Diurnal Ocean Surface Layer Model Validation

The Diurnal Ocean Surface Layer (DOSL) model at the Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center forecasts the 24-hour change in a global sea surface temperatures (SSt). Validating the DOSL model is a difficult task due to the huge areas involved and the lack of in situ measurements. Therefore, this report d...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hawkins, Jeffrey D., May, Douglas A., Abell, Jr, Fred
Other Authors: NAVAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH LAB STENNIS SPACE CENTER MS
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1990
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
Optics
*OCEAN MODELS
*SEA WATER
*SURFACE TEMPERATURE
*FORECASTING
*DIURNAL VARIATIONS
*OCEAN SURFACE
OBSERVATION
WIND
HIGH RESOLUTION
SURFACES
CASE STUDIES
INFRARED IMAGES
HEATING
IMAGES
DUCTS
ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES
ACOUSTICS
MIXING
NIGHT
INFRARED RADIATION
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
MULTICHANNEL
SUBTROPICAL REGIONS
HIGH SENSITIVITY
SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHY
ACOUSTIC WAVES
LAYERS
GLOBAL
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
ACOUSTIC CHANNELS
THERMAL PROPERTIES
PROPAGATION
WUDN394457
PE63704N
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA229010
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA229010
Description
Summary:The Diurnal Ocean Surface Layer (DOSL) model at the Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center forecasts the 24-hour change in a global sea surface temperatures (SSt). Validating the DOSL model is a difficult task due to the huge areas involved and the lack of in situ measurements. Therefore, this report details the use of satellite infrared multichannel SST imagery provide day and night SSTs that can be directly compared to DOSL products. This water-vapor- corrected imagery has the advantages of high thermal sensitivity (0.12 deg C), large synoptic coverage (nearly 3000 km across), and high spatial resolution that enables diurnal heating events to be readily located and mapped. Several case studies in the subtropical North Atlantic readily show that DOSL results during extreme heating periods agree very well with satellite-imagery-derived values in terms of the pattern of diurnal warming. The low wind and cloud-free conditions necessary for these events to occur lend themselves well to observation via infrared imagery. Thus, the normally cloud-limited aspects of satellite imagery do not come into play for these particular environmental conditions. The fact that the DOSL model does well in extreme events is beneficial from the standpoint that these cases can be associated with the destruction of the surface acoustic duct. This so-called 'afternoon effect' happens as the afternoon warming of the mixed layer disrupts the sound channel and the propagation of acoustic energy. Original contains color plates: All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white.

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