Conversion among North Atlantic surface water types

• Published in: Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
• Main Author: Speer, Kevin G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 1993
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42368/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42368/1/Conversion%20among%20North%20Atlantic%20surface%20water%20types.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v45i1.14858

Climatological data sets are used to estimate the amount of water changing temperature and salinity at the sea-surface owing to air-sea exchanges. Considering this conversion as a function of sea-surface temperature and salinity leads to the definition of a conversion vector, which represents mass sources and sinks for each water type. The vector representation shows graphically the way the shape of the temperature-salinity relation is driven at the surface by the air-sea heat and fresh water fluxes.