Variability of Heat Content in the Central North Pacific in Summer 1987 Determined from Long-Range Acoustic Transmissions

Abstract

The evolution of the heat content in the central North Pacific Ocean during summer 1987 has been measured using acoustic transmissions between transceivers deployed in a triangle approximately 1000 km on a side. The acoustically determined heat contents of the source-receiver sections agree with heat contents computed from CTD and XBT data obtained during May and September 1987. The accuracy of acoustical measurements of range-averaged heat content is comparable to estimates from CTD and XBT data. Transmissions at four-day intervals allow the continuous observation of heat content and show that it varies on time scales of weeks or less. The magnitude of these variations is of the same order as that observed from XBT sections, which are only occasionally available. Ocean-atmosphere heat exchange from bulk formulas accounts for only about half of the observed heat content increase from May through September 1987, indicating that advective effects are important in the region. The excess heat change is calculated to be of order 50-150 W m(-2). The advective component of the near-surface heat budget is roughly in phase with the surface flux component.