Ocean Wind Links Motion in our Seas & Skies
Known as "air-sea coupling," it describes the transfer of various properties between Earth's key climate fluids: seawater and air
Our windswept ocean has evoked awe – and fear – for centuries.
For most of history, perspectives of the open ocean have been shared through artwork and stories. Over time, scientific understanding of our seas has become more refined, even as the ocean's power has remained unchanged.
The Storm at Sea (1569?)
This painting was thought to be among the last by Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who died in 1569. However, it also also been attributed to Joos de Momper, circa 1610-1615. It is said to have evoked this saying, "If the whale plays with the barrel that has been thrown to him and gives the ship time to escape, then he represents the man who misses the true good for the sake of futile trifles". The painting is currently in the Kunst Historisches Museum in Vienna.
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633)
One of the most famous stolen masterpieces is Rembrandt's only seascape, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633). It was stolen in 1990 from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , where painting's empty frame remains in its original location and the heist remains unsolved.
Ships in Distress in a Storm (1720-1730)
Peter Monamy was the first English-born marine painter of note, the genre having been brought to Britain by Dutch artists in the late 17th century. Found in Britain's Tate collection, Ships in Distress in a Storm does not necessarily relate to an actual event but, at that time, may have brought to mind the ‘Great Storm’ of 1703, which wrecked many ships at sea.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831)
A woodblock print by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in the ukiyo-e style. Located in The Met (New York), the print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea. Hokusai cleverly played with perspective to make Japan’s grandest peak, Mount Fuji, appear as a small triangular mound within the hollow of the cresting wave.
The Fog Warning (1885)
With halibut in his dory, the fisherman depicted by American artist Winslow Homer, has been successful. But the hardest task of the day, the return to the main ship, is still ahead of him. He turns to look at the horizon, measuring the distance to the mother ship, and to safety. The seas are choppy and the dory rocks high on the waves, making it clear that the journey home will require considerable physical effort. But more threatening is the approaching fog bank, whose streaming lines echo, even mock, the fisherman’s profile. The Fog Warning is on display at MFA Boston .
"Long Trip" by Langston Hughes (1926)
The sea is a wilderness of waves, A desert of water. We dip and dive, Rise and roll, Hide and are hidden On the sea. Day, night, Night, day, The sea is a desert of waves, A wilderness of water.
Half a century later, NASA Skylab measured ocean wind from the safety of Earth's orbit.
Since that successful demonstration, several spaceborne missions have carried instruments designed to measure ocean winds. Why? Ocean winds are a key dynamic link between the two parts of the Earth system that shape our weather and climate: the ocean and atmosphere.
Since the 1970’s, NASA has carried out several missions that have monitored winds over the ocean surface from space.
How do ocean winds impact us?
This animation of ocean surface CO2 flux with surface wind shows results from a model developed by Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) and MIT’s Darwin Project . (Source: Scientific Visualization Studio , SVS)
By affecting how the ocean and atmosphere store and release heat, moisture, nutrients, particles and gases. Among these are greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ).
This animation shows air-sea carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) flux and surface-ocean winds from January to mid-August 2012. Blue colors indicate where CO 2 is being drawn into the ocean and red colors indicate where the ocean is releasing CO 2 . The pathlines indicate surface winds, which is one of the drivers of air-sea CO 2 exchange.
Many important processes occur at the air-sea interface, where the ocean meets the atmosphere.
Using data collected by satellite sensors – complemented by observations acquired with other technologies – NASA's Ocean Vector Winds Science Team (OVWST) focuses on the role of ocean surface winds in air-sea coupling. This includes the role of the wind in ocean circulation and exchange processes across the air-sea interface. All of these processes are closely linked to global climate processes.
