The Wave Boundary Layer Over the Open Ocean and the Implications to Air-Sea Interaction

• Other Authors: Cifuentes-Lorenzen, Alejandro P. (Creator), Edson, James B. (Major Advisor), O'Donnell, James (Associate Advisor), Torgersen, Thomas (Associate Advisor), Zappa, Christopher J. (Associate Advisor), University of Connecticut (Degree grantor)
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Connecticut 2013
• Subjects: Southern Ocean
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11134/20002:860639989; https://digitalcollections.ctstatelibrary.org/islandora/object/20002%3A860639989/datastream/TN/view/Wave%20Boundary%20Layer%20Over%20the%20Open%20Ocean%20and%20the%20Implications%20to%20Air-Sea%20Interaction.jpg

Wave field and atmospheric observations during the Southern Ocean Gas Exchange experiment 2008 were used to explore air-sea boundary layer dynamics. The closure of a momentum budget at the air-sea interface allows the selection and tuning of a wave growth parameter consistent with the observed conditions. An energy balance between the atmospheric energy input and the observed wind-wave spectral energy is posed based on the turbulent kinetic energy budget. The energy input is defined as the rate of work done by the wave-induced stress over the wind velocity profile. Wave induced perturbations on the airflow are modeled by an exponential decay function with a variable dimensional decay rate (A m-1). Wave-induced perturbations are incorporated into the atmospheric input term to account for the wind-wave coupling. The decay rate is tuned iteratively by minimizing the difference between the input and the wind-wave spectral energy. Under weaker forcing the model works within 40-45%. It is hypothesized, that this is due to long-wave modulation and an upward ocean–atmosphere momentum flux. Under stronger forcing (i.e. 0.4 < u* < 0.9 m s-1) results are within 10-20% predicting progressively slower decay rates (A ~ 0.5 ± 0.4 m-1). This suggests that longer waves support the wave-induced momentum flux, extending the depth of the wave boundary layer to an average height of 2 m inducing stronger perturbations on the airflow. Under weaker forcing the model suggests that wind and waves become uncoupled exhibiting a shallower wave boundary layer. Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library