Professional Documents
Culture Documents
)
DOI : 10.4197/Mar. 23-1.6
Abdullah M. Al-Subhi
Faculty of Marine Science, King Abdulaziz University
Jeddah – Saudi Arabia
amalsubnhi@kau.edu.sa
Introduction
The Red Sea, being geographically located between tropical and
subtropical regions, provides a classic example of the interaction between
Monsoon (seasonal) meteorological conditions at the sea surface and the
thermohaline circulation of the basin. It is a long narrow basin lies
77
78 Abdullah M. Al-Subhi
between latitudes 12oN and 28oN. Its north-south extent is about 2300km
and the average width about 280km. The Red Sea mainly exchanges
water with the Gulf of Aden through the strait of Bab el Mandeb with a
small amount via the Suez Canal.
The Red Sea is characterized by low rainfall and high evaporation
which controls the properties of the Red Sea and the flow exchange
through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb (Thunellet al.,1988; Rohlinget
al.,1998; Siddallet al.,2004 and Arzet al.,2007). The average annual
evaporation is about 2 m/yr (Morcos, 1970; Behairyet al., 1981; Ahmad
and Sultan, 1987, 1989; Al-Barakati, 2005; and Matdoukaset al., 2007).
Osman (1984) estimated the evaporation rate near the coast of Port Sudan
as 2.04 m/yr. The computed annual average evaporation in the Red Sea
presented in Sofianos et al.(2002) and Siddallet al.(2003) is about
2.06±0.22 m/yr.
The air temperature over the Red Sea is usually relatively low in
the northern part (Morcos, 1970 and Edwards, 1987) and increases
southward. The warmest region over the Red Sea is between 20oN and
16oN (Edwards, 1987). The average air temperature during February is
approximately 18oC in the northern part. It increases gradually toward
southern part and reaches about 26oC. In August, the average air
temperature increases from 29oC in the north to 33oC in southern
part(Ahmad and Sultan, 1989). Monthly average sea surface temperature
in the southern Red sea is high compared to the northern part (Morcos,
1970 and Siddallet al., 2004). The amplitude of annual temperature
variation in coastal water is greater than those of open water due to the
impact of the land, and shallow coastal waters (Morcos, 1970). The wind
in southern part of the Red Sea reverses direction with monsoon system
over the Indian Ocean. This system controls the water circulation and the
exchange of water with the Gulf of Aden (Neumann and McGill, 1962;
Phillips, 1966; Siedler, 1969 and Patzert, 1974). The flow of water from
the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea during winter is greater than that during
summer (Neumann and McGill, 1962 and Rohlinget al., 1998). In winter
along the northeast coast strong wind leads to increase the evaporation
and heat loss (Jiang et al., 2009). The possible maximum extent and
differences associated with these strong flows along the axis of the Red
Sea is associated with a strong decline in limits of relative humidity by
both increase of temperature and reducing specific humidity (Eshel and
Heavens, 2007).
Estimation of Evaporation Rates in the Southern Red Sea Based on the … 79
Fig. 1. The southern Red Sea and locations of the study regions A, B, and C.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e)
Fig. 2. Monthly sea surface temperature and meteorological data along with computed
monthly values of (ew-ea) in Jeddah, Jazan, and Hodeidah for the study period (1999-
2007).
Table 2. Monthly average of Sea Surface temperature (SST),air temperature, wind speed,
humidity gradient (ew-eain mb) and relative humidity for Jeddah, Jazan and
Hodeidah from 1999 to 2007.
SST Air Temperature Wind Speed humidity gradient Relative
Months (oC) (oC) (m/sec) ew-ea (mb) Humidity (%)
Jed Jaz Hod Jed Jaz Hod Jed Jaz Hod Jed Jaz Hod Jed Jaz Hod
Jan 26.61 26.51 25.63 23.11 26.21 24.93 3.87 2.84 4.41 17.1 9.9 8.6 62.69 74.8 76.9
Feb 26.09 26.37 25.56 24.02 27.06 26.33 3.78 2.82 4.57 14.2 8.3 7.4 64.92 74.64 73.96
Mar 26.29 26.97 26.3 25.46 28.44 28.13 4.06 2.98 3.93 13.8 8.4 5.8 62.14 71.7 74.59
Apr 27.4 28.36 27.8 28.14 30.6 30.2 3.76 2.8 4.06 13.9 10 6.5 59.22 66.73 71.87
May 28.76 29.77 29.54 30.53 32.43 31.83 3.89 2.8 3.27 14.2 11 7.1 58.2 65.14 72.64
Jun 28.92 29.99 30.41 31.47 33.47 32.77 4.15 3.11 3.44 12.8 9.9 7.0 58.23 64.4 73.48
Jul 30.32 30.81 30.38 33.08 33.63 33.57 3.7 3.47 3.96 16.7 13.3 6.5 54.56 61.67 70.91
Aug 31.07 31.44 30.8 33.15 33.35 33.12 3.74 3.32 3.9 12.8 13.7 8.6 62.87 65.19 70.74
Sep 31.1 32.02 31.8 31.7 32.89 32.3 3.52 2.84 3.39 12.6 14.63 12.5 68.98 68.28 71.45
Oct 31.25 31.9 30.46 29.91 31.37 29.62 2.93 2.56 3.44 15.7 17.4 14.1 69.75 68.15 70.96
Nov 30.02 29.88 27.96 27.5 29.26 27.6 3.3 2.59 3.99 18.8 14.7 10.8 66.19 70.3 72.98
Dec 28.32 28.1 26.61 24.93 27.24 25.86 3.44 2.72 4.21 18.4 12.4 10.1 64.04 73.35 74.34
Estimation of Evaporation Rates in the Southern Red Sea Based on the … 83
84 Abdullah M. Al-Subhi
Fig. 3. Monthly values of evaporation(mm/month) in Jeddah, Jazan, and Hodeidah for the
study period (1999-2007).
The annual average evaporation for the three regions from 1999 to
2007 is given in Fig. 5. Table 5 gives the correlation coefficients between
evaporation and the controlling parameters; wind speed and humidity
gradient.
Fig. 5. Annual averages of evaporation (m/year)for Jeddah, Jazan, and Hodeidah regions
based on data from 1999 to 2007.
Table 5. Correlation coefficients between evaporation, wind speed and humidity gradient
for Jeddah, Jazan and Al-Hodeidah regions.
Jeddah Region Jazan Region Hodeidah Region
Correlation P-value Correlation P-value Correlation P-value
Wind speed 0.494 0.000 0.513 0.000 0.472 0.000
(ew-ea) 0.723 0.000 0.831 0.000 0.847 0.000
86 Abdullah M. Al-Subhi
Conclusion
Dalton's Equations are used to study the evaporation in the
southern Red Sea. Evaporation is estimated in three regions Jeddah,
Jazan and Hodeidah. In Jeddah region evaporation is greater than Jazan
and Hodeidah. Evaporation is higher in Jeddah region in winter, while in
Hodeidah region it is higher in the transition months. In Jazan it is higher
in the summer months. The correlation between the humidity gradient
(ew-ea) and monthly climatology of evaporation is strong in all regions
and is approximately with a correlation coefficient of 0.8, while the
correlation with the wind speed is about 0.5. Therefore the evaporation
mostly depends on the humidity gradient over the southern part of the
Red Sea and the wind speed.
Acknowledgment
This work has been achieved with the help of Prof. Fazal A.
Chaudhry who gave lots of advices during the preparation of the
manuscript.
References
Ahmad, F. and Sultan, S.A.R. (1987) On the Heat Terms in the Central Region of the Red. Sea.
Deep-Sea Research,Part A, 34: 1757-760.
Ahmad, F. and Sultan, S.A.R. (1989) Surface Heat Fluxes and their Comparison with the Oceanic
Heat Flow in the Red Sea. Oceanology Acta,12: 33-36.
88 Abdullah M. Al-Subhi
Al-Barakati, A.M.A. (2005)Advective Heat Transport to the Red Sea at the Strait of Bab-el-
Mandab.JKAU: Mar. Sci., 16: 133-140.
Arz, H. W., Lamy F., Ganopolski, A., Nowaczyk, N. and Patzold, J. (2007) Dominant Northern
Hemisphere Climate Control over Millennial-scale Glacial Sea-Level Variability.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 26: 312-321.
Behairy, A.K.A, Meshal, A.H. and Osman, M.M. (1981) Evaporation from the Central Zone of
the Red Sea.JKAU: Mar. Sci.,1: 3-9.
Csanady, G.T. (2001) Air-Sea Interaction Laws and Mechanisms. University of Cambridge,
United Kingdom, 239.
Dalton, J. (1802) Experimental Essays on the Constitution of Mixed Gases: on the Force of Steam
or Vapour from Water or other Liquids in Different Temperatures, both in a Torricelli
Vacuum and in air; on Evaporation ; and on Expansion of Gases by Heat. Manchester
Lit.Phil. Soc. Mem. Proc., 5: 536–602.
Edwards, A.J. (1987) Climate and Oceanography. In Edwards, A. J. and Head, S. M. (eds) Red
Sea Pergamon Press. Oxford, 45-69.
Eshel, G. and Heavens, N.(2007) Climatological Evaporation Seasonality in the Northern Red
Seas. Paleoceangraphy.22: 1-15.
Eshel, G. and Naik, N.H. (1997) Climatological Coastal Jet Collision, Intermediate Water
Formation, and the General Circulation of the Red Se., Journal of Physical oceanography,
27: 1233-1257.
Jiang, H., Thomas, F.J., Beardsley, R.C., Chen, R. and Chen, C. (2009) Zonal Surface Wind jets
across the Red Sea Due to Mountain Gap Forcing Along both Sides of the Red Sea.
Geophysical Research Letters, 36: 1-6.
Matsoukas, C., Banks, A.C., Pavlakis, K.G., Hatzianastassiou, N., Stackhouse, Jr. P.W. and
Vardavas, I. (2007) Seasonal Heat Budgets of the Red and Black Seas, Journal of
Geophsical Research, 112: 1-15.
Morcos, S.A. (1970) Physical and Chemical Oceanography of the Red Sea.Oceanography and
Marine Biology Annual Review, 8: 73-202.
Neumann, A.C. and McGill, D.A. (1962) Circulation of the Red Sea in early summer. Deep Sea
Research, 8: 223-235.
Osman, M.M. (1984) Seasonal and secular variations of sea-level at Port Sudan, JKAU: Mar. Sci.,
4: 15-25.
Patzert, W.C. (1974) Wind-induced Reversal in Red Sea Circulation.Deep Sea Research, 21: 109-
121.
Phillips, O.M. (1966) On Turbulent Convection Currents and the Circulation of the Red Sea. Deep
Sea Research,13: 1149-1160.
Rohling, E.J., Fenton, M., Jorissen, F.J., Bertrand, P., Ganssen, G. and Caulet, J.P. (1998)
Magnitudes of Sea-level lowstands of the Past 500,000 years, Nature, 394: 162-165.
Siddall, M., Rohling, E.J., Almogi-Labin, A., Hemleben, C., Melschner, D., Schmelzer, I. and
Smeed, D.A. (2003) Sea-level Fluctuations During the Last Glacial Cycle, Nature, 423:
853-858.
Siddall, M., Smeed, D.A., Hemleben, C., Rohling, E.J., Schmelzer, I. and Peltier, W.R. (2004)
Understanding the Red Sea Response to Sea Level,Earth and Planetary Science Letters,
225: 421-434.
Siedler, G. (1969) General Circulation of the Water Masses in the Red Sea, in Hot Brines and
Recent Heavy Metal Deposits in the Red Sea. edited by E. T. Degens and D. A. Ross,
Springer-Verlag, New York, pp: 131-137.
Sofianos, S.S., Johns, W.E. and Murray, S.P. (2002) Heat and Freshwater Budgets in the Red Sea
from Direct Observations at Bab el Mandeb, Deep Sea Research, part II. 49: 1323-1340.
Thunell, R.C., Locke, S.M. and Williams, D.E. (1988) Galcio-eustatic sea-level control on Red
Sea Salinity. Nature, 334: 601-604.
Estimation of Evaporation Rates in the Southern Red Sea Based on the … 89
AVHRR
!"#
–
amalsubhi@kau.edu.sa
.