<p>Exchanges of energy between the ocean and atmosphere are of large importance in regulating the climate system. Here we apply for the first time a relatively novel approach, the rate of information transfer, to quantify interactions between the ocean surface and lower atmosphere over the period 1988–2017 at monthly time scale. More specifically, we investigate dynamical dependencies between sea-surface temperature (SST), SST tendency and turbulent heat flux in satellite observations. We find a strong two-way influence between SST / SST tendency and turbulent heat flux in many regions of the world, with largest values in eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in western boundary currents. The total number of regions with a significant influence of turbulent heat flux on SST and on SST tendency is reduced when considering the three variables, suggesting an overall stronger ocean influence compared to the atmosphere. We also find a relatively strong influence of turbulent heat flux taken one month before on SST. Additionally, an increase in the magnitude of the rate of information transfer and in the number of regions with significant influence is observed when looking at interannual and decadal time scales, compared to monthly time scale.</p>