Radiative Transfer Models (RTM) have many applications in the satellite microwave remote sensing field, such as the retrieval of oceanic and atmospheric environmental parameters, including surface wind vectors and sea surface temperatures, integrated water vapor, cloud liquid, and precipitation. A key component of the ocean RTM is the emissivity model used to determine the brightness temperature (Tb) at the ocean’s surface. A new wideband ocean emissivity RTM developed by the Central Florida Remote Sensing Laboratory (CFRSL) calculates ocean emissivity over a wide range of frequencies, incidence angles, sea surface temperatures (SST), and wind speed. This thesis presents the validation of this CFRSL model using independent WindSat Tb measurements collocated with Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) Numerical weather model environmental parameters for frequencies between 6.8 to 37 GHz and wind speeds between 0 – 20 m/s over the July 2005 – June 2006 year. In addition, the CFRSL emissivity model is validated using WindSat derived ocean wind speeds and SST that are contained in the Environmental Data Record (EDR) and combined with the GDAS environmental parameters. Finally, the validation includes comparisons to the well-established XCAL ocean emissivity RTM. The focus of this validation and comparison is to assess performance of the emissivity model results with respect to a wide range of frequency and wind speeds but limited to a narrow range of incidence angles between approximately 50° - 55°

In this dissertation, I explore elements of the changing Arctic Ocean through the application of Stable Isotope, Noble Gas Isotopes, and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) to better understand ice dynamics for freshwater balance, air/sea gas exchange and ocean circulation. For the tracer studies of stable isotope fractionation, our approach is to use sea ice core data to determine the stable oxygen isotope effective fractionation coefficient. The result is an average value close to 2.2 ‰, which is compared to literature values. For the tracer studies of air/sea gas exchange, we use Neon (Ne) and Helium (He) isotope data sets collected in the ‘Switchyard’ region of the Arctic Ocean between 2005 and 2013 and in the Greenland and Norwegian seas between 1994 and 1999. The Switchyard data show a distinct excess in Ne concentrations in the upper waters. We hypothesize that rejection of Ne during sea ice formation accounts for the Ne excess in the Switchyard area of the Arctic Ocean. Based on this hypothesis we estimate sea-ice formation rates by integrating the Ne excess from the surface to the Atlantic Water layer. The resulting amount of excess Ne corresponds to formation of a nearly 4 m thick sea ice layer. We compare the sea ice formation obtained from the Ne excess method with an independent estimate based on oxygen isotope ratio anomalies ?18O, which is nearly 6.07 m. The difference in the sea ice formation estimated by these two methods indicates loss of Ne through leads. We estimate that the gas exchange rate through the sea-ice cover is ca. 11.3 percent per year. The gas exchange rate through sea-ice covered water would be 0.015 meters per day. For the tracer studies of mean residence times, we analyzed tritium (3H), helium isotope (3He and 4He) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) samples collected in the ‘Switchyard’ region of the Arctic Ocean between 2008 and 2013. We calculated apparent tracer ages using the 3H/3He ratios and the partial pressure of SF6 and compare their values for the depth interval between the surface and the core of the Atlantic Water layer. The apparent tracer ages range from zero to about 30 years. Generally, the linear correlation between the 3H/3He and SF6 apparent ages was strong, with the coefficient of determination R2 of 0.94. We explore deviations from this linear trend and discuss them in the context of mixing, air-sea gas exchange, and the impact of sea ice formation on the helium and SF6 gas balances in the surface mixed layer.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1980. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 156-158. / by Nancy Amanda Bray. / Ph.D.

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The interaction between ocean and atmosphere sits at the heart of the climate system, and the empirical parameterizations of air-sea fluxes required to couple models of the two media together typically rest on the assumption that the upper ocean is homogenized by turbulent mixing. However, there are a number of globally relevant phenomena that modify the density structure of the surface ocean at vertical scales of just a few meters, affecting the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere. Because of their limited vertical scale and intermittent temporal occurrence, the effects of near-surface processes can be challenging to represent accurately in both fundamental physical theory and computational modeling, and must be accounted for when making in-situ and remote sensing measurements of the ocean surface. The four chapters presented herein address diverse near-surface phenomena – sea ice, precipitation, phytoplankton, and diurnal warming – through a consistent philosophy of using comprehensive observational datasets from above and below the air-sea interface to interrogate and improve upon our theoretical understanding of the processes at play. In each case, the comparison between observations and theoretical modeling reveals the strengths and limitations of the current models and motivates new modifications. Specifically, this work provides observation-based improvements to the accuracy of theoretical frameworks for the ocean-ice heat transfercoefficient, ocean skin temperature during precipitation, solar heating in the ocean’s upper meters in the presence of variable phytoplankton concentrations, and diurnal warm layer response to changes in wind forcing. Crucially, the proposed modifications avoid introducing unnecessary or prohibitive increases in complexity, so that, where appropriate, they may be readily implemented into the current generation of global climate models. In Chapter 1, we present oceanographic and atmospheric time series from a heavily instrumented “ice-tethered observatory” located on landfast ice above the river outflow channel in front of Kotzebue, Alaska. This observing station was deployed as part of the Ikaaġvik Sikukun (Iñupiaq for “Ice Bridges”) project, in which hypotheses and subsequent observational programs were co-produced in partnership with an Indigenous Elder advisory council in Kotzebue. The measurements allow us to quantify the heat budget of the ice above the outflow channel, and identify the ocean as the primary source of heat contributing to thinning of the ice, while also revealing a fundamental limitation of the current approach to calculating ocean-ice heat fluxes from bulk properties. In Chapter 2, we present radiometric observations of ocean skin temperature, near-surface (5cm) temperature from a towed thermistor, and bulk atmospheric and oceanic variables, for 69 rain events observed over the course of 4 months in the Indian Ocean as part of the DYNAMO project. We test a state-of-the-art prognostic model developed by Bellenger et al. (2017) to predict ocean skin temperature in the presence of rain, and demonstrate a physically motivated modification to the model that improves its performance with increasing rain rate. We also characterize the vertical skin-bulk temperature gradient induced by rain and find that it levels off at high rain rates, suggestive of a transition in skin-layer physics that has been previously hypothesized in the literature. In Chapter 3, we identify a need for a parameterization that is accurate in the upper meters and contains an explicitly spectral dependence on the concentration of biogenic material, while maintaining the computational simplicity of the parameterizations currently in use. To address this, we assemble simple, observationally-validated physical modeling tools for the key controls on ocean radiant heating, and simplify them into a parameterization that fulfills this need. We then use observations from 64 spectroradiometer depth casts across 6 cruises in diverse water bodies, 13 surface hyperspectral radiometer deployments, and 2 UAV flights to probe the accuracy and uncertainty associated with the new parameterization. We conclude with a novel case study using the parameterization to demonstrate the impact of chlorophyll concentration on the structure of diurnal warm layers. In Chapter 4, we present co-located measurements of vertical temperature and turbulence structures in large DWLs made from a lagrangian float featuring a robotic lead screw T/S profiler and pulse-to-pulse coherent ADCP, yielding particularly revealing observations of the DWL response to variability in wind and solar forcing at sub-hourly timescales. Comparison of these observations with several upper ocean models reveals the importance of the solar heating parameterization developed in Chapter 3, and suggests a modification to the critical bulk Richardson number currently employed in the K-Profile Parameterization. Comparison to a simple scaling for DWL evolution highlights both the scaling’s potential and its limitations, and a new extension to the scaling is developed to remedy its inaccuracy in cases of wind decrease.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis study focuses on understanding the dissipation processes of the stratocumulus deck after sunrise. This objective is met through careful analyses of observational data as well as model simulations. Measurements from the Marine Atmosphere Measurement Lab (MAML) of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) are used in this study. In particular, the half-hourly wind profiler/Radio Acoustic Sounding System (RASS) measurements were used to determine the boundary layer top and the evolution of the boundary layer mean thermodynamic properties during the cloud breakup period. Measurements from a laser ceilometer and the routine surface measurements are also used to detect the variation of cloud base height, the evolution of the cloud deck, and the onset of sea breeze. These measurements revealed the increase of the boundary layer depth after sunrise followed by a decrease of the boundary layer depth after the onset of the sea breeze, which points to the role of surface heating and sea breeze development in modulating cloud evolution. The effects of surface heating and sea breeze are further tested using a 1-dimensional mixed layer model modified for coastal land surfaces. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This study examines Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude wave variations connected to the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) to establish connections with the 15- to 25-day wave activity in the western North Pacific monsoon trough region. The AAO index defined from the leading empirical orthogonal functions of 700 hPa height anomalies led to seven distinct circulation patterns that vary in conjunction with the 15- to 25-day monsoon trough mode. For nearly one half of the significant events the onset of 15- to 25-day monsoon trough convective activity coincided with a peak negative AAO index and the peak in monsoon trough convection coincided with a peak positive index. The remaining events either occur when the AAO is not significantly varying or when the AAO-related Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude circulations do not match 15- to 25-day transitions. When a significant connection occurs between the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude circulations related to the AAO and the 15- to 25-day wave activity in the western North Pacific monsoon trough, the mechanism is via equatorward Rossby-wave dispersion. When wave energy flux in the Southern Hemisphere is directed zonally, no connection is established between the AAO and the alternating periods of enhanced and reduced convection in the western North Pacific monsoon trough. / Captain, United States Air Force

A hipótese principal deste trabalho é que as anomalias de precipitação na ZCIT com períodos de 20 a 50 dias e dimensão zonal de 1000 a 1500 km, causadas remotamente por Ondas de Instabilidade Tropical (OITs) e/ou Ondas de Rossby Curtas (ORCs) podem causar anomalias de salinidade da superfície do mar. Para responder à hipótese, o presente trabalho quantifica a influência dos padrões propagantes da temperatura da superfície do mar sobre variáveis atmosféricas na escala das ORCs e OITs. Os coeficientes de regressão do vapor dágua integrado verticalmente e da precipitação revelam que a influência da temperatura superficial na atmosfera se dá remotamente à região de domínio das ondas, alcançando a ZCIT. A distribuição das anomalias do divergente do vento corrobora a ideia de aceleração dos ventos sobre águas quentes e desaceleração sobre águas frias. A carência de correlações estatisticamente significativas entre a precipitação e a salinidade superficial, devido à baixa qualidade dos dados, não permitiu que a hipótese principal fosse avaliada. Entretanto, fica evidente a influência destas ondas em variáveis atmosféricas que alteram o balanço de evaporação e precipitação que tem influência direta na salinidade superficial. Denominamos ORCs as oscilações com período de _49 dias e comprimento de onda de _1500 km e OITs os padrões com _21 dias e _1000 km. A identificação dinâmica destas ondas foi feita através da teoria linear de ondas equatoriais no modelo de águas rasas quase-geostrófico para um oceano invíscido de 1,5 camadas. Os dados de anomalia da altura da superfície do mar revelaram apenas a existência de ORCs, enquanto que a temperatura da superfície do mar apresentou o sinal de ambas as ondas, sendo as OITs dominantes até 6_ do Equador. A principal contribuição deste trabalho é a confirmação da hipótese de que OITs e ORCs coexistem, são distinguíveis e geram alterações no vento por mecanismos similares. Até o presente momento, desconhecemos outro estudo que alie a separação teórica dos padrões oceânicos propagantes obtidos por satélites à quantificação da variabilidade atmosférica associada às anomalias de TSM em bandas do espectro zonal-temporal características de ondas dinamicamente distintas / We hypothesize that rainfall anomalies with 2050 days and 10001500 km on the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) can induce sea surface salinity anomalies. We argue that these precipitation anomalies are remotely caused by Tropical Instability Waves (TIWs) and Short RossbyWaves (SRWs). We have quantified the sea surface temperature influence on atmospheric fields at the TIWs and SRWs spectral bands through regression analysis. In that, wind anomalies are larger over temperature anomalies. Winds tend to accelerate over positive temperature anomalies and slow down over negative anomalies. Changes on water vapor and rainfall occur predominantly on the ITCZ, far from the strongest temperature anomalies near the equator. However, we couldnt address the main hypothesis due to the lack of significant correlation between rainfall and sea surface salinity anomalies. We speculate that this is a consequence of the low quality of the salinity data used in this study. We have identified TIWs as the waves with _21 days and _1000 km and SRWs as the oscillations with _49 days and _1500 km. The identification of the dynamics was made according to equatorial long waves theory based on a linear, quasi-geostrophic, 1.5 layers, inviscid ocean model. Sea surface height anomalies could only reveal SRWs. Sea surface temperature anomalies show both type of waves, with TIWs dominating within 6_ from the equator. Our main contribution was to show that TIWs and SRWs coexist, can be isolated and change wind field through similar mechanisms. We do not know any other study that linked theoretical identification of dynamically different oceanic waves to the atmospheric variability in a quantitative fashion

Há evidências de que o clima vem sendo alterado pela ação humana desde a época da Revolução Industrial devido à crescente emissão de gases estufa na atmosfera. Inúmeras curvas da variação da temperatura média anual têm sido publicadas com uma característica comum: o crescimento da temperatura durante o último século, totalizando aproximadamente 0,5ºC. Acredita-se que o aumento na concentração atmosférica dos gases responsáveis pelo efeito estufa tenha influência direta na tendência da temperatura dos últimos 100 anos. Este trabalho foi realizado com o intuito de estudar as mudanças no comportamento sazonal e anual da temperatura da superfície do mar (TSM), pressão atmosférica ao nível do mar (PNM) e transporte barotrópico (TB) devido ao aumento na concentração dos gases estufa. Foram utilizadas duas simulações do modelo acoplado NCAR CCSM sob as condições atmosféricas do período pré-industrial e pós-industrial. Os resultados revelam que, na média anual, as variáveis estudadas sofreram intensificação do período pré para o pós-industrial. A temperatura da superfície do mar mostrou aumento no período pós-industrial, principalmente durante o inverno e primavera, quando ocorre um aquecimento superior a 2,5ºC ao sul do continente sul-americano. A pressão atmosférica ao nível do mar na maior parte da região de estudo apresentou aumento no verão e outono e diminuição nas demais estações do ano, indicando uma intensificação no padrão sazonal dessa variável durante o período pós-industrial em relação ao pré-industrial. O transporte barotrópico revelou diferenças significativas entre os dois experimentos, mostrando maiores valores no período pós-industrial. A média da região apresentou um ciclo anual com diferenças de 2,5Sv ao longo do ano entre os dois períodos, com aumento para o pós-industrial. Esse aumento deve-se basicamente à intensificação do transporte barotrópico da Corrente Circumpolar Antártica durante todas as estações do ano. O Giro Subtropical também sofreu aumento de transporte, de menor intensidade, durante o período pós-industrial. Essa mudança no comportamento do transporte barotrópico sugere uma intensificação no padrão do Giro Subtropical e no transporte da Corrente Circumpolar Antártica para o período pós-industrial. As maiores mudanças entre os dois períodos simulados ocorreram nas latitudes mais altas. / The main objective of this research is to study the impacts of the increase in greenhouse gases concentration on variables behavior at the sea-air interface. For this the NCAR CCSM coupled model is used by two climate conditions: the first one to pre-industrial period and the second one, to present day levels. Annual and seasonal climatology differences are analyzed for the of the following variables: air temperature, sea surface temperature, sea level pressure, wind stress, latent and sensible heat fluxes and barotropic transport. Statistics methods such as Empirical Ortoghonal Functions (EOF), Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Multi-Taper Method (MTM) are used to analyze changes in interannual behavior of these variables. The main results show that these surface variable are intensified from one period to the next. The air temperature and sea surface temperature showed increase in the pos-industrial period, mainly during the winter and spring. The sea level pressure also showed an increase on the annual mean. The wind stress revealed that the trade winds are intensified in autumn and the meridional wind component increases over the South Atlantic during winter. The winds adjacent to the South American continent also increased. Latent and sensible heat fluxes also increase, but not much, over some regions and decrease over others. Barotropic transport shows significant differences between the two experiments. There was increase of barotropic transport associated with the Subtropical Gyre and on Antartic Circumpolar Current. EOF, SVD and MTM analysis showed significant differences with respect to spatial patterns, behavior of the expansion coeficients time series and their variability.