Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Marine Science

College

College of Science

First Advisor

Erin E. Hackett

Abstract/Description

The marine atmospheric surface layer (MASL), defined as the lowest ~100 m of the atmosphere overlying the ocean, is a complicated environment influenced by air-sea interactions and regional  weather patterns. In the absence of air motion, air pressure in the MASL decreases with altitude at  a constant rate due to the reduction in weight of the overlying air column. This relationship is  defined by a linear hydrostatic equation and is applied under the assumption that any dynamic  vertical pressure gradients will be small relative to the hydrostatic pressure gradient. The  hydrostatic assumption is commonly applied in the MASL despite the complex dynamics in this region  that could cause pressure to deviate from hydrostatic. It is prudent to revisit the hydrostatic  assumption, especially as it pertains to new technologies with higher spatiotemporal resolution  whose accuracy may be sensitive to even small deviations from hydrostatic pressure. This study  compares vertical atmospheric pressure profiles to those based on the hydrostatic assumption at a  standardized air density. This evaluation is conducted using verified non-hydrostatic numerical  weather prediction forecasts and in-situ data within the MASL. Pressure residuals between the  hydrostatic-modeled pressures and data pressures are evaluated. Vertical atmospheric pressure  gradients are estimated, and percent deviations from a hydrostatic pressure gradient are computed  and compared across latitudes and seasons. These deviations are used to evaluate their impact on  calculated atmospheric refractivity and its vertical gradient to assess the sensitivity of derived  quantities, which are relevant to novel technologies (Hackett et al., 2025), to the hydrostatic  assumption. Results from all datasets show that pressure gradient deviations are relatively small. The largest deviations occur at low latitudes and during frontal passages. Error in refractivity  due to deviations from hydrostatic pressure is generally small, except where there are very small refractive gradients.

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