1. Chapter 7: Air-Sea Interaction
Fig. 7-20

2.  Atmosphere and ocean one
interconnected system
 Change in atmosphere affects
ocean
 Change in ocean affects
atmosphere

3. Unequal solar heating
 Low latitudes
receive more
solar radiation
 High latitudes
receive less
solar radiation

4.  Equatorial areas excess heat
 Polar regions heat deficient
Fig. 7-3

5. Insolation factors
 Latitude
 Thickness of atmosphere
 Albedo
 Seasons
 Time of day
 Vegetation, bare rock, etc.

6. Atmosphere (troposphere)
 N2, O2, Ar
 Temperature decreases with
increasing altitude
 Warm air is less dense than cool air
 Moist air is less dense than dry air
 Wind flows from high pressure to low
pressure

7. Coriolis Effect
 Deflection in motion of moving
objects
 Rotation of Earth
 Important for objects that move
long distances/long times
 Maximum deflection at poles
 Negligible deflection at equator

8. Coriolis Effect Videos
 Click on Picture to See How  Click on Picture to at Equator vs.
It Works N. Hemisphere vs. S. Hemisphere

9. Atmospheric circulation
 Hadley, Ferrell and polar cells
 Warm, moist air rises
 Equator
 Sub-polar lows (60 o N and S)
 Cool, dry air sinks
 Sub-tropical highs (30o N and S)
 Polar regions

10. Windbelts

11. Cells and surface winds
 Surface winds flow from high pressure to low
pressure
Fig. 7-10

12. Surface winds
 Tradewinds
 About 0o to 30o N and S
 Northeast (Northern hemisphere)
 Southeast (Southern hemisphere)
 Westerlies
 About 30o to 60o N and S
 Polar Easterlies

13. Idealized 3-cell model
 Complicated by
 Seasons, tilt
 Differences in heat capacities of land
and ocean
 Uneven distribution of land and ocean
 Example: monsoon winds in Asia
and Indian Ocean

14. Local winds and their effects
 Sea breeze
 Land breeze
 Sea fog
 Radiation fog

15. Air masses meet at low
pressure
Fig. 7-14

16. Regional winds and storms
 Mid-latitude
storm systems
 Low
pressure
 Warm front
 Cold front
Fig. 7-15

17. Hurricane (tropical cyclone)
 Develop over
tropical ocean
 Warm ocean
 Warm, moist air
rising
 Sufficient
Coriolis Effect to
cause rotation
Fig. 7-17

18. Tropical cyclones
 Destructive high
winds, storm
surge
 Classified by
damage
done/wind speed
 Moved westward
by trade winds

19. Sea ice vs. icebergs
 Sea ice frozen seawater
 Especially important in Arctic
 Pack ice, polar ice, fast ice
 Icebergs broken pieces of glacier
 Float in ocean
 Shelf ice (extremely large plate-like
icebergs)

20. Greenhouse effect
 Energy from Sun shorter wavelengths
 Energy reradiated from Earth longer
wavelengths

21. Fig. 7-24

22. Greenhouse gases
 Absorb infrared radiation from Earth
 Mainly H2O and CO2

23. Other greenhouse gases
 Minor gases: methane, nitrous
oxides, ozone, chlorofluorocarbons
 Anthropogenic sources of
greenhouse gases contribute to
global warming
 Increase in global temperature
 Some natural
 Most artificial

24. CO2 in oceans
 CO2 high solubility in seawater
 Excess CO2 in atmosphere locked
up in oceans
 CaCO3 biogenic sediments
 Stimulate growth of phytoplankton
to use up CO2 in ocean

25. SOFAR Channel
 Sound travels far
 Velocity of sound is temperature-
dependent
 Use sound to measure
temperature in much of ocean
 ATOC (Acoustic Thermometry
of Ocean Climate)

27. End of Chapter 7: Air-Sea
Interaction