An Example of Heat Transfer at the Air-Sea Boundary* over the Gulf Stream during a Cold Air Outbreak

Abstract

Heat transfer from the sea to the air over the Gulf Stream off the East Coast of the United States is treated by use of the data at an occasion of cold air outbreak on December 11th through 13th in 1957. Sverdrup's formula gives extreme values of sensible heat transfer by convection, because the Bowen ratio exceeded 0.5 owing to the extraordinary large air-sea temperature differences. The total heat transfer computed from heat and vapor exchange formulae at the sea surface is compared with the one estimated from the reconstructed atmospheric soundings along two trojectories across the Gulf Stream. The results by the two methods reasonably agree with each other. The change of vertical temperature profiles in a cold air mass moving into the warm water is determined by solving a classical diffusion equation and is compared with the observed profiles.