Ocean Surface Boundary Layer Research Articles

A new K-profile parameterization for the ocean surface boundary layer under realistic forcing conditions

In this study, we present a new parameterization for the enhancement of vertical mixing brought by the inclusion of the Stokes drift for the turbulent mixing schemes in ocean circulation models. The new scheme (KPP-LT) uses the K-Profile Parameterization (Large et al., 1994) as a template, and attempts to include the effect of the penetration decay scale of the Stokes drift (δ) and the misalignment between the wind stress and Stokes drift (θww). The effect of the wind–wave angle of misalignment is guided by a set of idealized Large Eddy Simulations (LES) and the Langmuir Turbulence (LT) parameterization is developed based on LES of the ocean surface boundary layer at Ocean Weather Station Papa, for a period of 20 days under observed atmospheric and oceanic conditions. The KPP-LT model is implemented in the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) and compared to in situ oceanographic measurements, LES and other Second Moment Closure (SMC) schemes available in NCOM, namely the model of Kantha and Clayson (2004) and Harcourt (2013, 2015). Comparisons with temperature observations suggest better performance of the KPP-LT model over SMC models within the boundary layer, which are supported by comparisons of inertially averaged eddy viscosity profiles estimated from LES.

Extensive Marine Heatwaves at the Sea Surface in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean in Summer 2021

In July–August 2021, intense marine heatwaves (MHWs) occurred at the sea surface over extensive areas of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, including the entire Sea of Japan and part of the Sea of Okhotsk. In extent and intensity, these MHWs were the largest since 1982, when satellite measurements of global sea surface temperatures started. The MHWs in summer 2021 were observed at the sea surface and occurred concomitantly with a stable shallow oceanic surface boundary layer. The distribution of the MHWs was strongly related to heat fluxes at the sea surface, indicating that the MHWs were generated mainly by atmospheric forcing. The MHWs started to develop after around 10 July, concurrent with an extreme northward shift of the atmospheric westerly jet. The MHWs developed rapidly under an atmospheric high-pressure system near the sea surface, associated with a northwestward expansion of the North Pacific Subtropical High. The MHWs exhibited peaks around 30 July to 1 August. Subsequently, following the southward displacement of the westerly jet, the MHWs weakened and then shrank abruptly, synchronously with rapid deepening of the oceanic surface boundary layer. By 18 August, the MHWs had disappeared.

Along-Wind Dispersion by Horizontal Turbulent Jets in the Upper Ocean

AbstractDispersion processes in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) determine marine material distributions such as those of plankton and pollutants. Sheared velocities drive shear dispersion, which is traditionally assumed to be due to mean horizontal currents that decrease from the surface. However, OSBL turbulence supports along-wind jets; located in near-surface convergence and downwelling regions, such turbulent jets contain strong local shear. Through wind-driven idealized and large-eddy simulation (LES) models of the OSBL, this study examines the role of turbulent along-wind jets in dispersing material. In the idealized model, turbulent jets are generated by prescribed cellular flow with surface convergence and associated downwelling regions. Numeric and analytic model solutions reveal that horizontal jets substantially contribute to along-wind dispersion for sufficiently strong cellular flows and exceed contributions due to vertical mean shear for buoyant surface-trapped material. However, surface convergence regions also accumulate surface-trapped material, reducing shear dispersion by jets. Turbulence resolving LES results of a coastal depth-limited ocean agree qualitatively with the idealized model and reveal long-lived coherent jet structures that are necessary for effective jet dispersion. These coastal results indicate substantial jet contributions to along-wind dispersion. However, jet dispersion is likely less effective in the open ocean because jets are shorter lived, less organized, and distorted due to spiraling Ekman currents.

Thorpe Turbulence Scaling in Nighttime Convective Surface Layers in the North Indian Ocean

AbstractWe use profiles from a Lagrangian float in the north Indian Ocean to explore the usefulness of Thorpe analysis methods to measure vertical scales and dissipation rates in the ocean surface boundary layer. An rms Thorpe length scale LT and an energy dissipation rate εT were computed by resorting the measured density profiles. These are compared to the mixed layer depth (MLD) computed with different density thresholds, the Monin–Obukhov (MO) length LMO computed from the ERA5 reanalysis values of wind stress, and buoyancy flux B0 and dissipation rates ε from historical microstructure data. The Thorpe length scale LT is found to accurately match MLD for small (<0.005 kg m−3) density thresholds, but not for larger thresholds, because these do not detect the warm diurnal layers. We use ξ = LT/|LMO| to classify the boundary layer turbulence during nighttime convection. In our data, 90% of points from the Bay of Bengal (Arabian Sea) satisfy ξ < 1 (1 < ξ <10), indicating that wind forcing is (both wind forcing and convection are) driving the turbulence. Over the measured range of ξ, εT decreases with decreasing ξ, i.e., more wind forcing, while ε increases, clearly showing that ε/εT decreases with increasing ξ. This is explained by a new scaling for ξ ≪ 1, εT = 1.15B0ξ0.5 compared to the historical scaling ε = 0.64B0 + 1.76ξ−1. For ξ ≪ 1 we expect ε = εT. Similar calculations may be possible using routine Argo float and ship data, allowing more detailed global measurements of εT, thereby providing large-scale tests of turbulence scaling in boundary layers.

Including the effects of subsurface currents on buoyant particles in Lagrangian particle tracking models: Model development and its application to the study of riverborne plastics over the Louisiana/Texas shelf

We report on the development and implementation of a novel physics-based algorithm that includes the effects of subsurface current on buoyant particles in a Lagrangian particle tracking model, specifically the Larval TRANSport Lagrangian (LTRANS) model. In the upper ocean, the direction and the magnitude of horizontal current change with water depth due to local effects such as the Ekman balance and large-scale influences such as the thermal wind balance. The subsurface current alters both the advection and the dispersion of weakly buoyant particles that could be suspended in the ocean surface boundary layer by turbulence. The transport and fate of riverborne plastics from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers were examined using a hindcast model solution for the Louisiana and Texas Continental Shelf (LATEX shelf). The model results show that after leaving the river outlets, plastic particles travel on average in a southwestward direction over the LATEX shelf for up to four months, transiting from a few hundred kilometers to more than a thousand kilometers. The pathways and the fate of particles change as a function of the particle size, with smaller particles traveling slower. Also, less buoyant particles transit longer distances over more offshore regions and remain longer on the LATEX shelf. Particle pathways also display a strong seasonal cycle associate with the seasonal cycle of circulation on the LATEX shelf. The model results further reveal that more than 50% of the plastic particles delivered by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers reach the land boundary of the LATEX shelf, and more than 18% of those reach the land boundary west of Louisiana including Texas and portions of Mexico. This modeling framework can be used to study the transport of other positively buoyant particulate materials in the ocean, such as spilled oil and plankton.

High-resolution observations of the North Pacific transition layer from a Lagrangian float

AbstractAcrucial region of the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) is the strongly-sheared and -stratified transition layer (TL) separating the mixed layer from the upper pycnocline, where a diverse range of waves and instabilities are possible. Previous work suggests that these different waves and instabilities will lead to different OSBL behaviours. Therefore, understanding which physical processes occur is key for modelling the TL. Here we present observations of the TL from a Lagrangian float deployed for 73 days near Ocean Weather Station Papa (50°N, 145°W) during Fall 2018. The float followed the vertical motion of the TL, continuously measuring profiles across it using an ADCP, temperature chain and salinity sensors. The temperature chain made depth/time images of TL structures with a resolution of 6cm and 3 seconds. These showed the frequent occurrence of very sharp interfaces, dominated by temperature jumps of O(1)°C over 6cm or less. Temperature inversions were typically small (≲ 10cm), frequent, and strongly-stratified; very few large overturns were observed. The corresponding velocity profiles varied over larger length scales than the temperature profiles. These structures are consistent with scouring behaviour rather than Kelvin-Helmholtz-type overturning. Their net effect, estimated via a Thorpe-scale analysis, suggests that these frequent small temperature inversions can account for the observed mixed layer deepening and entrainment flux. Corresponding estimates of dissipation, diffusivity, and heat fluxes also agree with previous TL studies, suggesting that the TL dynamics is dominated by these nearly continuous 10cm-scale mixing structures, rather than by less frequent larger overturns.

Wind- and Wave-driven Ocean Surface Boundary Layer in a Frontal Zone: Roles of Submesoscale Eddies and Ekman-Stokes Transport

AbstractLarge-eddy simulations are used to investigate the influence of a horizontal frontal zone, represented by a stationary uniform background horizontal temperature gradient, on the wind- and wave-driven ocean surface boundary layers. In a frontal zone, the temperature structure, the ageostrophic mean horizontal current, and the turbulence in the ocean surface boundary layer all change with the relative angle among the wind and the front. The net heating and cooling of the boundary layer could be explained by the depth-integrated horizontal advective buoyancy flux, called the Ekman Buoyancy Flux (or the Ekman-Stokes Buoyancy Flux if wave effects are included). However, the detailed temperature profiles are also modulated by the depth-dependent advective buoyancy flux and submesoscale eddies. The surface current is deflected less (more) to the right of the wind and wave when the depth-integrated advective buoyancy flux cools (warms) the ocean surface boundary layer. Horizontal mixing is greatly enhanced by submesoscale eddies. The eddy-induced horizontal mixing is anisotropic and is stronger to the right of the wind direction. Vertical turbulent mixing depends on the superposition of the geostrophic and ageostrophic current, the depth-dependent advective buoyancy flux, and submesoscale eddies.

Near-Inertial Waves and Turbulence Driven by the Growth of Swell

AbstractBetween 5% and 25% of the total momentum transferred between the atmosphere and ocean is transmitted via the growth of long surface gravity waves called “swell.” In this paper, we use large-eddy simulations to show that swell-transmitted momentum excites near-inertial waves and drives turbulent mixing that deepens a rotating, stratified, turbulent ocean surface boundary layer. We find that swell-transmitted currents are less effective at producing turbulence and mixing the boundary layer than currents driven by an effective surface stress. Overall, however, the differences between swell-driven and surface-stress-driven boundary layers are relatively minor. In consequence, our results corroborate assumptions made in Earth system models that neglect the vertical structure of swell-transmitted momentum fluxes and instead parameterize all air–sea momentum transfer processes with an effective surface stress.

Ocean Surface Boundary Layer Response to Abruptly Turning Winds

AbstractTurbulence driven by wind and waves controls the transport of heat, momentum, and matter in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL). For realistic ocean conditions, winds and waves are often neither aligned nor constant, for example, when winds turn rapidly. Based on a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method, which captures shear-driven turbulence (ST) and Langmuir turbulence (LT) driven by the Craik-Leibovich vortex force, we investigate the OSBL response to abruptly turning winds. We design idealized LES experiments, whose winds are initially constant to equilibrate OSBL turbulence before abruptly turning 90° either cyclonically or anticyclonically. The transient Stokes drift for LT is estimated from a spectral wave model. The OSBL response includes three successive stages that follow the change in direction. During stage 1, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) decreases due to reduced TKE production. Stage 2 is characterized by TKE increasing with TKE shear production recovering and exceeding TKE dissipation. Transient TKE levels may exceed their stationary values due to inertial resonance and non-equilibrium turbulence. Turbulence relaxes to its equilibrium state at stage 3, but LT still adjusts due to slowly developing waves. During stages 1 and 2, greatly misaligned wind and waves lead to Eulerian TKE production exceeding Stokes TKE production. A Reynolds stress budget analysis and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equation models indicate that Stokes production furthermore drives the OSBL response. The Coriolis effects result in asymmetrical OSBL responses to wind turning directions. Our results suggest that transient wind conditions play a key role in understanding realistic OSBL dynamics.

Simultaneous Observations of Turbulent Reynolds Stress in the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer and Wind Stress over the Sea Surface

AbstractThis study used high‐frequency acoustic instruments mounted on an offshore observation platform to obtain simultaneous in situ measurements of sea surface winds and ocean currents. The acquired data were used to compare quantitatively the turbulent Reynolds stress in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) and the wind stress over the sea surface. During the study period (∼10 d), the sea state was largely dominated by swell and breaking wind waves. The eddy covariance method was used to estimate the two stresses. A combination of the synchrosqueezed wavelet transform (SWT) method and a moving average was employed for wave‐turbulence decomposition of the oceanic velocities. Results showed that the turbulent Reynolds stress in the OSBL is affected greatly by surface gravity waves and that it scales with the wave characteristics. Direct comparison revealed that the turbulent Reynolds stress in the OSBL could be larger than the wind stress in certain circumstances, which differs from the traditional view that the former cannot be greater than the latter. In certain extreme cases, their ratio can be up to one order of magnitude. Therefore, we conclude that surface waves can enhance significantly the turbulent Reynolds stress in the OSBL.

Wind- and Wave-Driven Reynolds Stress and Velocity Shear in the Upper Ocean for Idealized Misaligned Wind-Wave Conditions

AbstractThis study investigates the dynamics of velocity shear and Reynolds stress in the ocean surface boundary layer for idealized misaligned wind and wave fields using a large-eddy simulation (LES) model based on the Craik–Leibovich equations, which captures Langmuir turbulence (LT). To focus on the role of LT, the LES experiments omit the Coriolis force, which obscures a stress–current-relation analysis. Furthermore, a vertically uniform body force is imposed so that the volume-averaged Eulerian flow does not accelerate but is steady. All simulations are first spun-up without wind-wave misalignment to reach a fully developed stationary turbulent state. Then, a crosswind Stokes drift profile is abruptly imposed, which drives crosswind stresses and associated crosswind currents without generating volume-averaged crosswind currents. The flow evolves to a new stationary state, in which the crosswind Reynolds stress vanishes while the crosswind Eulerian shear and Stokes drift shear are still present, yielding a misalignment between Reynolds stress and Lagrangian shear (sum of Eulerian current and Stokes drift). A Reynolds stress budgets analysis reveals a balance between stress production and velocity–pressure gradient terms (VPG) that encloses crosswind Eulerian shear, demonstrating a complex relation between shear and stress. In addition, the misalignment between Reynolds stress and Eulerian shear generates a horizontal turbulent momentum flux (due to correlations of along-wind and crosswind turbulent velocities) that can be important in producing Reynolds stress (due to correlations of horizontal and vertical turbulent velocities). Thus, details of the Reynolds stress production by Eulerian and Stokes drift shear may be critical for driving upper-ocean currents and for accurate turbulence parameterizations in misaligned wind-wave conditions.

Large-Aspect-Ratio Structures in Simulated Ocean Surface Boundary Layer Turbulence under a Hurricane

AbstractA large-eddy simulation (LES) initialized and forced using observations is used to conduct a process study of ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) turbulence in a 2-km box of ocean nominally under Hurricane Irene (2011) in 35 m of water on the New Jersey shelf. The LES captures the observed deepening, cooling, and persistent stratification of the OSBL as the storm approaches and passes. As the storm approaches, surface-intensified Ekman-layer rolls, with horizontal wavelengths of about 200 m and horizontal-to-vertical aspect and velocity magnitude ratios of about 20, dominate the kinetic energy and increase the turbulent Prandtl number from about 1 to 1.5 due partially to their restratifying vertical buoyancy flux. However, as the storm passes, these rolls are washed away in a few hours due to the rapid rotation of the wind. In the bulk OSBL, the gradient Richardson number of the mean profiles remains just above (just below) 1/4 as the storm approaches (passes). At the base of the OSBL, large-aspect-ratio Kelvin–Helmholtz billows, with Prandtl number below 1, intermittently dominate the kinetic energy. Overall, large-aspect-ratio covariance modifies the net vertical fluxes of buoyancy and momentum by about 10%, but these fluxes and the analogous diffusivity and viscosity still approximately collapse to time-independent dimensionless profiles, despite rapid changes in the forcing and the large structures. That is, the evolutions of the mean temperature and momentum profiles, which are driven by the net vertical flux convergences, mainly reflect the evolution of the wind and the initial ocean temperature profile.

Suppression of CO2 Outgassing by Gas Bubbles Under a Hurricane

AbstractThe role of gas bubbles on the air‐sea CO2 flux during Hurricane Frances (2004) is studied using a large‐eddy simulation model that couples ocean surface boundary layer turbulence, gas bubbles, and dissolved gases. In the subtropical surface ocean where gases are slightly supersaturated, gases in bubbles can still dissolve due to hydrostatic pressure and surface tension exerted on bubbles. Under the simulated conditions, the CO2 efflux with an explicit bubble effect is less than 2% of that calculated using a gas flux formula without explicit inclusion of bubble effect. The use of a gas flux parameterization without bubble‐induced supersaturation contributes to uncertainty in the global carbon budget. The results highlight the importance of bubbles under high winds even for soluble gases such as CO2 and demonstrate that gas flux parameterization derived from gases of certain solubility may not be accurate for gases of very different solubility.

Horizontal Transport of Buoyant Material by Turbulent Jets in the Upper Ocean

AbstractCurrents in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) determine the horizontal transport of submerged buoyant material, such as pollutants, plankton, and bubbles. Commonly, the mean horizontal transport, that is, the transport that changes the horizontal position of the material’s center of mass, is assumed to be accomplished by horizontal mean currents. However, surface convergence zones due to OSBL turbulence organize both wind-driven horizontal currents and near-surface concentrated buoyant material. In such surface convergence zones, concentrations of buoyant material are enhanced (e.g., apparent as windrows) and collocate with increased horizontal turbulent currents, here referred to as turbulent jets. In turn, the correlation of turbulent jet flow and material concentrations leads to a net mean horizontal transport due to turbulent motion. To examine this turbulent jet transport, an idealized model is devised for a wind-driven flow that is perturbed by prescribed cellular flow structures with crosswind surface convergence zones. Model solutions of the jet flow and material concentrations reveal that turbulent jet transport is comparable to the transport by horizontal mean currents for sufficiently strong cellular flow and material buoyancy. To test this model, we also perform more realistic turbulence-resolving large-eddy simulations (LESs) of wind and wave-driven OSBL turbulence. LES results are consistent with many features of the idealized model and suggest that the commonly overlooked turbulent jet transport is about 20%–50% of the traditional transport by horizontal mean currents. Thus, turbulent jet transport should be taken into account for accurate transport models of buoyant material in the OSBL.

Reduced-Order Quasilinear Model of Ocean Boundary-Layer Turbulence

AbstractThe combined effectiveness of model reduction and the quasilinear approximation for the reproduction of the low-order statistics of oceanic surface boundary layer turbulence is investigated. Idealized horizontally homogeneous problems of surface-forced thermal convection and Langmuir turbulence are studied in detail. Model reduction is achieved with a Galerkin projection of the governing equations onto a subset of modes determined by proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). When applied to boundary layers that are horizontally homogeneous, POD and a horizontally averaged quasilinear approximation both assume flow features that are horizontally wavelike, making the pairing very efficient. For less than 0.2% of the modes retained, the reduced quasilinear model is able to reproduce vertical profiles of horizontal mean fields as well as certain energetically important second-order turbulent transport statistics and energies to within 30% error. Reduced-basis quasilinear statistics must approach the full-basis statistics as the basis size approaches completion; however, some quasilinear statistics resemble those found in the fully nonlinear simulations at smaller basis truncations. Thus, model reduction could possibly improve upon the accuracy of quasilinear dynamics.

Parameterization of Wave-Induced Mixing Using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) (I)

Turbulent motions in the thin ocean surface boundary layer control exchanges of momentum, heat and trace gases between the atmosphere and ocean. However, present parametric equations of turbulent motions that are applied to global climate models result in systematic or substantial errors in the ocean surface boundary layer. Significant mixing caused by surface wave processes is missed in most parametric equations. A Large Eddy Simulation model is applied to investigate the wave-induced mixed layer structure. In the wave-averaged equations, wave effects are calculated as Stokes forces and breaking waves. To examine the effects of wave parameters on mixing, a series of wave conditions with varying wavelengths and heights are used to drive the model, resulting in a variety of Langmuir turbulence and wave breaking outcomes. These experiments suggest that wave-induced mixing is more sensitive to wave heights than to the wavelength. A series of numerical experiments with different wind intensities-induced Stokes drifts are also conducted to investigate wave-induced mixing. As the wind speed increases, the influence depth of Langmuir circulation deepens. Additionally, it is observed that breaking waves could destroy Langmuir cells mainly at the sea surface, rather than at deeper layers.

Anisotropy of Langmuir turbulence and the Langmuir-enhanced mixed layer entrainment

Surface waves in the ocean surface boundary layer can create Langmuir turbulence which has structure distinct from shear turbulence in a conventional boundary layer. We show that the distinctive structure of Langmuir turbulence is quickly lost away from the surface, so that near the boundary layer base it becomes indistinguishable from turbulence in the absence of surface waves. This has important implications for modeling the effect of ocean surface waves on the boundary layer entrainment and improving ocean surface boundary layer parameterizations in Earth system models.

Using Ship-Deployed High-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the Study of Ocean Surface and Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are proving to be an important modern sensing platform that supplement the sensing capabilities from platforms such as satellites, aircraft, research vessels, moorings, and gliders. UAVs, like satellites and aircraft can provide a synoptic view of a relatively large area. However, the coarse resolution provided by satellites and the operational limitations of manned aircraft has motivated the development of unmanned systems. UAVs offer unparalleled flexibility of tasking; for example, low altitude flight and slow airspeed allow for the characterization of a wide variety of geophysical phenomena at the ocean surface and in the marine atmospheric boundary layer. Here, we present the development of cutting-edge payload instrumentation for UAVs that provides a new capability for ship-deployed operations to capture a unique, high resolution spatial and temporal variability of the changing air-sea interaction processes than was previously possible. The modular design of the base payload means that new instruments can be incorporated into new research proposals that may include new instruments for expanded use of the payloads as a long-term research facility. Additionally, we implement a novel capability for vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) from research vessels. This VTOL capability is safer and requires less logistical support than previous ship-deployed systems. The payloads developed include thermal infrared, visible broadband and hyperspectral, and near-infrared hyperspectral high-resolution imaging. Additional capabilities include quantification of the longwave and shortwave hemispheric radiation budget (up- and down-welling) as well as direct air-sea turbulent fluxes. Finally, a UAV-deployed dropsonde-microbuoy was developed in order to profile the temperature, pressure and humidity of the atmosphere and the temperature and salinity of the near-surface ocean. These technological advancements provide the next generation of instrumentation capability for UAVs. When deployed from research vessels, UAVs will provide a transformational science prism unequaled using 1-D data snapshots from ships or moorings alone.

Phytoplankton acclimation to changing light intensity in a turbulent mixed layer: A Lagrangian modelling study

A new individual-based plankton model is used to test the hypothesis that the timescale of photoacclimation of phytoplankton within the surface mixing layer of the ocean is slow relative to mixing, in which case the chlorophyll to carbon (Chl:C) ratio of individual cells shows little adjustment in response to changes in light environment driven by vertical displacement. Rates of photoacclimation are shown to be a strongly non-linear function of light intensity that depends on the balance of intrinsic chlorophyll synthesis at low irradiance versus increasing growth rate at high irradiance. Predicted photoacclimation was negligible for cells experiencing rates of turbulent mixing typical of the open ocean surface boundary layer (10−3 to 10-1 m2 s-1), in which case Chl:C is set by mean light intensity. The model was extended to incorporate a simple ecosystem of nutrient, phytoplankton, zooplankton and detritus and, using two-layer slab physics, used to study photoacclimation in a more realistic setting, the seasonal cycle of plankton dynamics at Ocean Weather Station India in the North Atlantic (59 °N, 20 °W). Results were remarkably similar when compared with an equivalent ecosystem model that used an Eulerian representation of phytoplankton, reinforcing our conclusion that mixing rates within the surface mixed layer of the ocean are typically too fast to permit photoacclimation by phytoplankton to ambient light.

Wind–Wave Misalignment Effects on Langmuir Turbulence in Tropical Cyclone Conditions

AbstractThis study utilizes a large-eddy simulation (LES) approach to systematically assess the directional variability of wave-driven Langmuir turbulence (LT) in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) under tropical cyclones (TCs). The Stokes drift vector, which drives LT through the Craik–Leibovich vortex force, is obtained through spectral wave simulations. LT’s direction is identified by horizontally elongated turbulent structures and objectively determined from horizontal autocorrelations of vertical velocities. In spite of a TC’s complex forcing with great wind and wave misalignments, this study finds that LT is approximately aligned with the wind. This is because the Reynolds stress and the depth-averaged Lagrangian shear (Eulerian plus Stokes drift shear) that are key in determining the LT intensity (determined by normalized depth-averaged vertical velocity variances) and direction are also approximately aligned with the wind relatively close to the surface. A scaling analysis of the momentum budget suggests that the Reynolds stress is approximately constant over a near-surface layer with predominant production of turbulent kinetic energy by Stokes drift shear, which is confirmed from the LES results. In this layer, Stokes drift shear, which dominates the Lagrangian shear, is aligned with the wind because of relatively short, wind-driven waves. On the contrary, Stokes drift exhibits considerable amount of misalignments with the wind. This wind–wave misalignment reduces LT intensity, consistent with a simple turbulent kinetic energy model. Our analysis shows that both the Reynolds stress and LT are aligned with the wind for different reasons: the former is dictated by the momentum budget, while the latter is controlled by wind-forced waves.