On wave breaking and the equilibrium spectrum of wind-generated waves

A theoretical calculation is made of the loss of energy by wave breaking in a random sea state in terms of the spectral density function. In the special case of the equilibrium spectrum F(σ) = αg 2 σ -5 the proportion ɷ of energy lost per mean wave cycle is found to be given by ω ≑ e -1/8α irrespective of the low-frequency cut-off in the spectrum. Assuming that in the equilibrium state the loss of energy by breaking is comparable to that supplied by the wind, one can estimate the constant α in terms of the drag coefficient of the wind on the sea surface. It is found that α≑ -1/8/ln[1600C 3/2 ( ρ air/ ρ water)]. Taking a representative value of C one finds α ≑ 1.3 x 10 -2 , which falls within the range of observed values of α. The above equation for α is rather insensitive to the various assumptions made in the analysis. There is some evidence, derived from observation, that α may not in fact be quite constant, but may decrease slightly as the wave age ( gt/U ) or the non-dimensional fetch ( gx/U 2 ) is increased. It is suggested that the drag coefficient may behave similarly.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Difu Sun ◽  
Junqiang Song ◽  
Xiaoyong Li ◽  
Kaijun Ren ◽  
Hongze Leng

A wave state related sea surface roughness parameterization scheme that takes into account the impact of sea foam is proposed in this study. Using eight observational datasets, the performances of two most widely used wave state related parameterizations are examined under various wave conditions. Based on the different performances of two wave state related parameterizations under different wave state, and by introducing the effect of sea foam, a new sea surface roughness parameterization suitable for low to extreme wind conditions is proposed. The behaviors of drag coefficient predicted by the proposed parameterization match the field and laboratory measurements well. It is shown that the drag coefficient increases with the increasing wind speed under low and moderate wind speed conditions, and then decreases with increasing wind speed, due to the effect of sea foam under high wind speed conditions. The maximum values of the drag coefficient are reached when the 10 m wind speeds are in the range of 30–35 m/s.


2012 ◽  
Vol 433-440 ◽  
pp. 6054-6059
Author(s):  
Gan Nan Yuan ◽  
Rui Cai Jia ◽  
Yun Tao Dai ◽  
Ying Li

In the radar imaging mechanism different phenomena are present, as a result the radar image is not a direct representation of the sea state. In analyzing radar image spectra, it can be realized that all of these phenomena produce distortions in the wave spectrum. The main effects are more energy for very low frequencies. This work investigates the structure of the sea clutter spectrum, and analysis the low wave number energy influence on determining sea surface current. Then the radar measure current is validated by experiments. By comparing with the in situ data, we know that the radar results reversed by image spectrum without low wave number spectrum have high precision. The low wave number energy influent determining current seriously.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 015405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey S Mironov ◽  
Vladimir A Dulov
Keyword(s):  

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (22) ◽  
pp. 9195-9211 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Fasullo ◽  
Peter R. Gent

Abstract An accurate diagnosis of ocean heat content (OHC) is essential for interpreting climate variability and change, as evidenced for example by the broad range of hypotheses that exists for explaining the recent hiatus in global mean surface warming. Potential insights are explored here by examining relationships between OHC and sea surface height (SSH) in observations and two recently available large ensembles of climate model simulations from the mid-twentieth century to 2100. It is found that in decadal-length observations and a model control simulation with constant forcing, strong ties between OHC and SSH exist, with little temporal or spatial complexity. Agreement is particularly strong on monthly to interannual time scales. In contrast, in forced transient warming simulations, important dependencies in the relationship exist as a function of region and time scale. Near Antarctica, low-frequency SSH variability is driven mainly by changes in the circumpolar current associated with intensified surface winds, leading to correlations between OHC and SSH that are weak and sometimes negative. In subtropical regions, and near other coastal boundaries, negative correlations are also evident on long time scales and are associated with the accumulated effects of changes in the water cycle and ocean dynamics that underlie complexity in the OHC relationship to SSH. Low-frequency variability in observations is found to exhibit similar negative correlations. Combined with altimeter data, these results provide evidence that SSH increases in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans during the hiatus are suggestive of substantial OHC increases. Methods for developing the applicability of altimetry as a constraint on OHC more generally are also discussed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER BURKE

Attempting to combine cultural history with translation studies, this article examines translation between languages as a special case of a more general phenomenon, translation between cultures. It surveys printed translations made in Europe between 1500 and 1700, discussing which kinds of people translated which kinds of book from and into which languages. Particular attention is given to the reconstruction of the early modern ‘regime’ of translation, in other words the manner (free or literal, domesticating or ‘foreignizing’) in which translations were made.


Author(s):  
A. P. Wijaya

The use of remotely wave sensing by a marine radar is increasingly needed to provide wave information for the sake of safety and operational effectiveness in many offshore activities. Reconstruction of radar images needs to be carried out since radar images are a poor representation of the sea surface elevation: effects like shadowing and tilt determine the backscattered intensity of the images. In [1], the sea state reconstruction and wave propagation to the radar has been tackled successfully for synthetic radar images of linear seas, except for a scaling in the vertical direction. The determination of the significant wave height from the shadowed images only has been described in [2]. This paper will summarize these methods, and provides the first results for the extension to nonlinear seas.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair De-Leon ◽  
Nathan Paldor

Abstract. Using 20 years of accurately calibrated, high resolution, observations of Sea Surface Height Anomalies (SSHA) by satellite ‎borne altimeters we show that in the Indian Ocean south of the Australian coast the low frequency variations of SSHA are ‎dominated by westward propagating, trapped, i.e. non-harmonic, planetary waves. Our results demonstrate that the ‎meridional-dependent amplitudes of the SSHA are large only within a few degrees of latitude next to the South-Australian ‎coast while farther in the ocean they are uniformly small. This meridional variation of the SSHA signal is typical of the ‎amplitude structure in the trapped wave theory. The westward propagation speed of the SSHA signals is analyzed by ‎employing three different methods of estimation. Each one of these methods yields speed estimates that can vary widely ‎between adjacent latitudes but the combination of at least two of the three methods yields much smoother variation. The ‎estimates obtained in this manner show that the observed phase speeds at different latitudes exceed the phase speeds of ‎harmonic Rossby (Planetary) waves by 140 % to 200 %. In contrast, the theory of trapped Rossby (Planetary) waves in a ‎domain bounded by a wall on its equatorward side yields phase speeds that approximate more closely the observed phase ‎speeds.‎


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinando Reale ◽  
Fabio Dentale ◽  
Eugenio Carratelli ◽  
Luciana Fenoglio-Marc

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