

Spectral Reflectance Analysis of the Caribbean Sea

Reflectance spectral curves were analysed by a derivative method. Derivative reflectance spectra revealed concealed peaks of both reflectance and absorption curves of Caribbean seawater and elements contained within it. Reflectance curves showed a predominant blue colour (400–500 nm) characteristic of Caribbean oligotrophic waters, conspicuous peaks result from the optical properties of chlorophyll a and seawater. Reflectance curves had a similar spectral response. This paper analyses reflectance spectra of surface seawater at 31 stations in the Caribbean Sea during the summer of 2001.     

Geoneutrinos and the energy budget of the Earth

The total energy loss of the Earth is well constrained by heat flux measurements on land, the plate cooling model for the oceans, and the buoyancy flux of hotspots. It amounts to 46 ± 2 TW. The main sources that balance the total energy loss are the radioactivity of the Earth's crust and mantle, the secular cooling of the Earth's mantle, and the energy loss from the core. Only the crustal radioactivity is well constrained. The uncertainty on each of the other components is larger than the uncertainty of the total heat loss. The mantle energy budget cannot be balanced by adding the best estimates of mantle radioactivity, secular cooling of the mantle, and heat flux from the core. Neutrino observatories in deep underground mines can detect antineutrinos emitted by the radioactivity of U and Th. Provided that the crustal contribution to the geoneutrino flux can be very precisely calculated, it will be possible to put robust constraints on mantle radioactivity and its contribution to the Earth's energy budget. Equally strong constraints could be obtained from a deep ocean observatory without the need of crustal correction. In the future, it may become possible to obtain directional information on the geoneutrino flux and to resolve radial variations in concentration of heat producing elements in the mantle.     

Natural gas seepage in the Gulf of Mexico

Hydrocarbon compositions and δ¹³C values for methane of fourteen natural seep gases and four underwater vents in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico are reported. The C₁/(C₂ + C₃) ratios of the seep gas samples ranged from 68 to greater than 1000, whereas δ_PDB¹³C values varied from ?39.9 to ?65.5‰. Compositions suggest that eleven of the natural gas seeps are produced by microbial degradation whereas the remaining three have a significant thermocatalytically produced component. Contradictions in the inferences drawn from molecular and isotopic compositions make strict interpretation of the origins of a few of the samples impossible.     

Marine geophysics along the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula coastal area in Mexico

Marine geophysical studies were carried out along the coastal zone of Mexico in the Atlantic Ocean as part of CICAR and IDOE projects. An area of 200,000 km² was covered by two reconnaissance cruises and a more limited area by tracks for more detailed research. The 15,000 km of track lines include a collection of continuous seismic profiling, bathymetry, gravity and magnetic data.The analyses and correlation of results indicate some local structure features and their relationship to the Neo-volcanic zone and the salt dome belt in the Gulf of Mexico. On the Yucatan area the results show the interaction of continental and oceanic crust at the NW border of the Caribbean Plate.     

On the maintenance of the atmosphere's kinetic energy over the Northern Hemisphere in winter

Summary A quantitative study of the balance requirements of the atmosphere's kinetic energy during normal winter conditions is made for the whole Northern Hemisphere and separately for the tropics (0–30°N) and the extratropics (30–90°N) by using different sources of data. The most important new finding is a demonstration of the existence (on the isobaric surfaces) of meridional eddy flux of potential energy; this flux approximately counterbalances the meridional flux of kinetic energy. One of the conclusions reached is that maintenance of the large-scale eddies in the tropics is mainly due to forcing by extratropical eddies. This forcing occurs at 30°N as a southward eddy flux of potential energy.     

A study of energy,generation and conversion over North America

The energy conversion between potential and kinetic energy and the generation of available potential energy are computed over North America. The relative contribution from each latitude belt within the region, for each field, have been discussed.     

Sea level variability in the Gulf of Mexico since 1900 and its link to the Yucatan Channel and the Florida Strait flows

The long-term variability of sea level and surface flows in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is studied using global monthly sea level reconstruction (RecSL) for 1900–2015. The study explored the long-term relation between the dynamics of the GOM and inflows/outflows through the Yucatan Channel (YC) and the Florida Straits (FS). The results show a century-long trend of increased mean velocity and variability in the Loop Current (LC); however, no significant upward trend was found in the YC and FS flows, only increased variability. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of sea surface height found spatial patterns dominated by variations in the LC and temporal variations on time scales ranging from a few months to multidecadal. The time evolution of each EOF mode of sea level is correlated with the velocity of either the LC, the YC, or the FS or some combination of the different flows. The mean sea level difference between the GOM and the northwestern Caribbean Sea was found to be influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), with unusually high differences during the 1970s when the NAO index was low and the Atlantic Ocean circulation was weak. Extreme peaks in SL difference coincide with the extension of the LC and the seasonal eddy shedding pattern. The observed seasonal cycle in the extension area of the LC as obtained from 20 years of altimeter data is significantly correlated (R = 0.63; confidence level = 98%) with the seasonal YC flow obtained from 116 years of the RecSL data. However, the same LC extension record had lower correlation (R = 0.45; confidence level = 90%) with the observed YC transport obtained from direct moored measurements over ~ 5 years, indicating the need for much longer measurements, since the LC extension and the YC flow are strongly affected by interannual and decadal variations. The study demonstrates the usefulness of even a coarse-resolution reconstruction for studies of regional ocean variability and climate change over longer time scales than current direct observations allow.

     

Authigenic carbonates in sediments from the Gulf of Mexico

The carbon isotopic composition of diagenetic dolomite and calcite in some sediments of the Gulf of Mexico varies between “normal-marine” (δ¹³C ca. 0‰) and −14.6‰ which suggests that biogenic CO₂ contributed to the carbonate formation. The δ¹³O values of dolomite and coexisting calcite are very similar but variable down-core.Dolomite and calcite precipitated early from pore water where SO₄²⁻ was not reduced. However, during (and after?) SO₄²⁻ reduction dolomite and calcite still formed and there are at least two generations of carbonate minerals present.     

The late Wisconsin flood into the Gulf of Mexico

¹⁸O/¹⁶O and¹⁴C analysis of deep-sea cores from the Gulf of Mexico revealed a 2.4% isotopic anomaly between 12,000 and 11,000 years ago. This value, together with estimates of the oxygen isotopic composition of ice meltwater and rates of mixing within the Gulf of Mexico indicates that the average yearly discharge of the Mississippi River was between 100,000 and 230,000 m³/s (as compared to 57,000 m³/s for the peak flood of February 17, 1937), with probable yearly peak floods twice as large. Corresponding sea-level rise was between 1 and 2 m per century.