Atmosphere and Ocean Circulation

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Atmosphere and Ocean Circulation

• Carrie Manfrino

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Density of air is controlled by temperature,
pressure and moisture content.
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Atmospheric Processes

• Warm air is less dense than cold air and moist
  air is less dense than dry air.
• Air pressure is the weight of the air from
  Earths surface to the top of the atmosphere and
  equals 1.04kg/cm2 (standard air pressure, one
  atmosphere) at sea level.
• Low pressure zone is where air density is lower
  than in surrounding areas because the air is
  warmer or has a higher moisture content.
• High pressure zone is where air pressure is
  higher than in surrounding area because of
  cooling or lower moisture content.

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Heating and Cooling of Air
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Atmospheric Processes

• Fluids (air and water) flow from areas of high
  pressure to areas of low pressure.
• Change in pressure across a horizontal distance
  is a pressure gradient.
• Greater the difference in pressure and the
  shorter the distance between them, the steeper
  the pressure gradient and the stronger the wind.
• Movement of air across a pressure gradient
  parallel to Earths surface is called a wind and
  winds are named for the direction from which they
  come. In contrast, ocean currents are named for
  the direction towards which they travel.

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Rotation of the Earth strongly influences winds.
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Atmospheric Processes

• Global winds blow in response to variation in
  pressure related to uneven solar heating
  (insolation) of Earths surface.
• Coriolis deflection is the apparent deflection of
  objects moving across Earths surface to the
  right of direction of travel in the northern
  hemisphere and to the left of direction of travel
  in the southern hemisphere.

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Atmospheric Processes(Cont.)
Variations in rotational speed.
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Atmospheric Processes(Cont.)
Consequences of Coriolis deflection.
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Three major convection cells are present in each
hemisphere.
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Atmospheric Processes

• The Hadley cell extends from the Equator to about
  30o latitude.
• The Ferrel Cell extends from 30o to about 50o
  latitude.
• The Polar Cell extends from 90o to about 50o
  latitude.
• The Coriolis effect causes wind in these cells to
  bend to the east or west to form the westerlies,
  easterlies, and the trade winds.

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Wind-driven currents are produced by the
interaction between the wind and the water.
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Surface Ocean Currents

• As wind moves across the water, collision of air
  molecules with water molecules inefficiently
  transfers energy from the air to the water.
• Water moves at about 3-4 of the wind speed.
• Zonal wind flow is wind moving nearly parallel to
  latitude as a result of Coriolis deflection.
• Westerly-driven ocean currents in the trade
  winds, easterly-driven ocean currents in the
  Westerlies and deflection of the ocean currents
  by the continents result in a circular current,
  called a gyre.

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Pressure gradients develop in the ocean because
the sea surface is warped into broad mounds and
depressions with a relief of about one meter.
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Surface Ocean Currents

• Mounds on the oceans surface are caused by
  converging currents, places where water sinks.
• Depressions on the oceans surface are caused by
  diverging currents, places from where water
  rises.
• Water flowing down pressure gradients on the
  oceans irregular surface are deflected by the
  Coriolis effect. The amount of deflection is a
  function of latitude and current speed.

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With time, wind-driven surface water motion
extends downward into the water column, but speed
decreases and direction changes because of
Coriolis deflection.
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Surface Ocean Currents

• Eckman Spiral is the spiraling pattern described
  by changes in water direction and speed with
  depth.
• Eckman transport is the net transport of water by
  wind-induced motion.
• Net transport of the water in an Eckman spiral
  has a Coriolis deflection of 90o to the direction
  of the wind.
• Along coastal areas Eckman transport can induce
  downwelling or upwelling by driving water towards
  or away from the coast, respectively.

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Eckman Spiral in the Northern Hemisphere
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Surface Ocean Currents

• The current flow pattern in gyres is asymmetrical
  with narrow, deep and swift currents along the
  basins western edge and broad, shallow slower
  currents along the basins eastern edge.

Geostrophic Flow Around the North Atlantic Ocean
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Surface Ocean Currents

• The geostrophic mound is deflected to the western
  part of the ocean basin because of the eastward
  rotation of the Earth on its axis.
• The Sargasso Sea is a large lens of warm water
  encircled by the North Atlantic gyre and
  separated from cold waters below and laterally by
  a strong thermocline.

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Surface Ocean Currents

• Western boundary currents, such as the Gulf
  Stream, form a meandering boundary separating
  coastal waters from warmer waters in the gyres
  center. Meanders can be cut off to form warm-core
  and cold-core rings.

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Formation of Rings
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Thermohaline circulation is a density driven flow
of water generated by differences in salinity or
temperature.
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Deep-Ocean Circulation

• Water at the surface is exposed to changes in
  salinity through evaporation or precipitation and
  in temperature through cooling or heating.
• Once water sinks and becomes isolated from the
  atmosphere, its salinity and temperature are
  largely set for an extended period of time.
• Based upon depth, surface water masses can be
  broadly classified as Central waters (from 0 to 1
  km), Intermediate waters (from 1 to 2 km), and
  Deep and bottom waters (greater than 2 km).

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Deep-Ocean Circulation

• Most deep and bottom water originate at the
  surface where cooling and increased salinity
  raise their density until they sink.
• Ocean basins interconnect and exchange water with
  each other and with the surface. Inter-ocean
  basin circulation and exchange between surface
  and deep water appear largely driven by waters of
  the North Atlantic.

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The major thermohaline currents appear to flow
mainly equatorward, but this is because they
originate in the polar regions and their outward
flow is confined between the continents.
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Deep-Ocean Circulation

• Warmer water (gt10oC) is confined between 45o
  north and south latitude.
• Poleward of 45o, density of water increases
  because of declining temperature and increased
  salinity caused by evaporation or ice formation.

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Deep-Ocean Circulation

• The water sinks to a density-appropriate level
  and then slowly flows equatorward across the
  basin.
• Deep water gradually mixes with other water
  masses and eventually rises to the surface.
• The Atlantic Ocean has the most complex ocean
  stratification containing the following layers
  Antarctic Bottom Water, Antarctic Deep Water,
  North Atlantic Deep Water, Arctic Intermediate
  Water, and Mediterranean Intermediate Water.

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Deep-Ocean Circulation

• The Pacific Ocean has a less complex
  stratification, is weakly layered, displays
  sluggish circulation and is remarkably uniform
  below 2000m.
• The Indian Ocean has the simplest stratification
  consisting of Common Water, Antarctic
  Intermediate Water, and Red Sea Intermediate
  Water.

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Most seas are indentations into continents,
partially isolated from the ocean and strongly
influenced by continental climate and river
drainage.
Water Flow in Semi-enclosed Seaways
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• As Atlantic Ocean water flows through the Straits
  of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea at the
  surface, warm, highly saline Mediterranean Sea
  water flows out through the Straits at the
  bottom.
• In the Black Sea the surface water is brackish
  because of excess precipitation and river inflow.
  The bottom water is anoxic.

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There are two principle ways to measure currents
The Ocean Sciences Current-Measuring Techniques

• Eulerian method employs current meters fixed to
  the sea bottom.

Two Impeller Meters
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The Ocean Sciences Current-Measuring Techniques

• Langrangian method employs drifters, drogues, or
  floats that are set loose at the sea surface or
  at predetermined depths and tracked acoustically.

The Lagrangian Method
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The Ocean Sciences Hurricanes and Typhoons

• Hurricanes, which are called typhoons in the
  Western Pacific, evolve from tropical cyclones.
• In order for hurricanes to form, sea-surface
  temperatures down to a water depth of 45m must be
  warmer than 27º C and upper-level winds must be
  weak.
• A cross-sectional view shows that a hurricane
  consists of a central eye where winds are light
  and skies are clear, surrounded by the eyewall, a
  thick band of dense clouds with hurricane-force
  winds.

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Cross-Section of a Hurricane