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Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2020) | Viewed by 50455

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Prof. Dr. Mark Bourassa

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Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, EOAS Building 1011 Academic Way, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
Interests: remote sensing of the surface and boundary layer; boundary layers (ocean and atmosphere); air–sea interaction; the observing system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Johnny A. Johannessen

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Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Geophyiscal Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Interests: satellite remote sensing in oceanography and sea ice

Dr. Bertrand Chapron

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Guest Editor

French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), 29280 Plouzané, France
Interests: oceanographic techniques; synthetic aperture radar; wind; ocean waves; remote sensing by radar; radar imaging; atmospheric techniques; neural nets; geophysical image processing; learning (artificial intelligence); radiometry; sea ice; atmospheric humidity; data assimilation; radar polarimetry;r emote sensing; spaceborne radar; Kalman filters; calibration; ocean temperature; oceanographic equipment; oceanographic regions; altimeters; clouds; geophysics computing
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasingly, the importance of air–sea interactions are being accepted for hurricane forecasting, medium- and longer-range weather and ocean forecasting, and climate modeling. It is well-known that large-scale processes are essential for both atmosphere and ocean forcing by surface stress and heat fluxes, with radiation and evaporation usually dominating the heat fluxes. The coupling of ocean/waves/ice/atmosphere is much stronger on mesoscales (or finer) than on larger scales, albeit over much smaller regions such as near boundaries of features. Small-scale features, well-known to occur in the high latitudes, are now recognized as prevalent throughout the oceans. These smaller-scale processes also have relatively intense vertical motion and mixing at the bottom of the ocean’s mixed layer and organized rolls in the atmosphere. Ocean processes, in particular, are very important for CO₂ transfer and for primary productivity. Remote sensing and quantitative interpretation of these processes remains a challenge. This Special Issue welcomes papers on the capabilities of remote sensing of air–sea interactions and air–sea processes, and the use of remote sensing for validation of modeled air–sea coupling.

Prof. Dr. Mark Bourassa
Prof. Dr. Johnny A. Johannessen
Dr. Bertrand Chapron
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Air/Sea Interaction
Remote Sensing
Biology
Coupled Modeling

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 3967 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Correlating Extremes in Wind Divergence with Extremes in Rain over the Tropical Atlantic

by Gregory P. King, Marcos Portabella, Wenming Lin and Ad Stoffelen

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(5), 1147; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14051147 - 25 Feb 2022

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3573

Abstract

Air–sea fluxes are greatly enhanced by the winds and vertical exchanges generated by mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). In contrast to global numerical weather prediction models, space-borne scatterometers are able to resolve the small-scale wind variability in and near MCSs at the ocean surface. Downbursts of heavy rain in MCSs produce strong gusts and large divergence and vorticity in surface winds. In this paper, 12.5 km wind fields from the ASCAT-A and ASCAT-B tandem mission, collocated with short time series of Meteosat Second Generation 3 km rain fields, are used to quantify correlations between wind divergence and rain in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) of the Atlantic Ocean. We show that when there is extreme rain, there is extreme convergence/divergence in the vicinity. Probability distributions for wind divergence and rain rates were found to be heavy-tailed: exponential tails for wind divergence (P∼

e^{- α δ}

with slopes that flatten with increasing rain rate), and power-law tails for rain rates (P∼

{(R^{*})}^{- β}

with a slower and approximately equal decay for the extremes of convergence and divergence). Co-occurring points are tabulated in two-by-two contingency tables from which cross-correlations are calculated in terms of the odds and odds ratio for each time lag in the collocation. The odds ratio for extreme convergence and extreme divergence both have a well-defined peak. The divergence time lag is close to zero, while it is 30 min for the convergence peak, implying that extreme rain generally appears after (lags) extreme convergence. The temporal scale of moist convection is thus determined by the slower updraft process, as expected. A structural analysis was carried out that demonstrates consistency with the known structure of MCSs. This work demonstrates that (tandem) ASCAT winds are well suited for air–sea exchange studies in moist convection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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21 pages, 13135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seasonal and Interannual Variability of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool and its Associated Climate Factors Based on Remote Sensing

by Zi Yin, Qing Dong, Fanping Kong, Dan Cao and Shuang Long

Remote Sens. 2020, 12(7), 1062; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12071062 - 26 Mar 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3405

Abstract

With satellite observed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) accumulated for multiple decades, multi-time scale variabilities of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool are examined and contrasted in this study by separating it into the Indian Ocean sector and the Pacific Ocean sector. Surface size, zonal center, meridional center, maximum SST and mean SST as the practical warm pool properties are chosen to investigate the warm pool variations for the period 1982–2018. On the seasonal time scale, the oscillation of the Indian Warm Pool is found much more vigorous than the Pacific Warm Pool on size and intensity, yet the interannual variabilities of the Indian Warm Pool and the Pacific Warm Pool are comparable. The Indian Warm Pool has weak interannual variations (3–5 years) and the Pacific Warm Pool has mighty interdecadal variations. The size, zonal movement and mean SST of the Indian Ocean Warm Pool (IW) are more accurate to depict the seasonal variability, and for the Pacific Ocean Warm Pool (PW), the size, zonal and meridional movements and maximum SST are more suitable. On the interannual scale, except for the meridional movements, all the other properties of the same basin have similar interannual variation signals. Following the correlation analysis, it turns out that the Indian Ocean basin-wide index (IOBW) is the most important contributor to the variabilities of both sectors. Lead-lag correlation results show that variation of the Pacific Ocean Warm Pool leads the IOBW and variation of the Indian Ocean Warm Pool is synchronous with the IOBW. This indicates that both sectors of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool are significantly correlated with basin-wide warming or cooling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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20 pages, 13294 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Frequency Variations in Pearl River Plume Observed by Soil Moisture Active Passive Sea Surface Salinity

by Xiaomei Liao, Yan Du, Tianyu Wang, Shuibo Hu, Haigang Zhan, Huizeng Liu and Guofeng Wu

Remote Sens. 2020, 12(3), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030563 - 8 Feb 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4122

Abstract

River plumes play an important role in the cross-margin transport of phytoplankton and nutrients, which have profound impacts on coastal ecosystems. Using recently available Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) sea surface salinity (SSS) data and high-resolution ocean color products, this study investigated summertime high-frequency variations in the Pearl River plume of China and its biological response. The SMAP SSS captures the intraseasonal oscillations in the offshore transport of the Pearl River plume well, which has distinct 30–60 day variations from mid-May to late September. The offshore transport of freshwater varies concurrently with southwesterly wind anomalies and is roughly in phase with the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) index in phases 1–5, thus implying that the MJO exerts a significant influence. During MJO phases 1–2, the southwest wind anomalies in the northeastern South China Sea (SCS) enhanced cross-shore Ekman transport, while the northeast wind anomalies during MJO phases 3–5 favored the subsequent southwestward transport of the plume. The high chlorophyll-a concentration coincided well with the low-salinity water variations, emphasizing the important role of the offshore transport of the Pearl River plume in sustaining biological production over the oligotrophic northern SCS. The strong offshore transport of the plume in June 2015 clearly revealed that the proximity of a cyclonic eddy plays a role in the plume’s dispersal pathway. In addition, heavy rainfall related to the landfall of tropical cyclones in the Pearl River Estuary region contributed to the episodic offshore transport of the plume. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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17 pages, 9135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Large-Scale Mode Impacts on the Sea Level over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

by Kamal A. Alawad, Abdullah M. Al-Subhi, Mohammed A. Alsaafani, Turki M. Alraddadi, Monica Ionita and Gerrit Lohmann

Remote Sens. 2019, 11(19), 2224; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11192224 - 24 Sep 2019

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5346

Abstract

Falling between seasonal cycle variability and the impact of local drivers, the sea level in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has been given less consideration, especially with large-scale modes. With multiple decades of satellite altimetry observations combined with good spatial resolution, the time has come for diagnosis of the impact of large-scale modes on the sea level in those important semi-enclosed basins. While the annual cycle of sea level appeared as a dominant cycle using spectral analysis, the semi-annual one was also found, although much weaker. The first empirical orthogonal function mode explained, on average, about 65% of the total variance throughout the seasons, while their principal components clearly captured the strong La Niña event (1999–2001) in all seasons. The sea level showed a strong positive relation with positive phase El Niño Southern Oscillation in all seasons and a strong negative relation with East Atlantic/West Russia during winter and spring over the study period (1993–2017). We show that the unusually stronger easterly winds that are displaced north of the equator generate an upwelling area near the Sumatra coast and they drive both warm surface and deep-water masses toward the West Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, rising sea level over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. This process could explain the increase of sea level in the basin during the positive phase of El Niño Southern Oscillation events. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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33 pages, 13814 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Latent Heat Flux in the Agulhas Current

by Arielle Stela Imbol Nkwinkwa N., Mathieu Rouault and Johnny A. Johannessen

Remote Sens. 2019, 11(13), 1576; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11131576 - 3 Jul 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5139

Abstract

In-situ observation, climate reanalyses, and satellite remote sensing are used to study the annual cycle of turbulent latent heat flux (LHF) in the Agulhas Current system. We assess if the datasets do represent the intense exchange of moisture that occurs above the Agulhas Current and the Retroflection region, especially the new reanalyses as the former, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis 2 (NCEP2) and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis second-generation reanalysis (ERA-40) have lower sea and less distinct surface temperature (SST) in the Agulhas Current system due to their low spatial resolution thus do not adequately represent the Agulhas Current LHF. We use monthly fields of LHF, SST, surface wind speed, saturated specific humidity at the sea surface (Qss), and specific humidity at 10 m (Qa). The Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast fifth generation (ERA-5), and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version-2 (MERRA-2) are similar to the air–sea turbulent fluxes (SEAFLUX) and do represent the signature of the Agulhas Current. ERA-Interim underestimates the LHF due to lower surface wind speeds than other datasets. The observation-based National Oceanography Center Southampton (NOCS) dataset is different from all other datasets. The highest LHF of 250 W/m² is found in the Retroflection in winter. The lowest LHF (~100 W/m²) is off Port Elizabeth in summer. East of the Agulhas Current, Qss-Qa is the main driver of the amplitude of the annual cycle of LHF, while it is the wind speed in the Retroflection and both Qss-Qa and wind speed in between. The difference in LHF between product are due to differences in Qss-Qa wind speed and resolution of datasets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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29 pages, 10248 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Coupling Ocean Currents and Waves with Wind Stress over the Gulf Stream

by Qi Shi and Mark A. Bourassa

Remote Sens. 2019, 11(12), 1476; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11121476 - 21 Jun 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9113

Abstract

This study provides the first detailed analysis of oceanic and atmospheric responses to the current-stress, wave-stress, and wave-current-stress interactions around the Gulf Stream using a high-resolution three-way coupled regional modeling system. In general, our results highlight the substantial impact of coupling currents and/or waves with wind stress on the air–sea fluxes over the Gulf Stream. The stress and the curl of the stress are crucial to mixed-layer energy budgets and sea surface temperature. In the wave-current-stress coupled experiment, wind stress increased by 15% over the Gulf Stream. Alternating positive and negative bands of changes of Ekman-related vertical velocity appeared in response to the changes of the wind stress curl along the Gulf Stream, with magnitudes exceeding 0.3 m/day (the 95th percentile). The response of wind stress and its curl to the wave-current-stress coupling was not a linear combination of responses to the wave-stress coupling and the current-stress coupling because the ocean and wave induced changes in the atmosphere showed substantial feedback on the ocean. Changes of a latent heat flux in excess of 20 W/m² and a sensible heat flux in excess of 5 W/m² were found over the Gulf Stream in all coupled experiments. Sensitivity tests show that sea surface temperature (SST) induced difference of air–sea humidity is a major contributor to latent heat flux (LHF) change. Validation is challenging because most satellite observations lack the spatial resolution to resolve the current-induced changes in wind stress curls and heat fluxes. Scatterometer observations can be used to examine the changes in wind stress across the Gulf Stream. The conversion of model data to equivalent neutral winds is highly dependent on the physics considered in the air–sea turbulent fluxes, as well as air–sea temperature differences. This sensitivity is shown to be large enough that satellite observations of winds can be used to test the flux parameterizations in coupled models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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17 pages, 5631 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Physical and Biogeochemical Control Mechanisms on Summertime Surface Carbonate System Variability in the Western Ross Sea (Antarctica) Using In Situ and Satellite Data

by Paola Rivaro, Carmela Ianni, Lorenza Raimondi, Clara Manno, Silvia Sandrini, Pasquale Castagno, Yuri Cotroneo and Pierpaolo Falco

Remote Sens. 2019, 11(3), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11030238 - 24 Jan 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5676

Abstract

In this study, carbonate system properties were measured in the western Ross Sea (Antarctica) over the 2005–2006 and 2011–2012 austral summers with the aim of analysing their sensitivity to physical and biogeochemical drivers. Daily Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) sea ice concentration maps, obtained prior to and during the samplings, were used to analyse the sea ice evolution throughout the experiment periods. Monthly means and 8-day composite chlorophyll concentration maps from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua satellite at 4-km resolution were used to investigate inter-annual and basin scale biological variability. Chlorophyll-a concentrations in surface waters estimated by MODIS satellite data contribute to descriptions of the variability of carbonate system properties in surface waters. Mean values of carbonate system properties were comparable across both investigated years; however, the 2012 data displayed larger variability. Sea ice melting also had a pivotal role in controlling the carbonate system chemistry of the mixed layer both directly through dilution processes and indirectly by favouring the development of phytoplankton blooms. This resulted in high pH and Ω_Ar, and in low C_T, particularly in those areas where high chlorophyll concentration was shown by satellite maps. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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22 pages, 6834 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Statistical Characteristics of Cyclonic Warm-Core Eddies and Anticyclonic Cold-Core Eddies in the North Pacific Based on Remote Sensing Data

by Wenjin Sun, Changming Dong, Wei Tan and Yijun He

Remote Sens. 2019, 11(2), 208; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11020208 - 21 Jan 2019

Cited by 62 | Viewed by 7665

Abstract

A (an) cyclonic (anticyclonic) eddy is usually associated with a cold (warm) core caused by the eddy-induced divergence (convergence) motion. However, there are also some cyclonic (anticyclonic) eddies with warm (cold) cores in the North Pacific, named cyclonic warm-core eddies (CWEs) and anticyclonic cold-core eddies (ACEs) in this study, respectively. Their spatio-temporal characteristics and regional dependence are analyzed using the multi-satellite merged remote sensing datasets. The CWEs are mainly concentrated in the northwestern and southeastern North Pacific. However, besides these two areas, the ACEs are also concentrated in the northeastern Pacific. The annual mean number decreases year by year for both CWEs and ACEs, and the decreasing rate of the CWEs is about two times as large as that of the ACEs. Moreover, the CWEs and ACEs also exhibit a significant seasonal variation, which are intense in summer and weak in winter. Based on the statistics of dynamic characteristics in seven subregions, the Kuroshio Extension region could be considered as the most active area for the CWEs and ACEs. Two possible mechanisms for CW-ACEs generation are discussed by analyzing two cases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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15 pages, 14326 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Heat Flux Sources Analysis to the Ross Ice Shelf Polynya Ice Production Time Series and the Impact of Wind Forcing

by Zian Cheng, Xiaoping Pang, Xi Zhao and Alfred Stein

Remote Sens. 2019, 11(2), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11020188 - 18 Jan 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5083

Abstract

The variation of Ross Ice Shelf Polynya (RISP) ice production is a synergistic result of several factors. This study aims to analyze the 2003–2017 RISP ice production time series with respect to the impact of wind forcing on heat flux sources. RISP ice production was estimated from passive microwave sea ice concentration images and reanalysis meteorological data using a thermodynamic model. The total ice production was divided into four components according to the amount of ice produced by different heat fluxes: solar radiation component (V_s), longwave radiation component (V_l), sensible heat flux component (V_fs), and latent heat flux component (V_fe). The results show that V_fs made the largest contribution, followed by V_l and V_fe, while V_s had a negative contribution. Our study reveals that total ice production and V_l, V_fs, and V_fe highly correlated with the RISP area size, whereas V_s negatively correlated with the RISP area size in October, and had a weak influence from April to September. Since total ice production strongly correlates with the polynya area and this significantly correlates with the wind speed of the previous day, strong wind events lead to sharply increased ice production most of the time. Strong wind events, however, may only lead to mildly increasing ice production in October, when enlarged V_s reduces the ice production. Wind speed influences ice production by two mechanisms: impact on polynya area, and impact on heat exchange and phase transformation of ice. V_fs and V_fe are influenced by both mechanisms, while V_s and V_l are only influenced by impact on polynya area. These two mechanisms show different degrees of influence on ice production during different periods. Persistent offshore winds were responsible for the large RISP area and high ice production in October 2005 and June 2007. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions)

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