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The subject of this conference is not a nev one. Oceanographers and 

 meteorologists have been concerned with exchanges across the air-sea 

 boundary for many years and they do not need to be convinced of the 

 importance of these exchange processes . 



What we have a-ssembled to discuss here, I presume are the unsolved 

 problems of air-sea exchange, and the possibilities for solving these 

 problems through new measurement programs, theoretical investigations, and 

 computations. In particular, we need to concern ourselves now with improve- 

 ments in our quantitative information about the exchange processes, and 

 with the establishment of useful relationships between the microphysics 

 of the exchange processes and the larger scale atmospheric and oceanic 

 parameters . 



One of the important subjects for this conference should be "interaction" 

 in its full sense . Exchanges between the air and sea are generally viewed 

 either from above or below — rarely from both viewpoints simultaneously. 

 Most of us tend to interpret "interaction" parochially as the transfer of 

 property to or from our fluid (whether air or water) without regard to the 

 subsequent effect on the other side of the boundary. I suppose we all 

 cherish the long-term objective of treating the air-sea system as an 

 integrated problem. At the moment, however, few of us are prepared to do 

 very much about the real interaction problem. But perhaps we may be able 

 soon to make a crude assessment of the relative importance of the reaction 

 on one fluid of changes induced by that fluid in the other. How tightly 

 are the air and sea linked? Are the interactions strong or weak? Do 

 differences in the response times of the two fluids cause them to behave 

 as if, for practical purposes, they do not interact, but only influence 

 each other? 



All oceanographers recognize that the atmosphere exerts an important 

 influence on the oceans. Clouds affect the distribution of insolation. 

 Rain falls into the sea. Evaporation varies with wind and humidity of the 

 air. The wind stress drives currents, generates waves, produces upwelling, 

 stirs the water, and creates spray. Atmospheric gases enter the sea, and 

 heat is exchanged between the air and the sea. 



Every meteorologist knows that the oceans have a profound influence on 

 the atmosphere. Salt particles enter the air from the sea. Sea water 

 evaporates into the air. Through surface wind stiress, the atmosphere loses 

 kinetic energy to the sea. And heat is exchanged between the sea and the 

 air. 



We have come to recognize that through these exchanges of matter and 

 energy, a complex interaction takes place between the two fluid systems of 

 the earth. Thus the wind stress on the sea surface may change the sea 

 surface temperature distribution, which alters the heat transfer from the 



