High-Resolution Air-Sea Heat and Momentum Fluxes over the Gulf Stream Region

Satellite-based global analysis of high-resolution (0.25-degree) global surface turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes and wind stress has been recently developed by the Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes (OAFlux) project. The development has benefited from recent improvements made in satellite-derived near-surface air-sea variables and in the third-generation reanalyses products (ERA-Interim, MERRA and CFSR).

This study evaluates the high-resolution OAFlux products with respect to in situ data sets from buoys and ships, and also compares it with the ERA-Interim, MERRA and CFSR reanalyses in depicting the atmosphere-ocean coupling over the Gulf Stream region. The study shows that uncertainties in flux estimates are large among different flux products, and that the high-resolution OAFlux analysis is in good agreement with observations and has an improved representation of the air-sea flux variability associated with oceanic eddies and fronts. The comparison analysis with the reanalyses fluxes suggests that a coupled reanalysis system such as CFSR provides a better depiction of the coupling between SST, winds, and radiation properties in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream.