Heat Budget of the Coastal Water of Kuwait: a Preliminary Study

The surface heat fluxes through the air-sea interface for the coastal water of Kuwait have been estimated using the bulk formulas. The annual mean values of sensible, latent and infrared radiation fluxes are 19, -153 and -50 W m-2 respectively. The annual mean of recorded solar radiations is 212 W m-2, thus, giving an annual heat flux surplus of 28 W m-2. This suggests that the north-western region of the Arabian Gulf is an area of net heating of the surface water column, in contrast to the Gulf as a whole, where there is a net cooling of the surface water.