Air-Sea Interaction in Regions of Varying Surface Conditions

Abstract

Abstract : The Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment (FASINEX) was a field experiment that was primarily performed in the Fall of 1985 and Spring of 1986 in the vicinity of the subtropical oceanic front south of Bermuda. The chief goal of this project was to develop an understanding of the behavior of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) in the vicinity of the FASINEX SST front. There were two major components to this work: (1) To study turbulent fluxes and other turbulent statistics in the vicinity of the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) front as measured by FASINEX aircraft. Special statistical methods were devised and used to show how these quantities change near the SST front; and (2) To study the structure of the MABL in by analysis of results from a two dimensional numerical model. MABL structure was examined as a function of the direction of the synoptic scale geostrophic wind relative to the front. We also looked at the secondary circulations induced in the MABL by the SST front.