scholarly journals Revisiting the Thermocline Depth in the Equatorial Pacific*

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 3856-3863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijun Yang ◽  
Fuyao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Thermocline Depth ◽  
Vertical Temperature Gradient ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Coupled Models ◽  
Climate Simulations ◽  
Original Definition ◽  
Mean Climate ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract The thermocline depth is defined as the depth of the maximum vertical temperature gradient. In the equatorial Pacific, the depth of 20°C isotherm is widely used to represent the thermocline depth. This work proposes that under the circumstance of a significant mean climate shift, it is better to use the original definition of the thermocline depth in studying the long-term changes in mean climate and tropical coupled climate variabilities. For instance, during the transient period of global warming, the tropical thermocline is usually enhanced because the surface layer warms more and faster than the lower layers. The depth of maximum vertical temperature gradient shoals, which is consistent with the enhanced thermocline. However, the 20°C isotherm depth deepens, which suggests a weakened thermocline. This discrepancy exists in both the observations and the future climate simulations of coupled models.

scholarly journals Anatomizing the Ocean’s Role in ENSO Changes under Global Warming*

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (24) ◽  
pp. 6539-6555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijun Yang ◽  
Qiong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Thermocline Depth ◽  
Vertical Temperature Gradient ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Enso Variability ◽  
Coupling System ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Local Term

Abstract A revisit on observations shows that the tropical El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, after removing both the long-term trend and decadal variation of the background climate, has been enhanced by as much as 50% during the past 50 yr. This is inconsistent with the changes in the equatorial atmosphere, which shows a slowdown of the zonal Walker circulation and tends to stabilize the tropical coupling system. The ocean role is highlighted in this paper. The enhanced ENSO variability is attributed to the strengthened equatorial thermocline that acts as a destabilizing factor of the tropical coupling system. To quantify the dynamic effect of the ocean on the ENSO variability under the global warming, ensemble experiments are performed using a coupled climate model [Fast Ocean Atmosphere Model (FOAM)], following the “1pctto2x” scenario defined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. Term balance analyses on the temperature variability equation show that the anomalous upwelling of the mean vertical temperature gradient (referred as the “local term”) in the eastern equatorial Pacific is the most important destabilizing factor to the temperature variabilities. The magnitude of local term and its change are controlled by its two components: the mean vertical temperature gradient Tz and the “virtual vertical heat flux” −w′T ′. The former can be viewed as the background of the latter and these two components are positively correlated. A stronger Tz is usually associated with a bigger upward heat flux −w′T ′, which implies a bigger impact of thermocline depth variations on SST. The Tz is first enhanced during the transient stage of the global warming with a 1% yr−1 increase of CO2, and then reduced during the equilibrium stage with a fixed doubled CO2. This turnaround in Tz determines the turnaround of ENSO variability in the entire global warming period.

Effects of Age and Overhead Illumination on Temperatures Preferred by Underyearling Rainbow Trout, Salmo gairdneri, in a Vertical Temperature Gradient

1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 1430-1433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Hwa Kwain ◽  
Robert W. McCauley
Keyword(s):  
Rainbow Trout ◽  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Temperature Gradients ◽  
Salmo Gairdneri ◽  
Vertical Temperature Gradient ◽  
Temperature Preference ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Preferred Temperature ◽  
Distribution Of Fish ◽  
Vertical Gradients

During their first 12 mo of life rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, preferred progressively cooler temperatures as they grew older; 19 °C was selected during the 1st mo and the selected temperature declined by intervals of 0.5 °C for each of the following months up to the 3rd mo. Fish swam higher in temperature gradients exposed to overhead illumination than in those in total darkness. This trend was reversed during the following 9 mo. These findings demonstrate the important role that age plays in the temperature preference of this species and the influence that overhead light may have on the distribution of fish in vertical gradients. Key words: preferred temperature, age, Salmo gairdneri, light gradients

scholarly journals The isothermal layer of the atmosphere and atmospheric radiation

1909 ◽  
Vol 82 (551) ◽  
pp. 43-70 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Temperature Change ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Atmospheric Radiation ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Vertical Temperature Gradient ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Isothermal Layer

The investigation of the upper air by means of balloons carrying self-recording instruments, which have furnished values for the atmospheric temperature up to heights between 15 and 20 kilometres, has revealed the existence of an abnormal change in the vertical temperature gradient. After a fairly uniform fall, with increasing altitude, of about 6° C. per kilometre, a height is reached above which the temperature changes very little, sometimes increasing, sometimes diminishing slowly. The phenomenon was first noticed by M. Teisserenc de Bort in a communication to the Société de Physique in June, 1899. He improved his apparatus and made further investigations, in many cases sending up the balloons by night to eliminate any possible insolation effects. He found the average height, at which the change began, to be about 11 kilometres. He discovered also that the height was greater near the centre of high pressure areas than in low pressure areas, the average heights for the two cases being 12-5 and 10 kilometres respectively. More recently he found that the height increased with approach towards the equator and that near the equator, ballons-sondes , ascending to 15 kilometres, had failed to reach this layer if it existed there. He proposed to call this layer, in which little temperature change occurred, the “Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere,” and the name has been generally accepted.

scholarly journals Radon-based technique for the analysis of atmospheric stability – a case study from Central Poland

Nukleonika ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Podstawczyńska ◽  
Scott D. Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Heat Island Intensity ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Vertical Temperature Gradient ◽  
Mixing State ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Urban Heat

Abstract An economical and easy-to-implement technique is outlined by which the mean nocturnal atmospheric mixing state (“stability”) can be assessed over a broad (city-scale) heterogeneous region solely based on near-surface (2 m above ground level [a.g.l.]) observations of the passive tracer radon-222. The results presented here are mainly based on summer data of hourly meteorological and radon observations near Łodź, Central Poland, from 4 years (2008–2011). Behaviour of the near-surface wind speed and vertical temperature gradient (the primary controls of the nocturnal atmospheric mixing state), as well as the urban heat island intensity, are investigated within each of the four radon-based nocturnal stability categories derived for this study (least stable, weakly stable, moderately stable, and stable). On average, the most (least) stable nights were characterized by vertical temperature gradient of 1.1 (0.5)°C·m−1, wind speed of ~0.4 (~1.0) m·s−1, and urban heat island intensity of 4.5 (0.5)°C. For sites more than 20 km inland from the coast, where soils are not completely saturated or frozen, radon-based nocturnal stability classification can significantly enhance and simplify a range of environmental research applications (e.g. urban climate studies, urban pollution studies, regulatory dispersion modelling, and evaluating the performance of regional climate and pollution models).

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