Momentum fluxes in the airflow over surface waves

What is it about?

The air-sea momentum exchanges in the presence of surface waves play an integral role in coupling the atmosphere and the ocean. In the current study, we present a detailed laboratory investigation of the mean, wave-induced, and turbulent momentum fluxes over wind-generated surface waves. To this end, quantitative airside velocity measurements were obtained in the laboratory over wind waves for various wind speeds ranging from 0.89 to 16.59 m/s. The mean, wave, and turbulent velocity fields were extracted from the two-dimensional instantaneous velocity components using a linear triple decomposition technique. The wave phase and ensemble averages led to a detailed examination of the role of surface ocean waves in the multiple air-sea momentum fluxes.

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Photo by Jamie Davies on Unsplash

Photo by Jamie Davies on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The momentum flux (or wind stress) is a fundamental parameter in the study of air-sea interactions. In particular, air-sea momentum fluxes provide crucial boundary conditions for ocean, atmosphere, and surface wave models. The accurate predictions of air-sea momentum exchanges further lead to improving the model parameterizations of oceanic and atmospheric models and thus improving climate forecasting.

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