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Abstract In this work, we seek to address the validity of Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) in the wave-affected surface boundary layer of the atmosphere. While bulk flux formulas which rely on MOST have been tested with and applied to measurements and models of air/sea interaction for several decades, the influences of surface wave–mediated fluxes on MOST have not been thoroughly quantified. We assess several months of direct covariance data from a stationary tower deployed with instruments inside the wave-affected surface layer. These measurements are analyzed in the context of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) equation and MOST, extending previous work due to the inclusion of directly estimated wave-coherent energy fluxes. Scaled TKE dissipation rates are reduced from what is predicted by MOST during events with large wave-coherent surface fluxes, resulting in a dissipation deficit in the energy budget (roughly 30%). However, we find that shear is much less impacted by these wave events showing much smaller deviations from baselines (less than 10%). During much of the experiment, the dissipation deficit is balanced by the wave-coherent pressure work, suggesting a general understanding of the combined turbulent and wave-driven energetics. However, several large storms in the fall of 2022 yielded much larger dissipation deficits than can be explained by the wave-coherent pressure work, highlighting that more work is needed to understand energetics in the wave-affected surface layer more generally. Significance StatementThe exchanges of heat, momentum, and gases between the air and the ocean are important for weather and climate prediction, ocean simulation, and wave models that are important for safe operations at sea. A current theory for these exchanges was designed for use over land but has been applied successfully over the ocean for several decades. One reason the overland theory [Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST)] may not work as well is due to ocean waves, which change the nature of the surface in comparison with unmoving overland features like hills, mountains, and other topography. In particular, ocean waves grow with the wind, which means that they must draw down momentum and energy from the air above. In this paper, we work to understand why this theory for heat and momentum exchange at the surface (MOST) works well over ocean waves despite the unique physics when compared to wind over land. We find that the influence of waves is visible in some parts of the theory but that for the majority of conditions, the predictions from MOST should work well. 

Data from an air-sea interaction tower are used to close the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget in the wave-affected surface layer of the upper ocean. Under energetic wind forcing with active wave breaking, the dominant balance is between the dissipation rate of TKE and the downward convergence in vertical energy flux. The net energy flux is downward, primarily driven by pressure work, and the TKE transport is upward, opposite to the downgradient assumption in most turbulence closure models. The sign and the relative magnitude of these energy fluxes are hypothesized to be driven by a weak interaction between the vertical velocity of Langmuir circulation (LC) and the kinetic energy and pressure of wave groups that is the result of small scale wave-current interaction. Consistent with previous modeling studies, the data suggest that the horizontal current anomaly associated with LC refracts wave energy away from downwelling regions and into upwelling regions, resulting in negative covariance between the vertical velocity of LC and the pressure anomaly associated with the wave groups. The asymmetry between downward pressure work and upward TKE flux is explained by the Bernoulli response of the sea-surface, which results in groups of waves having a larger pressure anomaly than the corresponding kinetic energy anomaly, consistent with group-bound long wave theory. 

Abstract Surface waves grow through a mechanism in which atmospheric pressure is offset in phase from the wavy surface. A pattern of low atmospheric pressure over upward wave orbital motions (leeward side) and high pressure over downward wave orbital motions (windward side) travels with the water wave, leading to a pumping of kinetic energy from the atmospheric boundary layer into the waves. This pressure pattern persists above the air–water interface, modifying the turbulent kinetic energy in the atmospheric wave-affected boundary layer. Here, we present field measurements of wave-coherent atmospheric pressure and velocity to elucidate the transfer of energy from the atmospheric turbulence budget into waves through wave-coherent atmospheric pressure work. Measurements show that the phase between wave-coherent pressure and velocity is shifted slightly above 90° when wind speed exceeds the wave phase speed, allowing for a downward energy flux via pressure work. Although previous studies have reported wave-coherent pressure, to the authors’ knowledge, these are the first reported field measurements of wave-coherent pressure work. Measured pressure work cospectra are consistent with an existing model for atmospheric pressure work. The implications for these measurements and their importance to the turbulent kinetic energy budget are discussed. Significance StatementSurface waves grow through a pattern of atmospheric pressure that travels with the water wave, acting as a pump against the water surface. The pressure pumping, sometimes called pressure work, or the piston pressure, results in a transfer of kinetic energy from the air to the water that makes waves grow larger. To conserve energy, it is thought that the pressure work on the surface must extract energy from the mean wind profile or wind turbulence that sets the shape of the wind speed with height. In this paper, we present direct measurements of pressure work in the atmosphere above surface waves. We show that the energy extracted by atmospheric pressure work fits existing models for how waves grow and a simple model for how waves reduce energy in the turbulent kinetic energy budget. To our knowledge, these are the first reported field measurements of wave-coherent pressure work. 

{"Abstract":["As described in the methods section of “Direct Observation of Wave-coherent Pressure Work in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer”: Measurements were made from an open-lattice steel tower deployed in roughly 13 m water depth in Buzzards Bay, MA. Buzzards Bay is a 48 km by 12 km basin open on the SW side to Rhode Island Sound. The average depth is 11 m, with a tide range of 1 to 1.5 m, depending on the neap/spring cycles. Winds in Buzzards Bay are frequently aligned on the long-axis (from the NE or SW), and are commonly strong, particularly in the fall and winter. The tower was deployed near the center of the bay at 41.577638 N, 70.745555 W for a spring deployment lasting from April 12, 2022 to June 13th, 2022. Atmospheric measurements included three primary instrument booms that housed paired sonic anemometers (RM Young 81000RE) and high-resolution pressure sensors (Paros Scientific). The pressure sensor intakes were terminated with static pressure heads, which reduce the dynamic pressure contribution to the measured (static) pressure. The tower booms were aligned at 280 degrees such that the NE and SW winds would be unobstructed by the tower's main body. A fourth sonic anemometer (Gill R3) was extended above the tower such that it was open to all wind directions and clear of wake by the tower structure. A single point lidar (Riegl LD90-3i) was mounted to the highest boom, such that the lidar measured the water surface elevation underneath the anemometer and pressure sensors to within a few centimeters horizontally. All instruments were time synchronized with a custom "miniNode" flux logger, that aggregated the data streams from each instrument. Additional atmospheric and wave measurements on the tower included short-wave and long-wave radiometers (Kipp & Zonen), two RH/T sensors (Vaisala), and a standard lower-resolution barometer (Setra)."]} 

Abstract. In late summer 2019 and 2020 bottom waters in southern Cape Cod Bay (CCB) became depleted of dissolved oxygen (DO), with documented benthicmortality in both years. Hypoxic conditions formed in relatively shallow water where the strong seasonal thermocline intersected the sea floor, bothlimiting vertical mixing and concentrating biological oxygen demand (BOD) over a very thin bottom boundary layer. In both 2019 and 2020, anomalouslyhigh sub-surface phytoplankton blooms were observed, and the biomass from these blooms provided the fuel to deplete sub-pycnocline waters of DO. Theincreased chlorophyll fluorescence was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in sub-pycnocline nutrients, suggesting that prior to 2019 physicalconditions were unfavorable for the utilization of these deep nutrients by the late-summer phytoplankton community. It is hypothesized thatsignificant alteration of physical conditions in CCB during late summer, which is the result of regional climate change, has favored the recentincrease in sub-surface phytoplankton production. These changes include rapidly warming waters and significant shifts in summer wind direction, bothof which impact the intensity and vertical distribution of thermal stratification and vertical mixing within the water column. These changes inwater column structure are not only more susceptible to hypoxia but also have significant implications for phytoplankton dynamics, potentiallyallowing for intense late-summer blooms of Karenia mikimotoi, a species new to the area. K. mikimotoi had not been detected in CCBor adjacent waters prior to 2017; however, increasing cell densities have been reported in subsequent years, consistent with a rapidly changingecosystem. 

Abstract A unique combination of data collected from fixed instruments, spatial surveys, and a long‐term observing network in the Hudson River demonstrate the importance of spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric gas flux. The atmospheric exchanges of oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) exhibit variability at a range of time scales including pronounced modulation driven by spring‐neap variations in stratification and mixing. During weak neap tides, bottom waters become enriched in pCO₂and depleted in dissolved oxygen because strong stratification limits vertical mixing and isolates sub‐pycnocline water from atmospheric exchange. Estuarine circulation also is enhanced during neap tides so that bottom waters, and their associated dissolved gases, are transported up‐estuary. Strong mixing during spring tides effectively ventilates bottom waters resulting in enhanced CO₂evasion and O₂invasion. The spring‐neap modulation in the estuarine portion of the Hudson River is enhanced because fortnightly variations in mixing have a strong influence on phytoplankton dynamics, allowing strong blooms to occur during weak neap tides. During blooms, periods of CO₂invasion and O₂evasion occur over much of the lower stratified estuary. The along‐estuary distribution of stratification, which decreases up‐estuary, favors enhanced gas exchange near the limit of salt, where vertical stratification is absent. This region, which we call the estuarine gas exchange maximum (EGM), results from the convergence in bottom transport and is analogous to the estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM). Much like the ETM, the EGM is likely to be a common feature in many partially mixed and stratified estuarine systems.