Short surface waves in the Canadian Arctic in 2007 and 2008

[1] We have collected time series data of short oceanic waves as a part of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008. Using a shipboard laser wave slope (LAWAS) system operating at 900 nm, we have obtained wave slopes measurements up to 60 rad m−1 wave number. We have compared our in situ wave slopes with collocated and concurrent high-resolution upwind Normalized Radar Cross Sections (NRCS) collected by QuikSCAT. The LAWAS measured wave slope spectra were consistent with local wind speeds and QuikSCAT measured NRCS. Our measured short wave mean slopes indicate their enhancement by long waves (0–1 rad m−1) at small values of long-wave slope. Concurrent with wave slope measurements, the strength of the reflected LAWAS light beam was analyzed in terms of the light attenuation coefficient at 900 nm. We have observed a correlation between surface elevation and light attenuation. The mechanism of wave modulated beam attenuation was found to be related to the instantaneous long wave skewness.

[1]  K. Katsaros,et al.  A Unified Directional Spectrum for Long and Short Wind-Driven Waves , 1997 .

[2]  Frederick C. Jackson,et al.  The reflection of impulses from a nonlinear random sea , 1979 .

[3]  David G. Long,et al.  Improved resolution backscatter measurements with the SeaWinds pencil-beam scatterometer , 2000, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[4]  Paul A. Hwang.  Wave number spectrum and mean square slope of intermediate‐scale ocean surface waves , 2005 .

[5]  Xin Zhang.  Capillary–gravity and capillary waves generated in a wind wave tank: observations and theories , 1995, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[6]  P Koepke,et al.  Effective reflectance of oceanic whitecaps. , 1984, Applied optics.

[7]  R. Galley,et al.  Annual cycles of pCO2sw in the southeastern Beaufort Sea: New understandings of air-sea CO2 exchange in arctic polynya regions , 2012 .

[8]  M. A. Srokosz,et al.  On the joint distribution of surface elevation and slopes for a nonlinear random sea, with an application to radar altimetry , 1986 .

[9]  Robert N. Swift,et al.  Airborne Measurements of the Wavenumber Spectra of Ocean Surface Waves. Part II: Directional Distribution* , 2000 .

[10]  David G. Long,et al.  Ultra high resolution wind retrieval for SeaWinds , 2003, IGARSS 2003. 2003 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37477).

[11]  Paul A. Hwang,et al.  Observations of Wind Wave Development in Mixed Seas and Unsteady Wind Forcing , 2011 .

[12]  Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy,et al.  Parameterizations and Algorithms for Oceanic Whitecap Coverage , 2011 .

[13]  Fresnel reflection by wavy sea surface , 2000, IGARSS 2000. IEEE 2000 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. Taking the Pulse of the Planet: The Role of Remote Sensing in Managing the Environment. Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37120).

[14]  David G. Long,et al.  Image reconstruction and enhanced resolution imaging from irregular samples , 2001, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[15]  R. Feely,et al.  Air‐sea CO2 exchange in the equatorial Pacific , 2004 .

[16]  E. J. Bock,et al.  Relationship between air‐sea gas transfer and short wind waves , 1999 .

[17]  S. Long,et al.  Effect of microscale wave breaking on air-water gas transfer , 2013 .

[18]  The Dispersion Relation of Short Wind Waves from Space–Time Wave Measurements* , 2004 .

[19]  J. Crease.  The Dynamics of the Upper Ocean , 1967 .

[20]  M. Banner,et al.  Aqueous surface layer flows induced by microscale breaking wind waves , 2003, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[21]  John W. Miles,et al.  The Dynamics of the Upper Ocean, 2nd Edition. By 0. M. PHILLIPS. Cambridge University Press, 1977. 336 pp. $16.00 or $34.00. , 1978, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[22]  W. Peirson,et al.  On the wind-induced growth of slow water waves of finite steepness , 2008, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[23]  T. Hara,et al.  Preliminary and novel estimates of CO2 gas transfer using a satellite scatterometer during the 2001GasEx experiment , 2010 .

[24]  D. Jackson,et al.  A comparison of satellite‐derived carbon dioxide transfer velocities from a physically based model with GasEx cruise observations , 2012 .

[25]  David G. Long,et al.  Simultaneous Wind and Rain Estimation for QuikSCAT at Ultra-High Resolution , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[26]  David G. Long,et al.  Coastal Validation of Ultra-high Resolution Wind Vector Retrieval From QuikSCAT in the Gulf of Maine , 2009, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[27]  C. Mobley.  Light and Water: Radiative Transfer in Natural Waters , 1994 .

[28]  David G. Long,et al.  The ultra high resolution QuikSCAT product , 2009, 2009 IEEE Radar Conference.

[29]  Mark A. Donelan,et al.  Directional Wave Spectra from a Swath Ship at Sea , 1994 .

[30]  S. Pells,et al.  Water wave attenuation due to opposing wind , 2003, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[31]  Ronald E. Walker.  Marine light field statistics , 1994 .

[32]  Bernd Jähne,et al.  Air‐sea gas transfer: Its dependence on wind stress, small‐scale roughness, and surface films , 2004 .

[33]  Saeed Vaseghi,et al.  Advanced Signal Processing and Digital Noise Reduction , 1996 .