Measurements of temperature and salinity in the upper 5 m of the ocean
along the equator showed cool fresh anomalies due to rain showers. The
measurements were made between 140 W and 110 W during April 1987, an
El Nino year. The eastern equatorial Pacific was characterized by weak winds
(3 m/s average), high rainfall (1.6 cm/day), and warm surface temperatures
(28.4 C). Measurements of temperature were made from a catamaran float
at 0.5 and 1 m depth and at 5 m depth from the ship. Salinity was measured
at a depth of 1 m from the float and 5 m from the ship. The float was towed
off of the port side of the ship outside of the bow wake. Near-surface low
temperature and low salinity anomalies due to cool rainfall were encountered.
These anomalies were on average cool and fresh by 0.02 C and 0.2 PSTJ
with maximum values of 0.5 C and 1.6 PSU. The horizontal extent of the
anomalies ranged from less than 10 to more than 100 km. Rainfall depths
estimated from salt conservation agreed roughly with shipboard rain-gauge
measurements. The characteristic lifetime of the anomalies, estimated from
the ratio of the average rain depth to average rain rate, was about 10 hrs.
Rainfall temperatures were computed from the T-S mixing curves for three
large, newly-formed anomalies. The average rainfall temperature was 21 C.
Ocean buoyancy fluxes estimated for intense rain showers were an order of
magnitude larger than the fluxes in the absence of rain. / Graduation date: 1992 / Best scan available for p.15-16, 35. Original is a black and white photocopy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/27797 |
| Date | 19 July 1991 |
| Creators | Bahr, Frederick L. |
| Contributors | Paulson, Clayton A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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