The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences (XMAS 2025)

Surface waves at the air-sea interface play a critical role in regulating the exchange of momentum, trace gases, heat, and moisture within the Earth system, especially under tropical cyclones. However, significant knowledge gaps in surface wave dynamics hinder the development of sea-state-dependent air-sea fluxes for coupled large-scale ocean and atmosphere circulation models. Key challenges in developing these fluxes include: (1) the broad range of scales of surface wave phenomena at the air-sea interface, such as wave-breaking-induced sea spray droplets at  (0.5 mm–0.5 μm), bubble bursting at  (10 mm–1 μm), and surface gravity waves  (1 m–10 km); (2) the limited availability of observations of the surface wave field; and (3) the complex interactions between the surface wave field, upper ocean currents, and their impact on upper ocean turbulence. I will discuss the role of surface waves in modulating air-sea momentum fluxes during tropical cyclones, as well as carbon dioxide and oxygen fluxes under gentle wind conditions, through a combination of numerical simulations and in-situ observations.
 

air-sea interaction, upper ocean turbulence, tropical cyclones, carbon dioxide, dissolve oxygen concentration