Wave-Current Interaction in the Florida Current in a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean-Wave Model

Abstract

The interaction of waves and currents are investigated in the Florida Current region in two events in early April 2005 using a state-of-the-art coupled atmosphere-ocean forecast model that includes assimilation of observations. During the first event, strong northerly winds force swell southward opposing the Florida Current. Current-wave interaction results in larger significant wave heights than found without currents. The second event has south-easterly winds with a significant component along the current direction. In that case, significant wave heights are smaller for the simulation that includes wave-current interaction than without that feed-back. Wave heights at buoy locations near the coast is generally in good agreement with the models results, which implies that inclusion of wave-current interaction may not be important near the shore . The simulation includes events where the maximum winds reach 20 m/s and significant wave heights exceed 2 m.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA551012

Entities

People

  • Erick Erick Rogers
  • R. Allard
  • T. Campbell
  • Tommy G. Jensen
  • U. Gravois

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Assimilation
  • Atmospheres
  • Boundaries
  • Climate Change
  • Doppler Effect
  • Grids
  • Military Research
  • Observation
  • Ocean Waves
  • Regions
  • Sea Surface Temperature
  • Simulations
  • Stations
  • Surface Temperature
  • Topography
  • Waves
  • Weather Stations

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers