Ocean Mixed Layer Radiant Heating and Solar Penetration: A Global Analysis

A hybrid parameterization for the determination of in-water solar fluxes is developed and applied to compute the flux of solar radiation that penetrates beyond the upper-ocean mixed layer into permanent pycnocline waters on global space and climatological timescales. The net flux of solar radiation...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of climate 1996-10, Vol.9 (10), p.2265-2280
Main Authors: Ohlmann, J. Carter, Siegel, David A., Gautier, Catherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospherics
Chlorophylls
Clouds
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Irradiance
Marine optics and radiation energy
Marine optics and underwater sound
Oceans
Physics of the oceans
Sea water
Solar flux
Solar radiation
Solar spectra
Tropical regions
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A hybrid parameterization for the determination of in-water solar fluxes is developed and applied to compute the flux of solar radiation that penetrates beyond the upper-ocean mixed layer into permanent pycnocline waters on global space and climatological timescales. The net flux of solar radiation at depth is modeled using values of the solar flux incident at the sea surface, derived from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project dataset, and in-water attenuation coefficients, determined using upper ocean chlorophyll concentration supplied by Coastal Zone Color Scanner imagery. Solar radiation penetration can be a significant term (20 W m−2) in the mixed layer heat budget for tropical regions. In mid- and high-latitude regions, the annual solar flux entering permanent pycnocline waters is small (
ISSN:0894-8755
1520-0442
DOI:10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<2265:OMLRHA>2.0.CO;2