Sea surface temperature signatures of oceanic internal waves in low winds

In aerial surveys conducted during the Tropical Ocean--Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean--Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) and the low wind component of the Coupled Boundary Layer Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST-Low) oceanographic field programs, sea surface temperature (SST) variability at relatively short spatial scales (10's of meters to kilometers) has been observed to increase dramatically under low wind conditions.

We employ a unique data set of coincident surface and subsurface oceanic temperature measurements to investigate the subsurface expression of this spatially organized sea surface temperature variability. Under conditions of weak winds and strong near-surface stratification, the data reveal a strong link between the spatially periodic SST fluctuations and subsurface temperature and velocity fluctuations associated with oceanic internal waves.