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EDUCATION - Stuff for Kids
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Dr. Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo
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OCEAN HEAT AND CLIMATE
I'm Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo and I am a physical
oceanographer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I work
with another oceanographer, Elisa Garcia-Gorriz [Fig.
1], to understand the circulation and seasonal fluctuations
in the Mediterranean Sea and off the east coast of
the United States. I use sea surface temperature data
from an Earth-orbiting satellite instrument called an
Advanced High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).
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Figure 1. Dr. Elisa Garcia-Gorriz, physical oceanographer.
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Satellites have dramatically changed the way oceanographers
study the world's ocean, allowing us to observe all our oceans from
space. Prior to satellites ocean measurements were taken by people on ships; so
we only had measurements from limited locations, mostly along shipping routes. With satellite instruments
we can get sea surface temperature measurements over much of the worlds oceans every day!
This allows us to determine how patterns of warm and cool water change with season and from year to
year. Because the ocean can hold a lot of heat, small variations in ocean temperature can make big differences
to the weather and climate.
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Figure 2. The warm water of the Gulf Stream is seen as red with colder waters showing up as blue and purple. Data from May 1993.
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The temperatures in the eastern coastal states of the United States are affected by the Gulf Stream
[Fig. 2]. The Gulf Stream is a fast-moving current that carries warm waters north-eastward into the
Atlantic, eventually affecting the weather of Europe. This current is similar to fast moving winds high in
the atmosphere, known as jet streams, which steer weather systems and storms. My research on the Gulf
Stream has focused on detecting fluctuations in the Gulf Stream with a view to better understanding what
drives these fluctuations.
I am currently working with Elisa Garcia-Gorriz to understand the sea surface temperature fluctuations
in the Mediterranean Sea [Fig. 3]. Using satellite data we are examining the annual fluctuation in
sea surface temperature [Movie]. We are also examining the interannual fluctuations, in other words,
how the temperatures vary from year to year. We chose the
Mediterranean Sea as a study site because little work has been
done there. The Mediterranean Sea is important because it
affects climate in Europe and North Africa, areas where many
of people live [Fig. 4].
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Figure 3. The Strait of Gibraltar in the left hand side of the image is the entrance of Atlantic Waters into the Mediterranean and the exit of Mediterranean Waters into the Atlantic. The eastern part of the Mediterranean is a lot warmer. This partly explains why Rome and Barcelona get almost no snow in winter while Boston, at the same latitude, has severe winters. The Mediterranean Sea has a strong influence in Europe and Africa climate. The data is from October 1992.
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In 1998, the Year of the
Ocean, I will be continuing to work on the Mediterranean Sea
using a new type of sea surface temperature data we are producing
with the NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center
(PO.DAAC). These data, called Pathfinder SST, provide more
coverage than was previously available. In addition, the data
have been processed with a consistent algorithm so that
they can be used to compare sea surface temperatures from
one year to the next.
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Figure 4. Fishermen harvesting shellfish in the Mediterranean Sea.
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