Atmospheric Convection and Air–Sea Interactions over the Tropical Oceans: Scientific Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities

• Published in: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 2020-03, Vol.101 (3), p.E253-E258
• Main Authors: Hagos, Samson, Foltz, Gregory R., Zhang, Chidong, Thompson, Elizabeth, Seo, Hyodae, Chen, Sue, Capotondi, Antonietta, Reed, Kevin A., DeMott, Charlotte, Protat, Alain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advection; Aerosol properties; Air; Air entrainment; Air-sea flux; Air-sea interaction; Anomalies; Atmosphere; Atmospheric boundary layer; Atmospheric convection; Autonomous vehicles; Boundary layers; Cloud formation; Cloud microphysics; Clouds; Cold pools; Convection; Covariance; El Nino; Entrainment; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Fronts; Heat; Microphysics; Momentum; Ocean currents; Oceans; Precipitation; Radiation; Rivers; Salinity; Satellites; Sea surface; Sea surface temperature; Surface temperature; Surface wind; Temperature (air-sea); Temperature anomalies; Temperature measurement; Thermocline; Tropical climate; Troposphere; Upper ocean; Vertical advection; Winds
• ISSN: 0003-0007; 1520-0477
• DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0261.1

There has been tremendous progress in our understanding of atmospheric convection and air-sea interaction, much more than can be summarized in this report. [...]this report will discuss only a sample of results most relevant to key science questions and recommendations. In particular, vertical advection of subsurface temperature anomalies (i.e., thermocline feedback) has been identified as the key mechanism for sea surface temperature (SST) variations over the eastern equatorial Pacific, where the thermocline is normally shallower (Capotondi et al. 2015), while zonal advection near the eastern edge of the warm pool appears to be most relevant to central Pacific warming. Advancements are needed to improve understanding of the net effect of small-scale phenomena (e.g., atmospheric boundary layer response to SST fronts and ocean mesoscale variability, atmospheric cold pools, precipitation- or river-induced surface freshening, cloud microphysics, the coupled atmosphere-wave boundary layer in the presence of swell and wind sea, and entrainment of environmental air into convection) on convection transitions, organization, and the formation of high clouds and their implications for the top-of-the-atmosphere radiative balance. The key requirements are large-scale spatial coverage (such as matching satellite footprints and across portions of mooring arrays) in tandem with localized high-spatiotemporal-resolution measurements of temperature, salinity, and currents in the upper ocean; the measurements of surface winds, waves, and lower-tropospheric variables as well as direct covariance measurements of heat, moisture, and momentum fluxes at the air-sea interface; the 3D dynamic and thermodynamic structures, cloud, radiation, and aerosol properties in the atmospheric boundary layer and throughout the troposphere, as well as precipitation.