The marine boundary layer in the vicinity of an ocean front

Abstract

A quasi-stationary sea surface temperature (SST) discontinuity of 2°C was maintained across the frontal zone throughout the duration of the experiment. The primary response of the atmosphere to changes in the SST was observed in the surface-related turbulence fluxes. In the case of warm air flowing over cold water, the boundary layer appears to develop an internal boundary layer (IBL) in response to the sudden change in the sea surface temperature. The organized updrafts and downdrafts within this layer collapse with entrainment-detrainment processes in these cells dominating the turbulence statistics. The iBL grows in response to the wind shear in this layer, although the surface shear stress is much smaller on the colder side of the front than on the warm. -from Author