Air–Sea Interactions in Light of New Understanding of Air–Land Interactions

• Published in: Journal of the atmospheric sciences 2016-10, Vol.73 (10), p.3931-3949
• Main Authors: Sun, Jielun, French, Jeffrey R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerodynamics; Air temperature; Air-sea interaction; Aircraft; Atmosphere; Atmospheric turbulence; Boundary layers; Density stratification; Drag; Drag coefficient; Drag coefficients; Dynamics; Eddies; Gravitational waves; Heat exchange; Heat transfer; Hockey; Interactions; Moisture; Momentum; Momentum transfer; Ocean currents; Sea currents; Sea surface; Sea surface roughness; Sea surface temperature; Similarity; Similarity theory; Stratification; Studies; Surface roughness; Surface temperature; Surface water waves; Temperature differences; Temperature effects; Temperature variations; Turbulent heat transfer; Turbulent mixing; Vortices; Wave dynamics; Wind; Wind shear; Wind speed; Winds
• ISSN: 0022-4928; 1520-0469
• DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-15-0354.1

Air–sea interactions are investigated using the data from the Coupled Boundary Layers Air–Sea Transfer experiment under low wind (CBLAST-Low) and the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE) over sea and compared with measurements from the 1999 Cooperative Atmosphere–Surface Exchange Study (CASES-99) over land. Based on the concept of the hockey-stick transition (HOST) hypothesis, which emphasizes contributions of large coherent eddies in atmospheric turbulent mixing that are not fully captured by Monin–Obukhov similarity theory, relationships between the atmospheric momentum transfer and the sea surface roughness, and the role of the sea surface temperature (SST) and oceanic waves in the turbulent transfer of atmospheric momentum, heat, and moisture, and variations of drag coefficient Cd(z) over sea and land with wind speed V are studied. In general, the atmospheric turbulence transfers over sea and land are similar except under weak winds and near the sea surface when wave-induced winds and oceanic currents are relevant to wind shear in generating atmospheric turbulence. The transition of the atmospheric momentum transfer between the stable and the near-neutral regimes is different over land and sea owing to the different strength and formation of atmospheric stable stratification. The relationship between the air–sea temperature difference and the turbulent heat transfer over sea is dominated by large air temperature variations compared to the slowly varying SST. Physically, Cd(z) consists of the surface skin drag and the turbulence drag between z and the surface; the increase of the latter with decreasing V leads to the minimum Cd(z), which is observed, but not limited to, over sea.