The efficiency of transfer of gases and particles across the air-sea interface is controlled by several physical, biological and chemical processes in the atmosphere and water which are described here (including waves, large- and small-scale turbulence, bubbles, sea spray, rain and surface films). For a deeper understanding of relevant transport mechanisms, several models have been developed, ranging from conceptual models to numerical models. Most frequently the transfer is described by various functional dependencies of the wind speed, but more detailed descriptions need additional information. The study of gas transfer mechanisms uses a variety of experimental methods ranging from laboratory studies to carbon budgets, mass balance methods, micrometeorological techniques and thermographic techniques. Different methods resolve the transfer at different scales of time and space; this is important to take into account when comparing different results. Air-sea transfer is relevant in a wide range of applications, for example, local and regional fluxes, global models, remote sensing and computations of global inventories. The sensitivity of global models to the description of transfer velocity is limited; it is however likely that the formulations are more important when the resolution increases and other processes in models are improved. For global flux estimates using inventories or remote sensing products the accuracy of the transfer formulation as well as the accuracy of the wind field is crucial.

Air‐lake methane flux (FCH₄) and partial pressure of methane in the atmosphere (pCH_4a) were measured using the eddy covariance method over a Swedish lake for an extended period. The measurements show a diurnal cycle in both FCH₄ and pCH_4a with high values during nighttime (FCH₄ ≈ 300 nmol m⁻² s⁻¹, pCH_4a ≈ 2.5 µatm) and low values during day (FCH₄ ≈ 0 nmol m⁻² s⁻¹, pCH_4a ≈ 2.0 µatm) for a large part of the data set. This diurnal cycle persist in all open water season; however, the magnitude of the diurnal cycle is largest in the spring months. Estimations of buoyancy in the water show that high nighttime fluxes coincide with convective periods. Our interpretation of these results is that the convective mixing enhances the diffusive flux, in analogy to previous studies. We also suggest that the convection may bring methane‐rich water from the bottom to the surface and trigger bubble release from the sediment. A diurnal cycle is not observed for all convective occasions, indicating that the presence of convection is not sufficient for enhanced nighttime flux; other factors are also necessary. The observed diurnal cycle of pCH_4a is explained with the variation of FCH₄ and a changing internal boundary layer above the lake. The presence of a diurnal cycle of FCH₄ stresses the importance of making long‐term continuous flux measurements. A lack of FCH₄ measurements during night may significantly bias estimations of total CH₄ emissions from lakes to the atmosphere.

By combining simultaneous data from an instrumented Air–Sea Interaction Spar (ASIS) buoy and a 30-m tower, profiles of wind and turbulence characteristics have been obtained at several heights from about 1 to 30 m above the water surface during swell conditions. Five cases formed as averages over time periods ranging from 2.5 to 9.5 h, representing quasi-steady conditions, have been selected. They represent a range of typical wave age and include wind-following swell cases and cross-swell cases. For relatively large wave age, the wind profile exhibits a well-defined maximum in the height range 5–10 m; for more modest wave age, this maximum turns into a sharp “knee” in the wind profile. Below the maximum (or knee), the wind increases rapidly with height; above that point the wind is very nearly constant up to the highest measuring level on the tower, 30 m. Analysis of balloon data from one day with swell indicates that the layer with constant wind in fact extends to the top of the boundary layer, in this case ∼200 m. Analysis of the complete swell dataset from the 45 days of the 2003 Baltic Swell experiment shows that the results concerning wind profile shape obtained from the selected cases are generally valid in this experiment. Analysis of the nondimensional wind profile ϕm shows that Monin–Obukhov scaling is not valid during swell. Wind and turbulence characteristics are found not to vary to a significant degree with the wind/swell angle within the range of angles encountered, ±90°.

Fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from lakes may have a large impact on the magnitude of the terrestrial carbon sink. Traditionally lake fluxes have been measured using the floating chamber (FC) technique; however, several recent studies use the eddy covariance (EC) method. We present simultaneous flux measurements using both methods at lake Tämnaren in Sweden during field campaigns in 2011 and 2012. Only very few similar studies exist. For CO2 flux, the two methods agree relatively well during some periods, but deviate substantially at other times. The large discrepancies might be caused by heterogeneity of partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2w) in the EC flux footprint. The methods agree better for CH4 fluxes. It is, however, clear that short-term discontinuous FC measurements are likely to miss important high flux events.

Analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget for five slightly unstable cases with swell has been performed based on measurements of mechanical production, buoyancy production, turbulent transport, and dissipation at five levels over the sea, from 2.5 to 26 m. The time rate of change and advection of TKE were found to be small, so the TKE residual is interpreted as an estimate of the pressure transport term (Tp). In two cases with high wave age, the Tp term is a gain at all heights. For three cases with smaller wave age, Tp is a loss in the TKE budget below 5–10 m and a gain for greater heights, where the decrease is exponential, thus showing the combined effects of swell waves and a range of waves traveling slower than the wind. The TKE budget for a case with growing sea but similar wind speed and stability as some of the swell cases has Tp close to zero at all heights. It is shown that the observed characteristic wind profile with either a low-level maximum in the 5–10-m range or a distinct “knee” at that height is an effect of the Tp term.

With an increasing interest in offshore wind energy, focus has been directed towards large semi-enclosed basins such as the Baltic Sea as potential sites to set up wind turbines. The meteorology of this inland sea in particular is strongly affected by the surrounding land, creating mesoscale conditions that are important to take into consideration when planning for new wind farms. This paper presents a comparison between data from four state-of-the-art reanalyses (MERRA2, ERA5, UERRA, NEWA) and observations from LiDAR. The comparison is made for four sites in the Baltic Sea with wind profiles up to 300 m. The findings provide insight into the accuracy of reanalyses for wind resource assessment. In general, the reanalyses underestimate the average wind speed. The average shear is too low in NEWA, while ERA5 and UERRA predominantly overestimate the shear. MERRA2 suffers from insufficient vertical resolution, which limits its usefulness in evaluating the wind profile. It is also shown that low-level jets, a very frequent mesoscale phenomenon in the Baltic Sea during late spring, can appear in a wide range of wind speeds. The observed frequency of low-level jets is best captured by UERRA. In terms of general wind characteristics, ERA5, UERRA, and NEWA are similar, and the best choice depends on the application.