1999/08/15 by C. Donlon, C. J. Donlon, T. J. Nightingale +5 · 4 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing #Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/1999gl900547
Extensive oceanographic and atmospheric observations obtained during three independent experiments in the Atlantic Ocean are used to demonstrate the relationship between wind speed and the temperature deviation Δ T , which is defined as the sea surface skin temperature (SSST) minus the subsurface bulk sea surface temperature (BSST). At wind speeds <6 m s −1 , the variability of Δ T increases because thermal stratification complicates the measurement and interpretation of Δ T : extreme Δ T magnitudes of >1.5 K are common during periods of high insolation. The variability of Δ T at night is reduced and extreme cool skin temperatures of < −0.5 K are recorded. In all cases, at wind speeds >6 m s −1 , the variability of Δ T is diminished and the mean value of Δ T approximates a cool bias of −0.14 K±0.1 K. We conclude that BSST measurements obtained at wind speeds >6 m s −1 , when corrected for a small ( −0.14 K) cool bias, are representative of the SSST and can be used with confidence to validate satellite derived SSST. When the wind speed is <6 m s −1 and the magnitude of Δ T is high, in situ radio metric SSST measurements are mandatory to validate satellite derived SSST.