Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/38465

KEYWORDS : Kuroshio;Air-sea interaction;Heat fluxes

Climatological mean distributions of turbulent heat fluxes (i.e., latent plus sensible heat fluxes) have been documented using an operational analysis dataset, whose spatial resolution is about one order higher than the resolution of widely used reanalysis datasets. It is revealed that mean oceanic currents and associated Sea-Surface Temperature (SST) fronts, i.e., the Kuroshio, the Kuroshio Extension, and the subpolar front (also sometimes called the Oyashio extension), strongly affect the heat fluxes. Such close constraints are not discernible in the reanalysis dataset. The present results indicate that the narrow ocean currents and associated sharp SST fronts are essential for the interaction between the atmosphere and ocean.