Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Forecast Improvement Project III (WFIP-3). co-PI: H. Seo (UH/WHOI). Lead PI: Dr. Anthony Kirincich (WHOI)
This is a comprehensive observational and modeling study of the coupled atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers that will dramatically improve offshore windresource measurement and modeling science. Focusing on physical processes relevant to all U.S. offshore wind energy areas via observations of the Northeast U.S. outer continental shelf, this effort will increase our understanding of the coupled atmosphere-ocean system in wind energy areas as well as improve our ability to reliably predict boundary layer winds and properties critical for industry-specific resource assessment, load analyses, and design criteria.
Office of Naval Research (ONR) The Arabian Sea Transition Layer (ASTRAL) DRI, Exchange Across the Air-Sea Interface DRI, PI: H. Seo (UH)
ASTraL will improve in situ characterization of air-sea exchanges of heat, mass, and momentum, including amplitudes and space-time variability, and provide useful and practical observational constraints for prediction models across scales. Since air-sea fluxes and their interactions with turbulent boundary layers in the ocean and atmosphere are entirely parameterized in prediction models, accurate representation of these coupled interactions is critical for improved predictive capabilities in Earth System modeling. We propose a model-data synthesis project that will validate, refine, and re-engineer (if necessary) the parameterizations for air-sea fluxes mediated by surface waves and their interaction with turbulent boundary layer processes in the Arabian Sea. The focus is on the spring-to-summer transition season, where the Arabian Sea exhibits peculiar sea states dominated by swell and mixed seas, whose effects on air-sea fluxes remain poorly captured even in the most advanced bulk flux algorithms. Subsequent impacts on the formation and collapse of the mini-warm pool and the onset of the summer monsoons in simulation and forecast models must be quantified.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Physical Oceanography, PI: Seo (WHOI/UH)
The project will improve our understanding of the ocean and surface wave processes controlling the air-sea fluxes and the structure and evolution of the marine atmospheric boundary layer in the US Northeast Coast. A crucial element of the project is detailed validations of high-resolution fully-coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave model simulations against in situ and remotely sensed observations of coupled boundary layer variables and directly measured air-sea fluxes uniquely available in the region. The project will refine and correctly incorporate the latest Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) bulk flux algorithm in the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) atmospheric model. The research team will then undertake comprehensive modeling and validation efforts of the planetary boundary layer and surface-layer processes under various atmosphere conditions, including extreme extratropical cyclones and stable boundary layers. Through extensive sensitivity experiments and climate-scale simulations to quantify the impacts of the Gulf Stream current, sea surface temperature fronts and eddies, surface waves, and tides, the project will determine the critical roles of the oceans, surface waves, and air-sea interaction in shaping regional weather and climate.
