Gentemann, C. L., Clayson, C. A., Brown, S., Lee, T., Parfitt, R., Farrar, J. T., et al. (2020). FluxSat: Measuring the Ocean-Atmosphere Turbulent Exchange of Heat and Moisture from Space. Remote Sensing , 12 (11), 1796.
Abstract: Recent results using wind and sea surface temperature data from satellites and high-resolution coupled models suggest that mesoscale ocean-atmosphere interactions affect the locations and evolution of storms and seasonal precipitation over continental regions such as the western US and Europe. The processes responsible for this coupling are difficult to verify due to the paucity of accurate air-sea turbulent heat and moisture flux data. These fluxes are currently derived by combining satellite measurements that are not coincident and have differing and relatively low spatial resolutions, introducing sampling errors that are largest in regions with high spatial and temporal variability. Observational errors related to sensor design also contribute to increased uncertainty. Leveraging recent advances in sensor technology, we here describe a satellite mission concept, FluxSat, that aims to simultaneously measure all variables necessary for accurate estimation of ocean-atmosphere turbulent heat and moisture fluxes and capture the effect of oceanic mesoscale forcing. Sensor design is expected to reduce observational errors of the latent and sensible heat fluxes by almost 50%. FluxSat will improve the accuracy of the fluxes at spatial scales critical to understanding the coupled ocean-atmosphere boundary layer system, providing measurements needed to improve weather forecasts and climate model simulations.
Glazer, R. H. (2014). The Influence of Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Gradients on Tropical Cyclones . Master's thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Holbach, H. M., Uhlhorn, E. W., & Bourassa, M. A. (2018). Off-Nadir SFMR Brightness Temperature Measurements in High-Wind Conditions. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. , 35 (9), 1865–1879.
Abstract: Wind and wave-breaking directions are investigated as potential sources of an asymmetry identified in off-nadir remotely sensed measurements of ocean surface brightness temperatures obtained by the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR) in high-wind conditions, including in tropical cyclones. Surface wind speed, which dynamically couples the atmosphere and ocean, can be inferred from SFMR ocean surface brightness temperature measurements using a radiative transfer model and an inversion algorithm. The accuracy of the ocean surface brightness temperature to wind speed calibration relies on accurate knowledge of the surface variables that are influencing the ocean surface brightness temperature. Previous studies have identified wind direction signals in horizontally polarized radiometer measurements in low to moderate (0�20 m s−1) wind conditions over a wide range of incidence angles. This study finds that the azimuthal asymmetry in the off-nadir SFMR brightness temperature measurements is also likely a function of wind direction and extends the results of these previous studies to high-wind conditions. The off-nadir measurements from the SFMR provide critical data for improving the understanding of the relationships between brightness temperature, surface wave�breaking direction, and surface wind vectors at various incidence angles, which is extremely useful for the development of geophysical model functions for instruments like the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD).
Hughes, P. J. (2014). The Influence of Small-Scale Sea Surface Temperature Gradients on Surface Vector Winds and Subsequent Impacts on Oceanic Ekman Pumping . Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University.
Misra, V., & Dirmeyer, P. A. (2009). Air, Sea, and Land Interactions of the Continental U.S. Hydroclimate. J. Hydrometeor , 10 (2), 353–373.
Morey, S. L., Bourassa, M. A., Dukhovskoy, D. S., & O'Brien, J. J. (2006). Modeling studies of the upper ocean response to a tropical cyclone. Ocean Dynamics , 56 (5-6), 594–606.
Paget, A. C., Bourassa, M. A., & Anguelova, M. D. (2015). Comparing in situ and satellite-based parameterizations of oceanic whitecaps. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans , 120 (4), 2826–2843.
Rudzin, J. E., Morey, S. L., Bourassa, M. A., & Smith, S. R. (2013). The Influence of Loop Current Position on Winter Sea Surface Temperatures in the Florida Straits. Earth Interact. , 17 (16), 1–9.
Shinoda, T., Kiladis, G. N., & Roundy, P. E. (2009). Statistical representation of equatorial waves and tropical instability waves in the Pacific Ocean. In Atmospheric Research (Vol. 94, pp. 37–44).
Yu, L., & Jin, X. (2014). Insights on the OAFlux ocean surface vector wind analysis merged from scatterometers and passive microwave radiometers (1987 onward). J. Geophys. Res. Oceans , 119 (8), 5244–5269.