The wind-induced surface heat exchange (WISHE) is a positive feedback mechanism between the ocean and atmosphere in which a stronger ocean-to-atmosphere heat flux results in a stronger atmospheric circulation, which results in a strong heat flux.[1] It has been hypothesized that this is the mechanism by which low pressure areas in the tropics develop into tropical cyclones.
The WISHE mechanism was proposed by Kerry Emanuel in a Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences article published in 1986though it was first termed "air - sea interaction instability"as an alternative to the more prevalent conditional instability of a second kind (CISK) hypothesis.[2]