Air-sea temp difference

[Eric Altshuler]

Hello P.Romero,

You should use 2-meter temperature from GFS to represent the near-surface air temperature. Over water, the surface (skin) temperature in GFS is equal to the SST that is being used in GFS. Over land, the skin temperature is calculated from the surface energy budget, while the 2-meter temperature is a simulated shelter temperature, so it is a better representation of the near-surface air temperature.

Best regards,

Eric L. Altshuler
Assistant Research Scientist
Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies
4041 Powder Mill Road, Suite 302
Calverton, MD 20705-3106
USA

E-mail: ela at cola.iges.org
Phone: (301) 902-1257
Fax: (301) 595-9793

----- Original Message -----
From: "P.R." <romero619 at HOTMAIL.COM>
To: GRADSUSR at LIST.CINECA.IT
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 12:59:08 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Air-sea temp difference

Hello,
General meteorological question:
I need to calculate the 'air-sea temp difference', using the most recent SST
and GFS data, and then export this data to a binary file.

I don't know which temperature field from the GFS model should be used to
calculate this difference, (from the GFS, should I use the '2 meter air
temp',the 'surface air temp',etc. ???).
Does anyone have experience with generating this type of data (the 'air-sea
temp. difference')???

Also, any tips on how to quickly generate this difference within grads would
be appreciated.

Please help,
Thanks,
P.Romero