Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
Thermal Fine Structure of the Ocean Surface Layer in the Region of the POLYMODE-77 Test Range
ORCID
0000-0001-6519-1547
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
ISSN
0001-4338
Publication Date
1979
Abstract
An experiment in floating-sonde measurement of thermal fine structure in the surface layer of the ocean in the area of the POLYMODE-77 test range is described. The vertical temperature distributions obtained in near-calm weather with strong solar warming indicated the presence of a thin mixed layer. During the daytime, its vertical dimension usually ranged from a few centimeters to a few tens of centimeters, and the maximum temperature gradient relative to the underlying water mass was within 1.3-1.4°C. A mixed layer about a meter thick formed in the evening, with a rather well-defined lower boundary. On the whole, the phenomenon is reminiscent of the usual upper mixed layer and seasonal thermocline, but its temporal and spatial scales are different. The thickness of the thin mixed layer was calculated with certain simplifications on the basis of the heat, salt, and mechanical-energy balance. The agreement with observations is quite good for daytime conditions.
Volume
15
Issue
7
First Page
514
Last Page
518
NSUWorks Citation
Alexander Soloviev. 1979. Thermal Fine Structure of the Ocean Surface Layer in the Region of the POLYMODE-77 Test Range .Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics , (7) : 514 -518. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/684.
