SAFARI

Ocean/atmosphere coupling influences atmospheric river (AR) track, timing, and intensity. Uncertainty in ocean conditions both far upstream and just prior to landfall – as well as inadequacies in the parameterizations of air-sea exchange in forecast models – can yield significant forecast uncertainty even on short time horizons (1-3 d). Similarly, it is not yet clear the extent to which ocean/atmosphere interactions impact the development of extreme AR events, for example from “stalling” fronts (e.g. Zou et al. 2023), or those that occur during conditions of anomalous ocean heat content (e.g. El Nino; Bartusek et al. 2021). Key to improving our understanding of the coupled ocean/atmosphere evolution during the formation and passage of an atmospheric river is the collection of in situ research-grade air/sea fluxes and ocean boundary layer response in high resolution and in real time. Under past ONR funding, we have collaboratively developed a system that provides this information at the sea-surface and continuously across the ocean boundary layer to depths of several hundred meters, utilizing a unique ocean wave-powered profiler and a relatively low-cost, easy-to-deploy buoy.