A potential use of satellite derived upper ocean heat content for studying climate variability: an example for the South Atlantic

Abstract. The lack of continuous long-term hydrographic observations, especially in the South Atlantic Ocean, makes satellite-derived data an extremely useful tool to investigate time and spatial variability on a basin scale. Altimeter data, which is not affected by cloud coverage as infrared-derive...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wilton Zumpichiatti Arruda, Carlos Aless, Re Domingos Lentini, Edmo José, Dias Campos
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Key-words
altimeter data
SHA
South Atlantic Ocean
heat content
anomalies
South Atlantic Thermocline Waters
upper layer thickness
two-layer model. Palavras-chave
altímetro
Oceano Atlântico Sul
conteúdo de calor
anomalias
Água de Termoclina do Atlântico Sul
espessura da camada superior
modelo de duas camadas
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.543.9129
http://marte.dpi.inpe.br/col/ltid.inpe.br/sbsr/2004/11.19.16.28/doc/3619.pdf
Description
Summary:Abstract. The lack of continuous long-term hydrographic observations, especially in the South Atlantic Ocean, makes satellite-derived data an extremely useful tool to investigate time and spatial variability on a basin scale. Altimeter data, which is not affected by cloud coverage as infrared-derived data, provides extremely useful information on the vertical thermal and dynamical structure of the upper ocean when combined with climatological hydrographic through a diagnostic model. We present a semi-dynamic model that combines sea surface height anomalies from TOPEX/POSEIDON, infrared satellite-derived sea surface temperature, and World Ocean Atlas 2001 hydrographic data to generate maps of the Upper Ocean Heat Content Anomaly which is suitable for climate variability studies.

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