Ocean and atmosphere interaction

Covering over 70% of Earth’s surface, oceans play an extremely important role in our climate, in our weather and in our lives. For example, since the middle of the last century, oceans have absorbed some 94% of the planet’s energy imbalance caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and through close coupling with the atmosphere, this heat excess affects the climate system. These exchanges between the sea surface and the atmosphere are governed by fine-scale processes. However, there is a lack of observational data, which limits scientific understanding and results in uncertainties in model projections on time scales ranging from months to millennia.

ESA’s Earth Explorer Harmony mission will provide simultaneous high-resolution measurements of the sea-surface, wind and cloud movement to help reveal the complexities of how the sea and air interact. These critical observations are needed to increase knowledge on the sensitivity of the climate to human-induced warming and to advance our understanding of how the ocean works and breathes in the context of the entire Earth system.