AUTHOR=Kato Seiji , Rose Fred G. , Chang Fu-Lung , Painemal David , Smith William L. 

TITLE=Evaluation of Regional Surface Energy Budget Over Ocean Derived From Satellites

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.688299

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2021.688299

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>The energy balance equation of an atmospheric column indicates that two approaches are possible to compute regional net surface energy flux. The first approach is to use the sum of surface energy flux components <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,c</italic></sub> and the second approach is to use net top-of-atmosphere (TOA) irradiance and horizontal energy transport by the atmosphere <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,t</italic></sub>. When regional net energy flux is averaged over the global ocean, <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,c</italic></sub> and <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,t</italic></sub> are, respectively, 16 and 2 Wm<sup>–2</sup>, both larger than the ocean heating rate derived from ocean temperature measurements. The difference is larger than the estimated uncertainty of <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,t</italic></sub> of 11 Wm<sup>–2</sup>. Larger regional differences between <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,c</italic></sub> and <italic>F</italic><sub><italic>net,t</italic></sub> exist over tropical ocean. The seasonal variability of energy flux components averaged between 45°N and 45°S ocean reveals that the surface provides net energy to the atmosphere from May to July. These two examples demonstrates that the energy balance can be used to assess the quality of energy flux data products.</p>