Airsea exchanges in the South Atlantic and South-western

Indian Oceans
Sebastian Krieger
Instituto Oceanogrfico, Universidade de So Paulo
Pa. do Oceanogrfico 191, So Paulo SP, 05508120, Brazil

sebastian.krieger@usp.br

June 26, 2013

Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Bulk heat, momentum and moisture fluxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2 Data and methodology

2.1 Sea surface temperature . . . . .
2.2 Atmospheric state . . . . . . . .
2.3 Airsea flux . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4 Climate indices and correlations

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3 Results and discussion

3.1 Sea surface temperature
3.2 Bulk flux calculations .
3.3 Heat fluxes . . . . . .
3.4 Climate indices . . . .

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4 Conclusions

20

List of Figures
2.1

Time series of the NINO3.4 and Antarctic Oscillation climate indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.1
3.2
3.3

Global zonal average of sea surface temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Global area weighted sea surface temperature, climatological anomaly and trend . . . . . . . . .
Area weighted sea surface temperature, climatological anomaly and trend in the South Atlantic and
South-western Indian Oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Average sea surface temperature map in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans . .
Sea surface temperature climatology maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bulk coefficients for drag, and evaporation and sensible heat transfer as a function of wind speed
Average calculated global zonal and meridional momentum flux, and latent and sensible heat flux
maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Global map of average atmospheric stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Histogram of the atmospheric stability globally and in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian
Oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Net heat flux climatology maps in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans. . . . . .
Zonal momentum flux climatology maps in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans
Latent and sensible heat flux climatology maps in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian
Oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Zonaltemporal diagrams of the net heat flux and climatological anomaly in the South Atlantic and
South-western Indian Oceans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Correlation of the net airsea heat flux with NINO3.4 climate index in the Pacific Ocean . . . .
Correlation of the latent heat flux with Antarctic Oscillation climate index in the South Atlantic
Ocean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Correlation maps of net airsea flux, latent heat flux and sensible heat flux with Antarctic Oscillation
and NINO3.4 indices in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans . . . . . . . . . .

8
9

3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12
3.13
3.14
3.15
3.16

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Acronyms
AAO Antarctic Oscillation.
AMO Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.
CESM Community Earth System Model.
CNYF Corrected Normal Year Forcing.
CORE Coordinated Ocean Research Experiments.
EOF empirical orthogonal function.
ITCZ Intertropical Convergence Zone.
MEI Multivariate ENSO Index.
MOC meridional overturning circulation.
NAM Northern Annual Mode.
NINO3.4 El Nio 3.4 sea surface temperature index.
PNA Pacific North America.
SAM Southern Annular Mode.
SLP sea level pressure.
SOI Southern Oscillation Index.
SPI South Pacific Index.
SST sea surface temperature.

Introduction
Air-sea interaction plays an important role in the regulation of the Earths climate. Even though Earths climate is forced, to the lowest order, by the sun radiation
and the geometry of the planet, much of the geophysical
dynamic processes occur because of the transfer of properties at the interface between the atmosphere and the
ocean. The large-scale wind-driven ocean circulation is
one example of such a process. Liu et al. (1979) point
out that while momentum is transferred by pressure gradients, molecular diffusion is the only process in which
heat and mass can be transferred at the interface.
The ocean is forced by freshwater, heat and momentum fluxes. The air-sea heat fluxes are estimated by
summing their different components,
Qas = QS + QL + QE + QH + QP ,

oceanic eddy structures, the Agulhas rings, as part of

the retroflection of the Agulhas current back into the
Indian Ocean. Recent studies indicate an increase in the
Agulhas leakage, which would enhance an invasion of
Indian Ocean Water into the Atlantic Ocean and therefore affect the meridional overturning circulation (MOC)
(Biastoch et al. 2009; Haarsma et al. 2011).
The main objective of the present study is to understand major challenges and uncertainties in estimating
turbulent heat and momentum fluxes from atmospheric
state climatologies. Furthermore, we also analyse the
variability of different heat fluxes and compare them to
climate indices. The focus is in the region of the South
Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans.

(1.1)

1.1 Bulk heat, momentum and

moisture fluxes

where QS is the short-wave solar radiation, QL is the

long-wave radiation, QH is the sensible heat flux, QE is
the latent heat flux, and QP is the precipitation heat flux.
The flux components are defined to be positive down,
i.e. fluxes passing into the ocean are positive. The heat
flux has radiative and turbulent components. Sensible
and latent heat fluxes are turbulent. Wind stress is also
a turbulent flux and is usually aligned with the ocean
~O.
surface current U
Precipitation (rain and snow) creates a negative heat
flux QP , since usually precipitating water is colder than
sea surface temperature (SST) and, as a consequence, the
ocean looses heat. Estimation of marine precipitation
is very limited due to the lack of continuous in situ
measurements and difficulties in partitioning into rain
and snow. Therefore, the present study does not consider
precipitation heat flux.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the Agulhas leakage transports
warm and salty Indian Ocean waters. It is a region
that attracts interest because of its complex and strong
meso-scale activity. There is a constant formation of

The turbulent air-sea fluxes (momentum, sensible heat

and latent heat) can be estimated from the following bulk
formulae, respectively,
~ | U
~ ,
~ = a CD |U
~ | ,
QH = a cp CH |U
~ | q ,
QE = a v CE |U

(1.2a)
(1.2b)
(1.2c)

where a is the near surface air density,

cp 1000.5 Jkg1 is the specific heat of air and
v 2.5 106 Jkg1 is the latent heat of vaporization.
~ =U
~ (zu ) U
~ O is the difference between the wind
U
measured at height zu and the ocean surface current.
= (z ) SST is the difference between the
potential air temperature at height z and the sea surface
temperature SST. Since the air at the sea surface is
assumed to be saturated, q = q(zq ) qsat (SST ) is
4

the difference between the specific humidity at height zq

and the saturated specific humidity over seawater given
by,
 q 
q1
2
qsat (q1 , q2 , SST ) =
,
(1.3)
exp
a
SST
where q1 = 0.98 640 380 kgm3 and q2 = 5107.4 K.
It is important to note that the factor 0.98 applies only
over seawater.
The drag coefficient CD , and the transfer coefficients
for evaporation CE and sensible heat CH are functions
of height z, atmospheric stability and effective wind
~ . At neutral stability = 0 and reference
speed U
height z = 10 m, the coefficients are given by
a1
~| ,
+ a2 + a3 |U
~|
|U
34.6 p
CD ,
CE =
1000
(

18.0
CD , if > 0 (stable)

CH = 1000
32.7
1000 CD , if 0 (unstable).
CD =

(1.4a)
(1.4b)
(1.4c)

where a1 = 2.7 103 , a2 = 1.42 104 and

a3 = 7.64 105 are empirically estimated coefficients of a multiple regression analysis.
By applying the bulk formulae, one can estimate the
turbulent fluxes using near surface atmospheric state
(wind, temperature and humidity). The iterative procedure to compute the bulk fluxes using this formulation is
described in Large and Yeager (2004) and Large (2006).

Data and methodology

In the present study we use three different climatological data sets and two climate indices. We use a SST
dataset, an atmospheric state (wind, temperature, humidity, sea level pressure) normal year dataset, and a
global airsea flux dataset.

AirSea Flux Dataset version 2 (Large and Yeager 2009).

Only the period between 1984 and 2004 is used, because
in this dataset, radiation prior to 1984 and precipitation
before 1979 are given only as climatological mean annual cycles.

2.1 Sea surface temperature

2.4 Climate indices and correlations

We use the Community Earth System Model (CESM)

SST and sea ice concentration dataset for uncoupled
simulations interpolated in the T62 global grid. The
dataset contains monthly maps of SST between January
1840 and March 2012 and is a merged blended product
(Hurrell et al. 2008).

Climate indices are a simple diagnostic quantity used

to characterize an aspect (mode) of the climate system
such as a circulation pattern. They may be used as a
time series to show inter-annual to multi-decadal variability. Examples of such indices are El Nio 3.4 sea
surface temperature index (NINO3.4), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Antarctic Oscillation (AAO), Northern
Annual Mode (NAM), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), Pacific North America (PNA), Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI), South Pacific Index (SPI). The
NINO3.4 and AAO time series between 1984 and 2004
are shown in figure 2.1.
The Nio index is calculated as the 5-month running
average of SST climatological anomaly over one of the
Nio regions (Trenberth 1997). In the case of NINO3.4,
the region is bounded by 120 W170 W and 5 S 5 N.
Nio indexes have a high negative correlation with SOI.
The AAO is the dominant mode of atmospheric
variability in the southern hemisphere. The index is
calculated as the difference between the normalized
monthly zonal mean sea level pressure (SLP) at 40 S
and 65 S (Gong and Wang 1999) describes. The AAO
is revealed as the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) in many atmospheric fields, such as surface
pressure, surface temperature, and zonal wind, for example (Thompson and Wallace 2000). The AAO is also

2.2 Atmospheric state

To test and analyse the sensitivity of the iterative estimation for the turbulent fluxes, we use the Corrected
Normal Year Forcing (CNYF) (Large and Yeager 2004).
It consists of a single annual cycle of the atmospheric
state data (wind, temperature, humidity, sea level pressure) needed to solve equations (1.2). The data is representative of climatological conditions over decades and
includes weather events, such as storms.

2.3 Airsea flux

To analyse the annual and inter-annual variability of
the heat fluxes, we use the monthly maps of latent
heat (QH ), sensible heat (QE ), downward long-wave
radiation (LW ), upward long-wave radiation (LW )
and net short-wave radiation (QS ) fluxes from the Coordinated Ocean Research Experiments (CORE) Global
6

Figure 2.1: Time series of the NINO3.4 and Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) climate indices between 1984 and 2004.

referred to as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM).

To calculate the correlation between between the
fluxes and climate indices, for longitude x and latitude
y, let Y (x, y, t) and I(t) be the climatological anomalies of a flux and the climate index, respectively. The
standard deviation of both the fluxes and climate indices
are Y (x, y) and I . Furthermore, let X(t) = II . For
every grid point, the slope of a linear regression of Y
on X give CY X (x, y) and the correlation coefficient is
thus,
CY X
rY X =
.
(2.1)
Y
The correlation maps of the different fluxes with the climate indices, give the fraction of the variance of the flux
that may be represented by the chosen climate indices
and its spatial distribution.

Results and discussion

This section presents some of the analysis that has
been made with the data sets used in this study. We start
presenting the general distribution of SST first globally
and then in the Southern Atlantic and South-western
Indian Oceans. Afterwards we use the bulk flux formulae
to estimate turbulent fluxes and atmospheric stability.
Then we present the average heat flux patterns in our
region of interest and finally correlate them with the
climate indices.

3.1 Sea surface temperature

Since SST is perhaps the most important parameter in air
sea interaction studies, we start our analysis describing
some of the observed variability in the region of interest,
namely the South Atlantic and South-western Indian
Oceans. Both the latent (QE ) and sensible heat (QH )
fluxes are function of wind speed and SST, as described
by equations (1.2b), (1.2c) and (1.3). The SST is directly
associated with the incident solar radiation and has a
strong dependence with latitude, as illustrates the global
zonal average of SST from the CESM dataset shown in
figure 3.1.
The global area-weighted average SST time series,
and its climatological anomaly, are illustrated in figure 3.2 and used to analyse the average temporal variability. The time series shows 4 distinctive periods, from
1870 to 1910 temperatures seem to be stable and even
show a very slight decreasing trend. From 1910 to 1947,
temperatures rise, then fall and show no apparent trend
until 1975. Afterwards global average SST starts rising
again. The linear trend for the whole global average
SST climatological anomaly time series is 0.026 C per
decade. Besides the trends, the time series also shows
inter-annual variability. The global area-weighted average SST is (19.29 0.66) C.
8

Figure 3.1: Global zonal average of sea surface temperature (SST) distribution with latitude (solid line) enclosed by
twice its standard deviation (dashed line).

In the South Atlantic and South-western Indian

Oceans, the average SST between January 1870 and
March 2012 is (16.5 2.2) C and its average distribution is illustrated in figure 3.4. The SST has an overall
zonal distribution, however, it shows a decrease in temperature close to the African coast. This colder water is
probably upwelling water brought by Ekman pumping.
The average time series of SST in this region, and
its climatological anomaly, are illustrated in figure 3.3.
Compared to the global average, this time series has
higher variance. This might be due to the compensating
effect of seasonality when calculating global averages.
There are also distinctive periods in this time series and

Figure 3.2: (Top) Global area weighted average sea surface temperature (SST). The grey solid line is the monthly average and
the black solid line is the filtered average using a 12-month boxcar window. (Bottom) Global area weighted climatological SST
anomaly (black) and linear trend (grey) of 0.026 C per decade. The time series span the period between January 1870 and
March 2012.

Figure 3.3: (Top) Area weighted average sea surface temperature (SST) in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans.
The grey solid line is the monthly average and the black solid line is the filtered average using a 12-month boxcar window.
(Bottom) Area weighted climatological SST anomaly (black) and linear trend (grey) of 0.022 C per decade. The time series
span the period between January 1870 and March 2012.

Figure 3.4: Average sea surface temperature (SST) map in

the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans between
January 1870 and March 2012.

inter-annual variability. From 1870 to 1930, approximately, the time series shows no trend. From 1930 to
1942 there is an increase in average SST, when it decreases again. After 1950, the SST starts to increase and
its trend seems to become higher from 1990 onwards.
The linear trend in SST climatological anomaly in that
region and for the whole dataset is 0.022 C per decade.
A remarkable feature of the SST climatology of the
Southern Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans, as
illustrated in figure 3.5, is the enhanced upwelling of
cold water during austral winter near the African coast in
the Atlantic Ocean. Near the coast of Angola, SST falls
from about 27 C in April to about 15 C in September.
This might be due to an increase in the wind regime and
should also affect the momentum flux, and the latent and
sensible heat fluxes.
Figure 3.5: Sea surface temperature (SST) climatology maps
calculated for the period between January 1870 and March
2012.

3.2 Bulk flux calculations

The variation of CD , CE and CH , both for stable (CHs )
and unstable (CHu ) conditions, as a function of wind
speed according to equation (1.4) is illustrated in figure 3.6. The drag, evaporation and unstable sensible
heat coefficients have similar values between approximately 4 ms1 and 12 ms1 wind speed. Outside
this region, the drag coefficient is always the highest.
The evaporation transfer coefficient is higher than both
sensible heat coefficients. Stable sensible heat transfer
coefficient is the lowest.
Using the bulk formulae we apply the atmospheric

state variables provided by the CNYF dataset to estimate

the turbulent fluxes. The flux calculations are forced
with CESM SST dataset during 1984. The average results for the turbulent fluxes are illustrated in figure 3.7.
Compared to the CORE Global AirSea Flux dataset climatologies illustrated in figures 3.12, these results have
same order of magnitude and similar spatial distribution.
The zonal momentum flux (figure 3.7a) is stronger, and
has positive sign, over the westerly winds, as expected.
In the tropics, the x has opposite direction and has lowest values in the center of the great gyres. The meridional

10

Figure 3.6: Bulk drag coefficient CD , and transfer coefficients for evaporation CE and sensible heat CH as a function of
effective wind velocity U at neutral stability = 0 and reference height z = 10 m, using equations (1.4).

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 3.7: Average global zonal (a) and meridional (b) momentum flux and latent (c) and sensible (d) heat flux maps calculated
using atmospheric state variables using the Corrected Normal Year Forcing (CNYF) data sets.

11

Figure 3.8: Global map of the average atmospheric stability

using the Corrected Normal Year Forcing (CNYF2) data set.

momentum flux (figure 3.7b) is one order of magnitude

smaller than the zonal momentum. The highest magnitude is found at the eastern boundary of the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, in the tropical Indian Ocean and over
the Antarctic circumpolar current eastwards from Africa
up to New Zealand. The latent heat flux (figure 3.7c)
has a zonal distribution with negative flux in the tropics,
besides the eastern equatorial Pacific, and positive flux
in higher latitudes. The sensible heat flux (figure 3.7d)
has an overall homogeneous distribution and is one order
of magnitude lower than the latent heat flux.
Constant testing of the bulk flux calculation algorithm
has shown that the turbulent flux estimations are very
sensitive to the atmospheric stability . The average
distribution of is illustrated in figure 3.8. In this case,
since < 0 almost everywhere, it suggests that the
ocean is mostly unstable. The atmosphere appears to
be more unstable over the Intertropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ). Figure 3.9 shows the histogram for both
the global average stability and the stability over the
South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans. Both
distributions are very similar. Globally, the average atmospheric stability is =-0.43 with standard deviation
=1.4. In the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans, the average stability is =-0.27 and has
standard deviation =0.94.

3.3 Heat fluxes

The different heat components of the CORE Global Air
Sea Flux Flux Dataset were added to give a total airsea
heat flux, according to equation (1.1). Figure 3.10 shows
the climatology maps for the South Atlantic and South-

Figure 3.9: Histogram of the atmospheric stability globally (top) and in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian
Oceans (bottom) calculated using atmospheric state variables
using the Corrected Normal Year Forcing (CNYF) data set.

western Indian Oceans. The net airsea flux has a strong

seasonality. The highest net fluxes are observed during austral summer (December, January and February),
whereas the lowest net fluxes are observed during austral
winter (May, June and July). Near the Agulhas current
retroflection region, at the southern tip of the African

12

tensities during the year. On the other hand, y shows a

small displacement of the flux gradients, probably due
to the migration of the ITCZ. y is about one order of
magnitude smaller than x .
Figure 3.12 illustrates the latent (QE ) and sensible (QH ) heat flux climatologies. Latent heat flux is
about 4 to 5 times higher than sensible heat flux. QE
shows a zonal distribution similar to that of SST (3.5).
QH has also zonal distribution with distinctive latitude
bands and strong seasonality. The tropical Atlantic
Ocean appears to be dominated by fronts, which could
indicate wave-like phenomena. However, analysis of
zonal-temporal diagrams of QH (not shown) did not
indicate propagation of the signal. These front-like patterns seem to be stationary. There is year long variability
of QH over the Antarctic circumpolar current. As with
Qas , near the Cape of Good Hope, QH is always negative.
The temporal variability of the heat flux can be analysed through zonaltemporal diagrams. Figure 3.13
shows the zonaltemporal diagram of Qas and its climatological anomaly at 22.5 S latitude. Qas shows a clear
seasonal pattern and no apparent propagation. Close
to the African coast, at about 5 E, is a region that during austral summer where the net heat flux is constantly
over 200 Wm2 , which might be due to the coastal upwelling. The net heat flux climatological anomalies vary
from about -50 Wm2 to 50 Wm2 . There are no apparent trends in the climatological anomalies, although the
anomalies appear to be higher at the beginning of the
time series.

3.4 Climate indices

Figure 3.10: Net heat flux (Qas ) climatology maps in the
South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans using the
CORE.2 Global AirSea Flux Dataset calculated for the period
between 1984 and 2004.

continent, near the Cape of Good Hope, the net heat flux
is always lower than its surroundings. In this region,
since the net flux climatology is always negative, the
ocean looses heat to the atmosphere. On the other hand,
near the BrazilMalvinas confluence region, it appears
that the absolute net heat flux is enhanced, regardless of
the direction of the flux in its surroundings.
The zonal (x ) and meridional (y ) momentum flux
climatology maps are illustrated in figure 3.11. x seems
to have an uniform zonal distribution with different in-

Sensible fluxes can be correlated to the NINO3.4 and

AAO climate indices according to equation (2.1). Figures 3.14 and 3.15 illustrate the calculation of the correlation coefficient of the climatological anomaly of a
flux component and a normalized climatological index.
In the first case (figure 3.14) shows a high negative correlation (r = 0.74) of the net heat flux climatological
g
anomaly Q
as with the normalized NINO3.4 climate index in the Pacific Ocean at 120.5 W 2.5 S. In the second
case (figure 3.15), we try to correlate the sensible head
g
flux climatological anomaly Q
as with normalized AAO

in the Atlantic Ocean at 20.5 E 42.5 S, and observe no

correlation. By taking a closer inspection of the individual time series, it seems that QH might lead AAO
and correlate with it with a lag of a couple of months.

13

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.11: Zonal momentum flux x (a) and meridional momentum flux y (b) climatology maps in the South Atlantic and
South-western Indian Oceans using the CORE.2 Global AirSea Flux Dataset calculated for the period between 1984 and 2004.

14

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.12: Latent heat flux QE (a) and sensible heat flux QH (b) climatology maps in the South Atlantic and South-western
Indian Oceans using the CORE.2 Global AirSea Flux Dataset calculated for the period between 1984 and 2004.

15

Figure 3.13: Zonaltemporal diagrams of the net heat flux Qas (left) and its climatological anomaly (right) in the South
Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans at 22.5 S latitude from 1984 to 2004.

16

Figure 3.14: Correlation of the net airsea heat flux Qas with NINO3.4 climate index in the Pacific Ocean at 120.5 W 2.5 S.
g
(Top) Time series of the net air-sea climatological anomaly Q
as (solid line) and of the normalized NINO3.4 index (dashed line).
g
(Bottom) The linear regression between Q
and
NINO3.4.
In this case, the correlation between both variables is r =-0.74.
as

Figure 3.15: Correlation of the latent heat heat flux QH with Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) climate index in the Atlantic Ocean
g
at 20.5 E 42.5 S. (Top) Time series of the latent heat climatological anomaly Q
H (solid line) and of the normalized AAO index
g
(dashed line). (Bottom) The linear regression between Q
and
AAO.
In
this
case, the correlation between both variables is
H
r =-0.01.

17

However the analysis of cross correlation with lag was

not performed.
Applying the same methodology to different time series in each location, it is possible to construct correlation maps as illustrated in figure 3.16. In this case we
correlate the net airsea flux Qas , the latent heat flux QE
and the sensible heat flux QE with both the NINO3.4
and AAO climate indices. In all cases correlation is less
than 50%. In general, the spatial distribution of the correlation of all heat flux components with a climate index
is similar. NINO3.4 correlates best with the fluxes over
the Antarctic circumpolar current, while AAO correlates
best in the tropics.

18

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

Figure 3.16: Correlation maps of net airsea flux Qas (top), latent heat flux QE (middle) and sensible heat flux QH (bottom)
with Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) index (left) and NINO3.4 index (right) in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Oceans
between 1984 and 2004.

19

Conclusions
The present study tries to present a short overview on
the main distribution of the momentum and heat flux
components in the South Atlantic and South-western
Indian Oceans. Using different data sets and the bulk
formulation, we tried to estimate the turbulent fluxes.
However, these estimates are as good as the quality of the
forcing data sets, since small changes in the parameters
can lead to big errors in the estimates. It is important to
remember that airsea fluxes occur in a thin layer right
at the interface between the atmosphere and the ocean,
and therefore measuring flux parameters on board of a
floating device is not always possible nor an easy task.
Assuming that the Earth system is in dynamical balance, then the integrated long term heat and water fluxes
should be near zero. However, there is great uncertainty
in the estimation of these fluxes and many corrections
to the models have to be included to satisfy this constraint (Large 2006).
The parametrization of the model depends on the availability of data. For global heat, momentum and freshwater flux estimates, we need global long-term measurements, including the Southern Ocean and ice covered
regions. There is not only the problem of lack of in situ
measurements, the quality and accuracy of the available
data is as important. Another issue is regarding time
scales. Although seasonal in nature, heat and momentum fluxes vary significantly on shorter time scales, such
as diurnal changes, for example.
The bulk formulae are functions of properties that are
away from this skin layer between ocean and atmosphere
and the transition into molecular scales is not straightforward. Fairall et al. (1996), for example, incorporate into
their flux estimation algorithm cool-skin and warm-layer
effects on bulk sea temperature measurements. These
authors conclude that these corrections cannot be used
in calculations of the neutral transfer coefficients.
The correlations of flux parameters and climate in-

dices in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian

Oceans are relatively small. An extension to this approach could be to include a time lag, which could
suggest causality and possibly allow for predictability.
From the correlation coefficients given by equation (2.1)
it would then be possible to estimate Y (x, y, t) =
CY X (x, y) X(t l).
For future studies it would be interesting to try to analyse the variability on shorter time scales and asses the effect of vertical and horizontal heat advection, as already
attempted by early studies (?), for example. Achieve this
on a global scale is a great challenge.

Acknowledgements
The current report has been made as an assignment for
the IOC5911 Tpicos Especiais em Oceanografia,
whose topic was Airsea interaction and climate
change. The lectures were taught by Dr. William B.
Large and organized by Prof. Dr. Ilana Wainer at the
Oceanographic Institute of the University of So Paulo.

20

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