Piacsek 



DISCUSSION 



A. S. Iberall 



General Technical Services, Inc. 



Upper Darby, Pennsylvania 



The Bowen ratio (the hydrometric constant) approaches equilibrium for 

 larger bodies of water in about 3 weeks. Thus, what systems in stability is 

 Mr. Piacsek investigating? 



REPLY TO DISCUSSION 



Steve A. Piacsek 



The Bowen ratio is the ratio between the amount of heat given off to the 

 atmosphere as sensible heat and that used for evaporation. (Sverdrup, H.U., 

 Johnson, M.W., and Fleming, R.H., "The Oceans," p. 117, Prentice-Hall.) 

 For large bodies of water this indeed takes a long time to reach a steady 

 value. However, the numerical experiments were concerned only with the 

 stability of the top few centimeters near the ocean's surface, with a charac- 

 teristic overturning time in the convection cells of a few minutes. During this 

 time the mean air and water temperatures change very little, and the Bowen 

 ratio may be considered to be a constant. 



784 



