Objective
ON MONTHLY TO DECADAL TIME SCALES, THE SURFACE LAYERS OF THE OCEAN, ARE BELIEVED TO PLAY A PROMINENT ROLE IN CLIMATE VARIATIONS, THROUGH EXCHANGES OF HEAT, MOISTURE AND MOMENTUM AT THE AIR INTERFACE.
THE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE FIELD WILL BE OBSERVED BY REMOTE SENSING, USING THE FUTURE DAKAR SATELLITE TRACKING STATION: METEOSAT AND TIROS N DATA WILL BE USED. TIROS N MULTISPECTRAL WITH HIGH RESOLUTION IN TIME. COMPOSITE PICTURES WILL BE MADE AND GROUND THRUTH FROM MERCHANT SHIPS WILL BE USED FOR CALIBRATIONS AND GAP FILLING XBTS DROPPED BY SHIPS OF OPPORTUNITY ALONG TRACKS FROM LE HAVRE TO SOUTH AMERICA WILL GIVE DATA FOR 30 TRANSEQUATORIAL SECTIONS EVERY YEAR. THIS WILL BE USED TO ESTIMATE HEAT CONTENT, THERMOCLINE DEPTH, DYNAMIC HEIGHTS AND FLUXES. FOR INSTANCE THE SLOPE OF THE THERMOCLINE IN A MERIDIONAL PLANE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTENSITY OF THE CURRENT ACROSS IT.
METEOROLOGICAL DATA SUCH AS WIND MOISTURE, AIR TEMPERATURE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND WATER SAMPLE FOR SALINITY MEASUREMENT WILL ALSO BE COLLECTED IN THE SAME WAY THE THIRD FIELD STUDY OF THE OBSERVATIONAL PROGRAM WILL DEAL WITH SEA LEVEL BECAUSE ITS FLUCTUATIONS HIGHLY CORRELATE WITH VARIATIONS OF THE HEAT CONTENT OF THE SUPERFICIAL LAYERS IN TROPICAL ZONES (20 DEGREES N-20 DEGREES S). OBSERVED DEVIATIONS FROM THE LONG TERM AVERAGED SEA LEVELS CAN THEN BE USED TO MONITOR, IN TURN, VARIATION OF OCEANIC CIRCULATION. IT SHOULD BE ALSO NOTED THAT IN THE FUTURE, SEA LEVELS MEASURED AT ISLANDS AND COASTAL STATIONS WILL BE OF GREAT VALUE FOR THE CALIBRATION OF ALTIMETERS MAPPING OF OCEAN SURFACE.
Topic(s)
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29273 BREST
France