The NOAA Portable Seagoing Air-Sea Flux Standard

1. The NOAA Portable Seagoing Air-Sea Flux Standard Dave Welsh NOAA/ Earth System Research Laboratory, Physical Science Division Weather and Climate Physics Branch Boulder, CO

2. Marine and Air-Sea Interaction The goal of this work is to improve analyses and forecasts of weather, climate, and environmental conditions over the oceans and in coastal zones. The Marine and Air-Sea Interaction group is primarily an experimental group investigating various issues in air-sea/ice interaction associated with the transfer of momentum, heat, moisture, trace gases, and particles at the wavy interface of the ocean. Examples • We have developed advanced techniques to measure air-sea turbulent fluxes from ships and with this unique data we developed a new flux parameterization that is now being incorporated into high-resolution mesocale models and global climate models. • A new parameterization of sea spray fluxes is being used in research on the formation of hurricanes. • Data from numerous division field programs has been used to improve satellite algorithms.

3. Our work in wind-wave coupling will lead to better forecasts of wave heights for ships on the open ocean and coastal regions. • Advances in the extraction of turbulence and cloud microphysical information from surface-based remote sensors (Doppler radar and lidar) will lead to a new approach for developing boundary layer models for weather and pollution forecasting. • Techniques learned from turbulence and cloud microphysical studies have also been applied to study the effects of clouds and cloud properties on the surface energy budget of the ocean and the Arctic ice cap. The sensitivity of this surface cloud energy forcing to climate regime (equatorial, trade, subtropical, storm- track, and polar) has demonstrated the overwhelming climate importance of clouds. • We are currently working with other NOAA labs to develop a new technique to measure CO2 fluxes over the open ocean. This is an important step in assessing the role of oceanic uptake in the global CO2 budget and the likely effectiveness of controls on usage of fossil fuels and land clearing.

4. Flux Instrumentation and measurements

5. Results

6. In the study of transport phenomena (heat transfer, mass transfer and fluid dynamics), flux is defined as flow per unit area, where flow is the movement of some quantity per time. Stress…What the wind does to the ocean surface to generate waves Hnet = Total Flux Rl + Rs + Hl + Hs Rl = Incoming long-wave solar radiation (IR…clouds) Rs = Incoming short-wave solar radiation Hl = Latent heat flux (Water vapor) Hs = Sensible heat flux (Temperature) Example: Heat Flux: If ocean is colder than the air above it there will be a downward flux of heat from the air into the ocean.