A study of the evolution of the surface heat flux off the southeast coast of the United States during a cold air outbreak using satellite remote sensing data

Attention is given to the contribution of the marine boundary layer to storm development via a study of the evolution of the spatial distribution of the heat flux during a cold-air outburst (CAO) which occurred during the GALE Field Program period in a 550,000-sq-km area off the southeast coast of the United States. The study focuses on a CAO that occurred in the period February 24-26, 1986. During the CAO, the area averaged total surface heat flux ranged from 190 W/sq m to 1114 W/sq m. The high value was characterized by a lower average surface air and dew-point temperatures and a higher average surface wind speed. In general, the surface heat flux increased as the sea-surface temperatures on the continental shelf increased. It reached the maximum over the Gulf Stream, and then decreased over the eastern portions of the Gulf Stream and over the Sargasso Sea. The configuration conforms with some of the earlier findings of Bane and Osgoode (1989) and Blanton et al. (1989).