The Impact of Diurnal Variability of Sea Surface Temperature on Air–Sea Heat Flux Estimation over the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Accurate and consistent observations of diurnal variability of sea surface temperature (SST DV) and its impact on air–sea heat fluxes over large areas for extended periods are challenging due to their short time scale and wide coverage. The hourly gap-free SSTs generated from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency-Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology (JAXA-JAMSTEC) are input to the COARE3.5 bulk flux algorithm to investigate the impact of SST DV on air–sea heat fluxes over the Northwest Pacific Ocean (NWPO). The main results are as follows. (1) The JAXA-JAMSTEC SSTs were found to be in good agreement with the buoy observations on SST DV with a very slight negative bias of −0.007 °C and a root mean square error of 0.018 °C. (2) The case study conducted on 26 June 2020 showed that the fluxes’ diurnal amplitudes were about 30–50 W m−2, and evolution was in agreement with SST DV. (3) The average impact of SST DV on heat fluxes was 2.93 W m−2 over the subtropical NWPO, decreasing from southeast to northwest and from low to high latitudes, and showing a clear seasonal cycle during 2019–2022. This research highlights the need to consider SST DV for accurate estimation of heat fluxes, which is crucial for climate and atmospheric studies.