[1] The influence of wind stress, small-scale waves, and surface films on air-sea gas exchange at low to moderate wind speeds (<10 m s À1 ) is examined. Coincident observations of wind stress, heat transfer velocity, surface wave slope, and surface film enrichments were made in coastal and offshore waters south of Cape Cod, New England, in July 1997 as part of the NSF-CoOP Coastal Air-Sea Chemical Fluxes study. Gas transfer velocities have been extrapolated from aqueous heat transfer velocities derived from infrared imagery and direct covariance and bulk heat flux estimates. Gas transfer velocity is found to follow a quadratic relationship with wind speed, which accounts for $75-77% of the variance but which overpredicts transfer velocity in the presence of surface films. The dependence on wind stress as represented by the friction velocity is also nonlinear, reflecting a wave field-dependent transition between limiting transport regimes. In contrast, the dependence on mean square slope computed for the wave number range of 40-800 rad m À1 is found to be linear and in agreement with results from previous laboratory wind wave studies. The slope spectrum of the small-scale waves and the gas transfer velocity are attenuated in the presence of surface films. Observations over largescale gradients of biological productivity and dissolved organic matter show that the reduction in slope and transfer velocity are more clearly correlated with surface film enrichments than with bulk organic matter concentrations. The mean square slope parameterization explains $89-95% of the observed variance in the data and does not overpredict transfer velocities where films are present. While the specific relationships between gas transfer velocity and wind speed or mean square slope vary slightly with the choice of Schmidt number exponent used to scale the heat transfer velocities to gas transfer velocities, the correlation of heat or gas transfer velocity with mean square slope is consistently better than with wind speed.

Numerical simulation of sea surface directional wave spectra under hurricane wind forcing was carried out using a high-resolution wave model. The simulation was run for four days as Hurricane Bonnie (1998) approached the U.S. East Coast. The results are compared with buoy observations and NASA Scanning Radar Altimeter (SRA) data, which were obtained on 24 August 1998 in the open ocean and on 26 August when the storm was approaching the shore. The simulated significant wave height in the open ocean reached 14 m, agreeing well with the SRA and buoy observations. It gradually decreased as the hurricane approached the shore. In the open ocean, the dominant wavelength and wave direction in all four quadrants relative to the storm center were simulated very accurately. For the landfall case, however, the simulated dominant wavelength displays noticeable overestimation because the wave model cannot properly simulate shoaling processes. Direct comparison of the model and SRA directional spectra in all four quadrants of the hurricane shows excellent agreement in general. In some cases, the model produces smoother spectra with narrower directional spreading than do the observations. The spatial characteristics of the spectra depend on the relative position from the hurricane center, the hurricane translation speed, and bathymetry. Attempts are made to provide simple explanations for the misalignment between local wind and wave directions and for the effect of hurricane translation speed on wave spectra.

Accurate predictions of the sea state-dependent air-sea momentum flux require a thorough understanding of the wave boundary layer turbulence over surface waves. A set of momentum and energy equations is derived to formulate and analyze wave boundary layer turbulence. The equations are written in wavefollowing coordinates, and all variables are decomposed into horizontal mean, wave fluctuation, and turbulent fluctuation. The formulation defines the wave-induced stress as a sum of the wave fluctuation stress (because of the fluctuating velocity components) and a pressure stress (pressure acting on a tilted surface). The formulations can be constructed with different choices of mapping. Next, a large-eddy simulation result for wind over a sinusoidal wave train under a strongly forced condition is analyzed using the proposed formulation. The result clarifies how surface waves increase the effective roughness length and the drag coefficient. Specifically, the enhanced wave-induced stress close to the water surface reduces the turbulent stress (satisfying the momentum budget). The reduced turbulent stress is correlated with the reduced viscous dissipation rate of the turbulent kinetic energy. The latter is balanced by the reduced mean wind shear (satisfying the energy budget), which causes the equivalent surface roughness to increase. Interestingly, there is a small region farther above where the turbulent stress, dissipation rate, and mean wind shear are all enhanced. The observed strong correlation between the turbulent stress and the dissipation rate suggests that existing turbulence closure models that parameterize the latter based on the former are reasonably accurate.

A new bulk parameterization of the air–sea momentum flux at high wind speeds is proposed based on coupled wave–wind model simulations for 10 tropical cyclones that occurred in the Atlantic Ocean during 1998–2003. The new parameterization describes how the roughness length increases linearly with wind speed and the neutral drag coefficient tends to level off at high wind speeds. The proposed parameterization is then tested on real hurricanes using the operational Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) coupled hurricane–ocean prediction model. The impact of the new parameterization on the hurricane prediction is mainly found in increased maximum surface wind speeds, while it does not appreciably affect the hurricane central pressure prediction. This helps to improve the GFDL model–predicted wind–pressure relationship in strong hurricanes. Attempts are made to provide physical explanations as to why the reduced drag coefficient affects surface wind speeds but not the central pressure in hurricanes.

The mean wind profile and the Charnock coefficient, or drag coefficient, over mature seas are investigated. A model of the wave boundary layer, which consists of the lowest part of the atmospheric boundary layer that is influenced by surface waves, is developed based on the conservation of momentum and energy. Energy conservation is cast as a bulk constraint, integrated across the depth of the wave boundary layer, and the turbulence closure is achieved by parameterizing the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy. Momentum conservation is accounted for by using the analytical model of the equilibrium surface wave spectra developed by Hara and Belcher. This approach allows analytical expressions of the Charnock coefficient to be obtained and the results to be examined in terms of key nondimensional parameters. In particular, simple expressions are obtained in the asymptotic limit at which effects of viscosity and surface tension are small and the majority of the stress is supported by wave drag. This analytical model allows us to identify the conditions necessary for the Charnock coefficient to be a true constant, an assumption routinely made in existing bulk parameterizations.

The Stokes drift of surface waves significantly modifies the upper-ocean turbulence because of the CraikLeibovich vortex force (Langmuir turbulence). Under tropical cyclones the contribution of the surface waves varies significantly depending on complex wind and wave conditions. Therefore, turbulence closure models used in ocean models need to explicitly include the sea state-dependent impacts of the Langmuir turbulence. In this study, the K-profile parameterization (KPP) first-moment turbulence closure model is modified to include the explicit Langmuir turbulence effect, and its performance is tested against equivalent large-eddy simulation (LES) experiments under tropical cyclone conditions. First, the KPP model is retuned to reproduce LES results without Langmuir turbulence to eliminate implicit Langmuir turbulence effects included in the standard KPP model. Next, the Lagrangian currents are used in place of the Eulerian currents in the KPP equations that calculate the bulk Richardson number and the vertical turbulent momentum flux. Finally, an enhancement to the turbulent mixing is introduced as a function of the nondimensional turbulent Langmuir number. The retuned KPP, with the Lagrangian currents replacing the Eulerian currents and the turbulent mixing enhanced, significantly improves prediction of upper-ocean temperature and currents compared to the standard (unmodified) KPP model under tropical cyclones and shows improvements over the standard KPP at constant moderate winds (10 m s 21 ).

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Present parameterizations of air-sea momentum flux at high wind speed, including hurricane wind forcing, are based on extrapolation from field measurements in much weaker wind regimes. They predict monotonic increase of drag coefficient (C d) with wind speed. Under hurricane wind forcing, the present numerical experiments using a coupled ocean wave and wave boundary layer model show that C d at extreme wind speeds strongly depends on the wave field. Higher, longer, and more developed waves in the right-front quadrant of the storm produce higher sea drag; lower, shorter, and younger waves in the rear-left quadrant produce lower sea drag. Hurricane intensity, translation speed, as well as the asymmetry of wind forcing are major factors that determine the spatial distribution of C d. At high winds above 30 m s 1 , the present model predicts a significant reduction of C d and an overall tendency to level off and even decrease with wind speed. This tendency is consistent with recent observational, experimental, and theoretical results at very high wind speeds.