Upper Atmosphere Heating From Ocean-Generated Acoustic Wave Energy
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States). Department of Geological Sciences
We present that colliding sea surface waves generate the ocean microbarom, an acoustic signal that may transmit significant energy to the upper atmosphere. Previous estimates of acoustic energy flux from the ocean microbarom and mountain-wind interactions are on the order of 0.01 to 1 mW/m2, heating the thermosphere by tens of Kelvins per day. We captured upgoing ocean microbarom waves with a balloon-borne infrasound microphone; the maximum acoustic energy flux was approximately 0.05 mW/m2. This is about half the average value reported in previous ground-based microbarom observations spanning 8 years. The acoustic flux from the microbarom episode described here may have heated the thermosphere by several Kelvins per day while the source persisted. Lastly, we suggest that ocean wave models could be used to parameterize acoustically generated heating of the upper atmosphere based on sea state.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
- OSTI ID:
- 1441465
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1438084
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--2018-4089J; 662763
- Journal Information:
- Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 45; ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Data from: Upper atmosphere heating from ocean-generated acoustic wave energy
|
dataset | April 2018 |
Data from: Upper atmosphere heating from ocean-generated acoustic wave energy
|
dataset | April 2018 |
Progressing emergent constraints on future climate change
|
journal | March 2019 |
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