Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 23 Issue 04

View Issue TOC
Volume 23, No. 4
Pages 52 - 69

OpenAccess

Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction at Oceanic Mesoscales

By Dudley B. Chelton  and Shang-Ping Xie 
Jump to
Article Abstract Citation References Copyright & Usage
Article Abstract

Satellite observations have revealed a remarkably strong positive correlation between sea surface temperature (SST) and surface winds on oceanic mesoscales of 10–1000 km. Although SST influence on the atmosphere had previously been identified from several in situ observational studies, its widespread existence in regions of strong SST gradients throughout the world’s ocean and the detailed structure of the surface wind response to SST have only become evident over the past decade from simultaneous satellite measurements of SST and surface winds. This has stimulated considerable scientific interest in the implications of this air-sea interaction to large-scale and mesoscale circulation of the atmosphere and ocean. Convergence and divergence of surface winds in regions of spatially varying SST generate vertical motion that can penetrate deep into the atmosphere. Spatial variability of the SST field also results in a curl of the wind stress and associated upwelling and downwelling that feeds back on the ocean and alters SST itself. Significant progress has been made toward understanding the two-way coupling between the ocean and atmosphere but many exciting research opportunities remain. In addition to regional and global modeling, future research on coupled ocean-atmosphere interaction will continue to be guided by satellite observations. In particular, high-resolution measurements in the vicinity of narrow, intense SST fronts and immediately adjacent to land provided by the next-generation scatterometer will open up new areas of research that cannot be addressed from presently available data sets.

Citation

Chelton, D.B., and S.-P. Xie. 2010. Coupled ocean-atmosphere interaction at oceanic mesoscales. Oceanography 23(4):52–69, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2010.05.

References
    Bryan, F.O., R. Tomas, J. Dennis, D.B. Chelton, N.G. Loeb, and J.L. McClean. 2010. Frontal scale air-sea interaction in high-resolution coupled climate models. Journal of Climate. [CrossRef]
  1. Chelton, D.B. 2005. The impact of SST specification on ECMWF surface wind stress fields in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Journal of Climate 18:530–5501. [CrossRef]
  2. Chelton, D.B., and M.H. Freilich. 2005. Scatterometer-based assessment of 10-m wind analyses from the operational ECMWF and NCEP numerical weather prediction models. Monthly Weather Review 133:409–429. [CrossRef]
  3. Chelton, D.B., and F.J. Wentz. 2005. Global microwave satellite observations of sea surface temperature for numerical weather prediction and climate research. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 86:1,097–1,115.
  4. Chelton, D.B., S.K. Esbensen, M.G. Schlax, N. Thum, M.H. Freilich, F.J. Wentz, C.L. Gentemann, M.J. McPhaden, and P.S. Schopf. 2001. Observations of coupling between surface wind stress and sea surface temperature in the eastern tropical Pacific. Journal of Climate 14:1,479–1,498.
  5. Chelton, D.B., M.G. Schlax, M.H. Freilich, and R.F. Milliff. 2004. Satellite radar measurements reveal short-scale features in the wind stress field over the world ocean. Science 303:978–983. [CrossRef]
  6. Chelton, D.B., M.G. Schlax, and R.M. Samelson. 2007. Summertime coupling between sea surface temperature and wind stress in the California Current System. Journal of Physical Oceanography 37:495–517. [CrossRef]
  7. Cornillon, P., and K.-A. Park. 2001. Warm core ring velocities inferred from NSCAT. Geophysical Research Letters 28:575–578. [CrossRef]
  8. Deser, C., J.J. Bates, and S. Wahl. 1993. The influence of sea surface temperature on stratiform cloudiness along the equatorial front in the Pacific Ocean. Journal of Climate 6:1,172–1,180.
  9. de Szoeke, S.P., and S.-P. Xie. 2008. The tropical eastern Pacific seasonal cycle: Assessment of errors and mechanisms in IPCC AR4 coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models. Journal of Climate 21:2,573–2,590.
  10. Gaston, R., and E. Rodrìguez. 2008. QuikSCAT Follow-on Concept Study. Technical Report, JPL Publication 08-18, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, 60 pp. Available online at: http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/40793/1/08-18.pdf (accessed September 1, 2010).
  11. Grenier, H., and C.S. Bretherton. 2001. A moist PBL parameterization for large-scale models and its application to subtropical cloud-topped marine boundary layers. Monthly Weather Review 129:357–377.
  12. Haack, T., D. Chelton, J. Pullen, J.D. Doyle, and M. Schlax. 2008. Summertime influence of SST on surface wind stress off the U.S. West Coast from the U.S. Navy COAMPS model. Journal of Physical Oceanography 38:2,414–2,437.
  13. Hashizume, H., S.-P. Xie, M. Fujiwara, M. Shiotani, T. Watanabe, Y. Tanimoto, W.T. Liu, and K. Takeuchi. 2002. Direct observations of atmospheric boundary layer response to slow SST variations on the Pacific equatorial front. Journal of Climate 15:3,379–3,393.
  14. Hayes, S.P., M.J. McPhaden, and J.M. Wallace. 1989. The influence of sea-surface temperature on surface wind in the eastern equatorial Pacific: Weekly to monthly variability. Journal of Climate 2:1,500–1,506.
  15. Hobbs, P.V. 1987. The Gulf-Stream rainband. Geophysical Research Letters 14:1,142–1,145.
  16. Hogg, A.McC., W.K. Dewar, P. Berloff, S. Kravtsov, and D.K. Hutchinson. 2009. The effects of mesoscale ocean-atmosphere coupling on the large-scale ocean circulation. Journal of Climate 22:4,066–4,082.
  17. Hoskins, B.J., and P.J. Valdes, 1990. On the existence of storm-tracks. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 46:1,854–1,864.
  18. Hoskins, B.J., and K.I. Hodges. 2002: New perspectives on the Northern Hemisphere winter storm tracks. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 59:1,041–1,061.
  19. Jin, X., C. Dong, J. Kurian, J.C. McWilliams, D.B. Chelton, and Z. Li. 2009. SST-wind interaction in coastal upwelling: Oceanic simulation with empirical coupling. Journal of Physical Oceanography 39:2,957­–2,970.
  20. Kelly, K.A., S. Dickinson, M.J. McPhaden, and G.C. Johnson. 2001. Ocean currents evident in satellite wind data. Geophysical Research Letters 28:2,469–2,472. [CrossRef]
  21. Kessler, W.S., G.C. Johnson, and D.W. Moore. 2003. Sverdrup and nonlinear dynamics of the Pacific Equatorial Currents. Journal of Physical Oceanography 33:994–1008.
  22. Kobashi, F., S.-P. Xie, N. Iwasaka, and T. Sakamoto. 2008. Deep atmospheric response to the North Pacific oceanic subtropical front in spring. Journal of Climate 21:5,960–5,975.
  23. Kuwano-Yoshida, A., S. Minobe, and S.-P. Xie. 2010. Precipitation response to the Gulf Stream in an atmospheric GCM. Journal of Climate 23:3,676-3,698.
  24. Liu, W.T., X. Xie, P.S. Polito, S.-P. Xie, and H. Hashizume. 2000. Atmospheric manifestation of tropical instability waves observed by QuikSCAT and Tropical Rain Measuring Mission. Geophysical Research Letters 27:2,545–2,548.
  25. Lutjeharms, J.R.E., R.D. Mev, and I.E. Hunter. 1986. Cloud lines over the Agulhas Current. South African Journal of Science 82:635–640.
  26. Maloney, E.D., and D.B. Chelton. 2006. An assessment of the sea surface temperature influence on surface wind stress in numerical weather prediction and climate models. Journal of Climate 19:2,743–2,762.
  27. Mellor, G., and T. Yamada. 1982. Development of a turbulence closure model for geophysical fluid problems. Reviews of Geophysics 20:851–875. [CrossRef]
  28. Minobe, S., A. Kuwano-Yoshida, N. Komori, S.-P. Xie, and R.J. Small. 2008. Influence of the Gulf Stream on the troposphere. Nature 452:206–209. [CrossRef]
  29. Minobe, S., A. Kuwano-Yoshida, M. Miyashita, H. Tokinaga, and S.-P. Xie. 2010. Atmospheric response to the Gulf Stream: Seasonal variations. Journal of Climate 23:3,699–3,719.
  30. Nakamura, H., T. Sampe, A. Goto, W. Ohfuchi, and S.-P. Xie. 2008. On the importance of mid-latitude oceanic frontal zones for the mean state and dominant variability in the tropospheric circulation. Geophysical Research Letters 35, L15709. [CrossRef]
  31. Nonaka, M., and S.-P. Xie. 2003. Co-variations of sea surface temperature and wind over the Kuroshio and its extension: Evidence for ocean-to-atmospheric feedback. Journal of Climate 16:1,404–1,413.
  32. Norris, J.R., and S.F. Iacobellis. 2005. North Pacific cloud feedbacks inferred from synoptic-scale dynamic and thermodynamic relationships. Journal of Climate 18:4,862–4,878.
  33. O’Neill, L.W., D.B. Chelton, and S.K. Esbensen. 2003. Observations of SST-induced perturbations of the wind stress field over the Southern Ocean on seasonal timescales. Journal of Climate 16:2,340–2,354.
  34. O’Neill, L.W., D.B. Chelton, S.K. Esbensen, and F.J. Wentz. 2005. High-resolution satellite measurements of the atmospheric boundary layer response to SST variations along the Agulhas Return Current. Journal of Climate 18:2,706–2,723.
  35. O’Neill, L.W., D.B. Chelton, and S.K. Esbensen. 2010a. The effects of SST-induced horizontal surface wind speed and direction gradients on midlatitude vorticity and divergence. Journal of Climate 23:255–281.
  36. O’Neill, L.W., S.K. Esbensen, N. Thum, R.M. Samelson, and D.B. Chelton. 2010b. Dynamical analysis of the boundary layer and surface wind responses to mesoscale SST perturbations. Journal of Climate 23(3):559–581. [CrossRef]
  37. Park, K.-A., and P.C. Cornillon. 2002. Stability-induced modification of sea surface winds over Gulf Stream rings. Geophysical Research Letters 29(24):2,211. [CrossRef]
  38. Park, K.-A., P.C. Cornillon, and D.L. Codiga. 2006. Modification of surface winds near ocean fronts: Effects of Gulf Stream rings on scatterometer (QuikSCAT, NSCAT) wind observations. Geophysical Research Letters 111, C03021. [CrossRef]
  39. Perlin, N., E.D. Skyllingstad, R.M. Samelson, and P.L. Barbour. 2007. Numerical simulation of air–sea coupling during coastal upwelling. Journal of Physical Oceanography 37:2,081–2,093.
  40. Pezzi, L.P., J. Vialard, K. Richards, C. Menkes, and D. Anderson. 2004. Influence of ocean- atmosphere coupling on the properties of tropical instability waves. Geophysical Research Letters 31, L16306. [CrossRef]
  41. Polito, P.S., J.P. Ryan, W.T. Liu, and F.P. Chavez. 2001. Oceanic and atmospheric anomalies of tropical instability waves. Geophysical Research Letters 28:2,233–2,236.
  42. Reynolds, R.W., N.A. Rayner, T.M. Smith, D.C. Stokes, and W. Wang. 2002. An improved in situ and satellite SST analysis for climate. Journal of Climate 15:1,609–1,625.
  43. Rodrìguez, E., R.W. Gaston, S.L. Durden, B. Stiles, M. Spencer, L. Veilleux, R. Hughes, D. Esteban Fernadez, S. Chan, S. Veleva, and R.S. Dunbar. 2009. A scatterometer for XOVWM, the Extended Ocean Vector Winds Mission. Proceedings of IEEE Radar Conference 2009. [CrossRef]
  44. Sampe, T., and S.-P. Xie. 2007. Mapping high sea winds from space: A global climatology. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 88:965–1,978.
  45. Seo, H., M. Jochum, R. Murtugudde, A.J. Miller, and J.O. Roads. 2007a. Feedback of tropical instability wave-induced atmospheric variability onto the ocean. Journal of Climate 20(23):5,842–5,855.
  46. Seo, H., A.J. Miller, and J.O. Roads. 2007b. The Scripps Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Regional (SCOAR) model, with applications in the eastern Pacific sector. Journal of Climate 20:381–402. [CrossRef]
  47. Small, R.J., S.P. deSzoeke, S.-P. Xie, L. O’Neill, H. Seo, Q. Song, P. Cornillon, M. Spall, and S. Minobe. 2008. Air-sea interaction over ocean fronts and eddies. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans 45:274–319. [CrossRef]
  48. Small, R.J., S.-P. Xie, and Y. Wang. 2003. Numerical simulation of atmospheric response to Pacific tropical instability waves. Journal of Climate 16:3,723–3,741.
  49. Small, R.J., S.-P. Xie, Y. Wang, S.K. Esbensen, and D. Vickers. 2005. Numerical simulation of boundary layer structure and cross-equatorial flow in the eastern Pacific. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 62:1,812–1,829.
  50. Soden, B.J., and I.M. Held. 2006. An assessment of climate feedbacks in coupled ocean-atmosphere models. Journal of Climate 19:3,354–3,360.
  51. Song, Q., P. Cornillon, and T. Hara. 2006. Surface wind response to oceanic fronts. Journal of Geophysical Research 111, C12006. [CrossRef]
  52. Song, Q., D.B. Chelton, S.K. Esbensen, N. Thum, and L.W. O’Neill. 2009. Coupling between sea surface temperature and low-level winds in mesoscale numerical models. Journal of Climate 22:146–164. [CrossRef]
  53. Sweet, W.R., R. Fett, J. Kerling, and P. La Violette. 1981. Air-sea interaction effects in the lower troposphere across the north wall of the Gulf Stream. Monthly Weather Review 109:1,042–1,052.
  54. Spall, M.A. 2007a. Midlatitude wind stress–sea surface temperature coupling in the vicinity of oceanic fronts. Journal of Climate 20:3,785–3,801.
  55. Spall, M.A. 2007b. Effect of sea surface temperature–wind stress coupling on baroclinic instability in the ocean. Journal of Physical Oceanography 37:1,092–1,097.
  56. Taguchi, B., H. Nakamura, M. Nonaka, and S.-P. Xie. 2009. Influences of the Kuroshio/Oyashio Extensions on air-sea heat exchanges and storm track activity as revealed in regional atmospheric model simulations for the 2003/4 cold season. Journal of Climate 22:6,536–6,560.
  57. Tanimoto, Y., S.-P. Xie, K. Kai, H. Okajima, H. Tokinaga, T. Murayama, M. Nonaka, and H. Nakamura. 2009. Observations of marine atmospheric boundary layer transitions across the summer Kuroshio Extension. Journal of Climate 22:1,360–1,374.
  58. Thiébaux, J., E. Rogers, W. Wang, and B. Katz. 2003. A new high-resolution blended real-time global sea surface temperature analysis. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 84:645–656. [CrossRef]
  59. Tokinaga, H., Y. Tanimoto, M. Nonaka, B. Taguchi, T. Fukamachi, S.-P. Xie, H. Nakamura, T. Watanabe, and I. Yasuda. 2006. Atmospheric sounding over the winter Kuroshio Extension: Effect of surface stability on atmospheric boundary layer structure. Geophysical Research Letters 33, L04703. [CrossRef]
  60. Tokinaga, H., Y. Tanimoto, S.-P. Xie, T. Sampe, H. Tomita, and H. Ichikawa. 2009. Ocean frontal effects on the vertical development of clouds over the Northwest Pacific: In situ and satellite observations. Journal of Climate 22:4,241-4,260.
  61. Trunk, T.J., and L.F. Bosart. 1990. Mean radar echo characteristics during Project GALE. Monthly Weather Review 118:459–469.
  62. Wai, M., and S.A. Stage. 1989. Dynamical analysis of marine atmospheric boundary layer structure near the Gulf Stream oceanic front. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 115:29–44. [CrossRef]
  63. Wallace, J.M., T.P. Mitchell, and C. Deser. 1989. The influence of sea surface temperature on surface wind in the eastern equatorial Pacific: Seasonal and interannual variability. Journal of Climate 2:1,492–1,499.
  64. Warner, T.T., M.N. Lakhtakia, J.D. Doyle, and R.A. Pearson. 1990. Marine atmospheric boundary layer circulations forced by Gulf Stream sea surface temperature gradients. Monthly Weather Review 118:309–323.
  65. Wentz, F.J., C. Gentemann, D. Smith, and D. Chelton. 2000. Satellite measurements of sea surface temperature through clouds. Science 288:847–850. [CrossRef]
  66. Xie, S.-P. 2004. Satellite observations of cool ocean-atmosphere interaction. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 85:195–208. [CrossRef]
  67. Xie, S.-P., M. Ishiwatari, H. Hashizume, and K. Takeuchi. 1998. Coupled ocean-atmospheric waves on the equatorial front. Geophysical Research Letters 25:3,863–3,866.
  68. Xu, H., Tokinaga, and S.-P. Xie. 2010. Atmospheric effects of the Kuroshio Large Meander during 2004–05. Journal of Climate 23:4,704–4,715. [CrossRef]
  69. Young, G.S., and T.D. Sikora. 2003. Mesoscale stratocumulus bands caused by Gulf Stream meanders. Monthly Weather Review 131:2,177–2,191.
  70. Yu, J.-Y., and C.R. Mechoso. 1999. Links between annual variations of Peruvian stratocumulus clouds and of SSTs in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Journal of Climate 12:3,305–3,318.
  71. Zhang, R.H., and A.J. Busalacchi. 2008. Rectified effects of tropical instability wave (TIW)-induced atmospheric wind feedback in the tropical Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters 35, L05608. [CrossRef]
  72. Zhang, R.H., and A.J. Busalacchi. 2009. An empirical model for surface wind stress response to SST forcing induced by tropical instability waves (TIWs) in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific. Monthly Weather Review 137:2,021–2,046.
Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.