Showing papers on "Latent heat published in 2003"

A re-evaluation of long-term flux measurement techniques - Part I: Averaging and coordinate rotation

Abstract: Experience of long term flux measurements over tall canopies during the last two decades has revealed that the eddy flux of sensible plus latent heat is typically 30% smaller than the available radiant energy flux. This failure to close the energy balance is less common close to the surface over short roughness but is still sometimes seen, especially in complex topography. These observations cast doubt on the results obtained from long term flux studies where daily and annual net ecosystem exchange is usually the small difference between large positive and negative fluxes over 24 h. In this paper we investigate this problem by examining some fundamental assumptions entailed in analysis of surface exchange by the eddy flux method. In particular, we clarify the form and use of the scalar conservation equation that underlies this analysis and we examine the links between averaging period and rotation of coordinates in the situation where coordinates are aligned with the wind vector. We show that rotating coordinates so that the x axis is aligned with the mean wind vector has the effect of high pass filtering the scalar covariance, wc, such that contributions to the aerodynamic flux from atmospheric motions with periods longer than the averaging period are lost while those of shorter period are distorted. We compare the effect of computing surface exchange by averaging many short periods, in each of which the coordinates are rotated so that the mean vertical velocity is zero (the method currently adopted in most long-term flux studies), with analysis in long-term coordinates and show a systematic underestimation of surface exchange in the former case. This is illustrated with data from three long- term forest field sites where underestimations of sensible and latent heat fluxes of 10-15% averaged over many days are seen. Crucial factors determining the loss of flux are the averaging period T , the measurement height and the content of the scalar cospectrum at periods longer than T. The properties of this cospectrum over tall canopies in both homogeneous and complex terrain are illustrated by measurements at our three sites and we see that over tall canopies on flat ground in convective conditions, or on hilly sites in near neutral flow, the scalar cospectra have much more low frequency content than classical surface-layer spectral forms would predict. We believe that the filtering of this low frequency covari- ance by the averaging-rotation operations in common use is a large contributory factor to the failure to close the energy balance over tall canopies.

Sea Surface Temperature Variability in Hurricanes: Implications with Respect to Intensity Change

Abstract: Scientists at NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division recently analyzed the inner-core upper-ocean environment for 23 Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean hurricanes between 1975 and 2002. The interstorm variability of sea surface temperature (SST) change between the hurricane inner-core environment and the ambient ocean environment ahead of the storm is documented using airborne expendable bathythermograph (AXBT) observations and buoy-derived archived SST data. The authors demonstrate that differences between inner-core and ambient SST are much less than poststorm, ‘‘cold wake’’ SST reductions typically observed (i.e., ;08‐28C versus 48‐58C). These findings help define a realistic parameter space for storm-induced SST change within the important high-wind inner-core hurricane environment. Results from a recent observational study yielded estimates of upper-ocean heat content, upper-ocean energy extracted by the storm, and upper-ocean energy utilization for a wide range of tropical systems. Results from this analysis show that, under most circumstances, the energy available to the tropical cyclone is at least an order of magnitude greater than the energy extracted by the storm. This study also highlights the significant impact that changes in inner-core SST have on the magnitude of air‐ sea fluxes under high-wind conditions. Results from this study illustrate that relatively modest changes in innercore SST (order 18C) can effectively alter maximum total enthalpy (sensible plus latent heat) flux by 40% or more. The magnitude of SST change (ambient minus inner core) was statistically linked to subsequent changes in storm intensity for the 23 hurricanes included in this research. These findings suggest a relationship between reduced inner-core SST cooling (i.e., increased inner-core surface enthalpy flux) and tropical cyclone intensification. Similar results were not found when changes in storm intensity were compared with ambient SST or upper-ocean heat content conditions ahead of the storm. Under certain circumstances, the variability associated with inner-core SST change appears to be an important factor directly linked to the intensity change process.

Diurnal centroid of ecosystem energy and carbon fluxes at FLUXNET sites.

Abstract: [1] Data from a network of eddy covariance stations in Europe and North America (FLUXNET) were analyzed to examine the diurnal patterns of surface energy and carbon fluxes during the summer period across a range of ecosystems and climates. Diurnal trends were quantified by assessing the time of day surface fluxes and meteorological variable reached peak values, using the “diurnal centroid” method; the diurnal centroid enabled us to discern whether the peak activity of the variable of interest is weighted more toward the morning or afternoon. In this paper, diurnal centroid estimates were used to diagnose which atmospheric and physiological processes controlled carbon dioxide, water vapor, and sensible heat fluxes across different ecosystems and climates. Sensitivity tests suggested that the diurnal centroids for latent (LE) and sensible (H) heat flux depend on atmospheric resistance, static stability in the free atmosphere, stomatal response to vapor pressure deficit, and advection. With respect to diurnal trends of surface energy fluxes at FLUXNET sites, maximum LE occurred later in the day relative to H at most tall forests with continental climates. The lag between LE and H was reduced or reversed at sites that were influenced by advection or by afternoon stomatal closure. The time of peak carbon uptake of temperate forests occurred earlier relative to the temporal peak of photosynthetically active radiation, as compared to boreal forests. The timing of this peak occurred earlier during periods with low soil water content, as it did during the summer in Mediterranean climates. In this case, the diurnal centroid for the CO2 flux was influenced by the response of respiration and photosynthesis to increasing afternoon temperature and by afternoon stomatal closure.

Seamless Poleward Atmospheric Energy Transports and Implications for the Hadley Circulation

Abstract: A detailed vertically integrated atmospheric heat and energy budget is presented along with estimated heat budgets at the surface and top-of-atmosphere for the subtropics. It is shown that the total energy transports are remarkably seamless in spite of greatly varying mechanisms. From the Tropics to about 31° latitude, the primary transport mechanisms are the Hadley and Walker overturning circulations. In the extratropics the energy transports are carried out by baroclinic eddies broadly organized into storm tracks and quasi-stationary waves that covary in a symbiotic way as the location and activity in storm tracks are determined by, and in turn help maintain through eddy transports, the quasi-stationary flow. In the upward branch of the Hadley cell, the predominant diabatic process is latent heating that results from convergence of moisture by the circulation itself. Hence large poleward transports of dry static energy are compensated by equatorward transports of latent energy, resulting in a m...

Covariability of Components of Poleward Atmospheric Energy Transports on Seasonal and Interannual Timescales

Abstract: Vertically integrated atmospheric energy and heat budgets are presented with a focus on the zonal mean transports and divergences of dry static energy, latent energy, their sum (the moist static energy), and the total (which includes kinetic energy), as well as their partitioning into the within-month transient and quasi-stationary components. The latter includes the long-term mean and interannual variability from 1979 to 2001 and, in the Tropics, corresponds to the large-scale overturning global monsoon and the embedded Hadley and Walker circulations. In the extratropics, it includes the quasi-stationary planetary waves, which are primarily a factor in the Northern Hemisphere winter. In addition to the mean annual cycle, results are presented for the interannual variability. In the extratropics, poleward transports of both latent and dry static energy reinforce one another. However, the results highlight strong cancellations between the transports of latent and dry static energy in the Tropics a...

Seasonal mixed layer heat budget of the tropical Atlantic Ocean

Abstract: [1] This paper addresses the atmospheric and oceanic causes of the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical Atlantic on the basis of direct observations Data sets include up to 4 years (September 1997 to February 2002) of measurements from moored buoys of the Pilot Research Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA), near-surface drifting buoys, and a blended satellite in situ SST product We analyze the mixed layer heat balance at eight PIRATA mooring locations and find that the seasonal cycles of latent heat loss and absorbed shortwave radiation are responsible for seasonal SST variability in the northwest basin (8°N–15°N along 38°W) Along the equator (10°W–35°W), contributions from latent heat loss are diminished, while horizontal temperature advection and vertical entrainment contribute significantly Zonal temperature advection is especially important during boreal summer near the western edge of the cold tongue, while horizontal eddy temperature advection, which most likely results from tropical instability waves, opposes temperature advection by the mean flow The dominant balance in the southeast (6°S–10°S along 10°W) is similar to that in the northwest, with both latent heat loss and absorbed solar radiation playing important roles

A Daily Soil Temperature Dataset and Soil Temperature Climatology of the Contiguous United States

Abstract: Although affected by atmospheric circulations, variations in soil temperature result primarily from the radiation and sensible and latent heat exchanges at the surface and heat transfer in the soils of different thermal properties. Thus, soil temperature and its variation at various depths are unique parameters that are useful in understanding both the surface energy processes and regional environmental and climatic conditions. Yet, despite the importance, long-term quality data of soil temperatures are not available for the United States. The goal of this study is to fill this data gap and to develop a soil temperature dataset from the historical data of U.S. cooperative stations. Cooperative station soil temperatures at various depths from 1967 to 2002 are collected and examined by a set of quality checks, and erroneous data of extended periods are estimated using methods constructed in this study. After the quality control, the data are used to describe the climatic soil temperature as well as...

An intercomparison of regional latent heat flux estimation using remote sensing data

Abstract: The aerodynamic resistance energy balance residual method is widely used for surface latent heat flux estimation. In this study, we examine the theoretical background and implementation details of this methodology with respect to remote sensing data applications. The residual method requires estimation of aerodynamic resistance to heat transfer that necessitates the measurements of several ground-based observations including land surface vegetation height and surface wind speed. Consequently, it becomes very difficult to implement this method over large areas. A simple scheme is proposed for the distributed estimation of surface latent heat flux based on an interpretation of the triangle (or trapezoid) space of remotely sensed vegetation index and radiometric surface temperature. Two case studies using realistic remote sensing data over the southern Great Plains in the United States are presented to demonstrate the performance of both methods. Results suggest that the proposed method can achieve similar o...

Surface Turbulent Heat and Momentum Fluxes over Global Oceans Based on the Goddard Satellite Retrievals, Version 2 (GSSTF2)

Abstract: Information on the turbulent fluxes of momentum, latent heat, and sensible heat at the air–sea interface is essential in improving model simulations of climate variations and in climate studies. A 13.5-yr (July 1987–December 2000) dataset of daily surface turbulent fluxes over global oceans has been derived from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) radiance measurements. This dataset, Goddard Satellite-based Surface Turbulent Fluxes, version 2 (GSSTF2), has a spatial resolution of 1° × 1° latitude–longitude and a temporal resolution of 1 day. Turbulent fluxes are derived from the SSM/I surface winds and surface air humidity, as well as the 2-m air and sea surface temperatures (SST) of the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis, using a bulk aerodynamic algorithm based on the surface layer similarity theory. The GSSTF2 bulk flux model is validated by comparing hourly turbulent fluxes computed from ship data using the model with those observed fluxes of 10 field experiments over the tropical and midlatitude o...

Nature of the first-order phase transition in fluid phosphorus at high temperature and pressure.

Abstract: An in situ x-ray diffraction experiment has been performed on phosphorus to characterize the liquid-liquid transition which occurs at high temperature and pressure. The transition line has been measured over an extended temperature range up to 2200 degrees C at 0.3 GPa. From the shape of this line, a thermodynamic characterization of the transition is obtained in terms of latent heat and internal energy change. Moreover, the addition of the high-pressure high-temperature data to the known phase diagram of phosphorus allows us to conclude that this is a first-order transition between a dense molecular fluid and a polymeric liquid.

Moist dynamics and orographic precipitation

Abstract: Uniformly stratified moist flow over a Gaussian-shaped circular mountain is investigated using anonhydrostatic mesoscale model. The focus is the interaction between flow stagnation and orographicprecipitation. Two closely related issues are addressed: the effect of condensation and precipitation onmountain flow stagnation, and the influence of flow blocking and latent heat on upslope precipitation. Itis demonstrated that latent heat release and precipitation can significantly delay the onset of mountainflow stagnation. The dynamical and thermodynamical nature of this modification can be qualitativelyunderstood using the moist stability concept. However, due to the vertical variation of the moist stability,it is not possible to define a single nondimensional mountain height to describe the general nonlinearityof moist orographic flow. The effect of flow blocking and splitting on the intensity and distribution oforographic precipitation is found to be significant. For lowmountains, the upslope ascent dominates andthe precipitation intensity is roughly proportional to the mountain height and windspeed as predicted byboth a slab model and the mesoscale model. For high mountains, this relationship breaks down becausethe mountain lift effect is reduced as the low level moist flow passes around the peak. An arc-shapedprecipitation band forms further upstream of the peak where the terrain slope is gentle, associatedwith the secondary circulation forced by the upstream flow blocking/reversal. The removal of latentheat processes leads to reduced upslope lift and enhanced windward blocking, thereby reducing themaximum precipitation rates and increasing the precipitation area. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0870.2003.00025.x

Can the Earth's dynamo run on heat alone?

Abstract: SUMMARY The power required to drive the geodynamo places significant constraints on the heat passing across the core‐mantle boundary and the Earth’s thermal history. Calculations to date have been limited by inaccuracies in the properties of liquid iron mixtures at core pressures and temperatures. Here we re-examine the problem of core energetics in the light of new firstprinciples calculations for the properties of liquid iron. There is disagreement on the fate of gravitational energy released by contraction on cooling. We show that only a small fraction of this energy, that associated with heating resulting from changes in pressure, is available to drive convection and the dynamo. This leaves two very simple equations in the cooling rate and radioactive heating, one yielding the heat flux out of the core and the other the entropy gain of electrical and thermal dissipation, the two main dissipative processes. This paper is restricted to thermal convection in a pure iron core; compositional convection in a liquid iron mixture is considered in a companion paper. We show that heat sources alone are unlikely to be adequate to power the geodynamo because they require a rapid secular cooling rate, which implies a very young inner core, or a combination of cooling and substantial radioactive heating, which requires a very large heat flux across the core‐mantle boundary. A simple calculation with no inner core shows even higher heat fluxes are required in the absence of latent heat before the inner core formed.

An active role of extratropical sea surface temperature anomalies in determining anomalous turbulent heat flux

Abstract: [1] Temporal and spatial structures of turbulent latent and sensible heat flux anomalies are examined in relation to dominant patterns of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) observed over the North Pacific. Relative importance among observed anomalies in SST, surface air temperature, and wind speed in determining the anomalous turbulent heat fluxes is assessed through linearizing the observed flux anomalies. Over the central basin of the North Pacific, changes in the atmospheric variables, including air temperature and wind speed, are primarily responsible for the generation of local SST variations by changing turbulent heat flux, which supports a conventional view of extratropical air-sea interaction. In the region where ocean dynamics is very important in forming SSTAs, in contrast, SSTAs that have been formed in early winter play the primary role in determining mid- and late-winter turbulent heat flux anomalies, indicative of the SST forcing upon the overlying atmosphere. Specifically, both decadal scale SSTAs in the western Pacific subarctic frontal zone and El Nino related SSTAs south of Japan are found to be engaged actively in such forcing on the atmosphere. The atmospheric response to this forcing appears to include the anomalous storm track activity. The observed atmospheric anomalies, which may be, in part, forced by the preexisting SSTAs in those two regions, act to force SSTAs in other portions of the basin, leading to the time evolution of SSTAs as observed in the course of the winter season.

Inverse Analysis Adjustment of the SOC Air-Sea Flux Climatology Using Ocean Heat Transport Constraints

Abstract: Results are presented from a linear inverse analysis of the Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC) air–sea flux climatology using 10 hydrographic ocean heat transport constraints distributed throughout the Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. A solution is found that results in an adjusted set of fluxes that is consistent with all of the available constraints within their estimated error bounds. The global mean net ocean heat loss to the atmosphere with these adjustments is –5 W m–2, compared with a gain of 30 W m–2 for the original climatology. The primary changes to the net heat flux arise from an increase of 15% to the latent heat and reduction of 9% to the shortwave flux. The analysis has been extended to include the additional constraint that the global mean net heat flux lies in the range 0 ± 2 W m–2. In the latter case, the solution is modified such that the adjustment of the latent heat increases to 19%, the reduction of the shortwave decreases to 6%, and the global mean net heat flux is –2 ...

The impact of a small lake on heat stress in a Mediterranean urban park: the case of Tel Aviv, Israel

Abstract: Field observations of air and surface temperatures, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind were performed in the daytime hours of the warm season around a pond of 4 ha, located in Begin Park, in the city of Tel Aviv, Israel. Observations were carried out at screened meteorological stations on four randomly selected days, all associated with moderate heat stress. Two of them, one representing a warm and dry day, and other, representing a sultry day, are analyzed in detail. At the downwind side of the pond, lower temperatures, a higher relative humidity and a lower heat stress index were observed consistently when compared with stations located upwind of the pond. This effect is regarded here as the "lake effect". The fact that no significant change was noted in the water vapor pressure during most of the daytime hours indicates that the lake effect was related mainly to cooling rather than to moisture transport from the pond. A positive relationship was found between the lake effect and wind speed in both types of weather. The maximum effect of the wind's speed on the lake effect was observed at midday, at which time the temperature drop reached 1.6 °C, while the relative humidity rose by 6%. As a result, the heat stress index dropped by 0.8–1.1 °C. It is suggested that the temperature drop induced by the pond during the warmest hours of the day was mainly the result of a truncation of the sensible heat flux from the underlying surface when the air, which had previously passed over hot surfaces, swept over the relatively cool water. During the late afternoon and evening hours, when the water became warmer than the surrounding surfaces, latent heat cooling resulting from evaporation became the dominant source of the lake effect, and the lake effect resulted in increasing heat stress. It is concluded that even small bodies of water have a relieving effect on humans in the daytime hours, within the range of 40 m, under both dry and humid hot weather conditions.

Orographic precipitation and air mass transformation: An Alpine example

Abstract: A case of orographic precipitation in the Alps on 20 September 1999 was studied using several models, along with rain-gauge and radar data. The objective of the study is to describe the orographic transformation of an air mass, including multi-scale aspects. Several new and some conventional diagnostic quantities are estimated, including drying ratio, precipitation efficiency, buoyancy work, condensed-water residence time, parcel changes in heat, moisture and altitude, and dominant space- and time-scales. For the case considered, the drying ratio was about 35%. Precipitation efficiency values are ambiguous due to repeated ascent and descent over small-scale terrain. The sign of buoyancy work changed during the event, indicating a shift from stratiform orographic to weak convective clouds. Cloud-water residence times are different for the two mesoscale models (400 compared to 1000 s) due to different cloud–physical formulations. The two mesoscale models agree that the dominant spatial-scale of lifting and precipitation is about 10 km; smaller than the scale of the main Alpine massif. Trajectory analysis of air crossing the Alps casts doubt on the classic model of fohn. Few parcels exhibit classic pattern of moist ascent followed by dry descent. Parcels that gain latent heat descend only briefly, before rising into the middle troposphere. Parcels that descend along the lee slope, originate in the middle troposphere and gain little, or even lose, latent heat during the transit. As parcels seek their proper buoyancy level downstream, a surprising scrambling of the air mass occurs. Radar data confirm the model prediction that the rainfall field is tightly controlled by local terrain on scales as small as 10 km, rather than the full 100 km cross-Alpine scale. A curious pulsing of the precipitation is seen, indicating either drifting moisture anomalies or weak convection. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society.

Modelling heat transfer in high pressure food processing: a review

Abstract: The most claimed advantage of high-pressure food processing as compared to thermal processing is that pressure acts instantaneously and uniformly through a mass of food independently of its size, shape or composition. Nevertheless, thermal gradients are established in the products after compression and cause inhomogeneities in the pursued pressure effect. Modelling heat transfer in high-pressure food processes can be a useful tool to homogenise and optimise these treatments. The main difficulty is the lack of appropriate thermophysical properties of the processed materials under pressure. When modelling high-pressure processes at subzero temperatures, pressure/temperature phase transition data and latent heat are also needed. Those for water are known, but there is a total lack for those corresponding to components relevant to foods. Moreover, the precise mechanisms that rule high-pressure shift freezing and induced thawing are not yet clear and so it hinders modellisation. This review collects the difficulties found and the advances made up to date in modelling heat transfer in high-pressure processes, including those performed at subzero temperatures.

Numerical Simulation of Atmospheric Response to Pacific Tropical Instability Waves

Abstract: Tropical instability waves (TIWs) are 1000-km-long waves that appear along the sea surface temperature (SST) front of the equatorial cold tongue in the eastern Pacific. The study investigates the atmospheric planetary boundary layer (PBL) response to TIW-induced SST variations using a high-resolution regional climate model. An investigation is made of the importance of pressure gradients induced by changes in air temperature and moisture, and vertical mixing, which is parameterized in the model by a 1.5-level turbulence closure scheme. Significant turbulent flux anomalies of sensible and latent heat are caused by changes in the air‐sea temperature and moisture differences induced by the TIWs. Horizontal advection leads to the occurrence of the air temperature and moisture extrema downwind of the SST extrema. High and low hydrostatic surface pressures are then located downwind of the cold and warm SST patches, respectively. The maximum and minimum wind speeds occur in phase with SST, and a thermally direct circulation is created. The momentum budget indicates that pressure gradient, vertical mixing, and horizontal advection dominate. In the PBL the vertical mixing acts as a frictional drag on the pressure-gradient-driven winds. Over warm SST the mixed layer deepens relative to over cold SST. The model simulations of the phase and amplitude of wind velocity, wind convergence, and column-integrated water vapor perturbations due to TIWs are similar to those observed from satellite and in situ data.

Examination of the Surface Energy Budget: A Comparison of Eddy Correlation and Bowen Ratio Measurement Systems

Abstract: A reliable method for monitoring the surface energy budget is critical to the development and validation of numerical models and remote sensing algorithms. Unfortunately, closure of the energy budget remains difficult to achieve among measurement systems. Reasons for nonclosure still are not clearly understood, and, until recently, few long-term datasets were available to address this issue of nonclosure. This contribution examined 108 days of a year dataset collected from collocated eddy correlation (EC) and Bowen ratio (BR) systems. Differences between systems were examined across seasonal and diurnal cycles to better understand nonclosure of the energy budget. Closure by the EC system was observed to vary with season and with time of day, primarily as a function of latent heat flux. Furthermore, the EC and BR methods partitioned energy differently, with the EC system favoring latent heat flux and the BR system favoring sensible heat flux. Instrument error, surface heterogeneity, and the theore...

Interannual and Seasonal Variability of the Surface Energy Balance and Temperature of Central Great Slave Lake

Abstract: This paper addresses interannual and seasonal variability in the thermal regime and surface energy fluxes in central Great Slave Lake during three contiguous open-water periods, two of which overlap the Canadian Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Enhanced Study (CAGES) water year. The specific objectives are to compare the air temperature regime in the midlake to coastal zones, detail patterns of air and water temperatures and atmospheric stability in the central lake, assess the role of the radiation balance in driving the sensible and latent heat fluxes on a daily and seasonal basis, quantify magnitudes and rates of the sensible and latent heat fluxes and evaporation, and present a comprehensive picture of the seasonal and interannual thermal and energy regimes, their variability, and their most important controls. Atmospheric and lake thermal regimes are closely linked. Temperature differences between midlake and the northern shore follow a seasonal linear change from 68C colder midlake in June, to 68C warmer in November‐December. These differences are a response to the surface energy budget of the lake. The surface radiation balance, and sensible and latent heat fluxes are not related on a day-to-day basis. Rather, from final lake ice melt in mid-June through to mid- to late August, the surface waters strongly absorb solar radiation. A stable atmosphere dominates this period, the latent heat flux is small and directed upward, and the sensible heat flux is small and directed downward into the lake. During this period, the net solar radiation is largely used in heating the lake. From mid- to late August to freeze up in December to early January, the absorbed solar radiation is small, the atmosphere over the lake becomes increasingly unstable, and the sensible and latent heat fluxes are directed into the atmosphere and grow in magnitude into the winter season. Comparing the period of stable atmospheric conditions with the period of unstable conditions, net radiation is 6 times larger during the period of stable atmosphere and the combined latent and sensible heat fluxes are 9 times larger during the unstable period. From 85% to 90% of total evaporation occurs after mid-August, and evaporation rates increase continuously as the season progresses. This rate of increase varies from year to year. The time of final ice melt exerts the largest single control on the seasonal thermal and energy regimes of this large northern lake.

Coupled variability and air-sea interaction in the South Atlantic Ocean

Abstract: A total of 52 years of data (1949–2000) from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis are used to investigate mechanisms involved in forcing and damping of sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the South Atlantic Ocean. Organized patterns of coupled ocean–atmosphere variability are identified using EOF and SVD analyses. The leading mode of coupled variability consists of an SST pattern with a strong northeast–southwest gradient and an SLP monopole centered at 15°W, 45°S. The anomalous winds associated with this monopole generate the SST pattern through anomalous latent heat flux and mixed layer deepening. Other heat flux components and anomalous Ekman transport play only a secondary role. Once established, the SST pattern is attenuated through latent heat flux. The higher SST modes are also induced by anomalous winds and destroyed by latent heat flux. It thus appears that the coupled variability in the South Atlantic Ocean consists of atmospheric circulation anomalies that induce SST anomalies through anomalous latent heat fluxes and wind-induced mixed layer deepening. These SST anomalies are destroyed by latent heat flux with no detectable systematic feedback onto the atmospheric circulation. Atmospheric variability in the South Atlantic is found to be largely independent of that elsewhere, although there is a weak relation with ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation).