Creation of the Systematically Merged Pacific Ocean Regional Temperature and Salinity (SPORTS) Climatology For Typhoon Intensity Forecasts

The Systematically merged Pacific Ocean Regional Temperature and Salinity (SPORTS) climatology was developed to estimate Ocean Heat Content (OHC) for the Northern Pacific Basin. A technique similar to the creation of the Systematically Merged Atlantic Regional Temperature and Salinity (SMARTS) climatology was used to blend temperature and salinity fields from the Generalized Digital Environment Model (GDEM) and World Ocean Atlas 2001 (WOA) at a 1/4º resolution. SPORTS was calculated from the monthly GDEM and WOA climatologies by applying a 15-day running average to eliminate discontinuities when transitioning between months. SPORTS produced daily estimates of the 20º and 26ºC isotherm depths (and their mean ratios), mixed layer depth, reduced gravities, and OHC.

Using SPORTS in concert with satellite-derived SST and surface height anomaly fields from radar altimetry, daily OHC has been estimated from 1998 to 2010 using a two-layer model approach. Argo-floats, expendable probes from ships and aircraft, and long-term moorings from the TAO array provide in-situ data to assess uncertainty in estimates from SPORTS. This climatology creates a more accurate estimation of OHC from satellite measurements, which can then be used in typhoon intensity forecasts in the western Pacific Ocean and building realistic ocean products for subsequent analyses.