FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI The Impact of Wind Gusts on the Ocean Thermal Skin Layer
BT 
AF Zappa, Christopher J.
   Laxague, Nathan J.M.
   Brumer, Sophia
   Anderson, Steven P.
AS 1:1;2:1;3:2;4:3;
FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;
C1 Lamont‐Doherty Earth ObservatoryColumbia University Palisades NY ,USA
   Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, UMR 6523 IFREMER‐CNRS‐IRD‐UBO Plouzané ,FRANCE
   Areté Associates Arlington VA ,USA
C2 UNIV COLUMBIA, USA
   CNES, FRANCE
   ARETÉ ASSOCIATES, USA
UM LOPS
IN WOS Cotutelle UMR
   copubli-int-hors-europe
IF 4.497
TC 4
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00514/62522/66831.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00514/62522/66832.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00514/62522/66835.avi
LA English
DT Article
AB 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. Key Points Wind gusts produce transient ocean skin layer thermal fronts that propagate near the observed wind speed Wind gust fronts disrupt the ocean thermal skin layer due to microbreaking and increase emissivity due to capillary‐gravity wave growth Following wind gust front passage, capillary‐gravity wave relaxation reduced surface emissivity faster than the cool skin was restored 
PY 2019
PD OCT
SO Geophysical Research Letters
SN 0094-8276
PU American Geophysical Union (AGU)
VL 46
IS 20
UT 000492819300001
BP 11301
EP 11309
DI 10.1029/2019GL083687
ID 62522
ER

EF