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Abstract The impact of swell on wind stress is investigated through direct three‐layer flux measurements taken by a fixed tower in the marine atmospheric boundary layer. Observations confirm that the assumption of constant momentum flux layer is valid under swell‐dominated conditions around the reference height of 10 m. The swell can modulate the total wind stress to be less than the turbulent stress derived from the first‐order closure method, and the extent of this modulation decreases with height. The critical layer that represents the top of the layer affected by stronger swells is estimated to reach 45‐m altitude, and the depth of this layer decreases as the swells weaken and the wind speed increases. Furthermore, a simple swell correction scheme for the total stress calculation is developed, showing good performance against observations.
