Effect of Surface Waves on Air–Sea Momentum Exchange. Part I: Effect of Mature and Growing Seas

The effect of surface waves on air‐sea momentum exchange over mature and growing seas is investigated by combining ocean wave models and a wave boundary layer model. The combined model estimates the wind stress by explicitly calculating the wave-induced stress. In the frequency range near the spectral peak, the NOAA/ NCEP surface wave model WAVEWATCH-III is used to estimate the spectra, while the spectra in the equilibrium range are determined by an analytical model. This approach allows for the estimation of the drag coefficient and the equivalent surface roughness for any surface wave fields. Numerical experiments are performed for constant winds from 10 to 45 m s21 to investigate the effect of mature and growing seas on air‐sea momentum exchange. For mature seas, the Charnock coefficient is estimated to be about 0.01; 0.02 and the drag coefficient increases as wind speed increases, both of which are within the range of previous observational data. With growing seas, results for winds less than 30 m s 21 show that the drag coefficient is larger for younger seas, which is consistent with earlier studies. For winds higher than 30 m s 21, however, results show a different trend; that is, very young waves yield less drag. This is because the wave-induced stress due to very young waves makes a small contribution to the total wind stress in very high wind conditions.

[1]  Duane E. Waliser,et al.  Air-sea interaction , 2005 .

[2]  S. Belcher,et al.  Wind Profile and Drag Coefficient over Mature Ocean Surface Wave Spectra , 2004 .

[3]  Isaac Ginis,et al.  Effect of Surface Waves on Air–Sea Momentum Exchange. Part II: Behavior of Drag Coefficient under Tropical Cyclones , 2004 .

[4]  C. Fairall,et al.  Wind Stress Vector over Ocean Waves , 2003 .

[5]  Isaac Ginis,et al.  Numerical Simulation of Sea Surface Directional Wave Spectra under Hurricane Wind Forcing , 2003 .

[6]  M. Powell,et al.  Reduced drag coefficient for high wind speeds in tropical cyclones , 2003, Nature.

[7]  H. Graber,et al.  On the wave age dependence of wind stress over pure wind seas , 2003 .

[8]  E. F. Bradley,et al.  Bulk Parameterization of Air–Sea Fluxes: Updates and Verification for the COARE Algorithm , 2003 .

[9]  S. Belcher,et al.  Wind forcing in the equilibrium range of wind-wave spectra , 2002, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[10]  E. L. Andreas.  Wind Stress over the Ocean , 2002 .

[11]  V. Kudryavtsev,et al.  Impact Of Dominant Waves On Sea Drag , 2002 .

[12]  H. Tolman,et al.  Development and Implementation of Wind-Generated Ocean Surface Wave Modelsat NCEP , 2002 .

[13]  Hendrik,et al.  NCEP NOTES Development and Implementation of Wind-Generated Ocean Surface Wave Models at NCEP* , 2002 .

[14]  G. T. Csanady,et al.  Air-Sea Interaction , 2001 .

[15]  P. K. Taylor,et al.  The Dependence of Sea Surface Roughness on the Height and Steepness of the Waves , 2001 .

[16]  V. Kudryavtsev,et al.  The Impact Of Air-Flow Separation On The Drag Of The Sea Surface , 2001 .

[17]  Stephen E. Belcher,et al.  Effects of Long Waves on Wind-Generated Waves , 2000 .

[18]  P. K. Taylor,et al.  On the Apparent ''Imbalance'' Term in the Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budget , 2000 .

[19]  P. Wittmann.  VALIDATION OF OPERATIONAL GLOBAL WAVE PREDICTION MODELS WITH SPECTRAL BUOY DATA , 2001 .

[20]  Mark A. Bourassa,et al.  A Flux Parameterization Including the Effects of Capillary Waves and Sea State , 1999 .

[21]  V. Kudryavtsev,et al.  Coupled sea surface-atmosphere model: 1. Wind over waves coupling , 1999 .

[22]  S. Larsen,et al.  On the Dependence of Sea Surface Roughness on Wind Waves , 1998 .

[23]  Bengamin I. Moat,et al.  Wind Stress Measurements from the Open Ocean Corrected for Airflow Distortion by the Ship , 1998 .

[24]  M. Banner,et al.  Tangential stress beneath wind-driven air–water interfaces , 1998, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[25]  Hendrik L. Tolman,et al.  A New Global Wave Forecast System at NCEP , 1998 .

[26]  Hendrik L. Tolman,et al.  Source Terms in a Third-Generation Wind Wave Model , 1996 .

[27]  C. Mastenbroek,et al.  Impact of waves on air-sea exchange of sensible heat and momentum , 1996 .

[28]  E. F. Bradley,et al.  Bulk parameterization of air‐sea fluxes for Tropical Ocean‐Global Atmosphere Coupled‐Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment , 1996 .

[29]  C. Mastenbroek,et al.  Drag of the sea surface , 1995 .

[30]  R. Weller,et al.  Observed directional characteristics of the wind, wind stress, and surface waves on the open ocean , 1994 .

[31]  R. Anderson,et al.  A study of wind stress and heat flux over the open ocean by the inertial-dissipation method , 1993 .

[32]  S. Belcher,et al.  Turbulent shear flow over slowly moving waves , 1993, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[33]  L. Hasse,et al.  Sea surface wind stress and drag coefficients: The hexos results , 1992 .

[34]  D. Chalikov,et al.  Models of the wave boundary layer , 1991 .

[35]  N. Ebuchi,et al.  On the wave dependence of sea-surface wind stress , 1990 .

[36]  N. Ebuchi,et al.  Wave Dependence of Sea-Surface Wind Stress , 1990 .

[37]  Peter A. E. M. Janssen,et al.  Wave-induced stress and the drag of air flow over sea waves , 1989 .

[38]  Stuart D. Smith.  Coefficients for sea surface wind stress, heat flux, and wind profiles as a function of wind speed and temperature , 1988 .

[39]  G. Geernaert.  Measurements of the angle between the wind vector and wind stress vector in the surface layer over the North Sea , 1988 .

[40]  P. J. Mason,et al.  The formation of areally‐averaged roughness lengths , 1988 .

[41]  M. Donelan,et al.  Radar scattering and equilibrium ranges in wind‐generated waves with application to scatterometry , 1987 .

[42]  O. Phillips.  Spectral and statistical properties of the equilibrium range in wind-generated gravity waves , 1985, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[43]  W. Plant.  A relationship between wind stress and wave slope , 1982 .

[44]  W. Large,et al.  Open Ocean Momentum Flux Measurements in Moderate to Strong Winds , 1981 .

[45]  Stuart D. Smith.  Wind Stress and Heat Flux over the Ocean in Gale Force Winds , 1980 .

[46]  O. Phillips.  The dynamics of the upper ocean , 1966 .

[47]  H. Charnock.  Wind stress on a water surface , 1955 .