Abstract ATM-9400694 Keeling, Ralph University of California, San Diego Title: Remote Sensing of Large-Scale Air-Sea Heat Fluxes Based on Ultra Precise Measurements of the Atmospheric Kr/N2 Ratio In this proposal,a method is proposed for detecting changes in the global heat storage in the oceans, based on measuring changes in the relative abundance of atmospheric insert gases. The insert gas ratios are sensitive to ocean temperature through the temperature dependence of their solubilities in sea water. The heavier insert gases are preferentially released to the air as ocean warms. The insert gas ratios Ar/N2 and Xe/N2 are to be measured to a very high precision for feasibility demonstration. This idea is novel, simple and addresses a fundamental issue of climate variability nd change.
