259 



INTRODaCTION 



The development of truly synoptic oceanographic analysis and forecast- 

 ing emphasizes thermal structure in the sea and therefore requires the 

 quantitative knowledge of energy exchanged between the sea and the atmosphere. 

 It can be postulated that temperature in oceanographic analyses has the same 

 importance as atmospheric pressure in meteorological analyses. Furthermore, 

 oceanographic analysis and forecasting must be based mainly on synoptic weather 

 observations by ships, as truly synoptic subsurface oceanographic observations 

 are scarce indeed and would be too time consuming and expensive to make on a 

 worldwide synoptic scale. 



A number of meteorologists, especially those from the so-^called Bergen 

 School and a few others, have left no doubt that there is also a need to include 

 heat exchange effects into successful weather forecasting models. Therefore, 

 the synoptic study of heat exchange finds application also in meteorology. 



A number of heat exchajage studies have been done in the past on a 

 seasonal and monthly basis; however, synoptic studies have been scarce . The 

 most extensive of the latter are by Petterssen, Bradbury and Pedersen (1962) 

 and by the present author (Laevastu, 1963). 



Among the objectives of the present study, reported herein, were: 



(1) To investigate the feasibility of synoptic computations of heat 

 exchange components and to study their accuracy and possible sources of 

 errors . 



(2) To study the day to day variability of heat exchange patterns 



at the surface and their relations to surface weather and upper air patterns. 



(3) To study the effects of heat exchange on the ocean. This report 

 presents mainly the results of objective (2) above; other objectives are 

 dealt with briefly. In addition, a hypothetical model of energy exchange 

 and feedback between the ocean and atmosphere is given, and Its possible 

 application is explored. This study was carried out with the support of NSF 

 Grants Nos. GP-353 and GP-214-59 and with support from Fleet Numerical Weather 

 Facility. The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to Commander 

 Hubert and Mr. Carstensen for valuable advice and help in the preparation of 

 this paper. 



FORMULAS FOR HEAT EXCHANGE COMPUTATION AND 

 ACCURACY AND SOURCES OF ERRORS 



The formulas used for heat exchange computations are summarized in 

 Table 1. The validity and accuracy of these formulas have been described 

 earlier by the present author (Laevastu, 196O) . The heat exchange 



