Planetary Circulations Project, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts 



Report No. AFCRL - 63 



COMPUTATIONS OF THE EDDY HEAT AND DENSITY 

 TRANSPORTS ACROSS THE GULF STREAM 

 by 

 Abraham H. Oort 



Scientific Report No. 1, 1 July 1963, 30 pages, AF19 (628)-2408 

 Unclassified Report. 



Data of the current velocity, temperature and salinity of the Gulf Stream, 

 collected during 200 crossings of the current in cruises off Onslow Bay, 

 Jacksonville (30°N) and Cape Hatteras, are used to compute the eddy 

 fluxes of heat and density across the mean current. In each cruise an 

 eddy transport of heat is observed, which is directed from the colder 

 coastal water to the Sargasso Sea in the surface layers. The meanders 

 in the stream appear to increase the thermal contrast across the so 

 called Gulf Stream front and thus violate the ordinary diffusion laws by 

 not transporting heat from the warm to the cold source. The transport 

 of density across the stream is, in general, towards the shore, 

 reflecting mostly the influence of the temperature on the density. Since 

 the meanders of the scale considered in this study appear to speed up 

 the Gulf Stream and do not feed upon, but actually build up the thermal 

 contrast near the surface, these eddies must be forced. 



Unclassified 

 1. Gulf Stream 



2. Heat and density 

 transport 



Abraham H. Oort 



Planetary Circulations Project, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts 



Report No. AFCRL - 63 



COMPUTATIONS OF THE EDDY HEAT AND DENSITY 

 TRANSPORTS ACROSS THE GULF STREAM 



by 



Abraham H. Oort 



Scientific Report No. 1, 1 July 1963, 30 pages, AF19 (628)-2408 

 Unclassified Report. 



Data of the current velocity, temperature and salinity of the Gulf Stream, 

 collected during 200 crossings of the current in cruises off Onslow Bay, 

 Jacksonville (30°N) and Cape Hatteras, are used to compute the eddy 

 fluxes of heat and density across the mean current. In each cruise an 

 eddy transport of heat is observed, which is directed from the colder 

 coastal water to the Sargasso Sea in the surface layers. The meanders 

 in the stream appear to increase the thermal contrast across the so 

 called Gulf Stream front and thus violate the ordinary diffusion laws by 

 not transporting heat from the warm to the cold source. The transport 

 of density across the stream is, in general, towards the shore, 

 reflecting mostly the influence of the temperature on the density. Since 

 the meanders of the scale considered in this study appear to speed up 

 the Gulf Stream and do not feed upon, but actually build up the thermal 

 contrast near the surface, these eddies must be forced. 



Unclassified 

 1. Gulf Stream 



2. Heat and density 

 transport 



3. Abraham H. Oort 



