What is atmospheric heat flux?

Surface heat flux is exchange of heat, per unit area, crossing the surface between the ocean and the atmosphere. It consists of the turbulent (latent and sensible) and the radiative (short wave and long wave) components.

What is meridional heat transfer?

Introduction. The maximum meridional heat transport (MHTMAX) in a climate system that is in equilibrium is equal to the net radiative surplus integrated over the tropics or, equivalently, the net radiative deficit integrated over the extratropics (Vonder Haar and Oort 1973).

What does positive heat flux mean?

The flows of energy in the maps are in terms of loss/gain to the Earth’s surface. So, a positive latent heat flux means water is condensing onto the surface. A positive sensible heat flux means heat is flowing from the atmosphere to the surface.

What is ocean flux?

Surface heat flux is exchange of heat, per unit area, crossing the surface between the ocean and the atmosphere. It consists of the turbulent and the radiative components.

What are the units of heat flux in SI?

Heat flux. In SI its units are watts per square metre (W⋅m −2 ). It has both a direction and a magnitude, and so it is a vector quantity. To define the heat flux at a certain point in space, one takes the limiting case where the size of the surface becomes infinitesimally small.

Which is the correct definition of meridional flow?

Meridional means “along a longitudinal circle ” (a.k.a. meridian) or “in the north–south direction” . Meridional flow is a general air flow pattern from north to south, or from south to north, along the Earth’s longitude lines (perpendicular to a zonal flow ).

How is heat flux defined as a vector quantity?

It has both a direction and a magnitude, and so it is a vector quantity. To define the heat flux at a certain point in space, one takes the limiting case where the size of the surface becomes infinitesimally small. Heat flux is often denoted, the subscript q specifying heat flux, as opposed to mass or momentum flux.

When do you use the word flux in physics?

Relativistic heat conduction. The word “flux” is used in most physical disciplines to refer to the flow of a quantity (mass, heat, momentum, etc.) across a surface per unit time per unit area, with the primary exception being in electromagnetism, where it refers to the integral of a vector quantity through an surface.