Abstract |
The exchange of heat and momentum through the air-sea surface are critical aspects of ocean forcing and ocean modeling. Over most of the global oceans, there are few in situ observations that can be used to estimate these fluxes. This chapter provides background on the calculation and application of air-sea fluxes, as well as the use of remote sensing to calculate these fluxes. Wind variability makes a large contribution to variability in surface fluxes, and the remote sensing of winds is relatively mature compared to the air sea differences in temperature and humidity, which are the other key variables. Therefore, the remote sensing of wind is presented in greater detail. These details enable the reader to understand how the improper use of satellite winds can result in regional and seasonal biases in fluxes, and how to calculate fluxes in a manner that removes these biases. Examples are given of high-resolution applications of fluxes, which are used to indicate the strengths and weakness of satellite-based calculations of ocean surface fluxes. |