Heat transport

Transfer of thermal energy between regions. In a constant-property thermal Boussinesq approximation, the advective heat flux per unit area is ${\rho }_0{c}_{p}T\mathbf{u}$ and transport across a section is its normal component integrated over that section. With zero net volume transport, adding a constant reference temperature does not change that integral. Otherwise the reference and the return-flow budget must be specified. Atmospheric energy transport also includes latent heat and gravitational potential energy.

The component of heat transport crossing a latitude. A poleward transport is northward in the Northern Hemisphere and southward in the Southern Hemisphere. Equal and opposite volume transports can carry net heat when the poleward branch is warmer. For eddies, the corresponding transport is determined by the correlation of meridional velocity and temperature anomalies, closely related to eddy buoyancy flux in a thermal Boussinesq approximation.