[Eoas-seminar] Meteorology MS Defense for Darin Mister, Monday, November 30, 2020, 2:30 PM on Zoom https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95353655684

[eoas-seminar at lists.fsu.edu]

Meteorology Seminar

Darin Mister

M.S. Meteorology Candidate

TITLE:  THE IMPACT OF SURFACE OCEAN CURRENTS ON TURBULENT HEAT FLUXES GENERATED BY ATLANTIC EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONES

Major Professor:  Dr. Mark Bourassa

Date:     Monday, November 30th, 2020                                     Time: 2:30 PM

Location: Zoom meeting https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95353655684

ABSTRACT
Extratropical cyclones are responsible for the generation of large amounts of latent and sensible heat fluxes over the ocean. These fluxes are the main mechanism by which the ocean influences the atmosphere. Extratropical cyclones that form in the Atlantic interact with the relatively warm western boundary current known as the Gulf Stream. Surface currents in the Gulf Stream are much faster than the surrounding ocean. Previous studies have shown that including ocean currents in the calculation of fluxes can cause latent and sensible heat flux to change.
Ocean and atmospheric reanalysis of extratropical cyclones from 1994-2015 are used to study the impacts that surface ocean currents can have on the latent and sensible heat fluxes generated by extratropical cyclones. Fluxes are calculated using a method developed by Kara et al. (2000) and the effect of the current is represented by replacing the 10m windspeed used in the calculation with the magnitude of the vector difference between the windspeed and the current speed: i.e., using surface relative winds rather than Earth relative winds. Changes are widely variable but typical changes are 10-30 Wm-1 for both sensible and latent heat flux.
The largest changes in flux occurred in areas of highest current, but that change is dependent on other factors such as windspeed, air-sea temperature difference, and air-sea humidity difference. Currents can impact flux gradients depending on the locations of greatest changes. It was found that the impact of currents will result in decreased flux values in the cold sector of extratropical cyclones (the area where the greatest magnitudes of flux are produced). This study shows the importance of accurately representing the ocean in models of weather and climate.



Shel McGuire
Florida State University
Academic Program Specialist
Department of Earth, Ocean, & Atmospheric Science
1011 Academic Way, 2019 EOA Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306
850-644-8582
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