The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region

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dc.contributor.advisorBrundrit, Geoff Ben_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGuastella, L A-Men_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-07T17:52:20Z
dc.date.available2016-11-07T17:52:20Z
dc.date.issued1987en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: pages 191-202.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe surface heat balance of the Benguela upwelling area on the west coast of southern Africa is analysed. Measurements of the components of the heat balance were made in the St Helena Bay area from 14-21 October 1986. Additional long-term data was obtained from Alexander Bay and Cape Town. An average net heat gain of 227 W.m⁻² was received over the eight days of the field study. The presence of cold water determined that latent heat loss by the sea surface was small, while the sensible heat flux represented a small gain by the sea. These two turbulent heat fluxes are roughly equal and opposite and therefore approximately cancel each other. Use of a model, assuming idealised conditions, indicated that most turbulent heat exchange between the air and takes place in the nearshore region where air-sea contrasts are greatest. The net radiation was found to provide a good estimate of the total heat balance, thus the major contributing term to a high heat balance over the Benguela area is the input solar radiation. Minimal synoptic variation in the heat balance during the eight-day field programme was observed, but additional global radiation data analysed revealed that synoptic variations over the 3-6 day period are in fact more significant than the longer term seasonal variations. Both synoptic and seasonal variations in the heat balance are greater in the south than in the north. The high heat flux into the sea surface is capable of increasing the temperature of the upwelled water at a fairly rapid rate. During summer the heat exchange is capable of increasing the temperature of the upper 10 m mixed layer by as much as 0.65°C over one day. This input heat is used to realise the high biological potential of the upwelled waters.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGuastella, L. A. (1987). <i>The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Oceanography. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22447en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGuastella, L A-M. <i>"The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Oceanography, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22447en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGuastella, L. 1987. The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Guastella, L A-M AB - The surface heat balance of the Benguela upwelling area on the west coast of southern Africa is analysed. Measurements of the components of the heat balance were made in the St Helena Bay area from 14-21 October 1986. Additional long-term data was obtained from Alexander Bay and Cape Town. An average net heat gain of 227 W.m⁻² was received over the eight days of the field study. The presence of cold water determined that latent heat loss by the sea surface was small, while the sensible heat flux represented a small gain by the sea. These two turbulent heat fluxes are roughly equal and opposite and therefore approximately cancel each other. Use of a model, assuming idealised conditions, indicated that most turbulent heat exchange between the air and takes place in the nearshore region where air-sea contrasts are greatest. The net radiation was found to provide a good estimate of the total heat balance, thus the major contributing term to a high heat balance over the Benguela area is the input solar radiation. Minimal synoptic variation in the heat balance during the eight-day field programme was observed, but additional global radiation data analysed revealed that synoptic variations over the 3-6 day period are in fact more significant than the longer term seasonal variations. Both synoptic and seasonal variations in the heat balance are greater in the south than in the north. The high heat flux into the sea surface is capable of increasing the temperature of the upwelled water at a fairly rapid rate. During summer the heat exchange is capable of increasing the temperature of the upper 10 m mixed layer by as much as 0.65°C over one day. This input heat is used to realise the high biological potential of the upwelled waters. DA - 1987 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1987 T1 - The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region TI - The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22447 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22447
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGuastella LA. The sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling region. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Oceanography, 1987 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22447en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Oceanographyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherHeat budget (Geophysics) - South Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAtmospheric thermodynamicsen_ZA
dc.titleThe sea surface heat balance in the Benguela upwelling regionen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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