Surfaces and interfaces are critical zones where major physical, chemical, and biological exchanges occur. As the ocean covers 362 million km, about 71% of the Earth's surface, the ocean-atmosphere interface is plausibly one of the largest and most important interfaces on the planet. Every substance entering or leaving the ocean from or to the atmosphere passes through this interface, which on the water-side -and to a lesser extent on the air-side- shows distinct physical, chemical, and biological properties. On the water side the uppermost 1 to 1000 μm of this interface are referred to as the sea surface microlayer (SML). Like a skin, the SML is expected to control the rates of exchange of energy and matter between air and sea, thereby potentially exerting both short-term and long-term impacts on various Earth system processes, including biogeochemical cycling, production and uptake of radiately active gases like  or DMS, thus ultimately climate regulation. As of 2017, processes occurring within the SML, as well as the associated rates of material exchange through the SML, remained poorly understood and were rarely represented in marine and atmospheric numerical models.
An improved understanding of the biological, chemical, and physical processes at the ocean's upper surface could provide an essential contribution to the reduction of uncertainties regarding ocean-climate feedbacks. Due to its positioning between atmosphere and ocean, the SML is the first to be exposed to climate changes including temperature, climate relevant trace gases, wind speed, and precipitation as well as to pollution by human waste, including nutrients, toxins, nanomaterials, and plastic debris.