Session 5: Illustrated Poster Presentations

POSTER Abstracts

Climate Observation Program 4^th^ Annual System Review

May 10-12, 2006

Silver Spring, Maryland

**Surface Meteorology from Volunteer Observing Ships**

by Frank Bahr, David Hosom, Albert Plueddemann, and Robert Weller

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA

At present, over much of the globe, quantitative maps of air-sea fluxes,
derived either from ship reports, numerical model analyses or
satellites, have errors that are large compared to the size of
climatically significant signals. To address the need for accurate
in-situ observations on broad spatial scales, the Upper Ocean Processes
Group at WHOI has undertaken a program of observations using a suite of
Air-Sea Interaction Meteorology (ASIMET, AutoIMET) sensors adapted for
installation on Volunteer Observing Ships (VOS). These systems have been
installed on 5 different VOS over the last 4 years, providing a wealth
of data along repeated (or nearly repeated) tracks in the Atlantic and
Pacific basins. The AutoIMET system allowed an interface to NOAA SEAS
2000 (Shipboard Environmental (Data) Acquisition System), providing
automated one hour satellite reports via Inmarsat C. Further details
about the WHOI VOS program are available at http://uop.whoi.edu/vos/.

Some VOS installations were chosen because the nominal ship tracks not
only passed through regions of interest for evaluating global flux
products, but also passed near Ocean Reference Station (ORS) buoys
operated by WHOI. The ORS buoys offer high-quality surface meteorology
at fixed points, and can be used to identify biases and other errors in
model and remote-sensing products. However, determining the spatial
structure of the meteorological fields and associated errors requires
spatial sampling as achieved by the VOS. In this presentation, we will
focus on results from VOS tracks passing near the Northwest Tropical
Atlantic Station (NTAS) buoy at 15ºN, 51ºW. Tracks from two different
ships over a two-year period resulted in ten encounters where the ship
passed within a 500 km radius of the buoy location. The duration of a
typical encounter was about one day. Shipboard records of barometric
pressure, air temperature, sea surface temperature, relative humidity
and wind are compared to buoy data for each encounter. The statistics of
the differences between like variables are presented along with auto-
and cross-correlation analyses. Based on an understanding of the
expected temporal correlation scales for each variable from the buoy
time series, the goal is to assess the spatial coherence scales for the
meteorology indicated by the VOS encounters.

Keywords: VOS, AutoIMET, flux, surface meteorology, volunteer observing
ships, spatial variability

**High Density XBT Transects in the Atlantic Ocean**

by Molly Baringer, Gustavo Goni, and Silvia Garzoli

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

NOAA/OGP funds five high-density XBT lines maintained by NOAA/AOML: 1)
AX07, located along 30°N extending from the Straits of Gibraltar to
Miami, 2) AX10, running between New York and Puerto Rico, 3) AX08,
sampling across the Tropical Atlantic with emphasis between 30°N and
30°S, 4) AX18, running between South Africa and Argentina along 35°S,
and 5) AX25, sampling between South Africa and Antarctica. These five
XBT lines have been chosen to capture and monitor thermal properties
within the Atlantic. The AX07 and AX18 lines have been selected to
monitor the net meridional flow in the upper ocean. AX10, AX08 and AX25
are meridional lines that were selected because they cross important
highly variable ocean currents, namely the Gulf Stream, the numerous
Equatorial Atlantic Currents and the Agulhas and Antarctic Circumpolar
Currents respectively. All XBT lines are valuable in providing estimates
of the mean and time dependent temperature fields with sufficiently
close sp! acing to sample the mesoscale field (XBTs spaced between
30-50km). They all sample various aspects of the overturning circulation
and hence provide useful data on heat transport and interbasin/cross
equatorial exchanges. To date, approximately 20,000 XBTs have been
deployed in its high density mode in the Atlantic Ocean

Keywords: XBT, currents, temperature profiles

**Uncertainties in Monthly Wind Fields**

by Mark A. Bourassa

The Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL

Uncertainties in *in situ* based monthly fields of winds of surface
winds are determined and validated in comparison to satellite
observations. The technique can easily be extended to fields of surface
turbulent fluxes, which are critical to ocean forcing, and useful for
climate studies.

Keywords: winds, fields, uncertainty

**NDBC Observations Supporting PIRATA (NOSP)**

by Don T. Conlee

National Data Buoy Center, Stennis Space Center, MS

In May of 2005, NDBC deployed two buoys in the tropical Atlantic in
support of hurricane analysis and forecasting. These buoys, along with
the Woods Hole NTAS mooring, form an effective NW extension to PIRATA,
complementing other ongoing PIRATA extension projects. Progress in
augmenting these buoys with additional observations to support PIRATA
climate objectives will be detailed, including the recent (February
2006) deployment of a companion mooring with full PIRATA-compliant
subsurface instrumentation.

Keywords: PIRATA, NOSP, NDBC

**KEO, A Time Series Reference Site in the Kuroshio Extension
Recirculation Gyre**

by Meghan Cronin and Chris Sabine

NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

A surface mooring, the Kuroshio Extension Observatory (KEO), was
deployed in June 2004 in the Kuroshio Extension recirculation gyre at
32.3N, 144.5E as a component of the global network of OceanSITES time
series reference sites and as a component of the Kuroshio Extension
System Study (KESS) process study. In this presentation, we use the KEO
mooring data to assess air-sea heat flux estimates from numerical
weather prediction reanalysis products. In addition, KEO data are
combined with KESS data to analysis of the upper ocean heat budget at
the KEO site and determine the processes involved in changes in the
recirculation gyre\'s heat content.

Keywords: KEO, OceanSITES, mooring

**Web-Based Pacific Region Data and Products**

by Sharon DeCarlo, James Potemra, Yingshuo Shen, Yanli Jia, and Peter
Hacker

International Pacific Research Center, Honolulu, HI

The Asia-Pacific Data-Research Center (APDRC) provides storage and
web-based access to climate data and products for climate studies. In
support of the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) and
Pacific Region Integrated Data Enterprise program (PRIDE), the APDRC has
started product development and data serving for Pacific island regions.
This includes the implementation of a high-resolution numerical ocean
model and the development of web sites and web-based data products for
island communities. The Hawaiian Islands region will be used for pilot
studies. One example study, done in collaboration with NOAA/PMEL, is the
development of an integrated web site that compiles observations and
public outreach efforts in the Hawaiian Island region. Another study
involves a high-resolution, regional ocean model of circulation around
Hawaii.

The APDRC has implemented product server technology consistent with
OPeNDAP protocol and procedures to allow web-based access to a broad
range of atmospheric and oceanic products. There are several challenges
to the APDRC, including how to handle extremely large data sets, such as
those from large-scale, high-resolution models, and how to best serve
data from a variety of sources and formats (e.g., gridded and
non-gridded data, in-situ and remote observations, etc.) The APDRC
continues to build and improve upon its data archiving and serving
capabilities in order to better serve the climate researchers and the
community.

This poster will present an overview of how the APDRC serves different
types of datasets and will highlight web pages and data products for the
Pacific, specifically those near Hawaii.

Keyword: PRIDE

**The NOAA Portable Seagoing Air-Sea Flux Standard**

by Chris Fairall, Dan Wolfe, and Sergio Pezoa

PSD3 Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO

The air-sea interaction group at PSD (formerly ETL) is constructing a
3rd generation flux measurement system to use as a portable standard to
promote the quality assurance of NOAA and UNOLS R/Vs and other
components of the OOS (principally buoys). This poster will provide an
update on progress with the design, a summary of the present
architecture, and results of recent field tests.

Keywords: flux, measurement standard, intercomparison

**CLIVAR/CO~2~ Repeat Hydrography Program: Initial Carbon Results from
the**

**North Pacific Ocean**

by Richard A. Feely^1^, Chris Sabine^1^, Rik Wanninkhof^2^, and Dana
Greeley^1^

^1^NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

^2^NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

The primary goal of the CLIVAR/CO~2~ Repeat Hydrography Program is to
quantify the role of the ocean in sequestering anthropogenic CO~2~.
Information on shorter timescales is essential to determine any
feedbacks of oceanic carbon system due to climate change, and to
determine the impacts of natural variability. Discrete high-quality
dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity data were acquired as
part of the WOCE/JGOFS Global CO~2~ survey in the Pacific Ocean between
1991 and 1999 followed by repeat surveys in 2001 and 2004 as part of the
Sub-arctic Gyre Experiment (SAGE) along the P17N line in the eastern
North Pacific and the CLIVAR/CO~2~ Repeat Hydrography Program east-west
P2 cruise along 30°N. The difference between the measured DIC in the
upper water column (150 - 1000 db) for the P2 2004 occupation and the
1994 occupation is shown in Figure 1. We then utilized an MLR analysis
procedure to further evaluate the difference between the two cruises
Using the 1994 data set, commonly measured hydrographic quantities were
inputted into the MLR analyses as the independent parameters. The total
change in DIC between 2004 and 1994 is determined as the difference
between the measured DIC values and those predicted from the 2004
hydrographic measurements utilizing the 1994 coefficients. The DIC
difference values range between 0 - 35 µmol kg-1 with the largest values
occurring on the eastern edge of the basin at intermediate depths from
about 100-800m depth along the 30°N. The results of these research
studies suggest an annual CO~2~ uptake of 1.0-1.4 µmol kg-1 yr-1 in the
mixed layer, based on direct observations and multiple linear regression
approaches. Deep ventilation within the Kuroshio Extension and the
subsequent circulation in the subtropical gyre generates a strong
east-west gradient in the anthropogenic CO~2~ penetration depth. The
combined effect of the tilted density surfaces and the younger waters
with higher anthropogenic CO~2~ concentrations leads to higher total
column inventories in the western North Pacific. The integrated amount
of anthropogenic CO~2~ in the North Pacific is estimated to be 16.5 Pg C
through 1994 north of the equator but not including the marginal seas.
This estimate is approximately 16% of the amount of anthropogenic CO~2~
taken by the global oceans.

Keywords: CLIVAR/CO~2~, Repeat Hydrography

**Global Sea Level Monitoring for Climate Change by NOAA\'s Center for
Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS)**

by Lori Fenstermacher, Chris Zervas, and Stephen Gill

NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) Center for Operational Oceanographic
Products and Services, Silver Spring, MD

In support of the program plan objectives of NOAA's Office of Climate
Observations, the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and
Services (CO-OPS) is carrying out three distinct tasks: 1) develop and
implement a routine sea level analysis reporting capability for global
reference stations, 2) upgrade the operation of selected CO-OPS island
stations to ensure continuous operation and connection to geodetic
reference frames and 3) operate and maintain water level measurement
systems on Platform Harvest in support of calibration of the
TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason 1 satellite altimeter missions. Progress to
date and future plans will be discussed.

Keywords: sea level analysis, global reference stations, satellite
altimetry calibration

**The State of the Ocean Climate: Towards a Measure of our Ability to
Observe the Ocean**

by Albert Fischer and Gildas Mainsant

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO, Paris, France

The GCOS-GOOS-WCRP Ocean Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC) and the
JCOMM Observations Programme Area have identified a need to develop
tools for system evaluation of the sustained global ocean observing
system. Eventually, an important tool for this evaluation will be the
use of ocean forecast models and reanalysis models in observing system
simulation experiments (OSSE). Another more immediate tool developed
experimentally here are ocean climate indices that can be linked to
major patterns of climate variability with significant social impact,
and estimations of their uncertainty, which give an indication of our
ability to measure the ocean. They also provide an at-a-glance overview
of the state of the ocean climate.

These indices have been calculated using observational analyses sourced
from different operational centers, and are updated on a weekly or
monthly basis. Details of the scientific and social interest of the
index, observational analysis sources, index calculation, and error
estimation are given alongside each index. This OOPC sub-site will
continue to be developed through 2006, and feedback is welcome.
<http://ioc.unesco.org/oopc/>

Keywords: synthesis, climate index, global observations

**Unusually Warm Sea Surface Temperatures in the Tropical North Atlantic
during 2005**

by Gregory Foltz and Michael McPhaden

NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active and most
destructive on record. One of the factors that likely contributed to
this record-breaking season was the presence of exceptionally warm sea
surface temperatures (SST) in the tropical North Atlantic. Two moored
buoys, one from the Pilot Research Array in the Tropical Atlantic
(PIRATA) and the other from the Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station for
air-sea flux measurement (NTAS), were ideally positioned to record the
anomalous atmospheric and oceanic conditions associated with this event.
Here we present results from a mixed layer heat budget analysis based on
measurements from the PIRATA and NTAS buoys. We find that the primary
cause of the anomalous warming was an extreme weakening of the
northeasterly trade winds and an associated decrease in latent heat loss
from the ocean. Secondary factors include changes in shortwave radiation
and horizontal oceanic heat advection.

Keywords: tropical Atlantic, sea surface temperature, heat budget

**New Observational Initiatives of the Tropical Ocean**

**Atmosphere (TAO) Project Office**

by Paul Freitag and Michael McPhaden

NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

The President\'s Climate Change Research Initiative included new funds
in FY 06 to expand the TAO array into the Indian Ocean and to enhance
tropical moored buoy array measurement programs in other basins. This
poster describes these new initiatives which, in addition to the Indian
Ocean expansion, include expansion of PIRATA, basin scale surface
salinity measurements in TAO, enhancement of seven TAO and PIRATA sites
to OceanSITES surface flux standards, and new mooring technology
development. Examples of preliminary time series

and analyzes are presented to illustrate the potential of these new
initiatives for improving our ability to describe and understand the
tropical ocean\'s role in climate.

**Simulation of the ARGO Observing System**

by Igor Kamenkovich, Wei Cheng, Ed Sarachik

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

The main goal of our study is to examine how well the ARGO observing
system determines the state of the global upper ocean. Our approach is
to sample and reconstruct oceanic fields from ocean general circulation
models (GCMs), in gradually more realistic sequence of simulations.

Overall performance of simulated observing system is good, and the
reconstructed climatology of the temperature and salinity are very close
to the actual GCM-simulated values. However, all cases exhibit similarly
significant differences between the reconstructed and actual fields
within the Gulf Stream, Kuroshio, and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Keywords: ARGO, accuracy of observing system

**Temporal Variability of Ocean Heat Content and Salinity, 1955-2003**

by Syd Levitus^1^, Tim Boyer^1^, John Antonov^2^, Ricardo Locarnini^3^,
and Hernan Garcia^1^

^1^National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, MD

^2^University Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO

^3^SP Systems, Greenbelt, MD

We describe the variability of ocean heat content for 1955-2003. In
particular, the global integral of ocean heat content has decreased
since 2003.

**Eddy-driven Mixing in the Atlantic Ocean**

by Rick Lumpkin

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

Eddy-driven mixing in the Atlantic mixed layer is examined using
drifters. The appropriateness of an effective diffusivity for long-time
dispersion is examined using 120d drifter trajectories; diffusivity is
then mapped to higher resolution using 30d segments.

Lagrangian time scales vary by a factor of around 2, while length scales
vary by a factor of five. To lowest order, the length scale is a
function of the relatively constant time scale and the distribution of
eddy kinetic energy. The distribution of diffusivity is compared to that
of the baroclinic decay rate from hydrographic climatology, and results
suggest a spatially varying eddy transfer length scale.

Keywords: eddy, mixing, dispersion

**Transport Variability along the Subtropical Atlantic Western
Boundary:**

**Implications for Monitoring the MOC**

by Christopher S. Meinen, Molly O. Baringer, Silvia L. Garzoli

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

At 26ºN in the subtropical Atlantic a joint USA-UK program is in place
to monitor the meridional transports of water and heat across the entire
basin. Preliminary results from the USA/NOAA portion of the program in
the western basin indicate the Deep Western Boundary Current (integrated
500 km out from the coast) and the Florida Current fluctuate by 10-40 Sv
and 5-10 Sv, respectively, over periods of 2-5 months. Implications of
this high level of variability for both snapshot section observations
and the future time series monitoring array will be discussed.

Keywords: MOC, Florida Current, Deep Western Boundary Current

**Comparing Global Sea Level Rise Estimates from Satellite Altimetry and
a**

**Global Ocean Reanalysis: 1993-2001**

by Laury Miller^1^ and Bruce C. Douglas^2^

^1^NOAA/NESDIS, Silver Spring, MD

^2^Florida International University, Bethesda, MD

Abstract: Satellite altimeter observations show that global sea level
has been rising over the past decade at a rate of about 3 mm/yr, well
above the centennial rate of 1.8 mm/yr. This has been occurring despite
the presence of large geographical variations, including large areas of
falling sea level. Here we investigate the global and regional nature of
this signal by comparing satellite altimeter measurements of sea level
change between 1993 and 2001 with estimates of the steric component of
sea level change for the same period based on the SODA 1.2 reanalysis of
global temperature and salinity (Carton et al., 2005).

A map comparison of the two trend data sets shows broad geographical
similarities, including high positive rates (\>10 mm/yr) throughout much
of the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans, negatives in the
eastern tropical Pacific, and positives in the North Atlantic.
Surprisingly, the reanalysis rates tend to have higher absolute values
than the altimeter rates, particularly in the tropical Pacific.
Analyzing the data sets in three zonal bands (66N to 30N, 30N to 30S,
30S to 66S) reveals distinct latitudinal differences. The northern and
equatorial bands exhibit roughly similar average altimeter rates of sea
level rise, at 2.5 and 2.3 mm/yr, respectively, and similar levels of
correlation (\~0.7) between altimeter trends and reanalysis trends on a
local (grid point) basis. The southern band shows the highest average
altimeter rate, at 3.9 mm/yr, suggesting that much of the increase
between the centennial global rate determined from tide gauges and the
1993-2001 global altimeter-derived rate is due to rapid changes in the
Southern Ocean. However, a local comparison shows that the reanalysis
trends are poorly correlated with the altimeter trends in this band,
making it difficult to distinguish between steric and eustatic
contributions in the one band of greatest sea level rise. The poor
correlation between the two data sets is probably due the lack of
in-situ hydrographic observations in the Southern Ocean, a situation
which no longer exists because of the advent of the Argo program,
coincidently in 2001.

**NOAA Arctic Ocean Observing System: Ice Thickness Component**

by Jackie Richter-Menge^1^, Ignatius G. Rigor^2^, and John Calder^3^

^1^Cold Regions and Research Engineering Laboratory, Durham, New
Hampshire

^2^University of Washington, Seattle, WA

^3^NOAA, Arctic Research Office, Silver Spring, MD

During 2003, NOAA began the deployment of an Arctic Ocean Observing
System. The initial focus is to establish a network of instruments to
monitor changes in the thickness, or more accurately mass balance, of
the sea ice cover. This focus recognizes the role that the sea ice cover
plays as both an integrator and indicator of climate-related changes in
this complex atmosphere-ice-ocean system. The future objective of this
component of the observing system is to maintain and develop this
instrumentation network, so that 12 drifting buoys and 2 moorings are in
operation at all times.

The ice thickness component of the observing network is coordinated with
and complements existing activities, including the North Pole
Environmental Observatory (NPEO) and the International Arctic Buoy
Program (IABP). Ice thickness observations are made using drifting buoys
and seafloor moorings. The drifting buoys are equipped with a thermistor
string, which extends through the thickness of the ice cover, and
acoustic sensors measuring the position of the top and bottom surfaces
of the ice. This suite of instruments allows us to monitor and, more
importantly, attribute changes in the thickness of the ice cover. The
seafloor mooring is equipped with ice profiling sonar, providing a
measurement of changes in the thickness of the ice cover at a particular
location within the basin. Since the beginning of the program and in
coordination with NPEO and IABP, a total of 17 drifting buoys have been
deployed; 5 currently remain in operation. One seafloor mooring has been
established in the Chukchi Sea, at (75˚06′ N, 168˚00′ W). At this point,
the collective time series is too short to draw significant and specific
conclusions regarding interannual and regional variability in ice mass
balance. Comparisons of available data indicate that ice surface
ablation is greater in the Beaufort region (67-80 cm), relative to the
North Pole (0-30 cm), consistent with a longer period of melt in the
more southerly location. Ablation at the bottom of the ice (22 cm),
maximum ice thickness (235 cm) and maximum snow depth (28 cm) were
comparable in the two regions. Data from this instrumentation network is
available via the website

<http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/sid/IMB/index.htm>. These data can be
used to validate satellite-based instrumentation, for forcing,
validation and assimilation into numerical climate models, and for
forecasting weather and ice conditions.

**Forecasting the Condition of Sea Ice on Weekly to Seasonal Time
Scales**

by Ignatius G. Rigor^1^, Magda Hanna^2^, Pablo Clemente-Colon^2^,
Towanda Street^2^

^1^University of Washington, Seattle, WA

^2^National/Naval Ice Center, Washington, D.C.

The extent of Arctic sea ice during summer has declined to near-record
minima during four of the last seven summers. Could we have predicted
these past minima? We plan to answer this question, and improve our
operational capability to predict the conditions of Arctic sea ice on
weekly to seasonal time scales. The forecasts provided by the
National/Naval Ice Center help resources managers, navigators, and
hunters make better decisions regarding Arctic sea ice. Accurate sea ice
information is important to naval operations, and increasing safety of
life at sea.

Keywords: Arctic, sea ice, forecasts

**Amver Seas 2K -- Ocean Data Acquisition and Transmission**

by Janet Roseli^1^, Paul Chinn^1^, Steven Cook^1^, Lisa Lehmann^2^,
Carrie Wolfe^3^, Glenn Pezzoli^2^, Dean Roemmich^2^, Justine Afghan^2^,
Valerie Cannon, Gary Soneira^4^, James Farrington^1^, Derrick
Snowden^1^, Ben Kates^5^, and Frank Bahr^6^

^1^NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

^2^Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA

^3^Southern California Marine Institute

^4^NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Silver Spring, MD

^5^Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL

^6^Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA

Amver Seas 2K is a real-time ship environmental data acquisition and
transmission system developed by NOAA to provide accurate meteorological
and oceanographic data in real-time from ships at sea through the use of
satellite data transmission techniques. The data includes: Amver,
Meteorological (Met), Expendable Bathy Thermograph (XBT) and
Thermosalinograph (TSG) messages. It is operated on Voluntary Observing
Ships, U.S. Coast Guard, and NOAA Vessels.

Amver Seas 2K was designed in three phases. Phase I, deployed December
of 2000 and on 400+ ships, creates Amver and Met messages. Phase II,
deployed 2003, includes Hand Launching of XBTs. Phase III, deployed
2003, includes Auto Launching of XBTs, automated weather. Phase III TSG
will be deployed June 2006. More than 10,000 XBTs deployments are
transmitted through Seas2K into the GTS every year. This poster shows an
overview of the Seas 2K system.

**First Steps in Designing an Optimal Global Sampling Network for**

**Underway Surface pCO~2~ Measurements**

by Joellen L. Russell^1^, Colm Sweeney^2^, Anand Gnanadesikan^3^,
Richard A. Feely^4^, and Rik Wanninkhof^5^

^1^University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

^2^NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO

^3^Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ

^4^NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

^5^NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

One aspect of the effort to improve the global observing system for
climate has been to expand the surface ocean pCO~2~ measurement program
to quantify our understanding of the seasonal and interannnual
variability of air-sea CO~2~ fluxes. While we understand most of the
major sources and sinks of CO~2~ based on work by Takahashi et al.
(2002), an optimal global pCO~2~ sampling network design to capture
temporal and spatial variability in carbon fluxes is needed. We present
preliminary results of the effort to expand a region-by-region estimate
of the sampling required to quantify fluxes to the nearest 0.1 Pg C/year
(Sweeney et al., 2002).

Keywords: pco~2~, variability

**Preliminary estimates of the time-variant heat budget in the Tropical
Atlantic**

by Claudia Schmid, Gustavo Goni, and Rick Lumpkin

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

A better understanding of the mixed layer heat budget in the tropical
Atlantic is important for climate research and prediction. Of particular
interest are regions where the heat balance is not dominated by the
surface heat fluxes. Such regions include, for example, the equatorial
cold tongue and the coastal upwelling regions off Africa.

The approach is based on the analysis of a wide range of in situ and
satellite observations covering the years 1997-2005. Hydrographic
profiles are used to derive a time series of the monthly heat storage
rate. The oceanic heat transports are derived from drifter observations
in conjunction with geostrophic velocities from altimetric fields and
Ekman currents from NCEP winds. The surface fluxes are from the NCEP
reanalysis as well.

Preliminary results from this analysis show that good estimates of the
heat budget can be derived with this approach. For example, in the
tropical South Atlantic (10ºS, 15ºW) the difference between the heat
storage rate and the net surface heat flux is on the order of 40 W/m\^2
in boreal summer, and the peak of the heat storage rate lags behind the
peak of the surface flux by about a month. When taking the advection of
heat into account the phase shift is gone in most years and the
difference in the boreal summer peaks is reduced to less then 10 W/m\^2
in most years.

Keywords: heat budget, Tropical Atlantic, observations

**Minimet Drifter Observations in Hurricane Rita**

by Bill Scuba^1^, Peter Niiler^1^, Rick Lumpkin^2^, and Peter Black^2^

^1^Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA

^2^NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

Between 1998 and 2003 wind drifters have been deployed in the tropical
Atlantic in regions where hurricanes tend to develop in strength or
approach landfall. However, projection of winds from NCEP reanalysis on
these drifters has revealed that, during that time period, no wind
drifter south of 30ºN has experienced winds in excess of 27 m/s.
Starting in 2003, fifty five buoys have been deployed by air directly in
front of hurricanes and have measure sea surface temperature,
atmospheric pressure, wind direction, and wind speed below 25 m/s. In
order to test whether wind speeds above 25 m/s and subsurface
temperatures down to 100m can be measured from a drifting

buoy platform, twelve standard Minimet buoys and eight Minimet buoys
fitted with a 100m long temperature chains were successfully deployed on
September 21, 2005 at a distance of about 24 hours in front of the
projected path of a category-5 hurricane, Rita, in the vicinity of 26ºN,
92ºW. The resulting ocean and atmosphere measurements indicate the
complex interactions that must be simulated to improve coupled hurricane
intensity forecasting models.

**The FSU Fluxes for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans**

by Shawn R. Smith, Mark A. Bourassa, Jeremy Rolph, and Paul Hughes

The Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL

We will introduce a new 1˚ by 1˚ monthly turbulent flux product for the
Atlantic and Indian oceans. The new Florida State University fluxes (the
FSU3) are derived from in-situ marine observations from ships, drifters,
and moorings with the sea surface temperatures being extracted from the
Reynolds SST fields. An objective analysis technique has been developed
to produce fields of surface turbulent fluxes (momentum, latent heat,
and sensible heat fluxes) and the fields used to create the fluxes
(vector wind, scalar wind, near-surface air temperature and humidity,
and SST). The FSU3 product moves beyond our past production of wind-only
fields. The surface winds in the FSU products have been widely used in
ocean modeling and ENSO prediction. The current objective approach
treats the various types of observations (voluntary observing ships,
moored buoys, drifting buoys) as independent, and objectively determines
weights for each type of observation. Spatially the FSU3 are limited to
oceans north of 30˚S, due to the low observational density south of
30˚S, and are available for the period 1978-2004.

The FSU fluxes provide a new set of ocean surface forcing fields which
are well suited to aid in understanding the global climate system. Our
long-term monthly in-situ fields are well suited for seasonal to decadal
studies. We will present initial results from spatial and temporal
variability studies for the Indian and Atlantic oceans. In the Atlantic,
the fluxes reveal a reversal in heat flux anomalies that appears to be
associated with the phase of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation.

**Progress of the Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic
System**

**(SAMOS) Initiative**

by Shawn R. Smith

The Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, FL

Recent progress of the SAMOS Initiative will be provided. The SAMOS data
center will report on results of the 2005 pilot project, including
updates on vessels contributing observations, the ship profile database,
and issues that arose during initial implementation. The data center
will outline plans to recruit additional vessels, expand data
distribution, and advance data quality evaluation. An update from NOAA
ESRL/PSD and WHOI will describe the development status of the portable
standard instrument system. Progress on accuracy standards for marine
meteorological observations will also be discussed. A draft of the
"Guide to making climate quality meteorological and flux measurements at
sea" is currently undergoing review and this guide will be outlined.
Finally, draft recommendations of the 1^st^ Joint GOSUD/SAMOS workshop
will be presented, if possible (the workshop concludes only 6 days prior
to the OCO Annual Meeting).

**Decadal Changes in Inorganic Carbon in the Atlantic Ocean**

by Rik Wanninkhof^1^, Scott Doney^2^, Chris Langdon^3^, John L.
Bullister^4^, Gregory C. Johnson^4^, and Frank Millero^3^

^1^NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

^2^Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA

^3^Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL

^4^NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, WA

As part of the CLIVAR/CO~2~ Repeat Hydrography Program a meridional
transect was occupied through the middle of the Atlantic ocean from 63ºN
to 60ºS measuring key hydrographic, biogeochemical parameters and
transient tracers over the full water column. The results from the
northern and southern sections, completed in 2003 and 2005, respectively
are compared to data from cruises along these sections during the late
1980\'s and early 1990\'s. The imprint of the anthropogenic CO~2~
invasion over the last decade is reflected by an increase in inorganic
carbon (DIC) in the upper 1000 m.

Keywords: Atlantic, CLIVAR/CO~2~, inorganic carbon

Delayed Mode XBT Data Handling at AOML

by Anne-Marie Wilburn, Robert Molinari and Joaquin Trinanes

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL

This poster is a descriptive representation that shows:

1)  The XBT data flow through AOML

2)  The number of XBT data submitted

3)  Spatial coverage of the XBT data

The poster displays a chart showing the principal GOOS XBT routes that
allows visualization of the exact areas of the ocean from which the XBT
observations are taken. A histogram exhibiting the number of total XBT
observations (in real time and delayed mode) recorded by AOML since 2000
-- present is included to show a yearly data comparison of the data
received from Voluntary Observing Ships. This poster also shows how the
delayed mode XBT data is handled once it is received at AOML, i.e.,
checked for errors in dates, call signs, etc.; and how the data are
distributed once it is reviewed and checked for errors. It is also shown
how the delayed mode XBT data are placed into circulation since it is
not immediately transferred to the GTS, as is the case of the real time
XBT data.

**Global Dataset of Shallow and Deep Velocities Derived from Argo
Floats**

by Hiroshi Yoshinari, Nikolai A. Maximenko, and Peter Hacker

University of Hawaii, International Pacific Research Center, Honolulu,
HI

The poster announces the availability of the new dataset, YoMaHa\'05,
recently released to the public. The dataset contains estimates of
velocities for surface and deep currents obtained using data from the
trajectories of Argo floats. It includes data from 3039 floats stored in
nine Data Assembly Centers (DACs) worldwide and almost 167,000 values of
velocity. The data span the period from 4 August 1997 through the end of
2005. Surface velocities are linearly regressed from float coordinates
fixed by the ARGOS satellites. Deep velocities are estimated from float
displacements during each submerged phase of the cycle. Both surface and
deep velocities are accompanied by error estimates, which are typically
an order of magnitude smaller than velocity values. The poster briefly
describes: the method for estimating velocities; the data distribution
in space and time; velocity characteristics in terms of the probability
distributions of velocities and errors; and applications and future
plans. The dataset and technical report are available at:
http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/projects/yomaha05/index.html.

Keywords: Argo float velocities, surface/deep currents, global ocean
dataset