Impact of Langmuir Turbulence on Air-Sea Interaction in Coupled High-Wind Simulations

The influence of heat from a warm ocean surface plays a crucial role in developing coastal extreme events, including both tropical and extratropical cyclones. Sea surface temperature (SST), primarily governed by turbulent mixing in the ocean surface boundary layer, is notably impacted by surface waves through mechanisms like wave-induced Stokes drift and Langmuir turbulence. A significant limitation of many weather forecast models is their inability to accurately represent these wave dynamics and their effects on air-sea interactions at kilometer-scale resolutions. To address this gap, we have developed a regional coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model designed for high-resolution simulations of air-sea processes during extreme weather events. This model incorporates the regional atmospheric model SHiELD, utilizing the GFDL finite-volume cubed-sphere dynamical core (FV3), coupled with the high-resolution ocean circulation model MOM6, which is adapted for regional applications. Additionally, the system integrates the wave model WAVEWATCH III to simulate waves and provide wave characteristics for vertical mixing parameterizations in MOM6. We evaluate our model using an idealized hurricane scenario to explore complex interactions between the atmosphere, ocean, and waves. We then compare the performance of our model, which includes wave effects, with that of a model that does not, highlighting differences in SST and other critical variables before and after incorporating wave dynamics.