The Trade Wind Zone Oceanography Pilot Study 

 Part VIII: Sea-Level Meteorological Properties 

 and Heat Exchange Processes 

 July 1963 to June 1965 



By 



GUNTER R. SECKEL, Oceanographer 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory 

 Honolulu, Hawaii 96812 



ABSTRACT 



Meteorological data were summarized and large-scale heat exchange proc- 

 esses computed, in 5° square units of the area lat. 0° to 35° N., long. 130° to 170° 

 W., for each month. The results complement time-sequence oceanographic 

 observations of the Trade Wind Zone Oceanography Pilot Study in the area lat. 

 10° to 26° N., long. 148° to 157° W., February 1964 to June 1965. The source and 

 processing of meteorological data, and the computation of the radiation from sun 

 and sky, the effective back radiation, the heat of evaporation, and the conduction 

 of sensible heat are described. The results are consistent with monthly heat 

 exchange processes computed from long-term mean meteorological properties 

 in the North Pacific. Despite inadequacies in the distribution and quality of 

 data, the meteorological data summaries and the derived heat exchange proc- 

 esses are adequate for interseason and interyear comparisons of large-scale, 

 sea-air interactions. 



INTRODUCTION 



This report contains monthly summaries of 

 sea-level meteorological observations and de- 

 rived heat exchange processes at the sea sur- 

 face in the area bounded by lat. 0° and 35°N. and 

 long. 130° and 170° W., July 1963 through June 

 1965. The meteorological data complement the 

 TWZO (Trade Wind Zone Oceanography) Pilot 

 Study oceanographic data that were published in 

 the first six reports of this series (Charnell, 

 Au, and Seckel, 1967a-f). 



The TWZO Pilot Study is designed to further 

 an understanding of the mechanisms that change 

 the distribution of sea-water properties and wa- 

 ter masses in the North Pacific trade wind zone 

 (Seckel, 1968). The meteorological processes 

 are an essential part of these mechanisms. 



The oceanographic field work took place from 

 February 1964 through June 1965 in the area 



from lat. 10° to 26° N. and long. 148° to 157° W. 

 Oceanographic stations in a fixed grid were oc- 

 cupied at monthly intervals. 



Meteorological processes at the sea surface 

 are intimately related to the behavior of the 

 trade wind system. The area of interest, there- 

 fore, encompasses the region of strongest trade 

 winds, which is located between the North I'a- 

 cific high and the equatorial low pressure re- 

 gions. Figure 1 shows the areas of the TWZO 

 oceanographic and meteorological observations. 

 Because the results reported here begin in July 

 1963, they antecede and cover the oceanographic 

 study period. 



Meteorological data summaries and the de- 

 rived heat exchange processes are presented in 

 two tables, which show the information for every 

 month of the 2-year study period. Table A con- 

 tains mean values per 5° square of the air tem- 

 perature, the difference between water and air 



