Ocean climate change: comparison of acoustic tomography, satellite altimetry, and modeling
Comparisons of gyre-scale acoustic and direct thermal measurements of heat content in the Pacific Ocean, satellite altimeter measurements of sea surface height, and results from a general circulation model show that only about half of the seasonal and year-to-year changes in sea level are attributable to thermal expansion. Interpreting climate change signals from fluctuations in sea level is therefore complicated. The annual cycle of heat flux is 150 +/- 25 watts per square meter (peak-to-peak, corresponding to a 0.2 degreesC vertically averaged temperature cycle); an interannual change of similar magnitude is also detected. Meteorological estimates of surface heat flux, if accurate, require a large seasonal cycle in the advective heat flux.
The ATOC Consortium: A. B. Baggeroer, T. G. Birdsall, C. Clark, J. A. Colosi, B. D. Cornuelle, D. Costa, B. D. Dushaw, M. Dzieciuch, A. M. G. Forbes, C. Hill, B. M. Howe, J. Marshall, D. Menemenlis, J. A. Mercer, K. Metzger, W. Munk, R. C. Spindel, D.
TAC