A Numerical Study of Tropical Cyclone and Ocean Responses to Air‐Sea Momentum Flux at High Winds

Abstract

The relationship between minimum sea level pressure (MSLP) and maximum wind speed, is a commonly employed metric for assessing tropical cyclone (TC) forecast skill. However, accurately reproducing this relationship in TC forecasts is challenging. By introducing a new air‐sea momentum flux scheme considering both wave state and saturation (decrease) effect at high winds into a fully coupled atmosphere‐ocean‐wave model, our numerical results reveal that the maximum wind speed and MSLP respond oppositely to the air‐sea momentum flux change. The simulated wind‐pressure relationship aligns well with observations when the new flux scheme is used. This study highlights the large sensitivity of wind‐pressure relationship to the air‐sea momentum flux parameterization at high winds. Furthermore, the air‐sea momentum flux has a significant effect on ocean wave characteristics and sea surface temperature (SST) cooling in TC simulations.