Variations of Whitecap Coverage with Wind Stress and Water Temperature
Open Access
- 1 October 1988
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Vol. 18 (10) , 1448-1453
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1988)018<1448:vowcww>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Results of whitecap coverages from five previously reported oceanic experiments by Monahan and coinvestigators have been analyzed; the fractional coverage of the sea surface(W) was shown to follow a power law, W = 2U3.7510, where U10 is the wind velocity at 10 m above the mean sea surface. Attempts were then made to associate the coverage with the wind-friction velocity (u*) deduced from the wind velocity and air–sea temperature differences as W = 0.2u3*. Finally, we discuss effects of the water temperature on the coverage. Abstract Results of whitecap coverages from five previously reported oceanic experiments by Monahan and coinvestigators have been analyzed; the fractional coverage of the sea surface(W) was shown to follow a power law, W = 2U3.7510, where U10 is the wind velocity at 10 m above the mean sea surface. Attempts were then made to associate the coverage with the wind-friction velocity (u*) deduced from the wind velocity and air–sea temperature differences as W = 0.2u3*. Finally, we discuss effects of the water temperature on the coverage.Keywords
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