Each Working Group addresses one of the five major themes of HyMeX and HyMeX Science Plan which describes the scientific questions to be tackled and defines the general programme strategy. Scientific activities carried out in the programme are coordinated within the WGs.
WG4: Intense sea-atmosphere interactions (see section 3.4 of the WhiteBook)
The Mediterranean Sea is characterised by several key-spots of intense air-sea exchanges associated with very strong winds which are caused by the orographic response to large scale forcing (e.g. Mistral, Bora, Sirocco, Tramontana, etc), deep cyclogenesis (e.g. Genoa cyclogenesis, etc), and high/low pressure patterns. These successive intense air-sea exchange events and the associated sea surface cooling affect considerably the heat and water budget of the Mediterranean Sea with formation of dense water and deep ocean convection during winter and early spring. The functioning of the ecosystems is strongly related to this complex dynamics which needs to be better understood. To this purpose, the hydrological and dynamical characteristics as well as the inter-annual variability of the dense water and deep ocean convection formation have to be better documented in order to stress the respective roles of atmospheric forcing and oceanic processes. In return, how such modifications of the ocean mixed layer influence the atmospheric boundary layer should be approached.
The Key Scientific Questions that HyMeX will address in this topic are:
WG4-SQ1: How do Mediterranean cyclogenesis, local topography and land-sea distribution interact to produce strong winds?
WG4-SQ2: How air-sea fluxes are modulated during Mediterranean intense events and how air-sea fluxes parameterisations should be improved?
WG4-SQ3: How does the Mediterranean Sea response to the atmosphere?
Coordinators : Dr
Lagouvardos
Kostas
, Athens
, Greece
Dr
Ivancan-Picek
Branka
, Zagreb
, Croatia
Dr
Beranger
Karine
, Palaiseau
, France
Mrs
Estournel
Claude
, Toulouse
, France
Dr
Josey
Simon
, Southampton
, UK
Topic 4.1 : Strong winds over the Mediterranean Sea 4.1a- Local severe winds 4.1b- Mediterranean cyclogeneses Topic 4.2: Mediterranean Sea response to strong wind forcing 4.2a- Fast response of the Mediterranean Sea 4.2b- The slow branch of the Mediterranean water cycle Topic 4.3: Air-sea feedbacks 4.3a- Atmospheric and oceanic circulations 4.3b- Role of marine aerosols on air-sea fluxes 4.3c- Modelling air-sea interactions
