Ocean Mesoscale Processes Heat Atmosphere Over the Western Boundary Currents and Their Extensions

Abstract Ocean mesoscale processes are ubiquitous across the global ocean, generating prominent sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) that in turn drive turbulent heat flux anomaly (THFA) at the air‐sea interface. Although the response of THFA to mesoscale SSTA has been extensively studied, it remains poorly assessed whether the THFA induced by mesoscale SSTA could cause a mean heat exchange between the ocean and atmosphere. Here, we address this issue based on an eddy‐resolving coupled global climate simulation. The results show that the response of THFA to mesoscale SSTA is nonlinear primarily due to the response of surface wind speed anomaly to mesoscale SSTA and secondarily to the nonlinearity in the Clausius–Clapeyron relation. Such a nonlinear response of THFA to mesoscale SSTA causes a significant mean heat release of the order of 10 W m −2 from the ocean to the atmosphere over the western boundary currents and their extensions. Our findings suggest an important role of ocean mesoscale processes in heating the atmosphere, providing new insights into the closure of the ocean and atmosphere heat content budgets.