Preface
The presented climate atlas follows with regard to structure and volume the Bunker Climate Atlas of the North Atlantic Ocean published
1985 by H.-J. Isemer and L. Hasse, which has become a standard work
for the climate study community.
A new edition was appropriate, since during the last decade much
progress was achieved in the correct interpretation of the wind speed
reported by merchant ships. As the wind speed is an essential
parameter for the fundamental air-sea interactions, namely the
exchange of momentum and energy between ocean and atmosphere,
considerable impact on resulting climate key parameters as Sverdrup
transport or meridional heat transport could be expected.
Furthermore, individual ship observations are nowadays available
from COADS, the Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set, and,
due to the grown computer power, these data are processable in
reasonable time. Thus, improving the calculations of air-sea fluxes, as
performed by Isemer and Hasse, is no longer a complex and tricky
venture, since flux parameterizations can be applied directly to the
ship observations.
Compared to the Bunker Altas we expanded the considered sea
area and included also the South Atlantic. Considering the entire
Atlantic Ocean reveals not only interesting features of the southern
hemisphere but allows also a finer assessment of the resulting energy
fluxes.
Kie!, August 2000
RalfLindau
The presented climate atlas follows with regard to structure and volume the Bunker Climate Atlas of the North Atlantic Ocean published
1985 by H.-J. Isemer and L. Hasse, which has become a standard work
for the climate study community.
A new edition was appropriate, since during the last decade much
progress was achieved in the correct interpretation of the wind speed
reported by merchant ships. As the wind speed is an essential
parameter for the fundamental air-sea interactions, namely the
exchange of momentum and energy between ocean and atmosphere,
considerable impact on resulting climate key parameters as Sverdrup
transport or meridional heat transport could be expected.
Furthermore, individual ship observations are nowadays available
from COADS, the Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set, and,
due to the grown computer power, these data are processable in
reasonable time. Thus, improving the calculations of air-sea fluxes, as
performed by Isemer and Hasse, is no longer a complex and tricky
venture, since flux parameterizations can be applied directly to the
ship observations.
Compared to the Bunker Altas we expanded the considered sea
area and included also the South Atlantic. Considering the entire
Atlantic Ocean reveals not only interesting features of the southern
hemisphere but allows also a finer assessment of the resulting energy
fluxes.
Kie!, August 2000
RalfLindau