Unlike mid-latitude cyclones where baroclinic processes are important, hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, draw their energy supply from the ocean. The warm and moist air is then transported into the hurricane inner region or rainbands to fuel the convection and release of latent heat that drives the storm. The significant air-sea flux exchanges greatly modify the near surface ocean temperature and current by mixing and 3D transport. The altered oceanic state can profoundly modify the behavior of the overlaying hurricane.
Hurricanes are indeed the most interesting complex nature laboratory for air-sea interaction study.
The air-sea interfacial boundary under hurricane high wind is not well defined, and physical processes there are not properly quantified. The ocean surface waves and swell are characterized by limited fetch in the strongly forced regime. High winds and strong shear mechanically form ocean spray, which is found to have significant effects on the thermal structure of ABL and may play an important role in hurricane thermodynamics, dynamics and intensity change. The ocean mixed layer is filled with air bubbles that can affect the air-sea exchange and which form the basis for microwave and acoustic remote sensing of surface wind and stress. The effort also includes limited sensor development and calibration, and a refinement of observing strategies.