On heat flux boundary conditions for ocean models

Abstract

The authors present results of simple thermodynamic modeling of the lower atmosphere that suggest the sensitivity of the surface heat fluxes to variations in SST is much smaller than often assumed. It is found that the flux response is strongly dependent on the scale of the SST anomaly. The small sensitivity arises from the adjustment of the lower atmosphere to the underlying ocean in accord with its relatively much smaller ability to store heat and moisture. -from Authors