Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer Research Articles

Wind stress modification by offshore wind turbines: A numerical study of wave blocking impacts

Offshore wind energy, as a clean and renewable resource, offers numerous advantages over onshore wind energy due to higher wind speeds and greater turbine capacity. However, the inadequate representation of wave-atmosphere interaction within the marine-atmospheric boundary layer may constrain wind resource assessments and, consequently, the design and layout of offshore wind turbines. By using the third-generation spectral wave model WAVEWATCH III, high-resolution numerical experiments which are capable of resolving the wind turbine foundation have been conducted to explore the blocking impact of wind turbine foundation on downstream wind stress. The findings provided significant insights into the factors influencing this effect, including foundation diameter, sea state, water depth, and wave directional spreading. Specifically, higher model resolution enables a more detailed characterization of wind stress distribution behind wind turbines. Increasing the foundation diameter resulted in a reduction of downstream wind stress. Notably, changes in wind stress exhibit a strong dependence on the sea state. The use of double periodic boundary conditions for the simulation domain enables an approximate representation of the entire wind farm by using a single turbine. Model results indicate that after waves pass through 20 turbines, domain-averaged wind stress decreases by approximately 3%, a figure that increases to 6% after passing through 50 turbines. The findings suggest the need to explore to what extent the changes in wind stress can alter wind profiles and how to parameterize the blocking impact of turbine foundations in wave models. This could have significant implications for wind farm site selection and layout design.

Oceanic eddy with submesoscale edge drives intense air-sea exchanges and beyond

Oceanic mesoscale eddies influence air-sea interaction and atmosphere dynamics through ventilating heat and moisture upward. However, whether the sea surface temperature (SST) gradient on the eddy edge could affect the heat and moisture release is still unknown because of the limited observations and coarse-resolution climate models. Using high-resolution atmospheric simulations, this study compares the atmospheric response to the mesoscale (~ 40 km) and submesoscale (~ 4 km) SST gradients at the edge of an eddy. Results show that submesoscale SST gradient drives stronger surface heat and moisture fluxes, enhancing the vertical mixing intensity by 2–3 times within and above the marine atmospheric boundary layer. As a result, one local precipitation event is found to be an order of magnitude larger overlying the eddy. Our findings highlight the importance of resolving oceanic submesoscale features for accurately predicting atmosphere dynamics and precipitation over the ocean.

In situ airborne measurements of atmospheric parameters and airborne sea surface properties related to offshore wind parks in the German Bight during the project X-Wakes

Abstract. Between 14 March 2020 and 11 September 2021, meteorological measurement flights were conducted above the German Bight in the framework of the project X-Wakes. The scope of the measurements was to study the transition of the wind field and atmospheric stability from the coast to the sea, to study the interaction of wind park wakes, and to study the large-scale modification of the marine atmospheric boundary layer by the presence of wind parks. In total, 49 measurement flights were performed with the research aircraft Dornier 128 of the Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig during different seasons and different stability conditions. Seven of the flights in the time period from 24 to 30 July 2021 were organised using a second research aircraft, the Cessna F406 of TU Braunschweig. The instrumentation of both aircraft consisted of a nose boom with sensors for measuring the wind vector, temperature and humidity and, additionally, a surface temperature sensor. The Dornier 128 was further equipped with a laser scanner for deriving sea state properties and two downward-looking cameras in the visible and infrared wavelength range. The Cessna F406 was additionally equipped with shortwave and longwave broadband radiation sensors for measuring upward and downward solar and terrestrial radiation. A detailed overview of the aircraft, sensors, data post-processing and flight patterns is provided here. Further, averaged profiles of atmospheric parameters illustrate the range of conditions. The potential use of the dataset has been already shown by the first few publications. The data of both aircraft are publicly available on the world data centre PANGAEA at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.955382 (Rausch et al., 2023a).

Turbulent characteristics of momentum flux in the marine atmospheric boundary layer of North Bay of Bengal

We use a 16-month-long, 20 Hz wind data from a mooring deployed in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) to study the characteristics of turbulent wind stress (u′w′)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}{w}{\\prime})$$\\end{document} events in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). Quadrant analysis of the motion-corrected u′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}$$\\end{document} and w′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${w}{\\prime}$$\\end{document} suggests that sweep and ejections, representing downward stress transfer into the ocean, dominate the u′w′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}{w}{\\prime}$$\\end{document} (~ 140%). In comparison, outward and inward interactions representing an upward stress transfer into the atmosphere provide the counter-contribution (~ 40%). We found a wind speed (ws) dependency on stress transfer for ws > 3 m/s, while for low ws, the swell-dominated ocean state modulates the u′w′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}{w}{\\prime}$$\\end{document} with a significant reverse stress transfer into the atmosphere, especially during intermonsoon periods. It is found that for weak winds (ws\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ws$$\\end{document}< 3 m/s), the number of turbulent events (N) is less, but they frequently repeat with more considerable flux per event (f^)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\widehat{f})$$\\end{document}, with outward and inward interactions (sweeps and ejections) dominating during intermonsoon periods (monsoon periods). For medium to strong winds, sweeps and ejections dominate u′w′.\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}{w}{\\prime}.$$\\end{document} Ejections are found to be the most efficient method of stress transfer in the BoB, contributing 80% of u′w′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}{w}{\\prime}$$\\end{document}, compared to sweeps contributing ~ 60% and interaction processes contributing ~ − 20% each to the u′w′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${u}{\\prime}{w}{\\prime}$$\\end{document}. Though the duration of sweep events is larger than ejections and with comparable flux energy per event (f^\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\widehat{f}$$\\end{document}), the larger number N of ejection events makes it the dominant stress transfer mechanism in the Bay in all seasons.

A theoretical study of a radiofrequency wave propagation through a realistic turbulent marine atmospheric boundary layer based on large eddy simulation

This study aims at modeling and investigating the impact of realistic turbulence inhomogeneity on radiowave propagation by utilizing large eddy simulations (LES). An up-to-date version of the X-LES method for generating realistic turbulent phase screens is first introduced. It combines atmospheric simulations with the classical Tatarski statistical modeling. This method naturally incorporates vertical turbulence inhomogeneity into phase screens at scales resolved by LES. It is then extended to sub-grid scales by weighting statistically generated phase variations with the vertical profile of the turbulent structure constant extracted from atmospheric data. This method is applied to replicate turbulence of a classical tropical marine atmospheric boundary layer. The impact of the generated medium on the propagation of a 10 GHz spherical wave emanating from a Gaussian aperture is analyzed through a statistical study of log-amplitude profiles performed for three different source altitudes. Results first show that contrary to a classical homogeneous turbulence modeling, log-amplitude profiles resulting from the propagation into inhomogeneous turbulence exhibit a statistical heterogeneity strongly dependent of source altitude. Furthermore, classical stochastic phase screen generation from a homogeneous Von-Kàrmàn Kolmogorov spectrum seems to give a statistically significant underestimation of the actual impact of turbulence compared to the X-LES method.

The Wave-Coherent Stress and Turbulent Structure over Swell Waves

Abstract The generation of ocean surface waves by wind has been studied for a century, giving rise to wave forecasting and other crucial applications. However, the reacting force of swell waves on the turbulence in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) remains unknown partly due to the unclear magnitude and profile of wave-coherent (WC) stress. In this study, the intersection frequency between the energy-containing range and inertial subrange range in the turbulent spectra is identified based on the attached eddy model (AEM), as the intersection modulated by swell wave could help to comprehend the physical process between the ocean surface wave and the marine ABL. Using observations from a fixed platform located in the South China Sea, this study shows that the intersection when the WC stress accounts for a lower proportion of the total wind stress (&lt;10%) follows U/(2πz) given by AEM, where U is the wind speed and z is the height. While the intersection depends on the drag coefficient of WC stress for the case, WC stress accounts for a large part of the total wind stress (&gt;10%). Considering the unclear magnitude and profile of WC stress, this study derives a new function to depict the WC stress. Significance Statement Turbulence located in the energy-containing range of the spectra is the primary source of momentum, heat, and water vapor fluxes between the ocean and marine atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Thus, a better understanding of the turbulent structure within the wave boundary layer can help us accurately parameterize those fluxes. In addition to absorbing energy from the marine ABL, waves, especially swell waves, influence the turbulent structure. However, until now, the turbulent structure is unclear due to the unclear wave-coherent stress size and profile. In this study, a function that can depict the wave-coherent stress is proposed. We found that the wave-coherent stress can modulate the intersection between the energy-containing range and the inertial subrange range in the turbulent spectra.

Parameterization of Wave‐Induced Stress in Large‐Eddy Simulations of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer

AbstractLarge‐eddy simulations (LES) of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) commonly utilize roughness length to parameterize wave effects on the sea surface. However, this method might not adequately capture the intricacies of wind‐wave interactions, especially in swell‐dominated conditions. In this study, we integrated a wave‐induced stress parameterization method into the open‐source LES code, PArallel Large‐eddy simulation Model (PALM), and assessed its performance under low wind conditions with varying wave ages and directions. Our method treats windsea effects as surface friction while employing an exponentially decaying profile to represent swell‐induced stress. We examined the model's sensitivity to wind and wave parameters and calibrated the wave damping rate values across various scenarios, leveraging data from wave‐phase‐resolved simulations and field measurements. The enhanced LES model with the proposed wave parameterization effectively reproduces wave‐influenced wind characteristics such as upward momentum flux, low‐level wind maximum, and negative wind gradients, showing good agreement with previous numerical and observational data. Moreover, our model accounts for wind‐wave misalignment scenarios by calculating each directional and spectral wave stress component individually and integrating them over the wave spectrum. We found that the swell‐induced stress is the dominant force in the wave boundary layer (WBL) with low wind speed, with its magnitude significantly varying with the wave direction relative to the wind. This variation influences the dynamic equilibrium within the WBL, modifying both wind shear and wind veer, and these effects persist up to the top of the boundary layer flow.

Satellite and in situ measurements of water vapour in the Brazil‐Malvinas Confluence region

AbstractThis decade‐long study from the INTERCONF programme addresses the data gap on ocean dynamics in the Southern Hemisphere. Focusing on the Brazil‐Malvinas Confluence (BMC), we investigated the effect of temperature differences between the warm Brazil Current (BC) and the cold Malvinas Current (MC) on water vapour in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). Our results show a clear distinction: warmer BMC waters have 32% more water vapour (2 kg·m−2 on average) compared to the MC. This highlights the direct link between ocean temperatures and atmospheric processes. Analysis of radiosonde data alongside satellite measurements showed better agreement over cooler waters with lower water vapour, leading to lower variability. This suggests less atmospheric turbulence and improved data compatibility, especially for satellite retrievals such as AIRS. Comparisons between reanalysis data (CFSR), satellite sounders (AIRS) and radiosondes (RS) showed consistent air temperature profiles, with average errors within the 10% threshold for satellite measurements. While capturing humidity variations remains a challenge, especially at high concentrations (indicated by higher mean squared error values), our study highlights the reliability of satellite data, particularly over the cold BMC region. This research highlights the importance of studying the interactions between ocean fronts and atmospheric phenomena for a complete picture of Southern Hemisphere ocean dynamics. It offers valuable insights for scientists across disciplines, providing a broad perspective on the results and their significance in different contexts.

Sensitivity of Coastal Squall-Line Evolution to Numerical Sea-Breeze Initialization Method

Abstract This study employs 3D idealized numerical experiments to investigate the physical processes associated with coastal convection initiation (CI) as an offshore-moving squall line traverses a mountainous coastal region. A squall line can propagate discretely as convection initiates over the lee slope downstream of the primary storm as the cold pool collides with a sea breeze. Intensity of the initiating convection, thus the downstream squall line, is sensitive to the sea-breeze numerical initialization method, since it influences sea-breeze and cold pool characteristics, instability and vertical wind shear in the sea-breeze environment, and ultimately the vertical acceleration of air parcels during CI. Here, sea breezes are generated through four commonly used numerical methods: a cold-block marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL), a prescribed surface sensible heat flux function, a prescribed surface sensible plus latent heat flux functions, and radiation plus surface-layer parameterization schemes. For MABL-initialized sea breezes, shallow weak sea-breeze flow in a relatively low instability environment results in weak CI. For the remainder, deeper stronger sea-breeze flow in an environment of enhanced instability supports more robust CI. In a subset of experiments, however, the vertical trajectory of air parcels is suppressed leading to weaker convection. Downward acceleration forms due to the horizontal rotation of the sea-breeze flow. Accurate simulations of coastal convective storms rely on an accurate representation of sea breezes. For idealized experiments such as the present simulations, a combination of initialization methods likely produces a more realistic representation of sea breeze and the associated physical processes.

Ocean Surface Warming and Cooling Responses and Feedback Processes Associated With Polar Lows Over the Nordic Seas

AbstractStrong surface winds induced by polar lows (PLs) may affect the upper ocean. However, understanding of the oceanic responses and feedback processes associated with PLs remains insufficient, especially for observations. Using a combined analysis of satellite‐based sea surface temperature (SST) and PL tracking data, we investigated the oceanic response to 380 PL passages over the Nordic Sea occurring between 1999 and 2018. Consequently, two types of oceanic responses—warming and cooling—occurred in 32% and 40% of the total occurrences, respectively. The average magnitude of SST response was approximately ±0.2 K. Significant differences in upward surface turbulent heat flux (THF) between warming and cooling response cases were found, causing a significant difference in the decay rate after maximum PL development. By analyzing changes in the state variables of the THF, we identified two different feedback processes depending on the oceanic warming/cooling response. During a warming (cooling) response, the atmosphere near the surface becomes more unstable (stable), and the turbulence of the marine atmospheric boundary layer increases (decreases), which strengthens (weakens) the ocean surface wind and decreases (increases) temperature and specific humidity. These changes contribute to increasing (decreasing) the upward THF that influences PL development. The differences between these two responses may be caused by the state of the upper ocean layer, including temperature inversion. The analysis of the in situ observations of the upper ocean supports the hypothesis that a warming response occurs when inversion is strong. This study emphasizes the importance of feedback through oceanic responses for understanding and predicting PL.

High Spectral Resolution Lidar – generation 2 (HSRL-2) retrievals of ocean surface wind speed: methodology and evaluation

Abstract. Ocean surface wind speed (i.e., wind speed 10 m above sea level) is a critical parameter used by atmospheric models to estimate the state of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). Accurate surface wind speed measurements in diverse locations are required to improve characterization of MABL dynamics and assess how models simulate large-scale phenomena related to climate change and global weather patterns. To provide these measurements, this study introduces and evaluates a new surface wind speed data product from the NASA Langley Research Center nadir-viewing High Spectral Resolution Lidar – generation 2 (HSRL-2) using data collected as part of the NASA Aerosol Cloud meTeorology Interactions oVer the western ATlantic Experiment (ACTIVATE) mission. The HSRL-2 can directly measure vertically resolved aerosol backscatter and extinction profiles without additional constraints or assumptions, enabling the instrument to accurately derive atmospheric attenuation and directly determine surface reflectance (i.e., surface backscatter). Also, the high horizontal spatial resolution of the HSRL-2 retrievals (0.5 s or ∼ 75 m along track) allows the instrument to probe the fine-scale spatial variability in surface wind speeds over time along the flight track and over breaks in broken cloud fields. A rigorous evaluation of these retrievals is performed by comparing coincident HSRL-2 and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Airborne Vertical Atmosphere Profiling System (AVAPS) dropsonde data, owing to the joint deployment of these two instruments on the ACTIVATE King Air aircraft. These comparisons show correlations of 0.89, slopes of 1.04 and 1.17, and y intercepts of −0.13 and −1.05 m s−1 for linear and bisector regressions, respectively, and the overall accuracy is calculated to be 0.15 ± 1.80 m s−1. It is also shown that the dropsonde surface wind speed data most closely follow the HSRL-2 distribution of wave slope variance using the distribution proposed by Hu et al. (2008) rather than the ones proposed by Cox and Munk (1954) and Wu (1990) for surface wind speeds below 7 m s−1, with this category comprising most of the ACTIVATE data set. The retrievals are then evaluated separately for surface wind speeds below 7 m s−1 and between 7 and 13.3 m s−1 and show that the HSRL-2 retrieves surface wind speeds with a bias of ∼ 0.5 m s−1 and an error of ∼ 1.5 m s−1, a finding not apparent in the cumulative comparisons. Also, it is shown that the HSRL-2 retrievals are more accurate in the summer (−0.18 ± 1.52 m s−1) than in the winter (0.63 ± 2.07 m s−1), but the HSRL-2 is still able to make numerous (N=236) accurate retrievals in the winter. Overall, this study highlights the abilities and assesses the performance of the HSRL-2 surface wind speed retrievals, and it is hoped that further evaluation of these retrievals will be performed using other airborne and satellite data sets.

Atmospheric flow simulation over stationary waves with various steepness using WRF-LES

We investigated the capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to perform large-eddy simulations (LESs) of the structure of the marine atmospheric boundary layer and turbulence exchange between the sea surface and the atmosphere. The WRF-LES model results were compared to results from Sullivan (2008) [1] for two cases: flow over a flat surface and over an idealized stationary sinusoidal surface. We also investigated the sensitivity of the WRF-LES model in simulating turbulence through the marine atmosphere under a range of horizontal grid spacings and wave steepnesses. All simulations were performed in a conventionally neutral atmosphere with a geostrophic wind of 5 m s−1, aligned with the direction of wave propagation. The simulated wind vertical profiles from the WRF-LES model exhibit similar behavior to those of Sullivan (2008) over both wavy and flat surfaces, but the differences in Sullivan’s vertical wind profiles for the two cases are considerably larger in comparison to those derived from WRF-LES. Furthermore, spectral analysis clearly shows the effect of horizontal grid spacing. The impact of wave steepness on turbulence distribution is clearly noticeable in the vertical profiles of resolved velocity variances and covariances. The impact is largest close to the surface, but it is important throughout the bulk of the boundary layer.

Cloud Properties and Boundary Layer Stability Above Southern Ocean Sea Ice and Coastal Antarctica

AbstractSignificant variability in climate predictions originates from the simulated cloud cover over the Southern Ocean. Historically, Southern Ocean cloud and aerosol properties have been less studied than their northern hemisphere counterparts, and cloud‐sea‐ice interactions over the Southern Ocean also remain largely unexamined. We used data from combined radar, lidar, radiometer, radiosonde, and ERA5 reanalysis profiles to investigate cloud property relationships to cloud temperature, sea‐ice concentration, and boundary layer stability. Our findings show correlations between both cloud macrophysical properties and radiative effects and sea‐ice concentration, and that the marine atmospheric boundary layer is more stable over higher sea‐ice concentrations. Mixed‐phase cloud frequency of occurrence was highest over the sea‐ice zone at 15%, three times higher than over cold water south of the Antarctic Polar Front. For temperatures greater than −15°C, low‐level, single‐layer clouds were more likely to precipitate ice if they were coupled to cold‐water or sea‐ice surfaces than if they were decoupled from these surfaces, with the highest percentage of clouds precipitating ice observed over sea ice. These findings suggest a surface source of ice‐nucleating particles at high southern latitudes that increases cloud glaciation probability. We discuss the implications of our results for future studies into the relationship between cloud properties, aerosols, sea ice, and boundary layer stability at high latitudes over the Southern Ocean.

Observed Subdaily Variations in Air–Sea Turbulent Heat Fluxes under Different Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer Stability Conditions in the Gulf Stream

Abstract Based on data collected from 14 buoys in the Gulf Stream, this study examines how hourly air–sea turbulent heat fluxes vary on subdaily time scales under different boundary layer stability conditions. The annual mean magnitudes of the subdaily variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes at all stations are 40 and 15 W m−2, respectively. Under near-neutral conditions, hourly fluctuations in air–sea humidity and temperature differences are the major drivers of subdaily variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes, respectively. When the boundary layer is stable, on the other hand, wind anomalies play a dominant role in shaping the subdaily variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes. In the context of a convectively unstable boundary layer, wind anomalies exert a strong controlling influence on subdaily variations in latent heat fluxes, whereas subdaily variations in sensible heat fluxes are equally determined by air–sea temperature difference and wind anomalies. The relative contributions by all physical quantities that affect subdaily variations in turbulent heat fluxes are further documented. For near-neutral and unstable boundary layers, the subdaily contributions are O(2) and O(1) W m−2 for latent and sensible heat fluxes, respectively, and they are less than O(1) W m−2 for turbulent heat fluxes under stable conditions. Significance Statement High-resolution buoy observations of air–sea variables in the Gulf Stream provide the opportunity to investigate the physical factors that determine subdaily variations in air–sea turbulent heat fluxes. This study addresses two key points. First, the observed subdaily amplitudes of heat fluxes are related to various processes, including wind fields and air–sea thermal effect differences. Second, the global sea surface heat budget is known to not be in near-zero balance and it ranges from several to tens of watts per square meter. Therefore, consideration of the relatively strong influence of subdaily variability in air–sea turbulent heat fluxes could provide a new strategy for solving the global heat budget balance problem.

CALIPSO Observed Low Clouds Over the Subtropical Northeast Pacific: Summer Climatology and Interannual Variability

AbstractThis study examines the spatial distribution and temporal variations of low‐cloud top over the subtropical northeast Pacific (NEP), using observations from the Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO). A comparison between CALIPSO observations and in‐situ soundings reveals a distinct bimodal distribution of low‐cloud tops, characterized by peaks near the inversion base and transition layer, corresponding to shallow cumulus clouds below the stratocumulus deck and boundary‐layer decoupling phenomena. Climatologically, while traversing along a great circle from Los Angeles to Honolulu, the frequency of low cloud occurrence experiences a gradual reduction from 80% to 30%. Meanwhile, cloud top height increases from 0.6 to 1.6 km, and surface roughness varies from 50 to 300 m. This study marks the first presentation of long‐term characteristics of low clouds over a vast, remote area, expanding beyond discrete field campaign observations. Accurately characterizing the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) including its depth and degree of decoupling, enables further investigation into the interannual variations of low clouds, using 14 years of CALIPSO observations. Significant interannual variability in areal fraction and vertical bimodality of low clouds emerges downstream of the anomalously cold water; increased cloud cover with weakened bimodality is associated with a shallow weakly decoupled MABL. This research emphasizes the need to consider the downstream effects in studying low cloud‐sea surface temperature feedback within climate models.

Effect of wind speed on marine aerosol optical properties over remote oceans with use of spaceborne lidar observations

Abstract. Marine aerosol affects the global energy budget and regional weather. The production of marine aerosol is primarily driven by wind at the sea–air interface. Previous studies have explored the effects of wind on marine aerosol, mostly by examining the relationships between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and surface wind speed. In this paper, utilizing the synergy of aerosol and wind observations from Aeolus, the relationships between the marine aerosol optical properties at 355 nm and the instantaneous co-located wind speeds of remote oceans are investigated at two vertical layers (within and above the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL)). The results show that the enhancements of the extinction and backscatter coefficients caused by wind are larger within the MABL than above it. The correlation models between extinction and backscatter with wind speed were established using power-law functions. The slope variation points occur during extinction and backscatter coefficients increasing with wind speed, indicating that the wind-driven enhancement of marine aerosol involves two phases: a rapid-growth phase with high wind dependence, followed by a slower-growth phase after the slope variation points. We also compared the AOD–wind relationship acquired from Aeolus with CALIPSO-derived results from previous research. The variation in the lidar ratio with wind speed is examined, suggesting a possible “increasing–decreasing–increasing” trend of marine aerosol particle size as wind speed increases. This study enhances the comprehension of the correlation between marine aerosol optical properties and wind speed by providing vertical information and demonstrating that their relationships are more complex than a linear or exponential relation.

Polydisperse sea spray effect on the vertical momentum transport in hurricanes

Abstract This study focuses on the influence of the sea spray polydispersity on the vertical transport of momentum in a turbulent marine atmospheric boundary layer in high-wind conditions of a hurricane. The Eulerian multifluid model treating air and spray droplets of different sizes as interacting inter-penetrating continua is developed and its numerical solutions are analyzed. Several droplet size distribution spectra and correlation laws relating wind speed and spray production intensity are considered. Polydisperse model solutions have confirmed the difference between the roles small and large spray droplets play in modifying the turbulent momentum transport that have been previously identified by monodisperse spray models. The obtained results have also provided a physical explanation for the previously unreported phenomenon of the formation of thin low-eddy-viscosity “sliding” layers in strongly turbulent boundary layer flows laden with predominantly fine spray.

On the relationship between mesoscale cellular convection and meteorological forcing: comparing the Southern Ocean against the North Pacific

Abstract. Marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) clouds cover vast areas over the ocean and have important radiative effects on the Earth's climate system. These radiative effects are known to be sensitive to the local organization, or structure, of the mesoscale cellular convection (MCC). A convolutional neural network model is used to identify the two idealized classes of MCC clouds, namely open and closed, over the Southern Ocean (SO) and Northwest Pacific (NP) from high-frequency geostationary Himawari-8 satellite observations. The results of the climatology show that MCC clouds are evenly distributed over the mid-latitude storm tracks for both hemispheres, with peaks poleward of the 40∘ latitude. Open-MCC clouds are more prevalent than closed MCC in both regions. An examination of the presumed meteorological forcing associated with open- and closed-MCC clouds is conducted to illustrate the influence of large-scale meteorological conditions. We establish the importance of the Kuroshio western boundary current in the spatial coverage of open and closed MCC across the NP, presumably through the supply of strong heat and moisture fluxes during marine cold-air outbreaks events. In regions where static stability is higher, we observe a more frequent occurrence of closed MCCs. This behavior contrasts markedly with that of open MCCs, whose formation and persistence are significantly influenced by the difference in temperature between the air and the sea surface. The occurrence frequency of closed MCC over the SO exhibits a significant diurnal cycle, while the diurnal cycle of closed MCC over the NP is less noticeable.

Seasonal Variations in Eddy-Induced Atmospheric Perturbations in the South China Sea

Abstract This study investigates the impact of eddy-induced sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on the overlying atmosphere in the South China Sea, utilizing observational and reanalysis datasets. The results reveal that SST anomalies caused by anticyclonic or cyclonic eddies have a significant impact on the acceleration or deceleration of surface winds, with a stronger response in summer compared to winter. Moreover, atmospheric responses, such as heat flux, precipitation, and marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) depth above anticyclonic or cyclonic eddies, exhibit in-phase seasonal variations as surface winds. The study also explores the mechanisms leading to atmospheric response, pointing toward the vertical mixing mechanism as the dominant cause, supported by both the in-phase relationship between SST and surface wind anomalies and the linear relationship between the wind stress divergence anomaly and downwind SST gradient anomaly. Seasonal variations in coupling intensity are attributed to varying background atmospheric conditions, with more effective vertical turbulence mixing and stronger coupling intensity caused by more unstable MABL and enhanced large-scale vertical wind shear during summer than winter. Besides, the atmosphere above eddies is under a quasi-equilibrium condition, in which the surface wind stress increases monotonically with the depth of MABL. Given that the MABL depth response to eddy-induced SST anomaly is stronger in summer than in winter, it is reasonable to expect a more intense wind response during this season. Thus, the MABL depth coupling works together with the vertical mixing mechanism to explain the proportional relationship between SST and wind anomalies, and why the atmospheric response is stronger in summer than in winter. Significance Statement The atmosphere exerts a significant influence on the ocean, with strong winds cooling the sea surface temperature on a large scale (more than 1000 km). Conversely, the ocean tends to drive the atmosphere at a mesoscale level (10–1000 km), whereby a warm sea surface temperature causes surface wind to accelerate. This study aims to better understand how mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea influence the overlying atmosphere in different seasons. Our research explores factors that control mesoscale air–sea coupling, and highlights the importance of stability and depth change of marine atmospheric boundary layer. These results will establish a foundation for future research examining how the atmospheric perturbations caused by mesoscale eddies can in turn impact both ocean circulation and eddies.

An Online Assimilation Method to Improve the Numerical Forecast of Sea Fog Using Microwave Radiometer‐Retrieved Cloud Water Path

AbstractNumerical forecast of the sea fog is sensitive to the initial moist stratification within the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). This study develops an online assimilation method to improve the MABL thermal and moist structures in sea fog ensemble forecasts based on the Weather Research and Forecasting model and Grid‐point Statistical Interpolation/EnKF system. It uses the satellite‐retrieved cloud water path (CWP) as the indicator of sea fog and low‐level stratus to determine the best ensemble members at each grid point. The relative humidity and cloud water profiles are extracted from the best members to generate a series of pseudo‐observations, which are assimilated to update all the members by EnKF method. The new method significantly improves the ensemble forecast of five widespread advection fog events over the Yellow Sea, which can be attributed to the decrease of both missed and spurious fog areas. The case study shows that assimilating the information of both humidity and cloud water outperforms assimilating either of them, while the impact of directly assimilating CWP observation is insignificant. The analysis increments of cloud water, thermal and moist structures in MABL together contribute to the correction of forecasted sea fog. The generation of pseudo‐observations can use the dynamic compatibility of the model to alleviate the impact of erroneous data in the observation, leading to the low sensitivity of the new method to CWP retrieval error.