Creation and Application of the Systematically Merged Pacific Ocean Regional Temperature and Salinity (SPORTS) Climatology for Oceanic Heat Content Estimation

The Systematically merged Pacific Ocean Regional Temperature and Salinity (SPORTS) climatology was created to estimate oceanic heat content (OHC) for the North Pacific (McCaskill et al., 2015). A technique similar to the creation of the Systematically Merged Atlantic Regional Temperature and Salinity climatology was used to blend temperature and salinity fields from the Generalized Digital Environment Model and World Ocean Atlas 2001 at a 0.25° resolution (Meyers et al., 2014). The weighting for the blending of these two climatologies was estimated by minimizing residual covariances across the basin and accounting for drift velocities associated with eddy variability using a series of 3-year sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) tracks to insure continuity between the periods of differing altimeters. In addition to producing daily estimates of the 20°C and 26°C isotherm depths (and their mean ratios), mixed layer depth, reduced gravities, and OHC, the SSHA product includes mapping errors given the differing repeat tracks from the altimeters and sensor uncertainties. These SPORTS products are available daily in near real-time on the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) Upper Ocean Dynamics research website and operationally at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NEDSIS). Using SPORTS with satellite-derived sea-surface temperature (SST) and SSHA fields from radar altimetry, daily OHC has been estimated from 2000 to 2011 using a 2.5-layer model approach. Argo profiling-floats, expendable probes from ships and aircraft, long-term TAO moorings, and drifters provide over 267,000 quality controlled in-situ thermal profiles to assess uncertainty in estimates from SPORTS. The in-situ profiles were used to evaluate the SPORTS OHC with a basin-wide regression analysis. TAO moorings and XBT transects were used to evaluate SPORTS OHC on a regional scale temporally and spatially. A case study with the storms from the ONR-sponsored Impact of Typhoons on the Ocean in the Pacific (ITOP) 2010 experiments used SPORTS OHC to determine how OHC conditions before the storm contributed tropical cyclone (TC) intensification and TC induced ocean response. The SPORTS OHC before each TC showed that high OHC and horizontal ocean thermal gradients helped the ITOP storms intensify and maintain high TC intensity. Enthalpy fluxes were examined during the time while each TC intensified to its peak intensity to further investigate the TC intensification. The SPORTS OHC also helped explain the TC induced ocean SST cooling pattern. The momentum fluxes were calculated over the life cycle of the TCs to better understand the TC induced ocean response. This thesis research was ultimately aimed at the public who must rely on the most advanced modeling systems to prepare for landfalling storms over the globe. An expected contribution of this research to society is a new daily real-time operational and 16-year archive SPORTS OHC that opens doors for avenues of research in the North Pacific Ocean basin

Welcome and keynote address [videorecording]

System requirements: Windows Media Player version 9 or above.The Missouri Regional Life Sciences Summit 2010 opened with remarks from Gary Forsee, President of the University of Missouri System, Dr. Brady Deaton, Chancellor of the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Senator Claire McCaskill. William H. Danforth delivered the keynote address, "Partnerships for Progress in Health and Economic Development.

Development and Assessment of the Systematically Merged Pacific Ocean Regional Temperature and Salinity (SPORTS) Climatology for Ocean Heat Content Estimations

Abstract A Systematically Merged Pacific Ocean Regional Temperature and Salinity (SPORTS) climatology was created to estimate ocean heat content (OHC) for tropical cyclone (TC) intensity forecasting and other applications. A technique similar to the creation of the Systematically Merged Atlantic Regional Temperature and Salinity (SMARTS) climatology was used to blend temperature and salinity fields from the Generalized Digital Environment Model and World Ocean Atlas 2001 at a 0.25° resolution. The weights for the blending of these two climatologies were estimated by minimizing residual covariances across the basin. Drift velocities associated with eddy variability were accounted for using a series of 3-yr sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) to ensure continuity between the periods of different altimeters. In addition to producing daily estimates of the 20° and 26°C isotherm depths, mixed-layer depth, and OHC, the model produces mapping errors from the optimal interpolation of the SSHA due to gaps in altimeter track coverage and sensor uncertainties. Using SPORTS with satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) and SSHA fields from radar altimetry, daily OHC was estimated from 2000 to 2011 using a 2.5-layer model approach. Argo profiling floats, expendable probes from ships and aircraft, long-term Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) moorings, and drifters provide more than 267 000 quality controlled in situ thermal profiles to assess uncertainty in estimates from SPORTS. This carefully constructed climatology creates an accurate estimation of OHC from satellite-based measurements, which can then be used in TC intensity forecasts in the North Pacific Ocean and analysis of ocean thermodynamics. The SPORTS time and space series extends from 1998 to 2016, forming a 19-yr dataset by the end of 2016

Welcome and keynote address [videorecording]

System requirements: Windows Media Player version 9 or above.The Missouri Energy Summit 2009 opened with remarks from John F. Carney III, Chancellor of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Senator Christopher 'Kit' Bond, and Senator Claire McCaskill. T. Boone Pickens delivered the keynote address

Participation of Minorities in Cancer Research

Abstract available at publisher's web site

Airborne Ocean Surveys of the Loop Current Complex From NOAA WP‐3D in Support of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

This chapter contains sections titled:IntroductionAirborne Ocean SurveysObserved Oceanic VariabilityModels and Data AssimilationSummar