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Abstract:
Sea spray, originating from wave breaking during high wind conditions, can significantly affect wind stress and heat fluxes at the air-sea interface. Even though polar lows (PLs) feature gale force wind, the impact of sea spray on their development has rarely been investigated and is absent in operational forecast models. We investigate the influence of sea spray-induced heat fluxes on the development of PLs using an atmosphere-wave coupled model where the sea spray-generated heat fluxes are explicitly estimated. Based on sensitivity simulations of 12 PLs in the Nordic and Barents Seas, we find that sea spray has a more significant impact on reverse-shear PLs, which usually feature stronger surface wind and higher surface heat fluxes than forward-shear PLs. The release of the additional diabatic heating is the main reason to intensify PLs, especially at the later stage. Our results suggest that increasing diabatic heating might be related to enhanced convection.
