FY 1982

Energy fluxes over the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, 1979–1982

Reed, R.K.

NOAA Tech. Report ERL 422-PMEL 37, NTIS: PB83-138305, 15 pp (1982)

Weather observations and measurements of insolation were made aboard the NOAA ships Oceanographer and Discoverer during the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Studies (EPOCS) work in the eastern tropical Pacific from 1979 to 1982. These observations and computed fluxes of net longwave radiation, latent heat, and sensible heat are documented and presented. Insolation was the dominant heat flux, and latent heat loss was typically much greater than net longwave radiation or sensible heat loss. The largest values of net surface flux occurred during periods of minimal cloud cover and weak winds. Comparisons of net surface heat flux and changes in oceanic heat content in the region 4°–12°N showed an inexact balance, but the results indicate that the surface heat flux is an important variable during normal oceanic conditions. In contrast, observations over a 6-day period near the equator showed a change in heat content that was about 20 times the net surface flux, presumably as a result of lateral movement of a thermal front. The results near the equator suggest that in the initiation phase of an El Niño surface fluxes are not important.