KEY AREAS OF AIR-SEA INTERACTION IN GLOBAL OCEANS AND STUDY OF THE CLIMATOLOGICAL FEATURES

Abstract:

Seven key areas of air-sea interaction in the global oceans are determined by comprehensive analysis of the global data of monthly mean sea surface temperature (SST), surface wind, temperature, humidity, sea surface sensible heat and latent heat fluxes. The time-lag correlation between SST and each atmospheric element in each key area are focally analyzed to expose the same and the different features of air-sea interaction in different key areas. The results show that the air-sea thermal interaction is strong in each area, SST, temperature and humidity can be fairly replaced with one another, particularly in the central eastern Pacific and the south India Ocean. The dynamic effect on SST is different in different areas and in the central western Pacific such effect is more important. The correlation between sensible heat, latent heat and SST is more significant in the eastern Pacific, the western Pacific and the two major monsoon areas ― the northwestern Pacific and the south India Ocean. By analyzing the sustainable correlation probability of SST and every atmospheric element in each key area, we further know that the anomalies of which element, in which area and in which period are well sustained or easily destroyed. This is beneficial not only to prediction, but also to discussion of the physical mechanism of air-sea interaction.