Deep ocean warming assessed from altimeters, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, in situ measurements, and a non-Boussinesq ocean general circulation model

Song, Y. Tony; Colberg, Frank

doi:10.1029/2010jc006601

Cited by 39 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(129 reference statements)

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“…Closure of the observed energy budget over the past 5 years is elusive (Trenberth 2009;Trenberth and Fasullo 2010) although preliminary analysis of model results suggests that the ocean has absorbed considerably more heat than reported by observations, particularly below 700 m. Song and Colberg (2011) made similar conclusions using different reasoning based on satisfying the sea level change budget. Thus, state-of-the-art observations and basic analysis are unable to fully account for recent energy variability, since they either provide an incoherent narrative or imply error bars too large to make the products useful.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Tracking Earth’s Energy: From El Niño to Global Warming

Trenberth

Fasullo

2011

Surv Geophys

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The state of knowledge and outstanding issues with respect to the global mean energy budget of planet Earth are described, along with the ability to track changes over time. Best estimates of the main energy components involved in radiative transfer and energy flows through the climate system do not satisfy physical constraints for conservation of energy without adjustments. The main issues relate to the downwelling longwave (LW) radiation and the hydrological cycle, and thus the surface evaporative cooling. It is argued that the discrepancy is 18% of the surface latent energy flux, but only 4% of the downwelling LW flux and, for various reasons, it is most likely that the latter is astray in some calculations, including many models, although there is also scope for precipitation estimates to be revised. Beginning in 2000, the top-of-atmosphere radiation measurements provide stable estimates of the net global radiative imbalance changes over a decade, but after 2004 there is ''missing energy'' as the observing system of the changes in ocean heat content, melting of land ice, and so on is unable to account for where it has gone. Based upon a number of climate model experiments for the twenty-first century where there are stases in global surface temperature and upper ocean heat content in spite of an identifiable global energy imbalance, we infer that the main sink of the missing energy is likely the deep ocean below 275 m depth.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Tracking Earth’s Energy: From El Niño to Global Warming

Trenberth

Fasullo

2011

Surv Geophys

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“…Therefore, the accurate estimation of the full depth steric height and the amount of ocean heat using exclusively available data is still impossible [28]. Hence, improvements in the accuracy of subsurface thermal structure measurements at large scales are needed for near-real time assimilation models [40].…”

Section: Remote Sensing Capabilities For Estimating Ocean/sea Subsurfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notwithstanding the extensive subsurface in situ measurement projects, such as the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) with more than 8000 platforms containing Argo floats, drift buoys, moored buoys, gliders, and expendable bathythermographs (XBTs), the existing subsurface observations are spatially sporadic and temporally scarce in most parts of the ocean [28,41]. Therefore, the accurate estimation of the full depth steric height and the amount of ocean heat using exclusively available data is still impossible [28].…”

Section: Remote Sensing Capabilities For Estimating Ocean/sea Subsurfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since widespread warming of the world's deeper oceans has been proven by more evidence, [20][21][22]28,42,43], estimating the subsurface thermal structure of the global oceans accurately is important [28,30,31]. Hence, subsurface flow fields have been estimated by oceanographers, and horizontal and vertical advection have been computed in the ocean interior [40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of Ocean/Sea Subsurface Water Temperature Studies from Remote Sensing and Non-Remote Sensing Methods

Akbari

Alavipanah

Jeihouni

et al. 2017

Water

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Oceans/Seas are important components of Earth that are affected by global warming and climate change. Recent studies have indicated that the deeper oceans are responsible for climate variability by changing the Earth's ecosystem; therefore, assessing them has become more important. Remote sensing can provide sea surface data at high spatial/temporal resolution and with large spatial coverage, which allows for remarkable discoveries in the ocean sciences. The deep layers of the ocean/sea, however, cannot be directly detected by satellite remote sensors. Therefore, researchers have examined the relationships between salinity, height, and temperature of the oceans/Seas to estimate their subsurface water temperature using dynamical models and model-based data assimilation (numerical based and statistical) approaches, which simulate these parameters by employing remotely sensed data and in situ measurements. Due to the requirements of comprehensive perception and the importance of global warming in decision making and scientific studies, this review provides comprehensive information on the methods that are used to estimate ocean/sea subsurface water temperature from remotely and non-remotely sensed data. To clarify the subsurface processes, the challenges, limitations, and perspectives of the existing methods are also investigated.

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“…Waters at 700-2000-m depths may also have been experiencing temperature increase between 1957 and 2009 [6]; however, the observed temperature trend for 2000-3000-m depths is not obvious [7]. From 3000 m to the ocean floor, warm temperatures may be experienced [8], with the highest temperature increase observed in the Southern Ocean [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Variation in Rate of Temperature Change in South China Sea and Adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean

Wu¹,

Kang²,

Lin³

et al. 2017

dteees

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Abstract. Using the joint area of Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean dataset, two transects were selected at 12 °N and 19 °N across the South China Sea (SCS) and adjacent northwest Pacific. The analysis covered the period from January 1993 to December 2006, investigating the spatial variation in the rate of change of sea temperatures. Results show that for the 12 °N transect of the southern SCS and northwest Pacific Ocean, the rate of temperature change in shallow (<200 m) waters is positive, with depth rate showed first increases and then decreases. Below 200 m, this trend reverses, with negative rates of temperature change for 200-1100-m layers. A positive rate of change is found for 1200-3000-m depths, but the warming rate is low. In the northwest Pacific Ocean, the rate of temperature change for 200-3000-m layers is negative, the cooling rate showed first increases and then decreases, and the maximum cooling rate is found at the 127 °E site in the 1100-m layer. In the northern SCS, the rate of 100-m shallow-sea temperature change is positive, with a reduced trend after the first increase in depth. For 100-900-m depths, the rate of temperature change is negative and the cooling rate after the first increase gradually decreases, with the maximum cooling rate found at the 116 °E site in the 200-m layer. For 900-2000-m depths, the rate of temperature change is positive, but the warming rate is small. For 2000-3000-m depths, the rate of change is negative and the cooling rate is very low. At 19 °N in the northwest Pacific, the rate of 300-m shallow-sea temperature change is positive, with a reduced trend after the first increase in depth. For 300-3000-m depths, the rate of change is negative, with small variations in the cooling rate. The maximum cooling rate is found at the 123 °E site in the 900-m layer. The temperature variation in the SCS is more complex than that in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and the greatest cooling rate is found in the southern SCS. The maximum rates of both warming and cooling were found at depths and not on water surfaces. Based on sea temperature variability, the SCS can be divided into more number of layers than the northwest Pacific Ocean. The southern SCS (at 12 °N) is divided into three layers and northern SCS (at 19 °N) is divided into four layers; on the other hand, the northwest Pacific Ocean is divided into two layers at both latitudes. And presumably stratified condition may be associated with currents.

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Deep ocean warming assessed from altimeters, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, in situ measurements, and a non-Boussinesq ocean general circulation model

Cited by 39 publications

References 62 publications

Tracking Earth’s Energy: From El Niño to Global Warming

Tracking Earth’s Energy: From El Niño to Global Warming

A Review of Ocean/Sea Subsurface Water Temperature Studies from Remote Sensing and Non-Remote Sensing Methods

Spatial Variation in Rate of Temperature Change in South China Sea and Adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean

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