Atlantic Ocean Climatology
As part of the State of the Ocean assessment of the meridional heat transport, some estimate must be made relating the XBT near-surface temperature observations to density and velocity information for the entire water column. XBTs measure only temperature and hence salinity and hence density (and velocity) must be inferred. XBTs typically only sample the upper 800 meters of the ocean and hence some estimate of the subsurface density field must also be made.
This project aims to provide improved estimates of the mean and monthly varying property fields in support of these heat transport estimates. In particular, a annual mean subsurface climatology of the temperature, salinity and density is used to obtain heat transport estimates. As additional data becomes available, one goal is to create the best possible monthly climatology at the highest possible spatial resolution through which we can assess anomalous heat transport estimates obtained using the high resolution XBT data alone.
To find out more about NOAA/AOML Atlantic Ocean climatology, please read our "Additional Information"...
For maps showing the most up-to-date climatological research outputs, please view our "Results"...