In this article we analyze 11 years of near-surface meteorology using observations from an open-ocean surface mooring located in the Northwestern Tropical Atlantic (51°W, 15°N). Air-sea fluxes of heat, freshwater, and momentum are derived from these observations using the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) bulk parameterization. Using this dataset, we compute a climatology of the annual cycle of near-surface meteorological conditions and air-sea fluxes. These in situ data are then compared with three reanalyses: the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-Department of Energy [NCEP-DOE (hereafter referred to as NCEP-2)], the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Interim and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalyses. Products from the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) are also used for comparison. We identify the agreements and characterize the discrepancies in the annual cycles of meteorological variables and the different components of air-sea heat fluxes (latent, sensible, shortwave, and longwave radiation). Recomputing the reanalyses fluxes by applying the COARE algorithm to the reanalyses meteorological variables results in better agreement with the in situ fluxes than using the reanalyses fluxes directly. However, the radiative fluxes (longwave and shortwave) from some of the reanalyses show significant discrepancies when compared with the in situ measurements. Longwave radiation from MERRA-2 is biased high (too much oceanic heat loss), and NCEP-2 longwave does not correlate to in situ observations and other reanalyses. Shortwave radiation from NCEP-2 is biased low in winter and does not track the observed variability in summer. The discrepancies in radiative fluxes versus in situ fluxes are explored, and the potential regional implications are discussed using maps of satellite and reanalyses products, including radiation and cloud cover.

中文翻译：

---

西北热带大西洋海气通量年循环

在本文中，我们使用位于西北热带大西洋（51°W，15°N）的开阔海洋表面系泊设备的观测数据分析了 11 年的近地表气象。热量、淡水和动量的海气通量是使用耦合海洋-大气响应实验 (COARE) 批量参数化从这些观测中得出的。使用此数据集，我们计算了近地表气象条件和海气通量的年度周期的气候学。然后将这些原位数据与三个重新分析进行比较：国家环境预测中心 - 能源部 [NCEP-DOE（以下称为 NCEP-2）]、欧洲中期天气预报中心 (ECMWF) 临时和研究和应用的现代时代回顾性分析，第 2 版 (MERRA-2) 再分析。来自云和地球辐射能系统 (CERES) 和热带降雨测量任务 (TRMM) 的产品也用于比较。我们确定了气象变量的年度周期和海气热通量的不同组成部分（潜热、感热、短波和长波辐射）的一致性并描述了差异。通过将 COARE 算法应用于再分析气象变量来重新计算再分析通量，与直接使用再分析通量相比，与原位通量的一致性更好。然而，与原位测量相比，一些再分析的辐射通量（长波和短波）显示出显着差异。来自 MERRA-2 的长波辐射偏高（海洋热损失过多），NCEP-2 长波与原位观测和其他再分析无关。来自 NCEP-2 的短波辐射在冬季偏低，并且不跟踪夏季观测到的变化。探讨了辐射通量与原位通量的差异，并使用卫星地图和再分析产品（包括辐射和云量）讨论了潜在的区域影响。