Energy and the Ocean & Sea Surface Temperature

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms on thermal energy, laws of thermodynamics, heat capacity, heat transfer methods, surface ocean currents, prevailing winds, and oceanographic measurement instruments.

Sea Surface Temperature (SST)

An energy measurement that provides the temperature of the uppermost layer of ocean water.

Thermal Energy

The internal energy of matter resulting from the constant vibration and movement of its constituent atoms and molecules.

Temperature

A measure of the average thermal movement or kinetic energy of all the atoms, molecules, or ions in a substance.

Absolute Zero

The temperature at which matter possesses no thermal energy, equal to $-273.15\,^\circ\text{C}$ ($\approx -459.67\,^\circ\text{F}$) or $0\,\text{K}$.

Heat Capacity

The quantity of energy required to increase or decrease the temperature of a unit of a substance by a given amount.

Heat Sink

A major environment or reservoir that absorbs and stores large amounts of heat energy, such as Earth's ocean.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The physical law stating that thermal energy spontaneously flows from an object of higher temperature to an object of lower temperature until thermal equilibrium is reached.

Thermal Equilibrium

The balanced state reached when two objects in contact reach equal temperatures and net thermal energy exchange stops.

Conduction

The transfer of thermal energy between substances that are in direct physical contact with one another.

Convection

The transfer of thermal energy through the circulation of a liquid or gas, driven by density differences resulting from unequal heating.

Radiation

The transfer of heat energy through space in the form of light or electromagnetic waves.

Conductor

A material that transfers thermal energy efficiently with minimal energy loss.

Insulator

A material that conducts thermal energy poorly and prevents or resists heat transfer.

Law of Conservation of Energy

Also known as the First Law of Thermodynamics, it states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed.

Isolated System

A system that cannot exchange energy or matter with its external environment.

Closed System

A system that exchanges energy, but not matter, with an external environment (such as the Earth system).

Open System

A system that freely exchanges both energy and matter with an external environment (such as the human body).

Isolines

Lines drawn on a map or chart that separate categories of data or connect points of equal data values.

Isotherms

Specific isolines on a map that connect points of equal temperature.

Isobars

Specific isolines on a map that connect points of equal atmospheric or air pressure.

Radiometer

An instrument equipped with microwave or infrared sensors, flown aboard satellites to collect sea surface temperature data.

Buoy

A floating device anchored or drifting in water that collects local physical, oceanic, and atmospheric data.

Surface Currents

Moving ocean water masses within the upper $400\,\text{m}$ (approximately $1,300\,\text{ft}$) of the ocean, driven by prevailing winds and density differences.

Prevailing Winds

Persistent, large-scale air currents in Earth's atmosphere that blow continuously in dominant directions.

Trade Winds

Persistent prevailing winds that blow in tropical regions located between the Equator and the Tropics.

Prevailing Westerlies

Prevailing atmospheric winds located above the tropics that blow generally from West to East.

Coriolis Effect

The deflection of moving objects, air, and ocean currents caused by Earth's rotation (deflecting to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere).

Gyre

A large, circular system of rotating ocean surface currents driven by prevailing winds, the Coriolis Effect, and landmass boundaries.

Front

The boundary line separating two distinct ocean water masses (or air masses) that differ in temperature, density, or salinity.

Gulf Stream

A swift, warm surface current originating in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, flowing northward along the U.S. East Coast before crossing the Atlantic towards Europe.

Rice's Whale

A critically endangered species of baleen whale endemic to the Gulf of Mexico (formerly classified as a Gulf of Mexico Bryde's whale) with fewer than 100 estimated individuals remaining.

SeaWinds

A specialized radar instrument onboard NASA's QuikScat satellite used to measure wind speed and direction across the globe.

10-50 Rule

A simple temperature conversion rule stating that $10\,^\circ\text{C} = 50\,^\circ\text{F}$, where every addition of $5\,^\circ\text{C}$ corresponds to an addition of $9\,^\circ\text{F}$.