On Momentum Flux and Velocity Spectra Over Waves,

Abstract

Data from a research tower in Lake Ontario are used to study the validity of Monin-Obukhov scaling in the marine atmospheric boundary layer under various wave conditions. It is found that over pure wind seas, the velocity spectra and cospectra follow established universal scaling laws. However in the presence of swells outrunning weak winds, velocity spectra and cospectra no longer satisfy universal spectral shapes. Here, Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, and the classical logarithmic boundary layers are no longer valid. It is further shown that in the presence of such swells the momentum flux can be significantly modified over pure wind sea values. The implications of these findings for bulk flux estimations and on the inertial dissipation method for calculating fluxes are discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA365355

Entities

People

  • Kimmo K. Kahma
  • Mark A. Donelan
  • William M. Drennan

Organizations

  • Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Data Sets
  • Dissipation
  • Frequency
  • Great Lakes
  • Lake Ontario
  • Lakes
  • Layers
  • Measurement
  • Molecular Orbital Theory
  • Turbulence
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Wind Stress
  • Wind Velocity

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.