Heat budget of the central American seas

Abstract

The oceanic heat budget of the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Stream region, Caribbean Sea, and Eastern North Pacific is calculated on the basis of ship observations during 1911-70. Net radiation largely follows the pattern of cloudiness, apart from its latitudinal dependence. Latent and sensible heat flux is largest in the Gulf Stream domain during winter, when sea-air temperature contrasts are most pronounced; smallest values are found in the cold water regions along the North Coast of South America. For the year as a whole, the ocean imports heat at the rate of 24, 43 and 3 W m-2 in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Stream region, and Caribbean Sea, respectively, but exports 13 W m-2 from the Eastern North Pacific.