[A-AS02] From weather predictability to controllability

[AAS02-P09] Effectiveness of Artificial Ocean Upwelling and Downwelling Systems in Weather Modification

*Alexander V. Soloviev¹ (1.Nova Southeastern University)

Keywords:weather controllability, artificial upwelling and downwelling, wave-inertia pump, computational fluid dynamics, arid and semiarid environment, green infrastructure

The upper ocean is an important component of climate and climate change. The heat capacity of only a few meters of the ocean water is equivalent to the heat capacity of the entire atmosphere. An artificial upwelling or downwelling system utilizing the energy of surface waves is a potential tool for weather controllability. The device operates by using the energy of surface waves to create an upward or downflow flow of water in the vertical tube. Such a system, which can be classified as a wave inertia pump (Vershinsky et al. 1987, Soloviev 2016) can bring cold water from below the thermocline to the sea surface or vice versa. Here we calculate the effectiveness of artificial upwelling or downwelling systems using the computational fluid dynamics tool ANSYS Fluent (Fig. 1). One potential applications of the artificial upwelling and downwelling system is to modify the climate in the Levant to increase winter rains. Tsvetkov and Assaf (1980) found a statistically significant correlation between the heat content of the coastal Mediterranean accumulated during the summertime and the precipitation for the corresponding period of time from November-December to March-April for Jerusalem. These authors suggested using an artificial upwelling system to increase the heat content of the coastal Mediterranean during the summertime. Our analysis, however, suggests that an artificial downwelling system can be more effective. In the long-term, this system installed a few miles offshore of the Israel coast of the Mediterranean Sea is expected to support green infrastructure in the arid and semiarid environments and advance agriculture, forestry, and farming in the Levant by increasing rain rates during the winter season.
Soloviev, A.V., 2016: Ocean Upwelling System Utilizing Energy of Surface Waves. Tech-Ocean 2016, Kobe, Japan, 6-8 October 2016.
Tzvetkov, T., and Assaf, G., 1980: The Mediterranean Heat Storage and Israeli Precipitation. Water Resources Research (18), 1036-1040.
Vershinsky, N.V., Pshenichnyy, and A.V. Soloviev, 1987: Artificial upwelling using the energy of surface waves. Oceanology 27(3), 400-402.