WHOI Objectively Analyzed Air-Sea Fluxes (OAFlux_V3)

Monthly

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's objectively analyzed air-sea heat fluxes

Monthly 1° gridded global surface latent and sensible heat fluxes for the period from January 1958 to December 2009 have been developed and validated against in situ flux measurements. The product integrates satellite observations with surface moorings, ship reports, and atmospheric model reanalyzed surface meteorology and is developed by the OAFlux project (PIs. Drs. Lisan Yu and Robert A. Weller). The project is sponsored by the NOAA Office of Climate Observations (OCO) and Climate Change Data and Detection (CCDD). Further project information can be found at http://oaflux.whoi.edu.

Data in this release also include net longwave and shortwave radiations acquired from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). This set of surface radiation data (three-hourly, 2.5-degree) is provided by Dr. William B. Rossow for distribution along with the OAFlux product. The ISCCP radiations have been monthly averaged and re-gridded onto the spatial and temporal resolution used by the OAFlux product, but only for 1983-2007. Information about the full, global ISCCP dataset can be found at http://isccp.giss.nasa.gov/projects/flux.html.

References:

Yu, L., X. Jin, and R. A. Weller, 2008: Multidecade Global Flux Datasets from the Objectively Analyzed Air-sea Fluxes (OAFlux) Project: Latent and sensible heat fluxes, ocean evaporation, and related surface meteorological variables. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, OAFlux Project Technical Report. OA-2008-01, 64pp. Woods Hole. Massachusetts.

Yu, L., 2008: Sea surface exchanges of momentum, heat, and freshwater determined by satellite remote sensing. In: J. Steele, S. Thorpe, and K. Turekian (eds.), Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, First Online Update, Academic Press, London, UK, In press.

Yu, L., 2007: Global variations in oceanic evaporation (1958-2005): The role of the changing wind speed. J. Climate,  20(21), 5376–5390.

Yu, L., and R. A. Weller, 2007: Objectively Analyzed air-sea heat Fluxes for the global oce-free oceans (1981–2005). Bull. Ameri. Meteor. Soc., 88, 527–539. 

Yu, L., X. Jin, and R.A. Weller, 2007: Annual, Seasonal, and Interannual Variability of Air–Sea Heat Fluxes in the Indian Ocean. J. Climate, Special issue on the Climate Variability and Predictability of the Indian Ocean, 20, 3190–3209.

Yu, L., X. Jin, and R. A. Weller, 2006: Role of net surface heat flux in the seasonal evolution of sea surface temperature in the Atlantic Ocean. J. Climate. 19, 6153–6169. 

Yu, L., R. A. Weller, and B. Sun, 2004: Mean and variability of the WHOI daily latent and sensible heat fluxes at in situ flux measurement sites in the Atlantic Ocean. J. Climate, 17, 2096–2118.

Yu, L., R. A. Weller, and B. Sun, 2004: Improving latent and sensible heat flux estimates for the Atlantic Ocean (1988-1999) by a synthesis approach. J. Climate, 17, 373–393. 

Zhang, Y-C., W.B. Rossow, A.A. Lacis, V. Oinas, and M.I. Mishchenko, 2004. Calculation of radiative fluxes from the surface to top of atmosphere based on ISCCP and other global data sets: Refinements of the radiative transfer model and the input data. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D19105, doi:10.1029/2003JD004457.

Sun, B., L. Yu, and R. A. Weller, 2003: Comparisons of surface meteorology and turbulent heat fluxes over the Atlantic: NWP model analyses versus moored buoy observations. J. Climate, 16, 679–695.

Note: Error estimates are provided for all variables except for net heat surface flux, short wave and long wave radiation

Variables
SST (°C), evaporation (cm/yr), latent heat (W/m2), sensible heat (W/m2), shortwave radiation (W/m2), longwave radiation (W/m2), surface air temperature (°C), wind speed (m/s), net surface heat flux (W/m2), humidity (g/kg)
ZonalGlobal by 1 deg
Meridional90S to 90N by 1 deg
Verticalsea surface  
Temporal Jan 1958 to Dec 2022 (July 1983 to Dec 2009 for net heat surface flux, short wave radiation, and longwave radiation) by 1 month
Static? no
Volume 1.5MB per variable per year
Serverpublic:
Sourcehttp://oaflux.whoi.edu/ 
Acquired Jan 25, 2008 (V3); (Updated Apr 2023)
APDRC contact
Supplementshttp://oaflux.whoi.edu/data.html OAFlux_TechReport_3rd_release.pdf Readme_whoi_oafluxmon