Interannual variability in upper ocean heat content, temperature, and thermosteric expansion on global scales

Willis, Josh; Roemmich, Dean; Cornuelle, Bruce D.

doi:10.1029/2003jc002260

Cited by 377 publications

(446 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…For 1993, Mitchum [2006 estimated the rate of sea-level rise as 3.2 ± 0.4 mm a À1 . Together with the 1.6 ± 0.3 mm a À1 estimate of Willis et al [2004] for the thermosteric contribution during 1993-2003, and our estimate of 0.8 ± 0.3 mm a À1 (Table 1), this leaves a residual of 0.8 ± 0.6 mm a À1 . Note, however, that all of the errors contributing to the error of this residual are incomplete.…”

Section: Regional and Temporal Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass balance of glaciers and ice caps: Consensus estimates for 1961–2004

Kaser

Cogley

Dyurgerov

et al. 2006

Geophysical Research Letters

451

355

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[1] Working with comprehensive collections of directlymeasured data on the annual mass balance of glaciers other than the two ice sheets, we combine independent analyses to show that there is broad agreement on the evolution of global mass balance since 1960. Mass balance was slightly below zero around 1970 and has been growing more negative since then. Excluding peripheral ice bodies in Greenland and Antarctica, global average specific balance for 1961 -1990 was À219 ± 112 kg m À2 a À1 , representing 0.33 ± 0.17 mm SLE (sea-level equivalent) a À1 . While our error estimates are not rigorous, we believe them to be liberal as far as they go, but we also discuss several unquantified biases of which any may prove to be significant.

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Section: Regional and Temporal Variationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass balance of glaciers and ice caps: Consensus estimates for 1961–2004

Kaser

Cogley

Dyurgerov

et al. 2006

Geophysical Research Letters

451

355

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hence most ocean temperature and/or salinity datasets often combine different in situ measurements and optimum interpolation techniques in order to make the most accurate estimates. Since its inception, in mid-2003, the ARGO array of profiling floats project has made it possible to make unified measurements of ocean salinity and temperature evenly distributed over the global ocean, including the Southern and Indian oceans, with high levels of accuracy (38). Although ARGO floats have enabled independent observations of the steric component of sea level rise, GRACE has been very effectively used to measure the mass change component (nonsteric) of sea level rise (34).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Satellite-based global-ocean mass balance estimates of interannual variability and emerging trends in continental freshwater discharge

Syed

Famiglietti

Chambers

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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151

104

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Freshwater discharge from the continents is a key component of Earth's water cycle that sustains human life and ecosystem health. Surprisingly, owing to a number of socioeconomic and political obstacles, a comprehensive global river discharge observing system does not yet exist. Here we use 13 years (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) of satellite precipitation, evaporation, and sea level data in an ocean mass balance to estimate freshwater discharge into the global ocean. Results indicate that global freshwater discharge averaged 36,055 km 3 ∕y for the study period while exhibiting significant interannual variability driven primarily by El Niño Southern Oscillation cycles. The method described here can ultimately be used to estimate long-term global discharge trends as the records of sea level rise and ocean temperature lengthen. For the relatively short 13-year period studied here, global discharge increased by 540 km 3 ∕y 2 , which was largely attributed to an increase of globalocean evaporation (768 km 3 ∕y 2 ). Sustained growth of these flux rates into long-term trends would provide evidence for increasing intensity of the hydrologic cycle.climate | global water cycle | hydrology | remote sensing | observations

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“…Actually, the measurements of interannual variations of TOA net radiation and ocean heat storage are found to be very consistent (Wong et al, 2006). From the ocean heat storage measurements, the TOA net radiation can be inferred as about 0.85 W/m 2 (Wong et al, 2006;Willis et al, 2004). Thus, the average value of 0.85 W/m 2 for the annual means of the last 10 years is used in this study, following Hansen et al (2005) and Trenberth et al (2009).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimations of climate sensitivity based on top-of-atmosphere radiation imbalance

et al. 2010

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Abstract. Large climate feedback uncertainties limit the accuracy in predicting the response of the Earth's climate to the increase of CO 2 concentration within the atmosphere. This study explores a potential to reduce uncertainties in climate sensitivity estimations using energy balance analysis, especially top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation imbalance. The time-scales studied generally cover from decade to century, that is, middle-range climate sensitivity is considered, which is directly related to the climate issue caused by atmospheric CO 2 change. The significant difference between current analysis and previous energy balance models is that the current study targets at the boundary condition problem instead of solving the initial condition problem. Additionally, climate system memory and deep ocean heat transport are considered. The climate feedbacks are obtained based on the constraints of the TOA radiation imbalance and surface temperature measurements of the present climate. In this study, the TOA imbalance value of 0.85 W/m 2 is used. Note that this imbalance value has large uncertainties. Based on this value, a positive climate feedback with a feedback coefficient ranging from −1.3 to −1.0 W/m 2 /K is found. The range of feedback coefficient is determined by climate system memory. The longer the memory, the stronger the positive feedback. The estimated time constant of the climate is large (70∼120 years) mainly owing to the deep ocean heat transport, implying that the system may be not in an equilibrium state under the external forcing during the industrial era. For the doubled-CO 2 climate (or 3.7 W/m 2 forcing), the estimated global warming would be 3.1 K if the current estimate Correspondence to: B. Lin (bing.lin@nasa.gov) of 0.85 W/m 2 TOA net radiative heating could be confirmed. With accurate long-term measurements of TOA radiation, the analysis method suggested by this study provides a great potential in the estimations of middle-range climate sensitivity.

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Interannual variability in upper ocean heat content, temperature, and thermosteric expansion on global scales

Cited by 377 publications

References 17 publications

Mass balance of glaciers and ice caps: Consensus estimates for 1961–2004

Mass balance of glaciers and ice caps: Consensus estimates for 1961–2004

Satellite-based global-ocean mass balance estimates of interannual variability and emerging trends in continental freshwater discharge

Estimations of climate sensitivity based on top-of-atmosphere radiation imbalance

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