Inner Shelf Wind and Wave Stress Balance: Model Sensitivity Analysis Associated with Wave Shoaling
Abstract
New open-ocean formulations that define the total wind stress (total) at the air-sea boundary that include contributions from both wind (Tauwind) and waves (Tauwave) were evaluated across the wave shoaling region of the inner shelf. Traditional Tautotal open ocean formulations have underestimated measured Tautotal across the inner shelf. The new formulations spectrally account for the "swell" wave contributions and have been modified to account for the depth (h) dependence of wave shoaling. Swell is defined when phase speed, cp, is greater than 1.14U10, wind speed. The difference between the h-independent, deep-water cp, to the h-dependent cp occurs for U10, <12 m s(exp -1) and h<20m. This defines the parameter space for which swell provides additional contributions across the inner shelf, where the remainder should be described by traditional open-ocean formulations. As cp decreases with decreasing h, swell contribution relative to U10 decreases with decreasing h. Shoaling wave heights result in a 50% higher shallow-water swell Tauwave compared to deep water, and vary as a function of wave height for U10, <6 m s(exp -1). Constraining wave by a weighted probability density function of Monterey Bay climatology, Tauwave is larger than wind for U10, <6m s(exp -1). Tauwave increases variability with decreasing U10. In summary, the conditions that define Tauwave for the inner shelf are sensitive to wave shoaling, are limited by U10 , and, though limited, produce the largest wave in shallow water.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1127133
Entities
People
- Christie Underwood
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School