WHOI Objectively Analyzed Air-Sea Fluxes (OAFlux

WHOI Objectively Analyzed Air-Sea Fluxes (OAFlux_V3)

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's objectively analyzed air-sea heat fluxes

Daily 1° gridded global surface latent and sensible heat fluxes for the period from January 1, 1985 to December 31, 2006 have been developed and validated against in situ flux measurements. The product integrates satellite observations with surface moorings, ship reports, and atmospheric model reanalyzed surface meteorology and is developed by the OAFlux project (PIs. Drs. Lisan Yu and Robert A. Weller). The project is sponsored by the NOAA Office of Climate Observations (OCO) and Climate Change Data and Detection (CCDD). Further project information can be found at http://oaflux.whoi.edu.

Data in this release also include net longwave and shortwave radiations acquired from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). This set of surface radiation data (three-hourly, 2.5-degree) is provided by Dr. William B. Rossow for distribution along with the OAFlux product. The ISCCP radiations have been daily averaged and re-gridded onto the spatial and temporal resolution used by the OAFlux product only through 2004. Information about the full, global ISCCP dataset can be found at http://isccp.giss.nasa.gov/projects/flux.html.

References:
Yu, L., and R. A. Weller, 2006: Objectively analyzed air-sea heat fluxes for the global oceans. Submitted.

Yu, L., R. A. Weller, and B. Sun, 2004: Improving latent and sensible heat flux estimates for the Atlantic Ocean (1988-1999) by a synthesis approach. J. Clim., 17, 373-393.

Zhang, Y-C., W.B. Rossow, A.A. Lacis, V. Oinas, and M.I. Mishchenko, 2004. Calculation of radiative fluxes from the surface to top of atmosphere based on ISCCP and other global data sets: Refinements of the radiative transfer model and the input data. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D19105, doi:10.1029/2003JD004457.

Variables
SST (°C), evaporation (cm/yr), latent heat (W/m2), sensible heat (W/m2), shortwave radiation (W/m2), longwave radiation (W/m2), surface air temperature (°C), wind speed (m/s), net surface heat flux (W/m2), humidity (g/kg)

Zonal Global by 1 deg

Meridional 90S to 90N by 1 deg

Vertical sea surface

Temporal Jan 1985 to Dec 2006 by 1 day

Static? yes

Volume 95MB per year (2MB per year for monthly data)

Server DODS & LAS & DCHART; public

Source http://oaflux.whoi.edu/

Acquired Jan 25, 2008 (V3)

APDRC contact Jim Potemra

Supplements http://oaflux.whoi.edu/data.html OAFlux_TechReport_3rd_release.pdf