Waters Off Japan Coast Getting Superheated By Unknown Source?

I don't think the map is showing actual temperatures. There is a link available on that page (in the "select data type" box) that takes you to one where they show selected regions of the world with temperatures input from buoys (in degrees C) and they don't go anywhere the numbers on the page the OP refers to.

I've dug around a bit but haven't yet located info to explain what NLOM means. All I know is it's the "Navy Layered Ocean Model".

If we can clarify what that means then it'll al become clear. Hopefully!

Mike

Originally posted by TechUnique

Originally posted by JustMike
[snipped as it's right above this post]

I'm really confused, now even more so than before

Being confused is pretty common, but admitting to it is a positive.

...And you ain't alone! I'm also trying to figure this out. Digging further, it seems the NLOM might be modelling oceanic currents at various depths or layers. There's this page at Ocean-Modeling (dot) org that refers to NLOM and several other ocean models.

I tend to think this is a likely answer, because when there are typhoons/hurricanes/cyclones -- which are all the same thing and only named differently based on their region -- there is greater current activity in local areas and Japan, for example tends to get affected by them on its southern coastal regions. And that could fit in with what the map shows. Also, the Mediterreanean is well above freezing, so that map is not showing temperature there: it has rather stable layers and they only change when a large storm goes through and none are present there right now.

The scale shown on the NLOM possibly indicates a relative rate of change in current activity over LTA (long-term average/s) and in that case it would be very useful not only for following surface weather, but eg inputs from rivers into oceans during major floods and the like.

Just my take on it but I'd say what we're seeing off Japan is likely weather related rather than eg tectonic/volcanic based.

Mike

Originally posted by MDDoxs
[snippy snip] ...if ocean temps were to raise to dramatically as depicted in the image a few posts up i think we would be seeing some significant environemental and weather issues.

edit on 10-9-2012 by MDDoxs because: (no reason given)

You are not wrong there! We'd be seeing massive environmental and weather issues. "The Perfect Storm" would probably not even come close to it!

reply to post by PowerDown

The data doesn't say "it's boiling there". That was just an assumption suggested by the OP but was not given as definitive. If it was boiling or even near it -- and across such a huge area -- we'd be hearing about this all over the place and (as another member pointed out) there'd be major environmental issues as well.

It seems it really is just a model of ocean current layers. There is a temp factor in the model but it looks like it's primarily dealing with water movement. I found an article in the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology here on the NLOM that discusses this in some detail and though much of it is very technical it seems to support the idea that it's about currents and their layers. For example, under "Model Description" it says:

One of the major advantages of NLOM over other types of OGCMs such as z-level and sigma-coordinate models is its lower computational cost for the same model domain and horizontal resolution. One reason is that we can use lower vertical resolution to realistically represent the ocean circulation.

So, we don't have to worry that NLOM shows large regions of the oceans at very high temperatures. It just shows how the water is swirling around or moving along in current patterns.

Best regards,

Mike