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The theory of stratified turbulent flow developed earlier by the authors is applied to data from different areas of the ocean. It is shown that turbulence can be amplified and supported even at large gradient Richardson numbers. The cause of that is the exchange between kinetic and potential energies of turbulence. Using the profiles of Brunt–Väisälä frequency and vertical current shear given in Forryan et al. (2013), the profiles of the kinetic energy dissipation rate are calculated. The results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.

It is important to investigate the effects of current on wind waves, called the Doppler shift, at both normal and extremely high wind speeds. Three different types of wind-wave tanks along with a fan and pump are used to demonstrate wind waves and currents in laboratories at Kyoto University, Japan, Kindai University, Japan, and the Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia. Profiles of the wind and current velocities and the water-level fluctuation are measured. The wave frequency, wavelength, and phase velocity of the significant waves are calculated, and the water velocities at the water surface and in the bulk of the water are also estimated by the current distribution. The study investigated 27 cases with measurements of winds, waves, and currents at wind speeds ranging from 7 to 67 m s−1. At normal wind speeds under 30 m s−1, wave frequency, wavelength, and phase velocity depend on wind speed and fetch. The effect of the Doppler shift is confirmed at normal wind speeds; i.e., the significant waves are accelerated by the surface current. The phase velocity can be represented as the sum of the surface current and artificial phase velocity, which is estimated by the dispersion relation of the deepwater waves. At extremely high wind speeds over 30 m s−1, a similar Doppler shift is observed as under the conditions of normal wind speeds. This suggests that the Doppler shift is an adequate model for representing the acceleration of wind waves by current, not only for wind waves at normal wind speeds but also for those with intensive breaking at extremely high wind speeds. A weakly nonlinear model of surface waves at a shear flow is developed. It is shown that it describes dispersion properties well not only for small-amplitude waves but also strongly nonlinear and even breaking waves, which are typical for extreme wind conditions (over 30 m s−1).

Over the years, the problem of dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in stable stratification remained unclear because of the practical impossibility to directly measure the process of dissipation that takes place at the smallest scales of turbulent motion. Poor representation of dissipation causes intolerable uncertainties in turbulence-closure theory and thus in modelling stably stratified turbulent flows. We obtain a theoretical solution to this problem for the whole range of stratifications from neutral to limiting stable; and validate it via (i) direct numerical simulation (DNS) immediately detecting the dissipation rate and (ii) indirect estimates of dissipation rate retrieved via the TKE budget equation from atmospheric measurements of other components of the TKE budget. The proposed formulation of dissipation rate will be of use in any turbulence-closure models employing the TKE budget equation and in problems requiring precise knowledge of the high-frequency part of turbulence spectra in atmospheric chemistry, aerosol science, and microphysics of clouds.

The northern Eurasian regions and Arctic Ocean will very likely undergo substantial changes during the next decades. The Arctic–boreal natural environments play a crucial role in the global climate via albedo change, carbon sources and sinks as well as atmospheric aerosol production from biogenic volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, it is expected that global trade activities, demographic movement, and use of natural resources will be increasing in the Arctic regions. There is a need for a novel research approach, which not only identifies and tackles the relevant multi-disciplinary research questions, but also is able to make a holistic system analysis of the expected feedbacks. In this paper, we introduce the research agenda of the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX), a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary and international program started in 2012 (https://www.atm.helsinki.fi/peex/). PEEX sets a research approach by which large-scale research topics are investigated from a system perspective and which aims to fill the key gaps in our understanding of the feedbacks and interactions between the land–atmosphere–aquatic–society continuum in the northern Eurasian region. We introduce here the state of the art for the key topics in the PEEX research agenda and present the future prospects of the research, which we see relevant in this context.

Showing the record strengths and growth-rates, recent hurricanes have highlighted needs for improving forecasts of tropical cyclone intensities most sensitive to models of the air-sea interaction. Especially challenging is the nature of sea-spray supposed to strongly affecting the momentum- and energy- air-sea fluxes at strong winds. Even the spray-generation mechanisms in extreme winds remained undetermined. Basing on high-speed video here we identify it as the bag-breakup mode of fragmentation of liquid in gaseous flows known in a different context. This regime is characterized by inflating and consequent bursting of the short-lived objects, bags, comprising sail-like water films surrounded by massive liquid rims then fragmented to giant droplets with sizes exceeding 500 micrometers. From first principles of statistical physics we develop statistical description of these phenomena and show that at extreme winds the bag-breakup is the dominant spray-production mechanism. These findings provide a new basis for understanding and modeling of the air-sea exchange processes at extreme winds.