Air-Sea Heat Flux and Ocean Heat Content Variability in Climate Models and Observations

We investigate the relationship between air-sea heat fluxes, SST and upper ocean heat content in the Community Earth System Model and observed data products. Local correlations between SST and air-sea heat flux in observations and high-resolution models show extensive regions where the ocean drives the heat flux. In contrast, in standard resolution models (with an ocean grid of around 1deg.), air-sea heat flux variability is driven by the atmosphere with the SST responding to it. This talk looks at the implications of these findings for SST and upper ocean heat content variability and addresses whether the standard resolution models miss important processes, and if so, at what scales in space and time.