Local interactions between the sea and the air at monthly and annual time scales

• Published in: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
• Main Authors: Kraus, E. B., Morrison, R. E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1966
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qj.49709239111; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fqj.49709239111; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qj.49709239111

Abstract A statistical analysis of wind, air, dew‐point and sea‐temperature records from all nine weather ships in the North Atlantic shows local variations between years which are highly significant when compared with variations within months. The fluctuations show a consistent pattern with a scale of more than 500 miles in the atmosphere and a persistence over several months. The horizontal extent of sea‐surface temperature anomalies appears to be somewhat smaller, but they tend to last longer than air‐temperature anomalies. Short‐period variations in the flux of latent and sensible heat are due predominantly to atmospheric variations, particularly in winter. The effect of sea‐surface temperature anomalies is somewhat greater in summer, though it becomes significant only on the annual time scale.