scholarly journals The Dynamical Coupling of Wind-Waves and Atmospheric Turbulence: A Review of Theoretical and Phenomenological Models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Ayet ◽  
Bertrand Chapron
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Models ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Multiple Time ◽  
Wave Growth ◽  
Breaking Wind Waves ◽  
Turbulent Coherent Structures ◽  
Dynamical Coupling

AbstractWhen wind blows over the ocean, short wind-waves (of wavelength smaller than 10 m) are generated, rapidly reaching an equilibrium with the overlying turbulence (at heights lower than 10 m). Understanding this equilibrium is key to many applications since it determines (i) air–sea fluxes of heat, momentum and gas, essential for numerical models; (ii) energy loss from wind to waves, which regulates how swell is generated and how energy is transferred to the ocean mixed layer and; (iii) the ocean surface roughness, visible from remote sensing measurements. Here we review phenomenological models describing this equilibrium: these models couple a turbulence kinetic energy and wave action budget through several wave-growth processes, including airflow separation events induced by breaking waves. Even though the models aim at reproducing measurements of air–sea fluxes and wave growth, some of the observed variability is still unexplained. Hence, after reviewing several state-of-the-art phenomenological models, we discuss recent numerical experiments in order to provide hints about future improvements. We suggest three main directions, which should be addressed both through dedicated experiments and theory: (i) a better quantification of the variability wind-wave growth and of the role played by the modulation of short and breaking wind-waves by long wind-waves; (ii) an improved understanding of the imprint of wind-waves on turbulent coherent structures and; (iii) a quantification of the interscale interactions for a realistic wind-wave sea, where wind-and-wave coupling processes coexist at multiple time and space scales.

scholarly journals PROPAGATION OF WIND WAVES ON TIDES

1988 ◽  
Vol 1 (21) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrick L. Tolman
Keyword(s):  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Absolute Frequency ◽  
Shelf Seas ◽  
Shelf Sea

Effects of instationary depths and currents in tides on shelf seas on wind wave propagation are investigated using two numerical models in two academical situations representing shelf sea conditions. It is shown that changes in absolute frequency, which are induced by the instationarity of depth and current, are significant in contrast to what is usually assumed. If these changes are neglected large and unpredictable errors may occur in calculated changes of wavenumber and amplitude.

scholarly journals On Growth Rate of Wind Waves: Impact of Short-Scale Breaking Modulations

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 349-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kudryavtsev ◽  
Bertrand Chapron
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Surface Pressure ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Generation Model ◽  
Wave Growth ◽  
Short Scale ◽  
Scale Breaking ◽  
Aerodynamic Roughness ◽  
Inner Region

AbstractThe wave generation model based on the rapid distortion concept significantly underestimates empirical values of the wave growth rate. As suggested before, inclusion of the aerodynamic roughness modulations effect on the amplitude of the slope-correlated surface pressure could potentially reconcile this model approach with observations. This study explores the role of short-scale breaking modulations to amplify the growth rate of modulating longer waves. As developed, airflow separations from modulated breaking waves result in strong modulations of the turbulent stress in the inner region of the modulating waves. In turn, this leads to amplifying the slope-correlated surface pressure anomalies. As evaluated, such a mechanism can be very efficient for enhancing the wind-wave growth rate by a factor of 2–3.

Influence of following, regular and irregular long waves on wind-wave growth with fetch: an experimental study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Villefer ◽  
Michel Benoit ◽  
Damien Violeau ◽  
Christopher Luneau ◽  
Hubert Branger
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Peak Frequency ◽  
Long Waves ◽  
Specific Method ◽  
Wave Growth ◽  
Wind Velocities ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Frequency Variations

AbstractA series of experiments were conducted in a wind-wave tank facility in Marseilles (France) to study the effects of preexisting swell conditions (represented by long mechanically-generated waves) on wind-wave growth with fetch. Both monochromatic and irregular (JONSWAP-type) long wave conditions with different values of wave steepness have been generated in the presence of a constant wind forcing, for several wind velocities. A spectral analysis of temporal wave signals combined with airflow measurements allowed to study the evolution of both wave systems with the aim of identifying the interaction mechanisms transportable to prototype scale. In particular, a specific method is used to separate the two wave systems in the measured bimodal spectra. In fetch-limited conditions, pure wind-wave growth is in accordance with anterior experiments, but differs from the prototype scale in terms of energy and frequency variations with fetch. Monochromatic long waves are shown to reduce the energy of the wind-waves significantly, as it was observed in anterior laboratory experiments. The addition of JONSWAP-type long waves instead results in a downshift of the wind-wave peak frequency but no significant energy reduction. Overall, it is observed that the presence of long waves affects the wind-wave energy and frequency variations with fetch. Finally, in the presence of JONSWAP-type long waves, variations of wind-wave energy and peak frequency with fetch appear in close agreement with the wind-wave growth observed at prototype scale both in terms of variations and nondimensional magnitude.

The influence of wave breaking on the surface pressure distribution in wind—wave interactions

1990 ◽  
Vol 211 ◽  
pp. 463-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Banner
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Distribution ◽  
Surface Pressure ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Wind Forcing ◽  
Wave Interactions ◽  
Form Drag ◽  
Surface Pressure Distribution

In reviewing the current status of our understanding of the mechanisms underlying wind-wave generation, it is apparent that existing theories and models are not applicable to situations where the sea surface is disturbed by breaking waves, and that the available experimental data on this question are sparse. In this context, this paper presents the results of a detailed study of the effects of wave breaking on the aerodynamic surface pressure distribution and consequent wave-coherent momentum flux, as well as its influence on the total wind stress.Two complementary experimental configurations were used to focus on the details and consequences of the pressure distribution over breaking waves under wind forcing. The first utilized a stationary breaking wave configuration and confirmed the presence of significant phase shifting, due to air flow separation effects, between the surface pressure and surface elevation (and slope) distributions over a range of wind speeds. The second configuration examined the pressure distribution, recorded at a fixed height above the mean water surface just above the crest level, over short mechanically triggered waves which were induced to break almost continuously under wind forcing. This allowed a very detailed comparison of the form drag for actively breaking waves and for waves of comparable steepness just prior to breaking (‘incipiently’ breaking waves). For these propagating steep-wave experiments, the pressure phase shifts and distributions closely paralleled the stationary configuration findings. Moreover, a large increase (typically 100%) in the total windstress was observed for the breaking waves, with the increase corresponding closely to the comparably enhanced form drag associated with the actively breaking waves.In addition to further elucidating some fundamental features of wind-wave interactions for very steep wind waves, this paper provides a useful data set for future model calculations of wind flow over breaking waves. The results also provide the basis for a parameterization of the wind input source function applicable for a wave field undergoing active breaking, an important result for numerical modelling of short wind waves.

On weakly turbulent scaling of wind sea in simulations of fetch-limited growth

2011 ◽  
Vol 669 ◽  
pp. 178-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELODIE GAGNAIRE-RENOU ◽  
MICHEL BENOIT ◽  
SERGEI I. BADULIN
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Water Waves ◽  
Wind Wave ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Limited Growth ◽  
Wave Growth ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Wind Sea

Extensive numerical simulations of fetch-limited growth of wind-driven waves are analysed within two approaches: a ‘traditional’ wind-speed scaling first proposed by Kitaigorodskii (Bull. Acad. Sci. USSR, Geophys. Ser., Engl. Transl., vol. N1, 1962, p. 105) in the early 1960s and an alternative weakly turbulent scaling developed recently by Badulin et al. (J. Fluid Mech.591, 2007, 339–378). The latter one uses spectral fluxes of wave energy, momentum and action as physical scales of the problem and allows for advanced qualitative and quantitative analysis of wind-wave growth and features of air–sea interaction. In contrast, the traditional approach is shown to be descriptive rather than proactive. Numerical simulations are conducted on the basis of the Hasselmann kinetic equation for deep-water waves in a wide range of wind speeds from 5 to 30 m s −1 and for the ideal case of fetch-limited growth: permanent wind blowing perpendicularly to a straight coastline. Two different wave input functions, Sin, and two methods for calculating the nonlinear transfer term Snl (Gaussian quadrature method, or GQM, a quasi-exact method based on the use of Gaussian quadratures, and the discrete interaction approximation, or DIA) are used in the simulations. Comparison of the corresponding results firstly shows the relevance of the analysis of wind-wave growth in terms of the proposed weakly turbulent scaling, and secondly, allows us to highlight some critical points in the modelling of wind-generated waves. Three stages of wind-wave development corresponding to qualitatively different balance of the source terms, Sin, Sdiss and Snl, are identified: initial growth, growing sea and fully developed sea. Validity of the asymptotic weakly turbulent approach for the stage of growing wind sea is determined by the dominance of nonlinear transfers, which results in a rigid link between spectral fluxes and wave energy. This stage of self-similar growth is investigated in detail and presented as a consequence of three sub-stages of qualitatively different coupling of air flow and growing wind waves. The key self-similarity parameter of the asymptotic theory is estimated to be αss = 0.68 ± 0.1.Further prospects of wind-wave modelling in the context of the presented weakly turbulent scaling are discussed.

scholarly journals Modification of Airflow Structure Due to Wave Breaking on a Submerged Topography

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petter Vollestad ◽  
Atle Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Wave ◽  
Separated Flow ◽  
Flow Region ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Leeward Side ◽  
Geometrical Properties ◽  
Image Velocimetry ◽  
Wind Profiles ◽  
The Waves ◽  
Sheltered Area

AbstractExperimental results from a combined wind–wave tank are presented. Wind profiles and resulting wind–wave spectra are described, and an investigation of the airflow above breaking waves is presented. Monochromatic waves created by the wave maker are directed towards a submerged topography. This causes the waves to break at a predictable location, facilitating particle-image-velocimetry measurements of the airflow above steep breaking and non-breaking waves. We analyze how the breaking state modifies the airflow structure, and in particular the extent of the sheltered area on the leeward side of the waves. Results illustrate that while the geometrical properties of the waves greatly influence the airflow structure on the leeward side of the waves, the state of breaking (i.e., whether the waves are currently in a state of active breaking) is not observed to have a clear effect on the extent of the separated flow region, or on the velocity distribution within the sheltered region.

scholarly journals Suppression of Wind Ripples and Microwave Backscattering Due to Turbulence Generated by Breaking Surface Waves

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 3618
Author(s):  
Stanislav Ermakov ◽  
Vladimir Dobrokhotov ◽  
Irina Sergievskaya ◽  
Ivan Kapustin
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Surface Waves ◽  
Wave Breaking ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Doppler Spectrum ◽  
Strong Wave ◽  
Wave Maker ◽  
Radar Backscattering

The role of wave breaking in microwave backscattering from the sea surface is a problem of great importance for the development of theories and methods on ocean remote sensing, in particular for oil spill remote sensing. Recently it has been shown that microwave radar return is determined by both Bragg and non-Bragg (non-polarized) scattering mechanisms and some evidence has been given that the latter is associated with wave breaking, in particular, with strong breaking such as spilling or plunging. However, our understanding of mechanisms of the action of strong wave breaking on small-scale wind waves (ripples) and thus on the radar return is still insufficient. In this paper an effect of suppression of radar backscattering after strong wave breaking has been revealed experimentally and has been attributed to the wind ripple suppression due to turbulence generated by strong wave breaking. The experiments were carried out in a wind wave tank where a frequency modulated wave train of intense meter-decimeter-scale surface waves was generated by a mechanical wave maker. The wave train was compressed according to the gravity wave dispersion relation (“dispersive focusing”) into a short-wave packet at a given distance from the wave maker. Strong wave breaking with wave crest overturning (spilling) occurred for one or two highest waves in the packet. Short decimeter-centimeter-scale wind waves were generated at gentle winds, simultaneously with the long breaking waves. A Ka-band scatterometer was used to study microwave backscattering from the surface waves in the tank. The scatterometer looking at the area of wave breaking was mounted over the tank at a height of about 1 m above the mean water level, the incidence angle of the microwave radiation was about 50 degrees. It has been obtained that the radar return in the presence of short wind waves is characterized by the radar Doppler spectrum with a peak roughly centered in the vicinity of Bragg wave frequencies. The radar return was strongly enhanced in a wide frequency range of the radar Doppler spectrum when a packet of long breaking waves arrived at the area irradiated by the radar. After the passage of breaking waves, the radar return strongly dropped and then slowly recovered to the initial level. Measurements of velocities in the upper water layer have confirmed that the attenuation of radar backscattering after wave breaking is due to suppression of short wind waves by turbulence generated in the breaking zone. A physical analysis of the effect has been presented.

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