Langmuir turbulence controls on observed diurnal warm layer depths

Abstract

The turbulent ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) shoals during daytime solar surface heating, developing a diurnal warm layer (DWL). The DWL significantly influences OSBL dynamics by trapping momentum and heat in a shallow near‐surface layer. Therefore, DWL depth is critical for understanding OSBL transport and ocean‐atmosphere coupling. A great challenge for determining DWL depth is considering wave‐driven Langmuir turbulence (LT), which increases vertical transport. This study investigates observations with moderate wind speeds (4–7 m/s at 10 m height) and swell waves for which breaking wave effects are less pronounced. By employing turbulence‐resolving large eddy simulation experiments that cover observed wind, wave, and heating conditions based on the wave‐averaged Craik‐Lebovich equation, we develop a DWL depth scaling unifying previous approaches. This scaling closely agrees with observed DWL depths from a year‐long mooring deployment in the subtropical North Atlantic, demonstrating the critical role of LT in determining DWL depth and OSBL dynamics.