Constraints on oceanic meridional heat transport from combined measurements of oxygen and carbon

Laure Resplandy, R. F. Keeling, B. B. Stephens, J. D. Bent, A. Jacobson, C. Rödenbeck, S. Khatiwala

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite its importance to the climate system, the ocean meridional heat transport is still poorly quantified. We identify a strong link between the northern hemisphere deficit in atmospheric potential oxygen (APO = O2 + 1.1 × CO2) and the asymmetry in meridional heat transport between northern and southern hemispheres. The recent aircraft observations from the HIPPO campaign reveal a northern APO deficit in the tropospheric column of - 10.4 ± 1.0 per meg, double the value at the surface and more representative of large-scale air–sea fluxes. The global northward ocean heat transport asymmetry necessary to explain the observed APO deficit is about 0.7–1.1 PW, which corresponds to the upper range of estimates from hydrographic sections and atmospheric reanalyses.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3335-3357
Number of pages23
JournalClimate Dynamics
Volume47
Issue number9-10
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Atmospheric Science

Keywords

  • HIPPO aircraft campaign
  • Hemispheric asymmetry
  • Ocean heat transport
  • Potential oxygen

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