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The Impact of Wind Gusts on the Ocean Thermal Skin Layer
Author(s) -
Zappa Christopher J.,
Laxague Nathan J. M.,
Brumer Sophia E.,
Anderson Steven P.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl083687
Subject(s) - forcing (mathematics) , emissivity , thermal , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , microscale chemistry , transient (computer programming) , wind wave , heat flux , geophysics , meteorology , geology , heat transfer , mechanics , oceanography , physics , optics , mathematics education , mathematics , computer science , operating system
The thermodynamic and emissive properties of the ocean thermal skin layer are crucial contributors to air‐sea heat flux. In order to properly observe ocean surface temperature without disturbing any delicate fluid mechanical processes, thermal infrared imaging is often used. However, wind impacting the ocean surface complicates the extraction of meaningful information from thermal imagery; this is especially true for transient forcing phenomena such as wind gusts. Here, we describe wind gust‐water surface interaction through its impact on skin layer thermal and emissive properties. Two key physical processes are identified: (1) the growth of centimeter‐scale wind waves, which increases interfacial emissivity, and (2) microscale wave breaking and shear, which mix the cool skin layer with warmer millimeter‐depth water and increase the skin temperature. As more observations are made of air‐sea interaction under transient forcing, the full consideration of these processes becomes increasingly important.