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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 9, SEPTEMBER 1991

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE

Item #d91sep14

"Examining Several Southern Ocean Data Sets," C.R. McClain (Code 971, NASA-Goddard, Greenbelt MD 20771), C.J. Koblinsky et al., Eos, 72(33), 345; 351, Aug. 13, 1991. Describes the merging of several data sets; simple analyses are presented as examples of how a variety of data can be combined and used in interdisciplinary research.

Item #d91sep15

"Current and Future Ocean-Observing Systems," J.K. Lewis (Sci. Applic. Intl., 207 S. Seashore Ave., Long Beach MS 39560), R.M. Passi, Eos, 72(31), 329; 333-334, July 30, 1991. Presents conclusions and recommendations relating to observing system simulation experiments for numerical models of the ocean.

Item #d91sep16

Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 72(7), July 1991.

"Legacy of the Seasat Mission for Studies of the Atmosphere and Air-Sea-Ice Interactions," K.B. Katsaros (Dept. Atmos. Sci., AK-40, Univ. Washington, Seattle WA 98195), R.A. Brown, 967-981. Reviews results from the polar-orbiting Seasat satellite, and discusses lessons that can be applied to EOS observations over the next decade, such as the value of integrated, overlapping sampling by several instruments.

"A Storm Climatology Database with Applications in Regional and Global Change Studies," R.C. Daniels (Environ. Sci. Div., Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Oak Ridge TN 37831), K.R. Birdwell, 1005-1007. Describes a new digital climatological data base.

Item #d91sep17

"Role of Eddy Pumping in Enhancing Primary Production in the Ocean," P.G. Falkowski (Brookhaven Nat. Lab, Upton NY 11973), D. Ziemann et al., Nature, 352(6330), 55-58, July 4, 1991.

The enhancement of production by a cyclonic eddy in the subtropical Pacific is examined with instrumentation that overcomes the sampling problem. Eddy pumping markedly stimulates primary production, but results suggest that eddy pumping enhances primary production by only about 20%.

Item #d91sep18

"Rapid Transitions of the Ocean's Deep Circulation Induced by Changes in Surface Water Fluxes," T.F. Stocker (Lamont-Doherty Geolog. Observ., Columbia Univ., Palisades NY 10964), D.G. Wright, Nature, 351(6329), 729-732, June 27, 1991.

An idealized model shows that a small decrease in the atmospheric flux of fresh water from the Atlantic to the Pacific could force the thermohaline circulation to switch between two stable modes, a result consistent with reconstructions of conditions in the Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial period obtained from deep-sea cores.

Item #d91sep19

"Spaceborne Observation of Columnar Water Vapor: SSMI Observations and Algorithm," S.A. Tjemkes (Dept. Atmos. Sci., Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins CO 80523), G.L. Stephens, D.L. Jackson, J. Geophys. Res., 96(D6), 10,941-10,954, June 20, 1991. Describes a new method for the retrieval of columnar water vapor in the moist atmosphere and compares results with radiosonde data.

Item #d91sep20

"The Mid-Cretaceous Super Plume, Carbon Dioxide, and Global Warming," K. Caldeira (Dept. Geosci., Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Pk. PA 16802), M.R. Rampino, Geophys. Res. Lett., 18(6), 987-990, June 1991. Develops a carbonate-silicate model to quantify the possible climatic effects of CO₂ releases associated with a super plume, which has been suggested as a principal cause of mid-Cretaceous global warming.

Item #d91sep21

"Is the Greenhouse Gas-Climate Signal Hiding in the Deep Ocean?" (editorial), Clim. Change, 18(4), iii-vi, June 1991. Explains the likelihood that the signal is concealed in ocean intermediate waters, having reached there by heat transfer from the surface layers, and discusses the data needed to test this hypothesis.

Item #d91sep22

Special Issue: "Remote Sensing Applications in Marine and Coastal Research," GeoJournal, 24(1), May 1991. Contains 13 papers on a variety of topics, including remote sensing of substances in water and the role of remote sensing in international programs of ocean research and monitoring.

Item #d91sep23

"Hydrologic Science: A Distinct Geoscience," P.S. Eagleson (Dept. Civil Eng., Mass. Inst. Technol., Cambridge MA 02139), Rev. Geophys., 92(2), 237-248, May 1991.

Because of the multidisciplinary nature of hydrologic science, an infrastructure has not developed and a coherent understanding of water's role in the planetary-scale behavior of the Earth system is missing. Arguments supporting these points, along with recommended scientific priorities are summarized as proposed by the National Research Committee on Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences.

Item #d91sep24

"Satellite-Image-Derived Velocity Field of an Antarctic Ice Stream," R.A. Bindschadler (NASA-Goddard, Code 971, Greenbelt MD 20771), T.A. Scambos, Science, 252(5003), 242-246, Apr. 12, 1991.

The surface velocity of a rapidly moving ice stream has been determined to high accuracy and spatial density with sequential satellite imagery. Results negate the concept of plug flow and call into question earlier mass-balance calculations for this and other ice streams where sparse velocity data were used.

Item #d91sep25

"Warming in the Arctic," D. Quadfasel (Inst. Meeresrkunde, 2 Hamburg 54, Ger.), A. Sy et al., Nature, 350(6317), 385, Apr. 4, 1991. Observations of Arctic sea ice fluctuations underscore the need to carefully monitor heat fluctuations in this region because of its vulnerability to global climate changes.

Item #d91sep26

"Marine Aerosols: A Review," J.W. Fitzgerald (Atmos. Phys. Branch, Naval Res. Lab., Washington DC 20375), Atmos. Environ., 25A(3-4), 533-545, 1991.

Presents an up-to-date description of knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of aerosols in clean marine air, including the emission of dimethylsulfide by the ocean and its possible effect on cloud condensation nuclei concentrations, cloud albedo and climate.

Item #d91sep27

"Using Secondary Data Sources," N.B. Guttman (Nat. Clim. Data Ctr., Asheville NC 28801), Clim. Change, 18(1), 95-105, Jan. 1991.

Presents guidelines for scrutinizing data compiled by someone other than the researcher. Applications of the principles include an analysis of some statistical considerations of the adjustment procedure used in developing a new climatic data set that was compiled for detecting and monitoring climatic change.