Records of Surface Meteorological Elements and theirApplications in Alexandria Eastern Harbour, Egypt

Records of Surface Meteorological Elements and theirApplications in Alexandria Eastern Harbour, Egypt

Tarek M. El-Geziry

طارق محمد الجزيري

Marine Environment Division – Physical Oceanography Lab (NIOF)

Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 2021, 7 (3): 155-170

https://www.athensjournals.gr/ajms

(NotIndexed in Scopus)

Abstract:

The surface meteorological elements, namely: air temperature, wind regime (speed and direction), dew point temperature, relative humidity and atmosphericpressure were considered; to describe the general meteorological conditionsover Alexandria Eastern Harbour (AEH). These conditions were then applied tocalculate some important physical properties of the Harbour’s surface waters:sea surface temperature (SST), the evaporation rates and the net surface heatflux. The period of investigation extended from 01.01.2019 to 31.12.2020. Theair temperature distribution over AEH reflected a seasonal variability withhigher values in spring/summer and lower records in autumn/winter. Thedominant wind direction was NNW with more than 40% occurrence and theaverage wind speed was 4.11 m/s. The inverse relationship between atmosphericpressure and air temperature was clear. The SST over the study period showedthe same seasonal pattern in the air temperature. The mean daily evaporationfrom AEH surface water follows the pattern of air temperature variations to aconsiderable extent. The maximum mean monthly evaporation of 14 cm (0.14m) occurred in July and August, while the minimum of 6 cm (0.06 m) occurredin January. This was associated with a volume loss of 0.389×10⁶ m³ in July andof 0.171×10⁶ m³ in January from AEH surface waters. The solar radiation (Qs) reached its maximum value in May (383 Wm^-2) and its lowest value in September (285Wm^-2). The net surface heat in AEH (Qnet) showed a gain in four successivemonths: March-June, and a loss in the remaining period: July-September.

Keywords: Alexandria Eastern Harbour, meteorological elements, SST, evaporation, surface heat flux

Corresponding author e-mail:[email protected]