Vertical profiles of zonal velocity and the dissipation rate &egr; of the turbulent kinetic energy obtained during the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) are analyzed in the context of planetary boundary layer relationships previously derived from atmospheric measurements. The presence of a barrier layer and the striking effect of increased dimensionless shear and &egr; at the bottom of the surface mixed layer of the ocean, features often observed in the western Pacific warm pool area, are consistent with the boundary layer laws. The gradient Richardson number Ri is found to be a convenient parameter for scaling the nonstationary and horizontally heterogeneous mixed layer in the warm pool area. The approach to parameterization of the turbulent eddy coefficient within the mixed layer as a function of Ri is tested as part of a one-dimensional model. A comparison between the observed and modeled upper ocean temperatures for two COARE examples shows a reasonable agreement over a wide range of wind speed conditions. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union