Air-sea interaction in hurricanes

Hurricanes are flux-driven phenomena: they receive energy from surface enthalpy fluxes and the resulting mechanical energy production is balanced mostly by momentum flux back into the ocean. Experiments with numerical models show that hurricane intensity evolution is sensitive to the formulations of surface fluxes of enthalpy and momentum, yet these fluxes occur under conditions that are poorly understood, being potentially strongly modulated by sea spray. I will present some very recent results of field experiments that place bounds on how these fluxes behave. On the flip side, hurricanes are known to have strong effects on the upper ocean, but the consequences of these effects are only beginning to be understood. I will present some new evidence that storms may have important influences on ocean heat and carbon uptake.