Environmental effects on acoustic measures of global ocean warming
- Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (USA)
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (USA)
Munk and Forbes (1989) have proposed an acoustic technique for measuring the ocean warming caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Travel time from a source in the South Indian Ocean will be monitored at receivers as far away as the North Atlantic and North Pacific. However, there are natural perturbations of acoustic travel time over long distances as a result of oceanic mesoscale eddies, seasonal fluctuations, and interannual variability. Results from a global eddy-resolving ocean model are used here to assess the importance of two of these noise factors. Neither mesoscale nor seasonal effects are found to be large enough to obscure the anticipated signal of global change in the ocean. Analyses of the modeled temperature trends and variability along three selected paths give insights into where mesoscale and seasonal variability affect the acoustics.
- OSTI ID:
- 5937857
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research; (USA), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (USA) Vol. 95:C8; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
540110*
540310 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (1990-)
ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENTS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CLIMATE MODELS
CLIMATES
CURRENTS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
HEATING
INDIAN OCEAN
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING METHODS
OCEANIC CIRCULATION
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PACIFIC OCEAN
SEAS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
SURFACE WATERS
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
VARIATIONS
WATER CURRENTS