Ocean wave buoy network in extreme tropical cyclones detects the saturation of air-sea momentum transfer

Ocean wave buoy network in extreme tropical cyclones detects the saturation of air-sea momentum transfer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ocean wave buoy network in extreme tropical cyclones detects the saturation of air-sea momentum transfer Tomoya Shimura, Nobuhito Mori, Takuya Miyashita This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3186879/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Tropical cyclone is one of the most destructive natural phenomena, causing tremendous disasters worldwide. The maximum intensity of tropical cyclones is determined by momentum and heat transfer at the air-sea interface. Momentum transfer corresponds to the momentum loss of tropical cyclones and, consequently, to the underlying ocean’s momentum gain. Air-side observations of wind profiles (top-down approach) and ocean-side observations of ocean subsurface currents (bottom-up approach) showed a slowdown of momentum transfer under high tropical cyclone wind speeds. Although the intensity of tropical cyclones and related disasters are directly related to momentum transfer at high wind speeds, there is still disagreement regarding the slowdown owing to lack of data. Here, we showed momentum transfer in a high-wind-speed region by observing ocean waves directly at the air-sea interface (middle-up-down approach). Although ocean wave observations are highly spatially limited, we deployed a fleet of newly developed drifting ocean wave buoys covering the active area of tropical cyclones in the Western North Pacific. The buoys fleet captured extreme waves near the eye of the strongest category 5 tropical cyclone, showing clear saturation of momentum transfer beyond surface wind speeds of 25 m/s. Our ocean waves (air-sea interface) results fill in the missing link of quantitative momentum transfer slowdown under extreme wind speeds from both the air and ocean sides. This finding advances not only tropical cyclone modelling but also ocean waves, ocean circulation, and storm surge modelling. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Atmospheric dynamics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3186879","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":223586481,"identity":"0127a0c8-ec80-46ec-b73d-9ec8e6daefee","order_by":0,"name":"Tomoya Shimura","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8284-0668","institution":"Kyoto University","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tomoya","middleName":"","lastName":"Shimura","suffix":""},{"id":223586482,"identity":"2a5b7b40-d17e-42ea-bac6-67a038808b7a","order_by":1,"name":"Nobuhito Mori","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kyoto University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nobuhito","middleName":"","lastName":"Mori","suffix":""},{"id":223586483,"identity":"64d3d69f-7510-400b-a7f4-8270ffea5bba","order_by":2,"name":"Takuya Miyashita","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kyoto University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Takuya","middleName":"","lastName":"Miyashita","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-07-20 04:01:13","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3186879/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3186879/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":41052310,"identity":"789bdec4-be3f-412d-bf00-b0e30744dc01","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-08-04 05:24:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1892045,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TCwaveDragReductionNaturev4.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3186879/v1_covered_23f76720-e295-4938-bb37-e33183f4f6d2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Ocean wave buoy network in extreme tropical cyclones detects the saturation of air-sea momentum transfer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3186879/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3186879/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Tropical cyclone is one of the most destructive natural phenomena, causing tremendous disasters worldwide. The maximum intensity of tropical cyclones is determined by momentum and heat transfer at the air-sea interface. Momentum transfer corresponds to the momentum loss of tropical cyclones and, consequently, to the underlying ocean’s momentum gain. Air-side observations of wind profiles (top-down approach) and ocean-side observations of ocean subsurface currents (bottom-up approach) showed a slowdown of momentum transfer under high tropical cyclone wind speeds. Although the intensity of tropical cyclones and related disasters are directly related to momentum transfer at high wind speeds, there is still disagreement regarding the slowdown owing to lack of data. Here, we showed momentum transfer in a high-wind-speed region by observing ocean waves directly at the air-sea interface (middle-up-down approach). Although ocean wave observations are highly spatially limited, we deployed a fleet of newly developed drifting ocean wave buoys covering the active area of tropical cyclones in the Western North Pacific. The buoys fleet captured extreme waves near the eye of the strongest category 5 tropical cyclone, showing clear saturation of momentum transfer beyond surface wind speeds of 25 m/s. Our ocean waves (air-sea interface) results fill in the missing link of quantitative momentum transfer slowdown under extreme wind speeds from both the air and ocean sides. 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