Atmosphere–ocean fluid dynamics has been a fundamental component of undergraduate and graduate meteorology and oceanography education for well over a century. All dynamics students face months of rigorous course content that, for many students, is initially daunting in both breadth and depth. In response, young meteorologists and oceanographers periodically question the reasons for learning foundational theory and complex mathematical progressions. Students want to know not only what they are learning but why they are learning it, that is, how it relates to their other courses and why it matters in the real world — all of which are valid questions that can be hard to answer in the middle of an extensive derivation. Facilitating this understanding is important, though, because it removes a barrier to learning and helps students assemble those conceptual puzzle pieces and see the big picture, particularly when they lack the time (or perhaps the motivation or ability) to do so on their own. The Big Dynamics Picture presented here provides a single coherent overarching roadmap to consistently and positively route student progression through an undergraduate atmosphere–ocean fluid dynamics sequence. Concise and informal, it simultaneously provides a visual reference and answers many all-important student questions. The framework can be coupled to student learning outcomes and individual course objectives, and the content can be easily modified to fit a particular track, major, or degree. Here, the framework construct and content are discussed, as are benefits to students and faculty.

A coupled atmosphere–ocean model is necessary for tropical cyclone (TC) prediction to accurately characterize ocean feedback on atmospheric processes within the TC environment. Here, the ECMWF coupled global model is run at horizontal resolutions from 9 to 1.4 km in the atmosphere, as well as 25 and 8 km in the ocean, to identify how resolution impacts forecast accuracy of four observed major TCs in the Atlantic: Irma, Florence, Teddy, and Ida. Most of the resolutions used here are unprecedented for global models. GOES-16 and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images and best track data are used for atmospheric validation. Salinity and temperature observations from Air-Launched Autonomous Micro-Observer (ALAMO) floats are used to validate modeled upper-ocean response, including mixed layer deepening, sea surface cooling, and near-inertial waves in the wakes of TCs. Increasing atmospheric resolution leads to more realistic TC structure and stronger winds, significantly improving TC intensity forecasts and modestly improving track errors. Ocean resolution impacts the upper-ocean response but does not influence atmospheric forecasts for the fast-moving TCs considered here. Stronger mixing, sea surface cooling, and near-inertial oscillations are found for both higher atmosphere and ocean resolutions, provided the initial upper-ocean state is the same for the two ocean resolutions. Whether this agrees better with the ALAMO observations also depends on the realism of the initial upper-ocean state in the model, emphasizing the importance of ocean initialization for the accurate upper-ocean response. Overall, the model at all resolutions correctly predicts stronger mixing, surface cooling, and near-inertial oscillation amplitudes to the right of a TC center, as observed by ALAMO floats.