Monitoring the Air-Sea Interface under the Chile-Peru Stratus

Five years of in situ surface meteorology from a WHOI flux buoy moored under the Chile-Peru stratus decks will be presented. The buoy is mounted with a dual set of ASIMET meteorology sensors. These consist of one sensor module for each of the following measurements: air temperature/relative humidity, vector wind speed, barometric pressure, precipitation, incoming longwave radiation and incoming shortwave radiation. The one-minute data provide a unique examination of this poorly studied area. Some interesting aspects of the data will be presented (seasonal cycles, intra-annual variability, etc.), and a discussion of the inherent error presented. A specific use of the data, to close the upper ocean heat budget, will be examined in detail. In particular, the accuracy of the computed surface fluxes is such that the poorly resolved oceanic eddy heat flux can be determined as a well-bounded residual.