The Effect of Air-Sea Flux Products, Shortwave Radiation Depth Penetration, and Albedo on the Upper Ocean Overturning Circulation

Abstract

Water mass transformation quantifies transport of matter between different density classes of the World Ocean. We present the first observationally based quantification of transformation rates due to air-sea buoyancy fluxes, which considers different parameterizations of shortwave radiation depth penetration, including the influence of albedo and the Chlorophyll a concentration. The results provide a range of solutions that can be used to compare model-based transformation rates against. We compared two air-sea flux products with limited representation of ice dynamics at high latitudes. We find that variations in the air-sea heat fluxes due to Chlorophyll a and its horizontal distribution are as important for water mass transformation rates than differences between the freshwater flux products. An accurate representation of the effects and spatial distribution of Chlorophyll a is required to obtain realistic transformation rates.