Submesoscale Thermal‐Feedback Coupling Coefficients in Intense Oceanic Boundary Current Systems Revealed by SWOT

Abstract

Ocean motions at mesoscales (∼100 km) and below actively trigger air‐sea interactions by inducing anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST) and currents. Despite extensive research on oceanic submesoscale (O (0.1–10) km) processes, observational understanding of submesoscale air‐sea interactions remains limited. Using high‐resolution wind data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite and SST data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, we investigate the wind response to submesoscale SST anomalies in five strong boundary current regions over the globe. Based on 3,054 samples obtained by identifying SST fronts and matching wind fields, we calculate and analyze the submesoscale coupling coefficient that measures the intensity of the response. The mean of the coefficients from the five regions is 0.51 m s ⁻¹ °C ⁻¹ . Comparison shows a pronounced regional variability of the coefficient, with a factor of up to 1.56. This study provides an observational guide for high‐resolution coupled model simulation validation.