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The surface energy budget
What does this look like on a map?
Sensible and latent heat fluxes cannot be directly measured, but they can be calculated using the temperature and moisture content of the air at the Earth's surface and just above it along with the wind speed just above the surface.
Look at the latent and sensible heat flux maps below. They are a combination of observations and computer model output. 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 negative latent heat flux means water is evaporating from the surface.
A positive sensible heat flux means heat is flowing from the atmosphere to the surface.
A negative sensible heat flux means heat is flowing from the surface to the atmosphere.
Next page -> daytime fluxes
Links and resources
What does this look like on a map?
Sensible and latent heat fluxes cannot be directly measured, but they can be calculated using the temperature and moisture content of the air at the Earth's surface and just above it along with the wind speed just above the surface.
Look at the latent and sensible heat flux maps below. They are a combination of observations and computer model output. 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 negative latent heat flux means water is evaporating from the surface.
A positive sensible heat flux means heat is flowing from the atmosphere to the surface.
A negative sensible heat flux means heat is flowing from the surface to the atmosphere.
Next page -> daytime fluxes
Links and resources
