Computation of Surface Fluxes from Climatological and Synoptic Data

TLDR: In this paper, the effect of using climatological and synoptic atmospheric data commonly available at oceanic locations on the computations of surface fluxes was examined using a 10-year time series of surface meteorological measurements from Ocean Weather Station P (50°N, 145°W).

Abstract: The effect of using climatological and synoptic atmospheric data commonly available at oceanic locations on the computations of surface fluxes was examined. The data used in this study are a 10-year time series of surface meteorological measurements from Ocean Weather Station P (50°N, 145°W). Examination of the cumulative covariances of the quantities used in bulk transfer calculations of fluxes show that to estimate the stress and sensible heat flux requires measurements at intervals of 2 days or less but that long- term averages or less frequent samples may be used to estimate the latent heat flux. A comparison of the values of monthly wind stress and latent beat flux as calculated from the data organized into the format of the Marine Climatic Atlas with the directly calculated values show good agreement between the two methods. The sensible heat flux deviates more seriously, particularity in months of small fluxes. The effect on computing surface fluxes from surface weather chart data was exam...