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Measured And Simulated Latent And Sensible Heat Fluxes At Two Marine Sites In The Baltic Sea

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Abstract

In this study, turbulent heat flux data from two sites within the Baltic Sea are compared with estimates from two models. The main focus is on the latent heat flux. The measuring sites are located on small islands close to the islands of Bornholm and Gotland. Both sites have a wide wind direction sector with undisturbed over-water fetch. Mean parameters and direct fluxes were measured on masts during May to December 1998.

The two models used in this study are the regional-scale atmospheric model HIRLAM and the ocean model PROBE-Baltic. It is shown that both models overestimate the sensible and latent heat fluxes. The overestimation can, to a large extent, be explained by errors in the air-water temperature and humidity differences. From comparing observed and modelled data, the estimated 8-month mean errors in temperature and humidity are up to 1 °C and 1 g kg-1, respectively. The mean errors in the sensible and latent heat fluxes for the same period are approximately 15 and 30 W m-2, respectively.

Bulk transfer coefficients used for calculating heat and humidity fluxes at the surface were shown to agree rather well with the measurements, at least for the unstable data. For stable stratification, the scatter in data is generally large, and it appears that the bulk formulation chosen overestimates turbulent heat fluxes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Meteorology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Anna Rutgersson & Ann-Sofi Smedman

  2. Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Norrköping, Sweden

    Anna Rutgersson & Anders Omstedt

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  1. Anna Rutgersson
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  2. Ann-Sofi Smedman
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  3. Anders Omstedt
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Rutgersson, A., Smedman, AS. & Omstedt, A. Measured And Simulated Latent And Sensible Heat Fluxes At Two Marine Sites In The Baltic Sea. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 99, 53–84 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018799227854

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